Violence: The Effect Of The San Saba Mission

Violence has always had a huge impact on the world that is known today. Back then, violence occurred frequently because everyone was greedy for wealth, power, and more property to rule over. In his article, Father Miguel de Molina, tells of the day that the San Saba Mission was attacked in 1758. It was a day that will always be remembered.
“The men and women of the Mission cried out that the Indians were upon them” (Haynes, 56). In 1758, a group of 2000 Indians stood side-by-side, and attacked the San Saba Mission. The San Saba Mission, was like any ordinary Mission, which was used by the Spaniards back then, as a place to covert others into the Christianity way. The 2,000 Indians attacked a little after sunrise. The Indians, which were a mix of several different Native Americans tribes, but especially Comanche. The Indians, surrounded the Mission, and several Indians were equipped with firearms, and other forms of weaponry. The Indians had been lied to, and used for so long, and they were tired of it. In March 1978, the Indians destroyed the San Saba Mission. This was the first Mission in Texas to ever be destroyed by Native Americans.

Native Americans, were always thought of as “savages” by the Spaniards.

They believed that the Indians were unhuman, and that they were basically animals. Indians always had the short-end of the stick, and were treated like they were not important to the way of living. “Doubtless to train and encourage them in their cruel and bloody way of life” (Haynes, 57). The Spaniards were constantly trying to brain wash, and break down the Indians’ spirt. The Spaniards created this “Missions” to allow for the “savages” to be converted into Christianity. However, the Indian’s could never fully let go of their own upbringing, which only made more friction between the Spaniards, and the Indians. The day of the attack, the Indians were there to attack those who had lied to them, and for those who stabbed them in the

back.
“They had no intention other than to fight the Apaches, who had killed some of their people” (Haynes, 57). The Indians were there to attack the Apaches because the Apaches had betrayed them, and killed some of their people. The Indians knew that the Apaches were traders, and that they had teamed up with the Spaniards. The went that day, to attack the San Saba Mission, because they felt that the Spaniards were hiding, and protecting the Apaches. The San Saba Mission, was created to convert Apache Indians into the Cristian way of living. Father Miguel de Molina, talked to the Indians, and they told him all they wanted was to get back at those who, hurt, and damaged their people.
Native Americans were the first settlers to settle in America, and not that long others came to shake their world apart. The Spaniards were used to a life of trading, and used to finding a wealthy way of living. When the Spaniards came into the “New World”, they didn’t care who was there, or what was already established there. The Spaniards, just like other countries, wanted to be the most advanced. The ones to be superior to everyone else. The Spaniards learned the Indians’ way of living, and even adapted some, and claimed them as their own. The Spaniards wanted the Indians to either obey them, or be killed. The Spaniards knew that the Indians, were valuable, especially as “workers.” The Spaniards even created Missions to allow for the Indians to be cleansed, and become a whole new person.
The attack on San Saba Mission was a sign of how violent our world can become. Wither it be something as little as following orders, or taking over a whole civilization. Our world, is what is today, not for the violence, but for the ability for it to overcome those obstacles.