From the Annals of the Missions –  In 1699, San Juan Bautista Mission was founded on the Rio de Sabinas twenty-five miles north of present day Lampazos in Nuevo Leon.   Franciscan fathers Francisco Hidalgo, Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares, and Marcos de Guereña of the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro established the mission which was moved to a site near present-day Guerrero, Coahuila about thirty-five miles down the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass. San Juan Bautista was the mission from which all other Texas missions sprang forth and it was the base for early expeditions to the Texas interior.  In 1716 Domingo Ramón set out from San Juan Bautista to establish the missions in East Texas. In 1718, Governor Martín de Alarcon used San Juan Bautista to launch the expedition which resulted in the founding of San Antonio de Bexar.  Soldiers of the mission’s presidio provided supply trains and escorts for travelers into Texas.

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