Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares or simply Fray Antonio de Olivares (1630 - 1722) was a SpanishFranciscan who officiated at the first Catholic Mass celebrated in Texas, and he was known for contributing to the founding of San Antonio and to the prior exploration of the area. He founded, among other missions, the Alamo Mission in San Antonio (better known as simply the Alamo), the Presidio San Antonio de Bexar, and the Acequia Madre de Valero.
In 1665, at the age of thirty-five years old, he went on a religious expedition to the Americas, along with 19 other religious. Once in Americas, in the Convent of Querétaro, he received the training he needed to engage with the natives, in their work of evangelization. It was this monastery from which they went on various expeditions in Texas, since this was a strategically important place for the crown. In 1675 Fray Antonio de Olivares, Fray Francisco Hidalgo, Fray Juan Larios and Fernando del Bosque were sent to explore the region beyond the Rio Grande, to assess the possibility for new settlements in the area.
On January 1, 1699, Olivares was chosen to go along with Marcos de Guereña of the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro to work in northern Coahuila, in present-day Mexico. There in San Juan Bautista, located in those times on the Río de Sabinas, the priests joined Father Francisco Hidalgo and on January 1, 1700, participated in the founding of Mission San Juan Bautista, located in the present Guerrero, Coahuila.[2]
On March 1, 1700, Olivares founded in the valley of the Circumcision the mission of San Bernardo and Mission San Francisco Solano, 5 miles (8.0km) from the Rio Grande in Coahuila, Mexico. Today's municipality of Guerrero is the approximate location of the mission.[3] In 1706 he was appointed guardian of the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro, where he remained three years.[2]
San Antonio
In 1709, he participated in the expedition headed by Pedro de Aguirre. Together with Fray Isidro de Espinosa, they explored the territory from the modern-day city of San Antonio to the Colorado River. The same year he traveled to Spain to convince the authorities of the importance of maintaining and establishing new missions on the banks of the San Antonio River, in present San Antonio. He remained in Spain six years.[2]
In 1716, Fray Antonio wrote to the Viceroy of New Spain, Baltasar de Zúñiga y Guzmán, telling him their hopes and plans for the future mission, and urged him to send families of settlers to found a town.[4] In the same letter he stressed that it was necessary that some of these families be skilled in the useful arts and industries, "to teach the Indians all that should be required to be useful and capable citizens." The perseverance of Fray Antonio was answered, as the Viceroyalty gave formal approval for the mission in late 1716, assigning responsibility for its establishment to Martín de Alarcón, the governor of Coahuila y Tejas.[4]
Fray Antonio de Olivares organized the founding of the new mission from the adjacent Mission San Francisco Solano, often meeting with the Indians of the area (Payaya Indians) in his travels, gradually earning their love and respect. He was part of the expedition which made first contact with the Pastia Indians and helped recruit them to help in the construction of the San Antonio missions.[5] He remained at the site of the mission for some time, organizing everything with the Indians, and they constructed a straw structure with branches and mud near the head of the San Antonio River. This mission was called San Antonio de Valero, a name derived from "San Antonio de Padua" and Viceroy of New Spain, Marquess of Valero. The mission was located near a community of Coahuiltecan and was originally inhabited by about four indigenous tribes people converted from Mission San Francisco Solano.[4]
Unfortunately, his work was suspended for some time from an accident he had while crossing a bridge. The foot of the animal he was riding slipped into a hole, causing him to fall violently to the ground and break his leg. When he could walk again, the mission had changed its location to the west bank of the river, where floods were less likely. On orders of his religious order, Fray Antonio de Olivares transferred the Mission San Francisco Solano to the new mission of San Antonio de Valero.[4]
He also built the Presidio San Antonio de Bexar, on the west side of the San Antonio River approximately 1 mile from the mission.[4] It was designed to protect the system of missions and civilian settlements in central Texas and to ensure Spanish claims in the region against possible encroachment from other European powers. The presidium consisted of an adobe building, thatched with grass, with soldiers quartered in brush huts. Settlers concentrated around the complex and mission began to form the town of Bejar or Bexar. As the bulwark of Spanish Texas, located in the center of several operating missions, Bejar escaped the anxieties of other settlements. Resisting occasional Indian attacks, it became the main unit of walled defense.
The operational complex was completed with the construction of the first canal in Texas (Acequia Madre de Valero),[6] 6 miles long, built to irrigate 400 hectares and supply of the inhabitants of the new facilities. It was vital to the missions to be able to divert and control water from the San Antonio River, in order to grow crops and to supply water to the people in the area. This particular aqueduct was the beginning of a much wider water system. Acequia Madre de Valero ran from the area currently known as Brackenridge Park southward to what is now Hemisfair Plaza and South Alamo Street.[7] Part of it that is not viewable by the public runs beneath the Menger Hotel. The aqueduct was restored in 1968 and that year was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.[8]
On May 5 Presidio San Antonio de Bexar was founded on the west side of the San Antonio River, from which comes the present city of San Antonio, Texas. The event, chaired by Martin de Alarcón, settled around 30 families in the surrounding area.[4]
On July 8, 1718, the first baptism was held at the new Mission San Antonio de Valero, as reflected in the mission's baptismal register.[4]
In 1719, Margil obtained permission from the Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo to found a second mission at San Antonio, and Father Olivares opposed it. Despite this, the Zacatecan Franciscans founded Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo next to the San Antonio River on February 23, 1720.
On September 8, 1720, after suffering a broken leg and worse health, Olivares retired from Mission Valero.[2] He returned to the monastery of Querétaro where he died in 1722.
The Alamo is a historic Spanish mission and fortress compound founded in the 18th century by Roman Catholic missionaries in what is now San Antonio, Texas, United States. It was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, a pivotal event of the Texas Revolution in which American folk heroes James Bowie and Davy Crockett were killed. Today it is a museum in the Alamo Plaza Historic District and a part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site.
The Espada Acequia, or Piedras Creek Aqueduct, was built by Franciscan friars in 1731 in what is now San Antonio, Texas, United States. It was built to supply irrigation water to the lands near Mission San Francisco de la Espada, today part of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The acequia is still in use today and is an National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and a National Historic Landmark.
Mission San Francisco de la Espada is a Roman Rite Catholic mission established in 1690 by Spain and relocated in 1731 to present-day San Antonio, Texas, in what was then known as northern New Spain. The mission was built in order to convert local Native Americans to Christianity and solidify Spanish territorial claims in the New World against encroachment from France. Today, the structure is one of four missions that comprise San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo is an historic Catholic mission in San Antonio, Texas, United States. The mission was named in part for the Marquis de San Miguel de Aguayo, José de Azlor y Virto de Vera. Many buildings on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, borrow architectural elements from those found at Mission San José.
San Pedro Springs is the name of a cluster of springs in Bexar County, Texas, United States. These springs provide water for San Pedro Creek, which flows into the San Antonio River. The San Antonio Springs also feed into the San Antonio River.
José de Azlor y Virto de Vera, second Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo by marriage, commonly known as the Marqués de Aguayo, was the governor of the provinces of Coahuila and of the New Philippines in New Spain between 1719 and 1722. During his tenure, Aguayo retook eastern Texas from New France without firing a shot. He established or reestablished seven missions and three presidios, and quadrupled the number of Spanish soldiers stationed in Texas. Aguayo and his wife were also owners of a very large estate, or latifundio, in Coahuila. His descendants inherited and expanded the landholdings. The Aguayo dynasty continued until 1825.
The New Philippines was the abbreviated name of a territory in New Spain. Its full and official name was Nuevo Reino de Filipinas.
Franciscan Friars established Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña in 1711 as Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hainais in East Texas. The mission was by the Domingo Ramón-St. Denis expedition and was originally meant to be a base for converting the Hasinai to Catholicism and teaching them what they needed to know to become Mexican citizens. The friars moved the mission in 1731 to San Antonio. After its relocation most of the people in the mission were Pajalats who spoke a Coahuiltecan language. Catholic Mass is still held at the mission every Sunday.
Martín de Alarcón was the Governor of Coahuila and Texas from 1705 until 1708, and again from 1716 until 1719. He founded San Antonio, the first Spanish civilian settlement in Texas.
The City of San Antonio is one of the oldest Spanish settlements in Texas and was, for decades, its largest city. Before Spanish colonization, the site was occupied for thousands of years by varying cultures of indigenous peoples. The historic Payaya Indians were likely those who encountered the first Europeans.
Isidro Félix de Espinosa (1679–1755) was a Franciscan missionary from New Spain who participated in several expeditionary missions throughout the province of Tejas. He was the president of the missionaries from the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro.
Architecture in the American city of San Antonio, Texas comes from a wide variety of sources, but many of the city's buildings mostly reflect Texas' Spanish and Mexican roots; with some influence from French builders, among others. Relatively rapid economic growth since the mid twentieth century has led to a fairly wide variety of contemporary architectural buildings.
Juan Antonio Bustillo y Ceballos (Zevallos) was a soldier and politician who served as governor of Province of Texas (1730–1734) and Coahuila, New Spain (1754–1756). He also served as alcalde ordinario in Mexico City.
Juan Valdez was Governor of Texas and Coahuila, and lieutenant general and alcalde (mayor) of the presidio and villa of Bexar in 1714 and 1716.
Presidio de Béxar was a Spanish fort built near the San Antonio River, located in what is now San Antonio, Texas, in the United States. It was designed for protection of the mission San Antonio de Valero and the Villa de Béjar. The Presidio de Béxar was founded on May 5, 1718 by Spanish colonial official Martín de Alarcón and his party of thirty-five soldiers. The Villa de Béjar is known for being the first Spanish settlement of San Antonio and consisted of the families of the Presidio Soldiers and those of the prior expeditions. It also served to secure Spain's claim to the region against possible encroachment from other European powers.
Mission San Francisco Solano was a Spanish mission established March 1, 1700 by Franciscan missionaries. Along with Mission San Juan Bautista, Mission San Bernardo, and the nearby San Juan Bautista presidio, it belonged to a complex collectively known as the San Juan Bautista Missions.
The Xarames were an Indigenous people of the Americas of the San Antonio, Texas region. They were the dominant Native American group during the early history of Mission San Antonio de Valero. They were a Coahuiltecan people.
The Payaya people were Indigenous people whose territory encompassed the area of present-day San Antonio, Texas. The Payaya were a Coahuiltecan band and are the earliest recorded inhabitants of San Pedro Springs Park, the geographical area that became San Antonio.
Yanaguana was the Payaya people village in the geographical area that became the Bexar County city of San Antonio, in the U.S. state of Texas. Some accounts believe the Payaya also referred to the San Antonio River as Yanaguana, and it is sometimes promoted as such for the tourist industry. For a number of years, the city of San Antonio contracted with Yanaguana Cruises Inc. for an exclusive monopoly to operate tour barges on a select section of the river. The National Park Service has a designated "Yanaguana Trail" that runs along the river at Mission San Juan Capistrano. In 1933 Frederick C. Chabot of San Antonio formed the Yanaguana Society, specifically named for the Payaya village, to collect and preserve the early artifacts and history of the area. The organization lasted through 1960.
Acequia Madre de Valero is an 18th-century agricultural irrigation canal built by the Spanish and located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. When Martín de Alarcón founded San Antonio for Spain by establishing San Antonio de Valero Mission in 1718, Franciscan priest Antonio de Olivares and the Payaya and Pastia peoples, dug Acequia Madre de Valero by hand. It was vital to the missions to be able to divert and control water from the San Antonio River, in order to grow crops and to supply water to the people in the area. This particular acequia was the beginning of a much wider irrigation system. Acequia Madre de Valero ran from the area currently known as Brackenridge Park southward to what is now Hemisfair and South Alamo Street. Part of it that is not viewable by the public runs beneath the Menger Hotel. The acequia was restored in 1968 and that same year was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
↑ "Acequia Madre de Valero". Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks. Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
Sources
DIAZ DEL CASTILLO, Bernal: Historia verdadera de la conquista de nueva España. Madrid, 1975 (History of the Conquest of New Spain. Madrid, 1975).
ROPERO REGIDOR, Diego. Franciscanos andaluces de la tierra de Huelva en Indias. Universidad de Sevilla, 1985 (Franciscans of the land of Huelva, Andalusia in the Indies. Universidad de Sevilla, 1985)
DOMINGUEZ, Maria Esther: San Antonio, Tejas, en la época colonial (1718–1821). Ediciones de Cultura Hispánica, 1989 (San Antonio, Texas, during the colonial period. Ediciones de Cultura Hispánica, 1989)
ROPERO REGIDOR, Diego. Franciscanos de Moguer en América. Col. "Montemayor", Archivo Histórico Municipal; Fundación Municipal Cultura, Moguer, 2007(Moguer Franciscans in America. Col. "Montemayor", Municipal Archives, Municipal Cultural Foundation, Moguer, 2007).
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