About the "Birthday" yesterday, 1 May

At the start of my posting of yesterday, Monday 1 May, I related how on that date in A.D. 1718, San Antonio commenced its existence, and therefore I wished my city "Happy brithday". Now, for a few details about the origins, for you history-lovers. And sure do hope I'm not the ONLY history-lover in cyber-space! :-)

On 1 May, 1718, missionaries of the Franciscan order (they aren't "monks" living in a monastery, BTW; they're "friars" as in "Friar Tuck" of Robin Hood fame & they live out in the world) founded Misión San Antonio de Valero (to give its whole Spanish name) along San Pedro Creek between its springs (nowadays in the park of the same name) and what is now downtown. Within a few years the mission had been moved east and south to the east bank of the San Antonio River, and then to its final location nearby, at what is now the northern portion of Alamo Plaza. And yes, after its purpose as a mission had been fulfilled and the remaining residents from the Coahuiltecan tribes had been absorbed into the local populace of Spaniards, the mission compound became the fortress known as The Alamo.

However, The Alamo wasn't the first fort or military presence in San Antonio. Four days after the mission was founded, on 5 May 1718 the accompanying Spanish Army officer founded El Presidio de S. A. de Béjar (or Bexar, hence the county name). "Presidio" means "fort" in Spanish, and there is actually a current U.S. Army post by that very name located at Golden Gate Bridge. At first the presidio was at or near San Pedro Springs, and it had a supporting community of the same name. But in 1722, whe the Marquis de Aguayo came to Texas to drive the French back to Louisiana and strengthen the Spanish presence, he moved the fort and its village to what is now Military Plaza (Plaza de Armas) downtown. This placed it closer to the main river & to the mission.

So, the mission, the fort & the fort's village were the beginnings of permanent settlement here! The Coahuiltecans had a village in the area, called Yanaguana, but they were semi-nomadic & thus the village moved from time to time. The Spaniards called these movable villages rancherías.

In 1731, Mission San José having already been founded downriver, and three East Texas missions having just been relocated also downriver, a group of settlers from the Canary Islands of Spain arrived. Settlement of a couple hundred Canarians had been recommended by Aguayo to further strengthen Spanish hold on Texas. The King approved - but only fifty some Islanders made the long arduous journey.

The Islanders were welcomed by the presidio commander, who assisted them in founding their own settlement, which they named San Fernando de Béjar in honor of the Crown Prince of Spain of the time. San Fernando was the name of a medieval Spanish king who was renown for his holy living and effectiveness in the Reconquista struggle to take the Iberian Peninsula back from the Moors. When later the Islanders laid the cornerstone for a church, it too was named after the Spanish saint. Thus, this year the Canary Islanders' descendants and the cathedral are celebrating 275 years of San Fernando here.

But as you can see, San Antonio's origins as a permanent settlement go back several years before 1731. And altho' the military has always been a presence here (today there are still a US Army post and two Air Force bases), the VERY START of this city was as a mission post for spreading the Gospel and civilization here in Texas!