FYI; the name San Luis de las Amarillas was only used as long as it was a wooden structure as originally built and when the fort became rock the name changed to Presidio de San Sabá.
Click to enlarge
There is a famous oil on canvas painting that is 6 feet 11 inches X 9 feet 7 inches, “The Franciscan Mission of San Saba in the Province of Texas” (circa 1758). It is known as one of the earliest Texas historical scene paintings still in existence, it is also called “The Destruction of the Mission San Saba.” The mural painted in 1765 details the destruction of Mission Santa Cruz de San Saba (which occurred in 1758). The mural was commissioned by Pedro Romero de Terreros, who had sponsored the mission and whose cousin died in the attack. The unsigned mural is attributed to José de Páez. It was titled “The Destruction of Mission San Sabá in the Province of Texas and the Martyrdom of the Fathers Alonso de Terreros, Joseph Santiesteban” and now hangs in the Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Historia in Mexico City. Menard County owns a copy of this painting and can be seen at the Menard County Library and the Menard County Courthouse, today, May 23, 2021.
Using numbered references, it illustrates the story of the area and mission destruction. The painting was on display in 2018 during the San Antonio 300 year celebration and had the attached documentation. The painting was also in Texas in the late 1980’s and offered for sale when it was removed back to Mexico by customs where it resides today, May 2021. Come to see the historic Presidio de San Saba in Menard, Texas.
April 10, 2018, San Antonio 300 art event with original oil painting of the Destruction of the Mission San Saba, photo by Buddy Wilkinson
San Saba Mission Painting
San Saba Mission Painting.The Destruction of Mission San Sabá in the Province of Texas and the Martyrdom of the Fathers Alonso Giraldo de Terreros, Joseph Santiesteban, a huge (83″ by 115″) painting, was commissioned around 1762 by mining magnate Pedro Romero de Terreros, cousin of Father Alonso de Terreros and principal benefactor of Santa Cruz de San Sabá Mission. Its intent was to express both the horror and significance of the massacre as well as to honor the priests’ martyrdom. Speculations about the identity of the painter have ranged from indefiniteness to dogmatic certainty. Whoever he was, the artist likely worked in the studio of Miguel Cabrera, the dominant painter of mid-eighteenth-century Mexico. A great deal of evidence suggests but does not prove conclusively that one of Cabrera’s artists, José de Páez, executed the painting.
In The Destruction of Mission San Sabá, the placement of the figures of the two slain priests makes their deaths the window through which the viewer interprets the painting on both the actual and figurative level, since these deaths were what invested the massacre with the element of heroic sacrifice. At the foot of each of these large figures is a shield bearing a biographical sketch of the priest, who is depicted in the manner in which he died, complete with weapons and blood in appropriate places. In addition to biographical information, the shields commend the priests’ character and sacrifice. The shields bracket a scroll that briefly summarizes the purpose of the mission and praises its major financial supporter, “the illustrious Knight don Pedro Therreros of the order of Calatrava.” In the fashion of painters of other historical tableaus, the artist has placed an alphabetized key to the eighteen events depicted in the painting in the lower half of the scroll. These vignettes are illustrated by 300 separate figures, each incident marked by a large red letter.
The painting was the only such work executed in Mexico in the mid-1700s that attempted to document a contemporary historical event; the few other visual depictions of scenes from this period in the nation’s history are in the category of “historical views.” Just as most American painters of the time took their artistic cues from Great Britain and, to a lesser extent, continental Europe, so colonial Mexican painters followed European artistic precedents, which dictated that “history painting” refer to classical or biblical themes. If an artist wished to portray contemporary historical figures, he dressed them in classical garb and allegorized the incident in which they were involved. Traditionally, American art historians have pointed to Benjamin West’s Death of General Wolfe as the painting that started a “revolution” in historical painting toward realism in the portrayal of contemporary historical events (1770). Although The Destruction of Mission San Sabá did not have a similar influence, it was painted at approximately the same time and was one of the first historical paintings to portray its subjects in contemporary dress.
The painting is important primarily as an artifact, as the earliest known painting of a Texas historical scene by a professional artist. Its contents, however, are not intended as a historically reliable account of the attack. Comparison with the deposition of one of the survivors, Father Miguel Molina, indicates that the painter included many of the events mentioned by the priest, although the wording of the alphabetized key is not a literal transcription of his account. But the artist also omitted some events while embellishing others. Certainly, the painting has much to commend it as a piece of visual, documentary evidence of the battle, especially since it was executed shortly after the massacre and a survivor may have advised the artist. Nevertheless, The Destruction was intended primarily as hagiography, with history as a secondary consideration. The canvas was soon famous in Spain as well as Mexico and served beautifully as a piece of “contemporary propaganda and…current morality,” celebrated primarily for its ideological overtones rather than for its aesthetic or documentary qualities. In the 1990s it was located at the Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Historia in Mexico City.
Sam D. Ratcliffe, “Escenas de Martirio: Notes on the Destruction of Mission San Sabá,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 94 (April 1991).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Sam D. Ratcliffe, “San Saba Mission Painting,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 22, 2021, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/san-saba-mission-painting.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Original Publication Date: January 1, 1996 Most Recent Revision Date: February 16, 2019
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2018 San Antonio Museum display of Painting
2018 San Antonio Museum display of Painting
Sale brochure before painting returned to Mexico
Sale brochure before painting returned to Mexico
Sale brochure before painting returned to Mexico
Photo close-up to original ca. 1765, New Spain, “Martyrdom of Franciscans at Mission San Saba”, Oil on Canvas by Jose de Paez, Museo Nacional de Arte, Secretaria de Cultura, INBA, MX, Mexico City
Photo close-up to original ca. 1765, New Spain, “Martyrdom of Franciscans at Mission San Saba”, Oil on Canvas by Jose de Paez, Museo Nacional de Arte, Secretaria de Cultura, INBA, MX, Mexico City
Photo close-up to original ca. 1765, New Spain, “Martyrdom of Franciscans at Mission San Saba”, Oil on Canvas by Jose de Paez, Museo Nacional de Arte, Secretaria de Cultura, INBA, MX, Mexico City
Photo close-up to original ca. 1765, New Spain, “Martyrdom of Franciscans at Mission San Saba”, Oil on Canvas by Jose de Paez, Museo Nacional de Arte, Secretaria de Cultura, INBA, MX, Mexico City
Photo close-up to original ca. 1765, New Spain, “Martyrdom of Franciscans at Mission San Saba”, Oil on Canvas by Jose de Paez, Museo Nacional de Arte, Secretaria de Cultura, INBA, MX, Mexico City
Photo close-up to original ca. 1765, New Spain, “Martyrdom of Franciscans at Mission San Saba”, Oil on Canvas by Jose de Paez, Museo Nacional de Arte, Secretaria de Cultura, INBA, MX, Mexico City
Photo close-up to original ca. 1765, New Spain, “Martyrdom of Franciscans at Mission San Saba”, Oil on Canvas by Jose de Paez, Museo Nacional de Arte, Secretaria de Cultura, INBA, MX, Mexico City
I scanned a 28 page little black photo album that belonged to Laura Forrest Harryman Bradford. The photos are not labeled but are such a wonderful look at a time during the early years of circa 1915-1925 in Menard County, Texas. I am hoping someone will be able to help identify some of these folks.
My husband’s maternal grandmother was Laura Forrest Harryman who married George H. Bradford on January 29, 1921 in Menard County, Texas. Mamo, as she was called, was born in Weesatche, Goliad County, Texas on October 2, 1895. She moved to Menard with her family between 1900 and 1910. When she married George, Dado, as he was called, Mamo was 25 years old. She was 31 in 1926 when she had Laverne Bradford, who marries Francis Lamar Wilkinson in 1946, and then Laverne got polio and with three years of daily therapy Mamo kept her from being crippled. When Mamo turned 40, she had Georgia in 1935. Mamo and Dado were married for 59 years and had a long and wonderful life until Dado died at the age of 82 in 1980. Mamo lived many years at the Menard Manor after a debilitating stroke and died March 8, 1988 at the age of 92. You can read more about her family at the post: https://blog.wilkinsonranch.com/2017/07/08/pate-and-martindale-family-photos/
Laura Forrest and her younger sister, Ruby Bernice Harryman, unknown date but circa 1917 when Ruby married from photo collection of Penny Wade, Ruby’s granddaughter.
Forrest Harryman with George Bradford and friend on the bank of the San Saba River, unknown date
1920 Laura Forrest Harryman at Charlie Graham Store Menard from family collection
1920 Laura Forrest Harryman at Charlie Graham Store Menard from family collection
1921 Forrest and George Bradford on the Bradford Ranch, Menard County, Texas from family collection
George H. “Dado” Bradford from family collection
Laura Forrest “Mamo” Harryman Bradford from family collection
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Young man with cap and cigarette with girl in plaid hat and scarf with Mamo with her six button sleeve dress and cap with white trim at the San Saba River
Unknown group of young people with “Mamo” Forrest Harryman on right side with hat Page 15 from Mamo’s album
Unknown group of young people with Forrest Harryman on bottom left side with hat Page 15 from Mamo’s album
Two young girls same group on side of hill Page 16 from Mamo’s album
Unidentified girl with hat and fox fur collar and boy with three piece suit Page 15 from Mamo’s album
Two young ladies dressed in black one with fur collar black hose and hats unknown Page 3 from Mamo’s album
Dado and Mamo with hound dogs and big tent on Bradford place west of town Page 7 from Mamo’s album
Believe to be Mamo along with another girl telephone operators in Menard
Wagon with two boys with cocked hats and two girls one with reins unknown Page 17 from Mamo’s album
Girl driving wagon with man with hat and others
Two ladies in white with bonnets and one drinking stem glass with two boys beside water well Page 16 from Mamo’s album
San Saba River baptism with wagons and cars and lots of folks in river Page 10 from Mamo’s album
Man with rope and girl in white with cap looking at sheep Page 8 from Mamo’s album
George “Dado” Bradford riding wagon horse with Mamo in round hat and gentleman and lady in bonnet with girl Page 8 from Mamo’s album
Two girls hugging boy with overalls happy faces unknown Page 10 from Mamo’s album
Blonde girl sitting side saddle on horse possibly Mamo Page 1 from Mamo’s album
Unknown family with three children Page 21 of Mamo’s album
Girl standing with her horse wearing pants and round tight hat Page 27 from Mamo’s album
Car with little blonde girl two young ladies and dog and Mamo with hat Page 17 from Mamo’s album
Family group on low water crossing bridge with George and Forrest and unknown couple and little girl
Family group on low water crossing bridge on San Saba River
Man sitting with little girl hand on shoulder with lady in plaid dress holding bonnet unknown Page 3 from Mamo’s album
Possibly Mamo and Dado with girl standing on the San Saba River bridge Page 17 from Mamo’s album
Two ladies with Mamo beside San Saba River all in other photos Page 14 from Mamo’s album
Young lady with lace collar sitting on San Saba riverbed by high bank and large tree Page 15 from Mamo’s album
Young lady with long satin dress with trimmed cuff and pin wearing tight hat with round balls sitting on San Saba riverbed Page 5 from Mamo’s album
Young couple on San Saba River bridge she has lace collar and ball fruit hanging off hat Page 18 from Mamo’s album
Two ladies sitting on San Saba riverbed same as other photo Page 17 from Mamo’s album
Girl and lady with lace collar sitting on train bridge Page 18 from Mamo’s album
Two young ladies dressed in black one with fur collar black hose and hats unknown Page 3 from Mamo’s album
Girl sitting on San Saba River bridge with stripes and emblem on sleeve round brim hat Page 14 from Mamo’s album
Mamo such a pretty girl with purse and short sleeves sitting on the San Saba River bank Page 9 from Mamo’s album
Mamo sitting on bank of river with black tight cap and white dress with short sleeves
Laughing girl sitting on San Saba River bank with fur tail in lap black dress with white stripes on sleeves and round brim hat Page 12 from Mamo’s album
Lady beside low water crossing with shed in back wearing black clothes and cap Page 14 from Mamo’s album
Lady standing beside low water crossing dressed in black with round straw hat Page 22 from Mamo’s album
Lady dressed in black with hat in hand two little girls on low water crossing of San Saba River Page 3 from Mamo’s album
Mamo dressed in black with lace collar in front of rose bushes and picket fence Page 10 from Mamo’s album
Unknown lady with black dress with satin trim and white lace collar by rose bushes Page 4 from Mamo’s album
Mamo with two ladies at Frisco Depot all wearing lace collars and hats Page 19 from Mamo’s album
Mamo sitting on ground with white lace collar Page 21 of Mamo’s album
Lady with black dress with satin trim and lace collar sitting on ground with little girl white dress Page 4 from Mamo’s album
Same little girl that was with lady with black dress with satin trim and lace collar sitting on ground Page 4 from Mamo’s album
Mamo with short dress holding round brim hat with lady in gingham dress and round hat by rose bush
Margaret Isabelle “Maggie Belle” Pate “Ma” Harryman dressed in black sitting on log with vehicle in back ground Page 8 from Mamo’s album
Flowers at graveside in Mamo’s album unsure grave
Ma Harryman with car and standing next to tree in black with fur collar Page 24 from Mamo’s album
Mamo standing next to car with Nora with short bangs in drivers seat and lady with bun long black dress sitting on running board unsure Page 25 from Mamo’s album
Believe to be Mamo with big button coat and black gloves by tree and car Page 17 from Mamo’s album
Mamo driving car same day as Ma Harryman in all in black Page 24 from Mamo’s album
Ruby with short bangs driving Page 24 from Mamo’s album
Mamo wearing big button jacket and tight cap with bow beside car and large dog Page 25 from Mamo’s album
Mamo with fur collar coat and hat with bow on side with black dog beside car unknown Page 3 from Mamo’s album
Possibly Mamo with fur collar and cap taken in yard Page 29 from Mamo’s album
Lady with fur collar coat and hat with bow on side with black dog was in photo beside car unknown Page 3 from Mamo’s album
Unknown married lady wedding ring dressed in black with fur collar and head wrap Page 1 from Mamo’s album
Unknown brown haired little girl in back yard with black leggings and dress Page 23 from Mamo’s album
Ruby Harryman Crowell sitting under tree with short bangs and curls Page 13 from Mamo’s album
Ruby Harryman Crowell with short bangs white dog beside fence with sticks Page 17 from Mamo’s album
Ruby with short bangs fur collar jacket with large buttons and two dogs Page 25 from Mamo’s album
Ma Harryman with girl Page 28 from Mamo’s album
Margaret Belle “Ma” Harryman unknown location
Two ladies and young man with lace collars beside train engine Page 18 from Mamo’s album
Mamo with two ladies looking out back of train with two lights all wearing white lace collars Page 19 from Mamo’s album
Frisco Engine with Mamo on the right with gentleman standing Page 6 from Mamo’s album
Unknown couple standing back of train Page 2 from Mamo’s album
Unknown man with hat holding hand of girl on train car with another girl oval window on car Page 18 from Mamo’s album
Unknown four on back of train two men and two women Leaving Menard for Panama-Pacific Exposition Page 6 from Mamo’s album (Held in San Francisco February 20 to December 4, 1915)
Unknown couple guy with wooly chaps and pistol and scarf and cigar, lady with cap on back of train Leaving Menard for Panama-Pacific Exposition Page 15 from Mamo’s album
Unknown girl beside car with rag top Page 11 from Mamo’s album
Believe to be Wade Crowell with Ruby on running board Mamo’s album 1
Unknown man standing on running board of truck
Man and girl holding turkeys on tree limb Page 7 from Mamo’s album
Young blonde boy with pipe sitting on water well with bucket maybe Harryman’s San Saba Avenue, Menard Page 2 from Mamo’s album
Young lady standing next to water well holding round hat in gingham dress Page 13 from Mamo’s album
Unknown lady in yard next to rose bush with round black hat with fur collar Page 23 from Mamo’s album
Girl in front of house with curved neck short sleeve dress unknown
Young girl holding hand of boy with cap and little girl Page 1 from Mamo’s album
Very small photo of lady with fur collar and large brim hat Page 8 from Mamo’s album
Unknown lady with fur collar and cap by wooden gate Page 29 from Mamo’s album
Unknown side view of girl standing by courthouse cross wooden fence Page 22 from Mamo’s album
Two unknown girls standing by courthouse cross wooden fence Page 22 from Mamo’s album
Two ladies sitting on bridge wearing round hats and short sleeved white dresses unknown Page 11 from Mamo’s album
Unknown man and lady beside house wearing hats and white lace collar Page 9 from Mamo’s album
Man driving old car with fringe on windows wearing bow tie unknown Page 11 from Mamo’s album
Unknown man wearing hat in front of picket fence Page 21 from Mamo’s album
Two ladies in front yard with hats unknown Page 9 from Mamo’s album
Unknown two young girls sitting with white dog and horse by shed in background Page 28 from Mamo’s album
Unknown very small photo of young man Page 27 from Mamo’s album
Unknown WWI soldier with mess kit and standing beside cot Page 20 from Mamo’s album
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- 1874c Fort McKavett photo shared by Cody Mobley on Facebook.
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- 1875c Ragsdale ambrotype into CDV 10th Infantry Regiment hauling water to Fort McKavett from Government Springs West Texas Collection San Angelo THC
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- 1875 c ambrotype to CDV stereo viewer Ragsdale photo of Mexican homes depicting earthen dugout in the San Saba River near Fort McKavett Texas Historic Commission
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- 1878 M C Ragsdale photo of Company D and Captain D W Roberts Ranger Camp below Fort McKavett from UTSA website
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- 1880 May 15 Texas Rangers at Fort McKavett, Menard County, Texas UTSA website
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- 1870 c Annie Splittgerber Ellis photo from findagrave
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- 1800’s Benchoff D G Saddlery and General Merchandise Menardville, Texas by N. H. Rose
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- 1881 Schuchard Home, Menardville, Texas
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- 1800’s Iron Clad Saloon Menardville, Texas from Alicia Brown from Menardville Museum
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- 1884s construction of Old Rock Saloon owned by William Johnston
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- 1885c Wallick’s Store with Sam Wallick and family when army was there. This was in front of Episcopal church parking lot shared on Ft McKavett Facebook
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- 1885 Aug 27 Frontier Times photo of Early Day Cowmen taken at San Angelo Texas
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- 1886 Menard County courthouse by Ruffini, Menardville, Texas.
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- 1887 May 17 Felix Mann’s herd watering on the San Saba river, trailing to Clayton, New Mexico Andy H Murchison the trail boss on the gray horse in the foreground from Free State of Menard
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- 1889 Las Moras Ranch House, Menard County, Texas.
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- 1890 Menardville School
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- 1890’s Murchison and Brothers Dry Good and Groceries, Menardville, Texas
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- 1892 May 15 A H Murchison Grocery Store Menardville
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- 1894 Menardville Jail
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- 1894 c downtown Menardville on San Saba Avenue; left to right, Dr. Dorr, Mrs. Jake Appleman’s grandfather; Henry Luckenbach, little boy; Fritz Luckenbach, Sr., next two men are Vic Crump and Dave Maddox. Background photography shop belonging to Emil Toepperwein.
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- 1895 entire Menardville school
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- 1898 Dec 24 N. H. Rose Menardville five months before flood
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- 1899 Jun 6, Menardville flood by Rose, N. H.
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- 1890s c Nauwald, Sophie, Mrs. Emil Toepperwein (left) and Ella Nauwald (right) sisters from dsloan website.
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- 1890 J. W. Hunter’s last school, taught at Menardville, Texas.
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- 1890s photo of Australian Hotel and downtown Menardville Jones Collection shared on Facebook by Cody Mobley
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- 1890s photo of courthouse, jail and school Jones Collection shared on Facebook by Cody Mobley.
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- 1890s View of Menardville from east looking west shared on Facebook by Cody Mobley.
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- 1891 Menardville Sheen family on the San Saba River near Menard
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- 1894 Wilhelm ranch house folks identified shared on Facebook in Menard County History and Genealogy group.
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- 1894 Fort McKavett school from Facebook shared by Fort McKavett State Historic Site
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- 1895 last ox team to pass through Menardville. Mr and Mrs Alvin Halling and family moving from Fredericksburg to Sonora by E Toepperwein Menard News
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- 1895 Road Workers near Menardville Texas from Free State of Menard
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- 1895 Menardville Cornet Band from Free State of Menard
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- 1895 Luckenbach family original home photo with dormers shared on Facebook Hannah Beall
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- 1897 Jan 29 Wedding picture of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Toepperwein from Alicia Brown’s website.
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- 1898 Menardville looking East shared on Facebook Menard County Texas History and Genealogy
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- 1899 dedication of Catholic Church in Menardville from Alicia Brown’s website.
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- 1899 dedication of Catholic Church in Menardville from Alicia Brown’s website.
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- 1899 dedication of Catholic Church in Menardville from Alicia Brown’s website.
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- 1899 c Sacred Heart Church built in Menardville photo from San Angelo Standard Times 2007
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- 1899 Toepperwein Emil photo by photographer Asa Brack for Barr Studio San Antonio cabinet card from dsloan website.
1800’s Iron Clad Saloon Menardville, Texas from Alicia Brown from Menardville Museum
1800’s Benchoff D G Saddlery and General Merchandise Menardville, Texas by N. H. Rose
1889 Las Moras Ranch House, Menard County, Texas.
1884s construction of Old Rock Saloon owned by William Johnston
1899 Jun 6, Menardville flood by Rose, N. H.
1898 Dec 24 N. H. Rose Menardville five months before flood
1890 Menardville School
1890’s Murchison and Brothers Dry Good and Groceries, Menardville, Texas
1894 c Dr. Dorr, Luckenbachs and two unidentified at Emil Toepperwein Photographer building, Menardville, Texas
1892 May 15 A H Murchison Grocery Store Menardville
1894 Menardville Jail
1895 entire Menardville school
1870 c Annie Splittgerber Ellis photo from findagrave
1874c Fort McKavett photo shared by Cody Mobley on Facebook.
1875 c ambrotype to CDV stereo viewer Ragsdale photo of Mexican homes depicting earthen dugout in the San Saba River near Fort McKavett Texas Historic Commission
1875c Ragsdale ambrotype into CDV 10th Infantry Regiment hauling water to Fort McKavett from Government Springs West Texas Collection San Angelo THC
1878 M C Ragsdale photo of Company D and Captain D W Roberts Ranger Camp below Fort McKavett from UTSA website
1880 May 15 Texas Rangers at Fort McKavett, Menard County, Texas UTSA website
1881 Schuchard Home, Menardville, Texas
1885 Aug 27 Frontier Times photo of Early Day Cowmen taken at San Angelo Texas
1885c Wallick’s Store with Sam Wallick and family when army was there. This was in front of Episcopal church parking lot shared on Ft McKavett Facebook
1886 Menard County courthouse by Ruffini, Menardville, Texas.
1887 May 17 Felix Mann’s herd watering on the San Saba river, trailing to Clayton, New Mexico Andy H Murchison the trail boss on the gray horse in the foreground from Free State of Menard
1890 J. W. Hunter’s last school, taught at Menardville, Texas.
1890s c Nauwald, Sophie, Mrs. Emil Toepperwein (left) and Ella Nauwald (right) sisters from dsloan website.
1890s photo of Australian Hotel and downtown Menardville Jones Collection shared on Facebook by Cody Mobley
1890s photo of courthouse, jail and school Jones Collection shared on Facebook by Cody Mobley.
1890s View of Menardville from east looking west shared on Facebook by Cody Mobley.
1891 Menardville Sheen family on the San Saba River near Menard
1894 Fort McKavett school from Facebook shared by Fort McKavett State Historic Site
1894 Wilhelm ranch house folks identified shared on Facebook in Menard County History and Genealogy group.
1895 last ox team to pass through Menardville. Mr and Mrs Alvin Halling and family moving from Fredericksburg to Sonora by E Toepperwein Menard News
1895 Luckenbach family original home photo with dormers shared on Facebook Hannah Beall
1895 Menardville Cornet Band from Free State of Menard
1895 Road Workers near Menardville Texas from Free State of Menard
1897 Jan 29 Wedding picture of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Toepperwein from Alicia Brown’s website.
1898 Menardville looking East shared on Facebook Menard County Texas History and Genealogy
1899 c Sacred Heart Church built in Menardville photo from San Angelo Standard Times 2007
1899 dedication of Catholic Church in Menardville from Alicia Brown’s website.
1899 dedication of Catholic Church in Menardville from Alicia Brown’s website.
1899 dedication of Catholic Church in Menardville from Alicia Brown’s website.
1899 Toepperwein Emil photo by photographer Asa Brack for Barr Studio San Antonio cabinet card from dsloan website.
SAN LUIS DE LAS AMARILLAS PRESIDIO
SAN LUIS DE LAS AMARILLAS PRESIDIO. Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas (popularly known as San Sabá Presidio), one mile from Menard on the north bank of the San Saba River, was established in April 1757 as a support for the Santa Cruz de San Sabá Mission to the eastern (Lipan) Apaches. The presidio and its accompanying mission were the first place that Europeans in Texas came into conflict with the Comanche Indians and found that Plains Indians, mounted on Spanish horses and armed with French guns, constituted a fighting force superior to that of the Spanish colonials. The Indian menace eventually led to the Spanish withdrawal from Texas and the establishment of the new line of defense along the Rio Grande.
Raids on San Antonio and other Spanish settlements by eastern Indian tribes, including the Apaches and their allies, convinced Spanish authorities of the need to establish a mission and presidio for the Indians. Pedro de Rábago y Terán, commander of the San Xavier Presidio, was sent to explore the San Saba River country in 1754 to look for suitable locations for a presidio-mission complex. After his return to San Xavier he urged removal of the San Xavier complex to the San Saba River. The mission was moved temporarily to the San Marcos River near San Antonio and Rábago died soon afterward. Diego Ortiz Parrilla, named to succeed Rábago y Terán, received instructions on September 1, 1756, to transfer the San Xavier garrison to the San Saba River and to recruit an additional fifty men in San Antonio and the Mexican provinces. The San Sabá presidio thus became the largest in Texas. While a jurisdictional question was being debated over whether the mission lay within the boundaries of Texas or Coahuila, the new post remained under the viceroy. The matter was finally settled in favor of Texas.
The mission to the Apaches on the San Saba River was personally funded and supported by Pedro Romero de Terreros, whose cousin, Father Alonso Giraldo de Terreros, was put in charge. The presidio, which was to protect the mission, was government funded. In April 1757 the missionaries destined for the mission under Giraldo de Terreros, mission president, arrived on the San Sabá site. Arguments occurred between Giraldo de Terreros and Ortiz Parrilla, with the commandant arguing for abandonment of the projected mission. The mission fathers prevailed, and building began on timber structures for the presidio and the mission, to be called Santa Cruz de San Sabá, in May 1757. The presidio, located on the north side of the river, was about four miles from the mission, which was on the south side. In January and February of the following year small raids and theft of the presidial horse herd by northern Indians, enemies of the mission Apaches, gave warnings of an impending attack. Shelter at the presidio was offered to the missionaries and their staff, but it was refused. The attack by 2,000 Comanches and their allies came on March 16, 1758. Two priests and six other persons were killed, although about twenty-seven managed to escape to the presidio when Ortiz Parrilla sent a detail of men to the mission after dark. Ortiz Parrilla, with the garrison of the presidio, reduced from 100 men to approximately thirty, gathered the almost 300 civilians into the fort, but the Indians did not attack the presidio.
In the fall of 1759 Ortiz Parrilla led a large force into northern Texas to punish the northern tribes for the massacre. At the fortified Taovaya village on the Red River, near the site of present-day Spanish Fort, he was defeated. He maintained that the French were providing assistance to the Indians. He was forced to return to Mexico City, where he was relieved of his command; Capt. Manuel Rodríguez of San Juan Bautista took charge on the San Saba for almost a year. By 1760 Rodríguez was replaced by the nephew of Pedro de Rábago y Terán, Felipe de Rábago y Terán, who had been absolved of charges made against him eight years earlier when he was commander at San Xavier. Rábago y Terán replaced the timber buildings with stone; a quadrangle fort with four corner bastions was built and a moat was dug. In 1761 he called the fort Real Presidio de San Sabá. He also explored west as far as the Pecos River, hoping to find a trail to New Mexico, and founded two new missions for the Apaches on the upper Nueces River.
During the years that followed, Comanches continually harassed the presidio and mission. Supply trains were cut off and livestock taken. The Marqués de Rubí‘s inspection of the presidio on July 27, 1767, found conditions deplorable, the worst in the provinces. Nevertheless, Rábago y Terán was refused permission to remove the presidio to the upper Nueces River near Mission San Lorenzo. Nicolás de Lafora, Rubí’s engineer, drew a plan of the presidio. Rubí recommended that the presidio either be abolished or moved to the Rio Grande, which he considered to be the actual frontier as part of a new defense line. Conditions became worse during 1768, with increasing Indian raids, food shortages, and a severe epidemic. Rábago y Terán, without permission, ordered the presidio abandoned early in June, and the entire garrison and their families moved to Mission San Lorenzo on the Nueces, where they arrived on June 22, 1768. Rábago y Terán was severely reprimanded for the abandonment and for his failure to burn or raze the buildings, and he eventually was removed from command. Rábago y Terán, who was replaced by Capt. Manuel Antonio de Oca y Alemán on April 1, 1769, is believed to have died en route to Mexico City. Oca withdrew from the Nueces in June 1771, transferring the soldiers to various presidios in San Antonio and Coahuila to fill manpower shortages. It was not until 1772 that a royal decree officially abandoned the fort on the San Sabá River.
In the ensuing years there were visitors at the abandoned presidio, including Governor Juan de Ugalde of Coahuila in 1789 and Francisco Amangual in 1808. Some left their names scratched in the gate: Padilla 1810, Cos 1829, Bowie 1831, Moore 1840. Ferdinand von Roemer visited the site in 1847, and his description served as a guide for rebuilding part of the structure in 1936. The modern road to the ruins of the presidio leaves Highway 29 west of Menard. Limited archeological reconnaissance and testing have been done at the site of the presidio. A. T. Jackson and A. M. Woolsey made a surface survey in 1934 and collected artifacts which are at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory in Austin. In 1967 the State Building Commission with Dessamae Lorrain and Kathleen Gilmore performed limited testing. The artifacts are at Southern Methodist University. Jack Ivey in 1981 and Daniel Fox in 1983 did limited testing. Artifacts consist of aboriginal flint scrapers and projectile points, aboriginal pottery, Spanish colonial ceramics, gun flints, and metal.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Carlos E. Castañeda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas (7 vols., Austin: Von Boeckmann–Jones, 1936–58; rpt., New York: Arno, 1976). William E. Dunn, “The Apache Mission on the San Saba River: Its Founding and Failure,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 17 (April 1914). Kathleen Gilmore, A Documentary and Archaeological Investigation of Presidio de San Luis de las Amarillas and Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá (Austin: State Building Commission, 1967). Paul D. Nathan, trans., and Lesley Byrd Simpson, ed., The San Sabá Papers (San Francisco: Howell, 1959). Ernest Wallace and David M. Vigness, eds., Documents of Texas History (Austin: Steck, 1963). Robert S. Weddle, The San Sabá Mission (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964).
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Handbook of Texas Online, Kathleen Kirk Gilmore, “SAN LUIS DE LAS AMARILLAS PRESIDIO,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/uqs28.
Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.