<P> In the end, the mission system was not politically strong enough to protect the Native Americans against the growing power of ranchers and other business interests that sought control over mission lands and the manpower represented by the Native Americans . In the first few years of the new Republic of Mexico - between 1824 and 1830 - all the missions still operating in Texas were officially secularized, with the sole exception of those in the El Paso district, which were turned over to diocesan pastors only in 1852 . </P> <P> Spanish Texas was a part of New Spain . On its southern edge, Texas was bordered by the province of Coahuila . The boundary between the provinces was set at the line formed by the Medina and the Nueces Rivers, 100 miles (161 km) northeast of the Rio Grande . On the east, Texas bordered French Louisiana . Although Spain claimed that the Red River formed the boundary between the two, France insisted that the border was the Sabine River, 45 miles (72 km) to the west . </P> <P> The first mission established within the boundaries of Spanish Texas was San Francisco de la Espada . In 1689, Spanish authorities found the remnants of a French settlement, Fort Saint Louis . During their expedition, the Spanish met representatives of the Caddo people, who lived between the Trinity and the Red Rivers . The Caddo expressed interest in learning about Christianity, and the following year Alonso De León </P> <P> led an expedition to establish a mission in East Texas . It was completed near the Hasinai village of Nabedaches in late May, and its first mass was conducted on June 1, 1690 . </P>

Who established the first spanish mission in texas