Mission San Francisco de los Tejas

The Spaniards built this mission inside a village of the Nabedache, the westernmost tribe of the Hasinai confederacy, and gave the settlement its name on May 22, 1690. The Handbook of Texas, following the most recent research, puts the original site on San Pedro Creek just east of Augusta, a few miles west of the state park and its replica. An epidemic struck the Nabedache in 1690 and 1691, and by 1693 they had come to believe baptismal water was fatal. They refused to gather at the mission, and the friars left that October.

What the plaque says

Mission San Francisco de los Tejas First Spanish Mission in East Texas. Established in 1690 by Franciscan friars to convert the Tejas Indians. "Tejas", a Spanish rendition of the Indian word for "friend", was in time adopted as the state name. The founding party was led by Capt. Alonso de Leon, a veteran explorer making his fifth journey into Texas. He was to see if the Tejas desired a mission and to find any remaining threat of the Frenchman La Salle's expedition of 1685. Finding none, de Leon proceeded to this site. As the Tejas were willing to accept missionaries, he built a dwelling and church of rough-hewn logs near a brook. The church was dedicated on June 1, 1690. Leaving Father Damian Massanet in charge, de Leon departed on July 4. Three years later, however, the mission was empty. Lack of sufficient defense, the isolated location, epidemics and the insincerity of the Indians (who took the Spaniard's gifts but not their religion) contributed to its failure. In 1693 it was abandoned, although later twice re-established and renamed. In spite of this, Spanish officials were inspired by the Tejas effort to make long-range plans for future expeditions, which marked the beginning of the Spanish mission and colonization movement in Texas. (1968)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caddo Mounds State Historic Site — 6.4 mi
  Three earthen mounds of an ancestral Caddo village and ceremonial center on the old El Camino Real, settled about A.D. 800 and still sacred to Caddo people, with a grass house and visitor center.
• Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — 24 mi
  A round trip of about 25 miles of track between the Palestine and Rusk depots through the Piney Woods, on a line built by prison labor and reopened as a tourist railroad in 1976.

More markers nearby

• The Joseph R. Rice Log Cabin — steps away
• Community of Weches — 0.4 mi
• Mission San Francisco de los Tejas — 0.5 mi
• Weches CCC Camp — 0.6 mi