Imagekind Gallery Texas

Mission San Juan Bells

Mission San Juan in San Antonio, Texas ..... Captured with a Canon 5D Mk III and a Canon EF 24-105/4L IS ..... Mission San Juan Capistrano (originally christened in 1716 as La Misi�n San Jos� de los Nazonis and located in East Texas) was founded in 1731 by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order, on the eastern banks of the San Antonio River in present-day Bexar County, Texas. The new settlement (part of a chain of Spanish missions) was named for a 15th-century theologian and "warrior priest" who resided in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The mission San Juan was named after Saint John of Capestrano. ..... The first primitive capilla (chapel) was built out of brush and mud. Eventually a campanile, or "bell tower" containing two bells was incorporated into the structure, which was replaced by a long hall with a flat roof and an attractive belfry around 1756. Around 1760 construction of a larger church building was begun on the east side of the Mission compound, but was never completed due to the lack of sufficient labor. Mission San Juan did not prosper to the same extent as the other San Antonio missions because lands allotted to it were not sufficient to plant vast quantities of crops, or breed large numbers of horses and cattle; a dam was constructed in order to supply water to the Mission's acequia, or irrigation system. (the Mission reportedly owned 1,000 head of cattle, 3,500 sheep and goats, and 100 horses in 1762). Some 265 neophytes resided in adobe huts at the Mission in 1756; by 1790 the native Coahuiltecan people were living in stone quarters, though their number had dropped to 58. San Juan Capistrano was administered by the College of Santa Cruz de Quer�taro until March 1773, when it was placed under the care of the College of Nuestra Se�ora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas. ..... As part of a public works project in 1934 some of the native quarters and the foundations of the unfinished church were unearthed. The chapel, priests' quarters, and other structures w

Bluebonnet Field

Wildflowers near Llano, Texas

Bluebonnet Sunset

Wildflowers near Kingsland,Texas

Bluebonnets and Yucca

Wildflowers along the Willow City Loop, near Fredricksburg, Texas

Mission Concepcion Hallway

Hallway at Mission Concepcion in San Antonio, Texas ..... After 10,000 years, the people of South Texas found their cultures, their very lives under attack. In the early 1700s Apache raided from the north, deadly diseases traveled from Mexico, and drought lingered. Survival lay in the missions. By entering a mission, they foreswore their traditional life to become Spanish, accepting a new religion and pledging fealty to a distant and unseen king. ..... Mission Nuestra Se�ora de la Pur�sima Concepci�n de Acu�a (also Mission Concepcion) was established in 1716 as Nuestra Se�ora de la Pur�sima Concepci�n de los Hainais in East Texas. It was originally meant to be a base for converting the Hasinai. The mission was moved in 1731 to San Antonio. After its relocation most of the people in the mission were Pajalats who spoke a Coahuiltecan language. Founded by Franciscan friars, this is the best preserved of the Texas missions. The Battle of Concepci�n was fought here on October 28, 1835 between Mexican troops under Colonel Domingo Ugartechea and Texian insurgents led by James Bowie and James Fannin. The 30-minute engagement, is described as "the first major engagement of the Texas Revolution" by historian J.R. Edmondson. Located at 807 Mission Road, Concepcion was designated a National Historic Landmark on April 15, 1970 and is part of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Restoration of the mission's interior was completed in March 2010 after six months of work. Catholic Mass is still held every Sunday. ..... Captured with a Canon 5D Mk III and a Canon EF 24-105/4L IS lens

Mission Espada Sunburst

Mission Espada in San Antonio, Texas ..... Captured with a Canon 5D Mk III and a Canon EF 24-105/4L IS lens ..... Mission San Francisco de la Espada (also Mission Espada) was a Roman Catholic mission established by Spain near San Antonio de Bexar in northern New Spain in 1731 to convert local Native Americans to Christianity and solidify Spanish territorial claims in the New World against encroachment from France. Today, the structure is one of four missions that comprise San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Founded in 1690 as San Francisco de los Tejas near Weches, Texas and southwest of present-day Alto, Texas, Mission San Francisco de la Espada was the first mission established in Texas. There are older missions currently in West Texas, but they were in Mexico at the time they were established.

Mother Mary

Statuette of Mary along with roses in Mission San Jose in San Antonio, Texas

The Riverwalk

The Riverwalk on the San Antonio River in San Antonio, Texas

Spanish Governor's Palace

The Spanish Governor's Palace is a National Historic Landmark in Downtown San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. Built in the first half of the 18th century, it was originally intended to protect the nearby San Antonio de Valero Mission (the Alamo) and the growing colony. It is considered the sole remaining example of an aristocratic early Spanish house in Texas. The National Geographic Society has called the landmark "the most beautiful building in San Antonio."

Bluebonnet Rails

Bluebonnets and train tracks in the Texas Hill Country

Texas Beginnings

Early frontier log cabin in the Texas Hill Country

Mission Arcade

Hallway at Mission Concepcion in San Antonio, Texas

Mission Entrance

Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo is a historic Catholic mission in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The mission was named in part for the Marquis de San Miguel de Aguayo, José de Azlor y Virto de Vera. Many buildings on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, borrow architectural elements from those found at Mission San José. The mission was founded on February 23, 1720, because Mission San Antonio de Valero had become overcrowded shortly after its founding with refugees from the closed East Texas missions. Father Antonio Margil received permission from the governor of Coahuila and Texas, the Marquis de San Miguel de Aguayo, to build a new mission 5 miles south of San Antonio de Valero. Like San Antonio de Valero, Mission San José served the Coahuiltecan Indians. The first buildings, made of brush, straw, and mud, were quickly replaced by large stone structures, including guest rooms, offices, a dining room, and a pantry. A heavy outer wall was built around the main part of the mission, and rooms for 350 Indians were built into the walls. A new church, which is still standing, was constructed in 1768 from local limestone. The mission lands were given to its Indians in 1794, and mission activities officially ended in 1824. After that, the buildings were home to soldiers, the homeless, and bandits. It was restored in the 1930s and is now part of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The church facade features from the top: a cross, representing Jesus Christ, St. Joseph (San Jose) holding the infant Jesus, St. Dominic and St. Francis, Our Lady of Guadalupe (the Virgin Mary), and St. Joachim and St. Anne holding the infant Mary.

Caprock Canyon Wall

Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway is a Texas state park on the Caprock Escarpment in Briscoe County, Texas, United States, approximately 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Amarillo. The state park opened in 1982 and is 15,313.6 acres (6,197.2 ha) in size, making it the third-largest state park in Texas.

Primeval Forest

Caddo Lake (French: Lac Caddo) is a 25,400 acres (10,300 ha) lake and wetland located on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana. The lake is named after the Southeastern culture of Native Americans called Caddoans or Caddo, who lived in the area until their expulsion in the 19th century. It is an internationally protected wetland under the RAMSAR treaty and features the largest Cypress forest in the world. Caddo is one of Texas' few non-oxbow natural lakes and is the 2nd largest in the South; however, it was artificially altered by the addition of a dam in the 1900s.