The San Xavier Missions of El Camino Real de los Tejas

by John Pruett PhD - El Camino Real de los Tejas National Trail Association, Rancheria Grande Chapter

The Spanish missions located a few miles northwest of Rockdale are described in short essays by their brief official existence (1748-1755) and the lack of any lasting physical evidence other than the State of Texas markers erected in 1936. However, their history unfolded over some 26 to 34 years. Also, the importance of the people of the Rancheria Grande, as the people requesting the missions be located near their homes, needs to be emphasized. The story of the missions fully describes human imperfection in reaching an outcome beneficial to all. Herbert Eugene Bolton published an extensive and detailed description of this intriguing history in his book “Texas in the Middle Eighteenth Century, Studies in Spanish Colonial History and Administration.”

To fully grasp the narrative, it is essential to comprehend the people and entities involved. The introduction of Europeans and their diseases plunged the Indians (indigenous people) into a period of extreme stress and population decline. Moreover, the people of the Rancheria Grande lived under constant threat from warring tribes, notably the Lipan Apache. Their desperate pleas to the Spanish missionaries for nearby missions for their security in both food and protection from warring tribes were a testament to their dire circumstances. The religious, the Fathers of the College of Santa Cruz of Queretaro, were resolute in their mission to save souls and serve the people. The government administration, including the king, viceroy, auditor (treasurer), and governor, was tasked with protecting the lands claimed by the Spanish from incursion by the French by establishing assets in the frontier. Lastly, the military played a crucial role in defending against attacks by warring tribes and maintaining discipline among the mission’s Indian neophytes. Historical records indicate that military personnel were dissatisfied with their assignments and often abusive to the Indian population.

In 1716, Domingo Ramón was tasked with establishing a road from Mission San Juan Baptista to the Spanish frontier presidio at Los Adaes, the frontier capital of Tejas, located just within current-day Louisiana. During this journey, Ramón passed through current-day Milam County and encountered the people of the Rancheria Grande, an accumulation of numerous tribes located west of the Brazos. This encounter with the native peoples along the road familiarized future travelers with these peoples. As early as 1721, Juan Rodriguez, Chief of the Rancheria Grande, met Marqués de Aguayo on his expedition and requested a mission for his people. It wasn’t until 1745 that the mission project began to form, with the proposed location of the San Xavier (San Gabriel) River site being well-known as a fertile valley with water on irrigatable lands. The principal liability of the site was that it was near the Lipan Apache country, necessitating the ongoing requirement of a presidio for the protection of the missions and people.

From their inception, the missions were beset with many hardships. The Franciscan Fathers faced a complex set of issues, including the daunting task of establishing a new agricultural settlement, a chronic shortage of supplies, the government's sluggishness in providing funds, the governor's hostility, the soldiers’ insubordination and questionable morals, the Apache’s hostility, the Indians' cultural behaviors, and the constant specter of disease, mainly smallpox. These challenges, often overwhelming, underscore the immense dedication and perseverance of the mission's founders (Bolton, 1970).

Repeated appeals from the people of the Rancheria Grande to Father Mariano for establishing a mission presence near them and a visit to San Antonio in 1745 from four chiefs and thirteen others resulted in a promise of a mission from Father Mariano. Without official support in 1746, Father Mariano met with the petitioners at the San Xavier site, a site of Father Mariano’s choosing. Thus, an unofficial beginning of the mission settlement was begun. The Fathers and the College of Santa Cruz started a lengthy process of official approval from the Viceroy to fund and establish the missions. The Fathers received much opposition from the Governor of the Province, Juan Antonio Bustillo, and succeeding him, Pedro del Barrio. However, a prior Governor, Mediavilla, and the President of the Texas Missions, Isidro Félix de Espinosa support helped overcome their objections, and the Viceroy approved the construction of three missions on December 23, 1747.

Mission San Francisco Xavier was completed in 1748, Mission San Idelfonso in 1749, and Mission Candelaria in 1749. The Indians were assigned to the missions according to their relatedness and the languages they spoke. The garrison was always undermanned, and the soldiers' character was abysmal. They were abusive to the Indians and appeared to oppose their assignment and the mission of the Fathers. Because of the abuse, it was not unusual for the Indians to desert the mission in mass, particularly those tribes assigned to San Idelfonso.

In 1749 and 1750, the governor conducted numerous inspections to discredit the choice of the missions' location. In 1750, Lt. Don José de Eca y Músquiz was assigned to command the garrison and to perform a detailed survey of the mission complex. His finalized report supported the site as acceptable. From the detailed report and map of Lt. Músquiz, an archeologist, Dr. Kathleen Gilmore, could confirm the site of Mission San Francisco Xavier in 1968.

Finally, in 1751, the Viceroy approved the construction of a Presidio with a force of 50 soldiers, and Captain Don Felipe Rabago was assigned to command. Just when it seemed that the mission complex would get the military support it needed, the choice of the nefarious Captain Rabago almost immediately eroded confidence. It is doubtful that the Presidio was ever completed. Part of Capt. Rabago’s assignment was to recruit civilians to help populate the mission complex. One of the recruits was a tailor from San Antonio, Juan Joseph Zevallos, and his wife. During the trip to the San Xavier Mission complex, Capt. Rabago began an affair with Zevallos’ wife. When confronted by Zevallos Capt. Rabago had him arrested and tortured. Hearing of this, the chaplain to the Presidio, Father Miguel de Pinilla, tried to resolve the issue to no avail. Zevallos escaped from the soldiers and fled to Mission Candelaria.  Capt. Rabago defiantly rode his horse into the mission and recaptured Zevallos, purposely violating the sanctuary of the church. Thus began a lengthy disagreement between the priests, in particular Father Pinilla and Rabago. Rabago eventually returned Zevallos to Mission Candelaria, but this hostility ended with the murder of Zevallos and Father Juan José de Ganzabal on May 11, 1752. With this incident, all the missioners, except Father Anda y Altamirano, fled, leaving Father Altamirano to serve Mission San Francisco Xavier. Eventually, Captain Don Felipe Rabago was relieved of his command being replaced by his brother, Captain Don Pedro Rabago, who, unlike his brother, proved popular with the missionaries. Captain Don Felipe Rabago was made Commander of the Presidio of Santa Rosa while under investigation as to his part in the murders. The investigation lasted eight years, and he was acquitted in 1760.

The inevitable drought occurred in 1753. Father Mariano went to the San Xavier Mission complex to investigate the troubles and reestablish the mission. His findings suggested that sustaining the mission was no longer possible as the river had ceased to run, leaving stagnant pools. The dissenters had always called into question the sustainability of the river flow. On July 15, 1755, a petition from the soldiers was made to Capt. Don Pedro Rabago to move them to a more habitable location, as the drought had continued, and the lack of fresh water had led to much illness and suffering. Without authority, Capt. Rabago, by necessity, by August 23, 1755, had moved the entire complex to San Marcos, ending the saga of the San Xavier mission complex.

References
1. Bolton, Herbert Eugene, 1970. Texas in the Middle Eighteenth Century: Studies in Spanish Colonial History and Administration. University of Texas Press, Austin & London pp. 137-278.
2. Gilmore, Kathleen Kirk, 1969.  The San Xavier Missions: A Study in Historical Site Identification. State Building Commission, Archeological Program, Texas Historical Commission, Report Number 16, pp. 151.