Image: Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga, Goliad, Texas (15640010644)

Description: Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga also known as Aranama Mission or Mission La Bahia was a Roman Catholic mission established by Spain in Victoria County, Texas in northern New Spain in 1722 to convert local Native Karankawa Indians to Christianity. Together with its partner Presidio La Bahia, they would solidify Spanish territorial claims in the New World against encroachment from France. Today, the third and final structure, near Goliad, Texas is maintained as Goliad State Park and Historic Site, a Texas State Historical Park and museum. Established on 1722 on Matagorda Bay near La Salle's Fort Saint Louis on Garcitas Creek, the mission and complementing presidio (fort) was intended to secure the Texas coastline from the French and to gather the local Cocos, Copanes, and Cujanes. Being unable to attract the Indians to stay at the mission and due to violence with the Spanish soldiers, the mission was relocated only four years later, to a more favorable location on the Guadalupe River. Artifacts from this settlement are currently on display at the Museum of the Coastal Bend in Victoria. Mission La Bahia moved in 1749 to La Bahia (now Goliad, Texas) on the San Antonio River. Temporary jacale housing was built from log and clay, with construction of a stone and mortar complex being immediately initiated and reaching completion in 1758. The mission was built with surrounding stone walls and included rooms to house the priests and the Indian families, a granary, workrooms and a separately located forge. The complementing presidio was built just across the river and at times housed Texian troops during the Texas Revolution. The mission found success educating and serving the Aranama, Piguique, Manos de Perro, Tamique, Tawakoni, and Tonkawa in the area, but usually faced opposition from raiding Apaches and Commanches. The mission became the first large cattle ranch in Texas, with near 40,000 free roaming cattle at the height of production in about 1778. The large herds of Texas Longhorns and mustangs were cared for by the vaquero Indians from the mission. They also grew large crops of grain, fruit and vegetables to support the residents and trade with others. Cattle and livestock were also driven and traded with the other missions in Texas and Louisiana. The mission was to be secularized in 1794, but La Bahia remained in service until Mexican Independence in 1821. However, two Franciscans refused to leave and remained as parish priests. In 1830 the mission was finally secularized. With most Indians having already left, the premium lands of the mission were acquired by the local Mexican and American colonists. The mission itself devolved to the City of Goliad. The mission ruins became part of the newly created Goliad State Park in 1931. In 1933, the Civil Works Administration began reconstruction of the stone chapel and granary following drawings from the National Park Service and San Antonio architect Atlee Ayres. Civilian Conservation Corps Company 3822(V), with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration, finished restoring the mission between 1935 and 1941. Additional construction in the 1960s and 1980s brought the mission back its 1749 appearance. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Nuestra_Se%c3%b1ora_del_Esp%c3%adritu_Santo_de_Z%c3%ba%c3%b1iga" rel="nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Nuestra_Se%C3%B1ora_del_Esp...</a>

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Author: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA
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