Misión Santa Cruz de San Sabá

The ruins of the Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá are located in Menard, Texas. It once operated as a Spanish colonial church and military outpost. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Spanish friars established many such structures across the Southwestern United States. Each of these sites aimed to evangelize the local communities. During this period, the Lipan Apache became the target for these conversion efforts. The Santa Cruz de San Sabá was abandoned soon after it was built because of frequent attacks from an enemy of the Lipan Apache: the Comanche.