Article Title

Spanish Colonial Documents Pertaining to Mission Santa Cruz de San Saba (41MN23), Menard County, Texas

Authors

Mariah F. WadeFollow
Jennifer K. McWilliams, Texas Historical CommissionFollow
Douglas K. BoydFollow

Agency

TxDOT

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21112/ita.2007.1.11

Abstract

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is widening a 5-mile-long section of FM 2092 west of Menard in Menard County, Texas. The highway passes immediately south of the site of the Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá (41MN23). Built in 1757 and destroyed in 1758, the mission is a time capsule of Spanish colonial archeology in the northern frontier of New Spain, along with the related Presidio de las Amarillas (41MN1, popularly known as Presidio San Sabá), which was occupied from 1757 to 1768. The presidio location has long been known, but researchers did not rediscover the mission site until 1993. Texas Tech University conducted intensive archeological investigations at the mission site from 1993 through 1997. In the spring of 2006, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) contracted Prewitt and Associates, Inc., to conduct an archeological survey of this portion of FM 2092. The work included archeological testing of the portion of the mission site that extended into the road right of way. Intact and significant mission archeological remains were found, and data recovery investigations were subsequently undertaken in 2006–2007.

In conjunction with the FM 2092 survey effort, TxDOT sought to locate, transcribe, and translate previously unpublished or unknown Spanish colonial documents that might add to the story of the mission and presidio and the interpretation of the archeological remains of Mission San Sabá. Many Spanish documents pertaining to the mission and presidio have been translated and made available to researchers since the mid-twentieth century, but it is certain that additional documents exist and may offer further information on the lifeways and politics of those who occupied the mission. For this study, 10 previously unpublished Spanish documents—those considered to be most relevant to Mission San Sabá—were selected and then transcribed and translated in their entirety. Each of these documents is presented here in three forms: a facsimile of the original handwritten Spanish text, a complete Spanish transcription of the document, and a complete English translation of the document.

Licensing Statement

This is a work for hire produced for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), which owns all rights, title, and interest in and to all data and other information developed for this project under its contract with the report producer. The report may be cited and brief passages from this publication may be reproduced without permission provided that credit is given to TxDOT and the firm that produced it. Permission to reprint an entire chapter, section, figures or tables must be obtained in advance from the Supervisor of the Archeological Studies Branch, Environmental Affairs Division, Texas Department of Transportation, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas, 78701.