Return to Top The mission was originally in East Texas and known as Mission San José
de los Nazonis. It was re-established in 1731 and renamed San Juan Capistrano
in honor of the Franciscan hero of Belgrade. It was located on the east bank of
the San Antonio River and two and a half miles below Mission San José. The
first primitive chapel of brush and mud, with a tower and two bells, was still
being used in 1745, although stone structures began to be built in the 1740s. The
brush and mud chapel had been replaced by a long hall with a flat roof and an
attractive belfry by 1756. The Indian houses along the walls were eventually
adobe, not stone, structures. About 1760, on the east side of the mission
compound, a larger church was being built, but unfortunately was never
completed. It is clearly stated in Fr. Lopez's report in 1789 and Fr. Diaz de Leon's
inventory in 1824 that only half of the church was actually built. This was due to
the lack of Indian workers during the declining mission years.
Return to Top If water was the lifeblood of the Spanish mission, limestone was basic
fabric from which structure derived its distinct shape and form. The local
surroundings provided the raw materials for building, like limestone, sandstone,
caliche, gravel, and sand. Rock outcrops were common across the region, but the
primary source of limestone for the San Antonio churches was quarried near
Mission Concepción. Some varieties were cut into massive construction blocks,
or shaped into triangular wedges to form the characteristic archways. Others
were delicately carved into elaborate sculptures.
Spanish artisans gathered
sandstone to cut into slabs for walls, flagstone floors, and interior features such as
bookshelves. Some kinds of sandstone made red and yellow dyes that were used
for paint. The missionaries also used upland soils, which are mostly clays, to
make ceramics, tiles, and bricks. Limestone supplied the integral component for
the mortar. The Indians gathered it, transported it to the mission, then processed
it in special kilns. The resulting lime-ash was mixed with sand, caliche, and
water to produce mortar. Variations of the same mixture provided builders with a
fine interior plaster.
Return to Top Fertile soil meant a bountiful harvest and vast pasture lands meant a
prosperous ranch. This combination equaled a healthy mission economy.
Agriculture and stock raising were the economic mainstays of San Antonio
throughout the 1800's. In the mission labores (or irrigated fields), corn, beans,
chiles, lentils, pumpkins, melons, sweet potatos, and cotton were grown.
Inventories also listed specialty crops such as peach trees, grape vines, and sugar
cane.
Beyond the forested banks of the San Antonio River, the prairie grasslands
and the South Texas Plains provided ample range for mission livestock, such as
sheep and cattle. A report in 1762 stated that there were 3,500 sheep and nearly
as many cattle.
Unfortunately, the friars did not achieve a successful agricultural
economy without some consequences. Soil erosion, increased use of pesticides,
and frequent droughts took their toll on this once fertile farmland.
Return to Top The mission was hit hard by Apache raids and a government decree. The
decree said that all unbranded cattle became federal property and anyone who
slaughtered any such cattle, including the missions, had to pay four pesos per
head of cattle. The Apaches had stolen most of their horses, so they could not
round up the cattle to brand them. The mission was impoverished overnight, and
in order to feed the Indians, they had to buy back their own cattle with the corn
they raised. From there, the mission declined.
In 1756, 265 Indians were living in
adobe huts at the mission. In 1790, the Indians were living in stone quarters, but
there was only 58 Indians living at the mission.
San Juan was attended by the missionary of San Francisco de la Espada, after the first secularization,
until about 1813. It was then attended by one remaining missionary at San José until
1824. The mission was neglected from 1824 until 1840. Services were conducted there
after 1840 by diocesan priests, Claretians, and Redemptorists in the church until 1967,
when the Franciscans returned to San Juan.
