Historical Marker
Site of the Mission San Ildefonso
San Gabriel, Milam County · Texas
Erected 1936
San Ildefonso was meant for the Akokisa, Bidai and Deadose, three peoples who shared a dialect and intermarried. They also traded with the French, and when food ran short the soldiers and friars had to buy from them, which the friars said weakened their authority. The Coco people waiting nearby for their own mission fled in March 1749 after harassment by the soldiers, and by October the rest had gone too. The friars regathered some by 1750 and counted 150 baptisms. The Bidai who tried to return in 1753 were sent away for lack of supplies.
What the plaque says
Site of the Mission San Ildefonso Established by Franciscan missionaries in 1749 with the hope of civilizing and christianizing the Coco, Mayeye, Orcoquiza, Karankawa, and other tribes of Indians. The martyrdom of Padre Jose Ganzabal and the circumstances connected therewith caused the departure of the Indians and the friars and the removal of this mission to the San Marcos River in 1755. Reestablished in 1762 on the Nueces River for the conversion of the Lipan Apaches with the new name of Mission San Lorenzo de la Santa Cruz.
Where it stands
30.69008, -97.08961 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 13 miCameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.
- Calvert — 32 miA railroad cotton town of 1868 on State Highway 6 that claimed the largest cotton gin in the world and elected Black men to county and state office during Reconstruction.