After having visited Mission Espada one can conclude that much of our back round and our culture here in San Antonio is based on these missions created centuries ago. The visit to the mission was more then educational, it was an experience that one can take to heart and really begin to understand the San Antonio culture. Today these missions represent an almost unbroken connection with the past. Mission Espada was founded as San Francisco de los Tejas in 1690, and was then moved to the San Antonio river and renamed San Francisco de la Espada in 1731. The mission itself is still in contact and remains in good condition to this day. Mission Espada is the only mission which is made of brick, this is still visible today. The church built at Mission Espada is still intact and still holds service today. The small room with rock walls almost appears as remote today as it did in the mid-1700s. The missions established along the San Antonio River in the 18th century is a reminder of one of the Spanish's most successful attempts to extend their domain northward from New Spain. These missions are the largest concentration of Catholic missions in North America. The missions serve very different purposes today, in the mid-1700's they where home and even safety at times for the Indians and the Spanish. The Spanish took the Indians in and trained them to defend their communities they were also taught to make pottery, and clothing for themselves. Men were taught to farm and taught how to grow many different crops. The Indians were taught religion and moral, though some fled the missions to return to old life, most accepted Catholicism and became active participants in Spanish society. 
Also a very important part of the missions was the acequia systems, Mission Espada has the best -preserved acequia system. Sparse rain fall and the need for irrigation made the construction of the seven gravity flow ditches a priority for the missionaries and Indians. The five dams and several aqueducts along the San Antonio River ensured a continual flow of river water into the system. The 15 mile network irrigated about 3,500 acres of land. Espada Aqueduct is the oldest Spanish aqueduct in the United States, and is still able to be observed today. The two-century old floodgates controlled water sent to fields for irrigation and for uses such as bathing, washing and power for mill wheels. Though these systems may be very old they are far from being out dated, some farms today still rely on this system of irrigation.
The entire mission system is centuries old but when visiting the missions today one can see much of our culture in these old walls. The traditions and ways of living still live on today, though we have come far since the 1700's, the way we got where we are today is partly based on these missions and there growth. After visiting Mission Espada one can get a good sense of their culture and an even better understanding of how our community came originally together and really got started.
