Category 1: Missions & Priests
Q: What group of Catholic priests ran most Texas missions?
A: Franciscan Friars
Q: What was the main job of a Spanish presidio?
A: A fort to protect missions and roads
Q: What Caddo word meaning "friend" gave Texas its name?
A: Tejas
Q: What famous city was founded in 1718 as a mid-way supply stop?
A: San Antonio
Q: What term means closing a mission and handing land over to the community?
A: Secularization
Q: True or False: Priests could build missions anywhere without permission.
A: False
Q: Who lived and worked inside a presidio?
A: Spanish Soldiers
Q: Because rain was rare in Laredo, what became the main way settlers made a living?
A: Ranching / Raising livestock
Q: What French explorer built Fort St. Louis in Texas after getting lost?
A: La Salle
Q: In what year did Mexico win independence from Spain?
A: 1821
Q: What was the main goal of a Spanish mission?
: Convert Native Americans to Catholicism and teach Spanish culture
Q: Why did soldiers and priests often get into arguments?
A: Over how to treat Native Americans and run the camps
Q: How did European contact hurt Native American populations the most?
A: Diseases (like smallpox) and loss of hunting lands
Q: What famous mission in San Antonio was originally called Mission San Antonio Valero?
A: The Alamo
Q: What famous French ship sank in Matagorda Bay in 1686?
A: La Belle
Q: What happened to mission lands during secularization?
They were given to local priests and Native residents
Q: What was Texas protecting Mexico's silver mines from?
A: French invaders and hostile raids
Q: What Spanish leader was called the "Father of the Lower Rio Grande Valley"?
A: José de Escandón
Q: What town on the Rio Grande was started in 1755 by Tomás Sánchez?
A: Laredo
Q: What huge structure did archeologists build around La Belle to pump out the water?
A: A cofferdam
Q: Why did priests try to stop Spain from closing missions early?
A: They worried Native residents would be mistreated
Q: How did Texas act as a "buffer zone" for Spain?
A: It was a protective wall between Spanish Mexico and rival countries
Q: Name one powerful Native group that fiercely resisted Spanish mission life.
A: Comanche or Apache
Q: Who was the Spanish governor who found the ruins of Fort St. Louis?
A: Alonso De León
: Name two reasons Spain stopped building missions in Texas.
A: Too expensive, diseases, Native resistance, or France was no longer a threat