Gateway to Mission Espada.<BR>Mission San Francisco de la Espada was transferred from East Texas to the San Antonio river in 1731. It became one of the five Franciscan missions in this area which together form the largest concentration of early missions in North America. This was actually the oldest of the original missions, having been first established as San Francisco de los Tejas in 1690. It's also the farthest south of the these missions, standing almost as remote from the city today as it did in the 1700s. Spanish policy dictated that mission communities pattern themselves as closely as possible after life in Spanish villages. Coahuiltecan Indians were taught vocations that later proved beneficial to the entire region.