were sent out to bring in others of the tribe. Force had to be used to make many of the savages do their daily task, but the priests were not cruel, treating them rather as lazy, disobedient children. In this way sufficient force was obtained to irrigate the land for miles about the mission, to till the soil until the country smiled like a garden, and to erect the great buildings which are still the pride of every Texan's heart.34

San Antonio Group of Missions.

The best preserved missions are the five grouped about San Antonio.

The Alamo. In the heart of this "City of Missions " rises the scarred visage of the Alamo, a name hallowed by its baptism of blood. The Alamo is supposed to have

been the chapel of mission San Antonio de Valero; this mission, then under the name of San Francisco Solano, was originally founded on the Rio Grande in 1700, but was moved 35 in 1718 near the Presidio of San Antonio

de Bexar. The first stone of the present Alamo 36 said to have been laid in 1744.

was

San Jose Mission. On the right bank of the San Antonio River, about four miles below San Antonio, stands the most beautiful of all the missions San José (sän hō-se') de Aguayo. This mission was founded (1720) by the famous Father Margil, who, dying before

its completion, was buried amid the tears and sobs of the people, in the City of Mexico. The carvings and statuary which ornament the front of San José are the work of a Spanish artist, Huicar (wee-kär), who devoted many of the best years of his life to this work. The south window of the baptistery is considered by good judges the "finest gem of architectural ornamentation existing

in America to-day; its curves and proportions are a continual delight to the eye." 37

Mission Concepción.- In 1731 Concepción,38 the best preserved of the missions, was located two miles below San Antonio. Its twin towers, its picturesque dome, its front gateway so curiously decorated, its quaint legends, all make this mission one of peculiar interest. The front of the building was formerly frescoed in brilliant red and blue designs, making a dazzling effect; but time and

the desecrating hands of ruthless sight-seers have left few of these decorations.

Espada and Capistrano Missions.- Nine miles from San Antonio on the west bank of the river is mission San Francisco de la Espada (a-spä'-dä), so called from Saint Francis, the

in its present location and given its present name.

The Mission of San Juan (wän) Capistrano (kä-pēsträ'ño), six miles from San Antonio, was also one of the East Texas missions removed. The outline of the original plan followed in building all missions (as described in a previous topic) is clearly to be seen in the ruins of San Juan.

San Saba Mission.- In Menard County, on the San Saba River, in 1757, was founded the San Saba Mission

for the especial benefit of the Apache Indians. The Comanches, who were bitter enemies of the Apaches, soon came with a force of allies numbering about two thousand men and butchered all the inhabitants of the mission except two or three, who managed to escape. The Last Mission.- In 1791 the mission of our Lady of Refuge was founded at Refugio. This was the last Spanish mission established in Texas. missions were secularized, that is they were taken from the care of the priests who belonged to religious orders and given to the secular priests, those who had charge of regular parish churches. This was why the good Franciscan fathers, worn and discouraged, gave up their work in Texas and returned some to Mexico, others to Spain.

In 1794 all Texas

Condition of Texas.- At the close of this era, in spite of all the labor

and money expended, there

hundred and sixty at the missions or claiming to be under the influence of the fathers. While some twenty-five missions and presidios had been established, yet there were only three places where real