Our First San Antonio Adventure

maryloudriedger

February 3

Dave and I arrived in San Antonio on February 1 and settled into our lovely little home in a diverse and interesting neighbourhood where we will be living for the next month.

Yesterday we went on our first adventure.

We rented bicycles and set off to explore the River or Mission Trail which takes cyclists to five missions built by the Spanish in the 1700s.

There was great signage and maps all along the way to show you where to go and to explain the things you were seeing as you cycled.

It was an overcast day and there was just the tiniest bit of rain which actually made it very pleasant for cycling.

The biking trail which follows the river took us past impressive trees,

rustling grasses,

interesting bridges,

colourful businesses

an old mill run by a water wheel

a new flour mill designed to look like a castle

and all kinds of different homes. Sadly we also saw some homeless people sleeping beside the trail.

We stopped first at Mission Concepción where Franciscan Friars forced Indigenous people from the area to help them erect the church and other mission buildings. The church took 15 years to build and was completed in 1755.

I think people must have been shorter in those days because my head nearly grazed the top of some of the mission doors.

At Mission San José we watched an excellent film that explained the history of the many different groups of local Indigenous people who came to the missions and helped to build and maintain them. Collectively these groups are called the Coahuiltecan Nations.

Dave reads about how the Franciscan fathers treated the Coahuiltecan people

Some Coahuiltecan people came to the missions of their own free will for protection from Apache Raiders, but many were rounded up by Spanish military and brought to the missions where their help was needed. The Franciscan friars forced them to convert to Christianity and learn to speak Spanish and Latin.

Small dwellings in the wall of the San Jose Mission were shelters for the Indigenous families that provided labour for the mission

We learned that 70% of the local Indigenous people died from smallpox and other diseases brought by Europeans.

I read later that these missions have now been turned over to the Indigenous people who were responsible for building them in the first place.

We had hoped to visit the other three missions on the trail but realized before we had reached them that we would need to turn back since we had only rented the bikes for four hours.