Revisiting "Mission Impossible" and the other Zacatecan Missions of East Texas and West Louisiana

Summary

This presentation will give updates on the following 18th century Zacatecan Missions:  Guadalupe, Dolores, and San Miguel.  Mission Guadalupe has not been found--some clues to its location will be discussed.  Kathleen Gilmore called Mission Dolores, "Mission Impossible," because she had difficulity locating it in the early 1970s.  James Corbin of Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) did eventually locate the site and conducted the major excavations in the mid-1970s and 1980s.  A representation of the mission is now in the works--which will be discussed, along with geophysical surveys and archaeological investigations in 2008 by SFA and the Texas Historical Commission. This project was funded by the Bob and Kathleen Gilmore Endowment for French and Spanish Colonial Period Archeology in Texas.  Finally, the geophysical survey and ground-truthing of Mission San Miguel by SFA and Northwestern State University will be briefly discussed.  This was funded by the Cane River National Heritage Area.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017   •
• Dr. Kathleen K. Gilmore’s Legacy and the Future of Spanish and French Colonial Archaeology in Tejas

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 614