DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, as best as Duane can carry the tale. Now, March of 1731 is when the Franciscan missionaries planted their flag — so to speak — on the banks of the San Antonio River, and Mission San Juan Capistrano came into being. But this mission had a life before that life.
It was a successor to Mission San Jose De Los Nazonis, which had been established back in 1716 all the way out in east Texas. The trouble with that location? Defense.
Hard to hold. So it moved. And here, on the San Antonio River, it would try its luck again.
Now the name — San Juan Capistrano — that carries some weight of its own. It's named for St. John of Capistrano, who in 1456 led a European religious crusade that saved the city of Belgrade from infidels.
That's the kind of name you pick when you mean business. The mission's purpose, out here on the Texas frontier, was the cultural and religious conversion of the Coahuiltecan-speaking Indians of south Texas. And those early years — they call them the uncertain years in the marker, and uncertain is putting it gently.
Buildings had to be constructed. Crops had to be planted. And the Indians had to be continually persuaded to stay long enough to reap the benefits of what the missionaries called civilization.
That persuading was apparently no small task. And if persuasion wasn't hard enough on its own, the mission was also plagued — that's the word, plagued — by Apache raids, by cholera, by smallpox epidemics, and by harassment from the civil authorities. The civil authorities.
Even the government was making life difficult out there on the river. But here's where the story turns, and it's worth savoring. By 1762, Mission San Juan wasn't scraping by anymore.
It had surplus harvests. Corn, cotton, beans, chili peppers, watermelons, cantaloupes — the land was giving back. The mission also owned numerous cattle, sheep, goats, and horses.
Two hundred and three resident Indians were living there, in thatched huts, while the chapel and the convent stood in stone. Something had taken root. It didn't last forever in its original form.
The mission was secularized in 1794. And for a long stretch, those stone walls held their secrets. Then 1967 came around.
The buildings were restored, and when workers turned over the soil, they unearthed artifacts reaching back across three centuries of occupancy. Three centuries of living, struggling, planting, praying, and surviving on the banks of the San Antonio River. All of it, waiting in the ground — right where they left it.
What the marker says
Founded in March, 1731, by Franciscan missionaries on the banks of the San Antonio River; Named for St. John of Capistrano, who in 1456 lead a European religious crusade that saved the city of Belgrade from infidels. Mission San Juan was a successor to Mission San Jose De Los Nazonis, established in 1716 in east Texas. It moved here due to the difficulty of defense. One of a complex of missions, San Juan was devoted to the cultural and religious conversion of the Coahuiltecan-speaking Indians of south Texas. During the uncertain early years, buildings were constructed, crops planted, and the Indians had to be continually persuaded to stay long enough to reap the benefits of civilization. Apache raids, cholera and smallpox epidemics, and harassment by the civil authorities also plagued the missions constantly. By 1762, however, San Juan had surplus harvests of corn, cotton, beans, chili peppers, watermelons,and cantaloupes. It also owned numerous cattle, sheep, goats, and horses. The 203 resident Indians lived in thatched huts; the chapel and convent were of stone. The mission was secularized in 1794. In 1967, when the buildings were restored, many artifacts relating to the three centuries of occupancy were unearthed. (1967)