Site of the Mission Nuestra de la Purisima Concepcion
Douglass, Nacogdoches County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established by Franciscan missionaries in 1716 with the hope of civilizing and Christianizing the Indians of the region * Abandoned temporarily due to the French incursions from Louisiana in 1719 * Restored by the Marquis of Aguayo in 1721 * Removed to the Colorado River in 1730 and finally situated on the San Antonio River in 1731. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Franciscan missionaries founded Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción here in 1716 as Spain sought to convert and settle the Indigenous peoples of East Texas. French incursions from Louisiana forced its temporary abandonment in 1719, and though the Marquis of Aguayo restored it in 1721, the mission was ultimately relocated—first to the Colorado River and then, in 1731, to the San Antonio River.
Why it matters
The mission marks the frontier of Spanish colonial ambition in Texas, where empire, religion, and Native peoples met amid the rivalry between Spain and France.
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Related people
- · Marquis of Aguayo
Related events
- · Founding of Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción (1716)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
San Patricio Rancho
Douglass, TX
By the late 1790s traders William Barr and Samuel Davenport had settled on the site of the old Presidio Dolores and renamed their grant for Saint Patrick. Holding a Spanish monopoly to trade with the region's Native peoples, they built a network of ranches and river crossings along El Camino Real that supplied soldiers, sheltered travelers, and exchanged goods for furs and livestock. Caddo communities lived within these grants, and the crossing here on the Angelina River was a required stop between Nacogdoches and San Antonio.
Presidio Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de los Tejas
Douglass, TX
Established in 1716 as the first presidio in Spanish Texas, this fort guarded a chain of missions among the Tejas Caddo and countered growing French trade in the region. Built by an expedition of more than seventy people, it was the first Spanish settlement in the province to include women and children. Abandoned during French-Spanish tensions, rebuilt, and finally closed in 1729, it helped Spain press its claim to Texas against France.
Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de los Hainais
Douglass, TX
Founded in 1716 during Domingo Ramón's expedition, this mission stood in a village of the Hainai, the leading people of the Hasinai (Tejas) Caddo, and served as headquarters for Spain's early East Texas missions. Priests, soldiers, Spanish governors, and French traders all passed through, and the noted Caddo interpreter Angelina lived here. Abandoned amid French-Spanish conflict and later relocated to the San Antonio River, it marked Spain's fragile first grip on the region.
Louis Juchereau de St. Denis
Douglass, TX
A French-Canadian trader and diplomat, Louis Juchereau de St. Denis moved with rare ease among the Spanish, French, and Caddo worlds of the early 18th-century borderlands. Sent from Louisiana after a Spanish priest sought French help, he crossed into Spanish Texas, won over authorities in Mexico City, and guided the 1716 expedition that planted missions and a presidio in East Texas. From his base at Natchitoches he supplied the missions and traded—often illicitly—with the Caddo, becoming both indispensable and, to Spanish eyes, dangerous.