Path of Redemption -- Mission Tejas SP, Grapeland TX
N 31° 32.899 W 095° 14.398
15R E 287368 N 3492547
A sign of history near an idealized mission chapel which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, commemorating the men who built it
Waymark Code: WMXKQX
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/25/2018
Views: 1
Mission San Francisco, the first Spanish mission in East Texas, was established at the site in 1690, and abandoned by 1694. Originally established to hold down the Spanish claim to this part of Texas, which was threatened by French inursions into the area by French explorer Sieur de la Salle, mission San Francisco was ultimately a victim of its remoteness and a belief among the Indians (who began dying in large numbers after the Spanish priests had baptized them) that the Spanish were poisoning them with bad water.
The site of Mission San Francisco was selected for its proximity to an established Indian village, the nearness of El Camino Real, and nearby natural springs. The actual site was located in 1934 by Doctor Albert Woldert, a historian and scholar. Shortly thereafter, a civilian conservation Corps project to restore the forest in this area grew to include a project to build a commemoration of the long vanished mission San Francisco. The mission chapel that stands today was built by those civilian conservation Corps laborers and is a popular spot for weddings and get-togethers at Mission Tejas State Park.
A recently-installed interpretive sign at the CCC mission chapel re-creation reads as follows:
"PATH OF REDEMPTION
CCC enrolees reclaimed the impoverished land, and in doing so secure a future for themselves
Building New Lives
for poor and unemployed men struggling during the Great Depression, the civilian conservation Corps, or CCC, offered rare hope for a brighter future. The enrollees complied with military discipline imposed at the camps and followed their leaders on-the-job instructions. They worked hard, completed projects, receive decent clothing food and shelter, and education, and even learning skills that they parlayed into their future lives in many cases, it was just the break they needed.
Lacking sophisticated equipment, CCC enrollees had only simple hand tools to perform their tasks.
The position of company 888's African-American enrollees conveys the policy and practice of segregation that persisted even in government programs originally designed to be integrated.
Reclaiming the Land
Company 888 of the CCC formed in June 1933 is one of many units dispatch nationwide to stem the tide of eroding soils and disappearing forests. Under the direction of both the US Forest Service and the Texas Forest Service, the men built roads, suppressed wildfires replanted native trees and constructed this park."
Group that erected the marker: State of Texas
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Mission Tejas SP
Grapeland, TX
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