Site of Mission San Clemente
Millersview vicinity, Concho County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On March 16, 1684, the Spanish expedition led by Juan Domínguez de Mendoza paused at the junction of the Concho and Colorado rivers to establish Mission San Clemente, meant to convert and "civilize" the Native peoples of the region. Far out on the edge of Spain's northern frontier, the mission was a fleeting outpost of a colonial enterprise that reached deep into what would become West Texas. Only its remembered site survives.
Why it matters
San Clemente marks one of Spain's earliest attempts to plant its mission system in the Texas interior, a reminder that European colonization — and its profound disruption of Indigenous life — reached these rivers a century before Anglo settlement.
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Related people
- · Juan Domínguez de Mendoza
Related events
- · Mendoza Expedition, 1684
Themes & tags
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