Southwest Missions Pt 1 of 2

[Music]

for thousands of years ancient cultures

flourish throughout the Americas these

early settlers left us Clues to their

Advanced religions colorful art and

sophisticated temples but ways of life

that had existed for centuries would

soon vanish becoming Distant Memories as

a new religion and a new culture would

soon blanket the

Americas the erosion of an old culture

the beginning of a new one how Two

Worlds Collide next along North

America's Mission

Trail stretching from present day Mexico

into the US Southwest and Florida North

America's Mission Trail paved the way

for new Settlements a new religion and

new architecture in the new world these

missions of North America are as diverse

as their Founders as picturesque as

their surrounding Countryside and today

as controversial as the reasons for

their establishment covering three

centuries these missions were

constructed with a dual purpose expand

Spain's control in the new world and

convert the native inhabitants to the

Catholic

faith the mission system brought

European ways to the new world nearly a

century before the first English colony

was established at Jamestown in

1607 and more than 150 years before the

Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in fact

the oldest European settlement in the

present day United States that at St

Augustine in Florida was founded on

behalf of the Spanish Crown in

1565 the founding of St Augustine led to

the first Catholic mass celebrated on us

soil it was held on the grounds of

mission nbre deos one of eventually 40

Spanish Catholic missions that would

line the Atlantic Seaboard from Florida

into the Carolinas and later the Gulf

region into Georgia and

Alabama all of the Florida missions

though disappeared in the early 1700s as

Indians died of dis disease and early

British explorers sought to diminish

Spain's influence in the region in South

and Central Florida European missions

never took hold as the area's strong

Kusa native tribe held off all Colonial

advancers for some 300

years prior to Spain's discovery of

Florida the seeds of North America's

Mission Trail had been planted on the

islands of the Caribbean Spanish

conquistadores landing at what was then

called the West Indies their gate way to

the

Americas names like Cortez Pon de Leon

and Nunes de Balboa would become

synonymous with the early exploration

ultimately changing For Better or For

Worse Native American cultures for

Spanish explorers there were two routs

to seize North America's riches at first

into Florida and later into Mexico and

finally into the southwestern United

States originally in search of gold the

First Northern explorers ventured to the

the west through present day Arizona and

then into New Mexico while later travels

took the Spaniards straight up through

Mexico through El Paso into the banks of

the Rio

Grand when no wealth was found in the

area the first mission chain of the US

Southwest sprang up in New Mexico in the

late

1500s later Explorations brought

Catholic missionaries into Texas Arizona

and Baja California in the 1600s and

finally to Alta California in the 1700s

with the establishment of North

America's missions new architectural

styles were introduced into the Americas

structurally the missions of North

America differ from region to region to

this day characteristics of mission

architecture can be found throughout the

US Southwest with columns arches and

domes suddenly dominating these great

expanses in Texas an abundance of

limestone helped the settlers build

sturdy fortress-like structures in

bordering New Mexico the missionaries

using Adobe often built simple shrines

that blended with Century old buildings

such as those in Taos in the Sonoran

desert region of Southern Arizona the

missions are characterized by ornate

detail and a baroque style here Builders

also used adobe brick and stone to

create some of the most elaborate

structures in North

America on the shores of the Pacific the

21 missions of Alta California today

most of an architectural combination of

original ideas with Turner the century

renovation Adobe was the material of

choice in Alta California while Stone

churches are widely found throughout

Baja

California the commonly accepted belief

is that the missions were largely

constructed by the native populations

under the direction of their European

overseers the missions of Spanish North

America became more than religious

centers where the Catholic faith was

spread most missions built in the shape

of a quadrangle offered an all-inclusive

complex for worship education and

Community functions the mission complex

soon became the focus of the community a

place where work was done classes were

taught and where social Gatherings took

place at first the missionaries drew the

natives to their missions using food and

other gifts once there missionaries

taught their converts with symbols many

diagrams like these musical guides at

California San Antonio de Padua are

painted on the mission walls although

they were sent for religious purposes

the missionaries of North America are

also credited with bringing new

agriculture to the area as well as

elaborate irrigation systems to service

the new crops in addition the Spaniards

introduced the horse to the new world an

animal along with cattle that would

become the foundation of Transportation

Commerce and farming for hundreds of

years fruits vegetables and a variety of

plants now considered common items can

also be traced to the missionaries among

them grapes date palms Citrus and wheat

the olden new crops and European

livestock helped the missionaries to be

self-sufficient and to bring water to

their mission complex an extensive water

system was often

constructed aqueducts like this

engineering Marvel in keto Mexico

transported water for miles to the

mission grounds complex dams like this

one at in Santa Barbara and water

ditches like those found in San Antonio

would then store this most valuable of

resources the missionaries of North

America came from a variety of ethnic

backgrounds contrary to popular

perception not all of the missionaries

who walked these Halls originated in

Spain Italians Germans croatians and

Czechs among others filled their ranks

Sarah and all Padres were catholic and

four separate Catholic religious orders

oversaw the these missions spreading the

new Faith among North America's native

people Jesuits franciscans Dominicans

and augustinians combined to change the

religious landscape of North

America their quest with the cross met

many barriers especially a language

barrier numerous linguistic and cultural

differences among the natives made the

Spanish Conquest extremely difficult

diseases devastated the native

population the Native Americans immune

systems could not protect them from

diseases brought by the

Europeans after 300 years of triumphs

and catastrophes North America's Mission

Trail would end here in 1832 at one of

the last missions built Mission San

Francisco Solano in Sonoma California

the missions fell into ruin as Mexico

won its independence from Spain and

priorities shifted to the new burdens of

managing the new Republic it was not

until the 20th century that conservation

efforts restore many of these missions

to their original Splendor bringing back

important pieces of North American