Tejano History

San Antonio De Valero Mission

Tejanos |

       SAN ANTONIO DE VALERO MISSION. San Antonio de Valero, one of five Spanish missions established by Franciscans in what is now San Antonio, is most commonly known as the site of the battle of the Alamo (1836). The mission was started by Father Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares, of the College of Santa Cruz of Querétaroqv, who first visited the region in 1709. In 1716 Olivares received approval from the Marqués de Valero, recently appointed viceroy of New Spain, for a plan to remove to San Antonio the dwindling mission of San Francisco Solano, founded in 1700 near the right bank of the Rio Grande at the site of present Guerrero, Coahuila. The viceroy also directed Martín de Alarcón, governor of Coahuila and Texas, to accompany Olivares with a military guard. After considerable delay, Olivares and Alarcón traveled separately to San Antonio in the spring of 1718. 

 

Full article on the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas Online

   Courtesy of the Texas State Historical Association.