Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá
Located along the San Saba River, the mission was intended to convert members of the Lipan Apache tribe.
Along the Red River, Spanish soldiers encountered a Wichita village which had been heavily fortified, complete with a moat and wooden stockade.
[1] To commemorate the destruction of Santa Cruz de San Sabá, the benefactor commissioned a painting in 1762, completed in 1765 (illustration).
[2] Over the next several years, missionaries established a series of Spanish missions in Texas, ministering primarily to the Hasinai and Coahuiltecan tribes.
The costs and difficulty of transportation made goods very expensive, making it difficult for settlers or missionaries to afford items that could be traded with, or offered as a gift to, the native tribes.
In the 1740s, these weaker tribes requested missions along the San Gabriel River in the hopes that the Spanish could protect them from attack.
[11] This did not deter the missionaries, who founded two more missions, San Ildefonso and Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, in the area the following year.
[6] However, the Spanish believed that if the effort was successful in converting Apaches and convincing them to remain peaceful, the missionary activity could be expanded northward.
Former governor of Texas Pedro de Rábago y Terán explored the same area and concurred with Galván's recommendation.
The people of San Antonio were enthusiastic about the proposal, hoping that a new northern settlement would protect their town from raids.
[14] While exploring, Miranda heard rumors from the Apache of silver deposits near San Sabá and again recommended the area.
Missionaries were afraid that the Spanish soldiers might corrupt their converts and insisted that the fort be built 3 miles (4.8 km) away and on the other side of the river.
[18] Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas was built at the same time on the other side of the river and 3 miles away as demanded by the priests.
[18] The presence of the mission infuriated Comanche leaders, who saw San Sabá as proof of an alliance between the Spanish and Apache and an encroachment on their land.
[20] The Comanche allied with other traditional Apache enemies, including the Tonkawa and Hasinai, and on March 16, 1758, this force of about 2,000 warriors attacked the mission.
[17] According to Spanish accounts, at least half of the warriors carried European guns, an unusual event in a time when most natives fought with bow and arrow or hatchets.
They were unable to get significant numbers of volunteers among the citizens in Texas and neighboring Nuevo León and instead recommended that the force include soldiers, militiamen, and natives.
While these arrangements were being made, Comanche raided the horse herd at the San Sabá presidio, killing twenty soldiers.
[22] In September, 1759, Colonel Diego Ortiz Parrilla, the commander of the garrison tasked with protecting the mission, and his 500 soldiers and Apache braves marched north into Comanche territory.
Many Spanish officials believed that the French had instigated the attack on the mission and had helped the Comanche to prepare the village, but historian David Weber said the evidence for this charge is inconclusive.
"[23] Spanish officials refused to close the San Sabá presidio, ordering it rebuilt in limestone surrounded by a moat and augmented its complement of soldiers to 100.
[28] The painting was the subject of some controversy in the 1980s, after United States Customs agents confiscated it in Texas and returned it to Mexico.
