Site of Mission San Clemente

The Handbook of Texas says the Mendoza expedition camped from March 16 to May 1, 1684, on a river it called the Glorious San Clemente. Scholars have placed the mission west of Ballinger, near the Concho-Colorado junction and on the South Llano; Seymour V. Connor's more recent study puts it on the San Saba west of Menard, where he found a massive stone ruin. Two to three thousand Indians joined the Spaniards there, and most were baptized. Apache and Salinero attacks drove the Spaniards out, and La Salle's 1685 landing turned Spain toward East Texas.

What the plaque says

At the juncture of the Concho and Colorado rivers. Established March 16, 1684, by the Mendoza Expedition for the purpose of civilizing and Christianizing the Indians of the region.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Carnegie Library of Ballinger — 18 mi
  A 1909 limestone library with an Ionic portico in a railroad town the Santa Fe created in 1886, one of the few Texas Carnegie libraries still working in its original building.

More markers nearby

• Rich Coffey House — 1.2 mi
• Community of Concho — 4.6 mi
• Site of Flat Top Settlement — 8.2 mi
• John S. Chisum, Confederate Beef Contractor — 11 mi