Re-Enactors Recreate the May 1 1718 Dedication of Mission San Antonio

Re-enactors dressed in early 18th Century clothing and flying Imperial Spanish flags were on hand as the May 1, 1718 proclamation creating the Mission San Antonio de Valero was re-created on the exact spot where the Mission was dedicated 300 years ago today, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.

The original location of the Mission was at the headwaters of San Pedro Creek, which is not in San Pedro Springs Park north of downtown.

The Mission, after moving twice, eventually was rebuilt just east of the San Antonio River and became known as 'The Alamo.'

The date of the dedication is considered to be the founding date of the City of San Antonio. The first civilian settlement was authorized on May 5, 1718.

Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller read the original proclamation that was read a the time by the Governor of the Province of Coahuila, Martin Alarcon, authorizing the Mission be constructed.

But the re-enactment got a little too real at one point, when a woman in the crowd started yelling at Archbishop Gustavo, demanding the Catholic Church apologize for violence done to Native Americans by European colonists. She was removed from the audience but was not arrested.


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