The Ciurca Eurypterid Collection Sam Ciurca (at left) and Erik Tetlie hold important specimens of Eurypterus remipes lacustris (YPM.207290) from the Late Silurian Williamsville Formation at Bennett Quarry, Buffalo, New York, USA.
San Diego Historic Landmark. Mission Basilica San Diego de AlcalÃ¡ was the first Franciscan mission in The Californias, a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, California, it was founded on July 16, 1769 by Spanish friar JunÃ­pero Serra in an area long inhabited by the Kumeyaay.
The Mission Period: 1700-1793. The story of the Alamo begins with the establishment of the Mission San Francisco de Solano near the Rio Grande River in 1700. There, Father Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares worked to convert many of the Coahuiltecan bands to Catholicism, the official religion of Spain. After Olivares traveled to Texas with an expedition in 1709, he was struck by the potential of the San Antonio area and later recommended it to the Spanish viceroy, Marques de Valero, as a site for a mission waypoint on the road to Spanish settlements in East Texas.