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4: Historical outline of mission development in Texas.

Article Excerpt
This mission was originally founded under the name of Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de los Aynais on July 7, 1716, as one of three placed among the Tejas tribes of northeast Texas by the Ramon-Espinosa expedition. It served as the headquarters of the missions under the aegis of the College of Santa Cruz de Queretaro. Along with the other east Texas missions, it was abandoned in 1719 as a result of the French attack, but was reestablished in 1721 by Frs. Espinosa and Margil, who accompanied the Aguayo expedition. Following the suppression of the Presidio de Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de los Tejas, as recommended by General Pedro Rivera, the three Quereteran missions in its vicinity were relocated to the Colorado River near present-day Austin in July of 1730. The missions were again moved in March of the following year to the San Antonio River, where they had the protection of its presidio. The friars took possession of the new site on March 5, 1731, changing the name from "de los Aynais" to "de Acuna" in honor of the viceroy, Juan de Acuna, the Marque de Casafuerte. Shortly thereafter, a sizeable contingent of Pajalache and Pacao Indians was drawn to the new establishment. (66)

By 1745 a walled compound protected a two-story friary, a granary, and three houses for the military escort. These were built of stone from an adjacent quarry, while the Indians were housed in jacales. A large, temporary hall church and sacristy constructed of adobe with a flat roof served the community, while a new stone-and-mortar church was already half completed. An acequia delivered water to the compound and to a fenced farm located along the east bank of the river to the west of the mission. A ranch, El Paxtle (the name of a tree-borne bromeliad), had been established for livestock. The new church was completed by the end of 1755 and was dedicated on December 8. By then, the original friary was in bad condition, and construction on a new one was undertaken in 1756. In that year there were other improvements to report: most of the Indian jacales were replaced with adobe houses; a smithy, carpentry workshop, and weaving shops had been erected; and a stone-walled orchard added to the farm. (67)

Since only the mission marriage registry (1733-1790) survives, we are at a disadvantage in trying to identify the builders of Concepcion. As the only master mason known to have been in Texas in the...

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