de Valero, or also known as the Alamo. It had carvings in the windows and the doorways that were complicated and beautiful. The carvings were made when the limestone was just unearthed. When limestone is just quarried it's relatively soft. It hardens with age and exposure to air. Many missions were built on the San Antonio River. Missions in East Texas were moved to the San Antonio. Some of them changed their names. San Jose was the most successful mission in that spot. It led to the settlement of San Antonio later on. When the Spanish built missions to change the Indians they didn't realize all the work it would take. The French weren't really a problem anymore. The Spanish government decided to close down the missions because they required a lot of time, work, and money. The results they got weren't worth the trouble. The missions that were failing were closed. The missions that were a success closed, although they took the land for the missions and split it among the Indians that stayed till the end. Some families that had ancestors at the missions still live there today on the land their ancestors recieved....
