Mision de las Cabras was a fortified visita of Mission Espada, founded in 1731 in San Antonio. It stood near Paso de las Mujeres, Crossing of the Women, an important ford on the San Antonio River known to travelers moving between Mexico and San Antonio. Meadowland along the river and near the crossing pastured cattle owned by Mission Espada, and Indians under Espada's protection were kept there to herd them. A chapel was built for the spiritual care of the herdsmen. In 1895, the old Cabras site was described as a 2-acre, diamond-shaped lot with bastions at each end. After the missions were secularized in 1794, the land passed to Ignacio Calvillo, a descendant of Spain's Canary Islands colonists, and then to his daughter Dona Maria del Carmen, born in 1765. Known for her independent spirit, she left her husband, Gavino Delgado, managed the ranch herself, rode a great white horse with her long black hair flying in the wind, and kept down Indian troubles by paying tribute in beef. In her time and for a century afterward, Old Mission Cabras continued in use for rites of the Church.