H.R. No. 397
                                  R E S O L U T I O N
    1-1        WHEREAS, The Texas House of Representatives takes pride in
    1-2  recognizing the bicentennial of the founding of the Mission Nuestra
    1-3  Senora del Refugio, the last Spanish mission established in Texas;
    1-4  and
    1-5        WHEREAS, Founded in 1795 by Father Manuel Silva, the Mission
    1-6  Nuestra Senora del Refugio was part of an attempt to christianize
    1-7  the Karankawa Indian tribes of the Texas Coastal Bend; the location
    1-8  for the mission was on a high spot of a prairie within the limits
    1-9  of Rancho de Santa Gertrudis; and
   1-10        WHEREAS, During the decade of 1820-1830, the mission was
   1-11  abandoned and eventually fell into ruin, but the town of Refugio
   1-12  and Refugio County would one day rise from the very stones that
   1-13  originally formed the mission's walls; and
   1-14        WHEREAS, In 1834, Irish immigrants from Ballygarrett, County
   1-15  Wexford, under the leadership of empresarios James Power and James
   1-16  Hewetson, arrived at the mission site after a difficult voyage of
   1-17  danger and tragedy; the immigrants carted away the stones from the
   1-18  dilapidated walls of the old mission to be used for the foundations
   1-19  of homes, garden enclosures, and cisterns; and
   1-20        WHEREAS, An intriguing historical site today, the town of
   1-21  Refugio is a tribute to the mission's founder and to the Irish
   1-22  immigrants who used the mission's scattered remains to build a
   1-23  town; and
   1-24        WHEREAS, In memory of the mission and in honor of the Irish
    2-1  immigrants who founded Refugio, and as part of a Saint Patrick's
    2-2  Day celebration, a mass will be held at Our Lady of Refugio Church
    2-3  on Friday, March 17, 1995; now, therefore, be it
    2-4        RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 74th Texas
    2-5  Legislature hereby extend best wishes to the citizens of Refugio on
    2-6  the bicentennial of the founding of the Mission Nuestra Senora del
    2-7  Refugio and on their Saint Patrick's Day Celebration; and, be it
    2-8  further
    2-9        RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
   2-10  prepared for the town of Refugio in honor of its founders and in
   2-11  memory of its mission.