The Mission Frontier

In order to better understand what these walled, medieval communities were like, it is important to first learn about five important factors of the missions: the people, the church, farming, ranching, and caminos reales.

Over 400 years ago Spanish expeditions began to explore land that is now the American Southwest. Beginning in the 16th century, missionaries, accompanied by a few soldiers, moved north out of the Valley of Mexico, founding missions and presidios. By 1718 this activity extended to the San Antonio River, helping form the nucleus of the future city of San Antonio itself.