Yanaguana was the

Payaya people The Payaya people were Indigenous people whose territory encompassed the area of present-day San Antonio, Texas. The Payaya were a Coahuiltecan band and are the earliest recorded inhabitants of San Pedro Springs Park, the geographical area that ...

village in the geographical area that became the

Bexar County Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Brau ...

city of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Some accounts believe the Payaya also referred to the San Antonio River as Yanaguana, and it is sometimes promoted as such for the tourist industry. For a number of years, the city of San Antonio contracted with Yanaguana Cruises Inc. for an exclusive monopoly to operate tour barges on a select section of the river. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

has a designated "Yanaguana Trail" that runs along the river at Mission San Juan Capistrano. In 1933 Frederick C. Chabot of San Antonio formed the Yanaguana Society, specifically named for the Payaya village, to collect and preserve the early artifacts and history of the area. The organization lasted through 1960. The first recorded European contact with the village occurred when Spanish Franciscian priest

Damián Massanet Damián Massanet was a Spanish Franciscan priest who co-founded the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro, the first missionary college in New Spain. Biography Not much is known of Massanet's early life, but he is trusted to have been born in Majo ...

led a military expedition through the area. Massanet wrote in the June 13, 1691 entry to his diary that he had named the area San Antonio de Padua, but that the Payaya they encountered had called their village Yanaguana. The priest detailed a great variety of trees, abundant waters and fishing opportunities, and particularly noted the wild chickens at Yanaguana. The Payaya were a nomadic

Coahuiltecan The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter-gatherers. First encountered by Europ ...

band who camped at Yanaguana for the very reasons Massanet mentioned in his diary. The natural bounty of the area met their needs for sustaining their village. In 1709, Spanish Franciscan missionary

Isidro de Espinosa Isidro Félix de Espinosa (1679–1755) was a Franciscan missionary from New Spain who participated in several expeditionary missions throughout the province of Tejas (modern Texas). He was the president of the missionaries from the College of S ...

renamed the area Agua de San Pedro (Waters of San Pedro). The city of San Antonio created San Pedro Springs Park out of Yanaguana in 1852. At Yanaguana in 1718,

Martín de Alarcón Martín de Alarcón was the Governor of Coahuila and Spanish Texas from 1705 until 1708, and again from 1716 until 1719. He founded San Antonio, the first Spanish civilian settlement in Texas. Texas First term Alarcón was first appointed gove ...

founded the city of San Antonio by establishing San Antonio de Valero on the west side of the springs, and

Presidio San Antonio de Bexar A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th and 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Spanish Philippines in particular, were cen ...

. On May 1, 1718, Alarcón turned over possession of the "..mission at the site of the Indian village on the banks of the

San Antonio River The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in midtown San Antonio, about 4 miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the ...

..." to Franciscan priest

Antonio de Olivares Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares or simply Fray Antonio de Olivares (1630 - 1722) was a Spanish Franciscan who officiated at the first Catholic Mass celebrated in Texas, and he was known for contributing to the founding of San Antonio and t ...

. In 1729, King

Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724, and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign of 45 years is the longest in the history of the Spanish mon ...

decreed the area public land. The mission that began as huts was moved to the other side of the river a year later. In 1724, the mission was moved to its current location south of the springs, at what is now known as Alamo Plaza.

References

{{San Antonio History of San Antonio Indigenous culture of Aridoamerica Native American history of Texas

See also

References