How did it happen that the city of San Antonio was named after St. Anthony? Over 300 years ago, in 1691, a small expedition of Spanish explorers traveling north from Mexico advanced some 150 miles into present-day Texas. On June 13, they stopped to set up camp near a Coahuiltecan (kwa-weel-teken) Indian village along the river. The Franciscan chaplain of the small expedition, Father Damien Massanet, suggested that they call the place San Antonio because they had arrived on the feast of St. Anthony. The Spanish general, Domingo de Teran, agreed with the brown-robed friar and then took the idea one step further: He named the river San Antonio, too! Some 27 years passed, however, before another Franciscan friar, Father Antonio Olivares, founded the first Franciscan mission near the village in 1718. Its purpose was to evangelize the Coahuiltecans. The friar named the mission San Antonio de Valero in honor of St. Anthony and the duke of Valero, a Spanish viceroy. Mission San Antonio, which gave the city its name, is the most visited landmark in downtown San Antonio today. However, the famous adobe structure is better known as the Alamo—though historical plaques carefully explain that the building was originally named Mission San Antonio. In brief, the name change came about this way: From 1718 till 1793, Spanish missionaries labored patiently at Mission San Antonio to evangelize the Coahuiltecan people and create a Christian community there. Their efforts met with a measure of success but, because of various difficulties, missionary activities came to an end at Mission San Antonio in 1793. The abandoned mission was then converted into a military fort that came to be known as the Alamo. The fortress is best remembered for the historic siege of 1836 (February 23 to March 6). During this battle, popularized in films, 188 fighters for Texas independence were killed at the fort by Mexican forces led by General Santa Ana. Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and other famous Americans died in the battle that gave birth to the war slogan - Remember the Alamo! Info taken from the American Catholic . Org Website.
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