Guerrero, Coahuila, Mexico: A Guide to the Town and Missions; Guía De La Ciudad y De Las Misiones

This guide to the town and missions at Guerrero, Coahuila, is based largely upon the research efforts of the Gateway Project, an archaeological and ethnohistoric study of the area conducted by the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio during 1975 to 1977. Because the project was dealing with historic mission buildings which housed native American inhabitants of the region, the project had both historic and prehistoric aspects. The Indians gathered into the missions where inheritors of the native cultural tradition began at least 11,000 years ago. Therefore, an archaeological survey of prehistoric sites in the region of the missions, on both sides of the Rio Grande, was included in the study. The excavations carried out at the missions located the buried remains of historic buildings which had been lost and forgotten for nearly a century. In addition, the sifting of the soils removed from the building remains provided both Spanish and Indian artifacts which were related to mission activities. Ethnohistoric research focused on old Spanish documents which provided valuable additional information about the missionizing program at Guerrero, and also aided to illuminate the archaeological findings. The results of the Gateway Project are beginning to appear in a series of publications issued by the Center for Archaeological Research. For several months during the Gateway Project, staff members lived in the town of Guerrero. The friendly relationship established with the towns' inhabitants was memorable and the aid provided by the Presidentes Municipal of the time, Sr. Victoriano Garcia P. and Sr. Ricardo Perez Trevino, is very much appreciated. Dr. Farias de los Santos and Sra. Jesusena Flores Rodriguez provided housing for the project staff in Guerrero, and Sr. Julio Santos Coy of Piedras Negras aided us in several difficult matters. To them we are grateful. There are many others to whom we express our appreciation for help, especially those citizens of Guerrero who were employed by the project to work at the excavations. The author of this guide, Jack D. Eaton, directed the field work at the missions and is therefore intimately familiar with the information he presents. Other project personnel included: Thomas R. Hester (Chief Archaeologist); Felix Almaraz, Thomas N. Campbell, and Thomas C. Greaves (Ethnohistorians); Anne A. Fox (Ceramic Analyst); and J, Parker Nunley and Fred Valdez, Jr. (Archaeologists). The project was performed under a permit issued by the Direccion de Monumentos Historicos del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. We are grateful to arquitectos Guillermo Bonfil Batalla, Sergio Zaldivar, Oscar Martinez, and Rene Villareal for their aid and collaboration. The project was funded by grants from the United States National Endowment for the Humanities, the Kathryn Stoner O'Connor Foundation, and the Sid Richardson Foundation. The University of Texas at San Antonio under President Peter T. Flawn provided administrative and logistical support. We are very grateful to all who have made the project possible.