Mission del Apostol Santiago

The missions at La Junta had a halting start. From 1670 to 1672 two Franciscans preached here until the people of the region forced them out. Friars came again in 1684 and in 1687, and both times the residents soon tired of the message and sent the missionaries away. The Jumanos had asked for missions partly for protection, as Apaches, strengthened by the horse, pushed into country the Jumanos had held. Lasting missions waited until 1715, and even those were small, poorly funded and often left without a priest.

What the plaque says

Mission del Apostol Santiago One of nine missions established in the Big Bend country by Father Fray Nicolas Lopez, O.F.M., and Don Juan Dominguez de Mendoza in 1683-1684. Maintained by Franciscan missionaries for the civilizing and christianizing of the Jumano, Julimes and other Indians of this area. (1936)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Leaton State Historic Site — steps away
  The adobe trading post on the Rio Grande below Presidio, where digging has rewritten the stories told about it and a self-guided walk leads through its rebuilt rooms.

More markers nearby

• Presidio del Norte — steps away
• Home of Ben Leaton — steps away
• Captain Henry Skillman, C.S.A. — 3.2 mi
• Native Peoples of La Junta de los Rios — 6.3 mi