"First Spring Planting, Espada 1790" Donald Yena

This painting depicts life at Mission Espada near the end of Spanish Rule in Texas. The missions received little support from the Spanish crown and were expected to be self-sufficient, planting crops and raising livestock. In this painting you can see men working in the fields, planting the first spring crop, with a Spanish soldier standing at the ready to protect the farmers, should a threat arise. Espada and the other Texas missions began the process of secularization in the late 1700s and ranchlands near the mission were divided between local inhabitants.

Matted Print.
Measures: 16" x 20".