 Indians became main source of labor  Planted and harvest crops & cared for animals  Indians came to mission by choice  Came because of steady supply of food and protection against enemies  Once in mission, Spanish controlled Indians  Punished them for not working or bad behavior  Those who ran away were caught & brought back

 Missions were religious places  Indians went to religious meetings daily  Said prayers  Some Indians converted to Catholic faith

 Farming was full time job at missions  Raised sheep, goats, and cattle  Some Indians made soap, bricks, cotton goods, and other products  Helped build missions  Many others learned to sew, become stone carvers, and blacksmiths

 Spanish tried to teach Indians how they ruled  Appointed some mission Indians to be local chiefs  Chiefs carried out the orders of the missionaries  Spanish expected the Indians to defend the mission, but gave them no guns  Allowed Indians to vote in local elections and hold office

 Helped build fort  Built houses to live in and storehouses for supplies  Guarded livestock  Carried messages  Protected supply wagon trains  Kept order in missions

 Disease killed many Indians  Indian rejection of Mission life  Problems at Presidios -soldiers not well paid -had to buy own supplies from officers -soldiers and friars argued about how to treat Indians

 Spain gained Louisiana Territory from France  Spain evaluates missions in Texas and decide they are getting worse  Spain closes most missions  Only those in San Antonio and La Bahia remain  Effort to settle Texas with this system had failed