The Presidio San Elizario

The Presidio of San Elizario In 1598, the Spanish nobleman, Don Juan De Onate from Zacatecas, Mexico was track a group of Spanish colonists from Mexico to compensate the newly discovered province of saucily Mexico. The group traveled for weeks across the cast off until it reached the banks of the Rio Grande River near the San Elizario cranial orbit. Soon afterward, Onate proclaimed self-will of this atomic number 18a in the name of his King, Phillip II. The baseborn town of San Elizario is named after the French canonise Elcear, the French patron saint of the military.It is wholeness of the oldest communities in the El Paso Area. The community was conventional during the late 1700s. A presidio was built in the area in order to treasure the Spanish settlers from the attacking Apache and Comanche Indian raiders. The admit date of when the presidio of San Elizario was first built frame a debate between more(prenominal) local anesthetic historians. One well know area histo rian, Metz, writes, The lord presidio was built just about 1773 and that the accredited chapel service service was built of for the most part adobe brick and some wood, and took approximately 40 years to construct. Most of the work was do by prisoners, some of them Indian, mostly Apache. (254). As noted by an online source, the presidio itself was surrounded by a double wall of adobe measuring 13 feet tall by seven feet wide. Inside were barracks for soldiers and special policeman quarters. Also within the fort were family residences, corrals, inventory rooms, and a small chapel. This small chapel was built in a stripe pattern reflecting the proterozoic European colonialism. (San Elizario). The chapel has gone by dint of major changes throughout its history, yet still remains cockeyed to its original location to this day.As historian hind end O. West notes, the San Elizario Presidio is often mistaken as a mission. However, the presidio of San Elizario was not created t o convert the local natives to Christianity, but in fact was created as a fort or presidio to harbor the Camino Real and other area settlements from Apache and Comanche Indian raiders. (19). An online source alike notes that the presidio was involved in numerous military engagements and natural disasters which oblige its movement many propagation throughout its ahead of time history. (Reyes).According to another historian, Douglas Kent Hall, The presidio was go 37 miles up the Rio Grande in 1780 to its sure site. (131). According to another internet source, During the early 1830s the unpredictable Rio Grande River changed course, virtually insulate San Elizario and its surrounding communities as an island in the oculus of the Rio Grande. (San Elizario). After the US-Mexico War of 1846-1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, establishing the Rio Grande River as the boundary between Texas and Mexico.This left San Elizario to move around part of what is now the st ate of Texas. San Elizario is steeped in both Texas, and Hispanic history. Still be today, the San Elizario presidio and chapel has moved many times and gone through many changes since its original construction. One online source notes, in 1829, the Rio Grande swamp completely destroying the Chapel at San Elizario. (San Elizario). A different Website points out that the chapel that stands in the same location today was rebuilt in 1882. (Kohut). Another online source notes, the exterior has changed junior-grade from its original construction.The main difference was in the change of the front facade, as this added to the, early European colonial, bow on the modern-day construction of the time. A fire destruct untold of the interior of the chapel in 1935. The inside has undergone dramatic changes since then, again reflecting the influence of European architectural style. With pressed-tin covering the original ceiling covers and beams. Several additions consecrate also been ma de to the exterior of the chapel. For instance, an orchard has been added to the easterly side of the chapel and the surrounding plaza.More adobe structures have also been added to the surrounding area in order to add to the formalities of the area. The formal rectangular patterned streets and building orientation reflects the elements of early Spanish colonialism. In 1944 the chapel was repainted in order to revere the local soldiers who fought overseas in macrocosm War II. (San Elizario). A local college bookman writes in the Borderlands Website that a major indemnity of the chapel began in 1993, however a great deal work still needs to be done to the exterior walls of the structure.The armorial bearing racecourse Association, which was formed in 1986, has done much work to uphold the heritage of the chapel at San Elizario and other local Missions. with their hard work, the Socorro and Ysleta missions, along with the San Elizario chapel have retained their beauty and st rength through hundreds of years of faith and devotion. (Reyes). With the help of the Mission develop Association and donations from tourists and local participation in its preservation, the San Elizario chapel can be a monument for many more generations to enjoy. Works Cited Hall, Douglas Kent.Frontier Spirit Early Churches of the Southwest. spick-and-span York Abbeville Press, 1990. Print. Metz, Leon C. El Paso Guided Through Time. El Paso, Texas Mangan Books, 1999. Print. West, John O. Presidio Chapel San Elceario San Elizario, Texas, USA. The Mission Trail El Paso/Juarez. Ed. Laura Jusso. El Paso, Texas Sundance Press, 1996. Print. Reyes, Blanca et al. Area Missions are Part of Living History. Borderlands. Web. 22 Jan 2009. San Elizario locomote Tour. El Paso County History. Web. 18 Dec 2009. Kohout, Martin D. San Elizario Presidio. handbook of Texas Online. Web. 23 Apr 2009.