San Clemente was the first known mission established in Texas east of the Pecos River, a hastily built two-room structure on a hill about 17 mi. south of present Ballinger, though some historians place the site farther south near Junction. Founded in 1684 by Juan Dominguez de Mendoza and Fray Nicholas Lopez and named for the San Clemente River, actually the Colorado, it was established at the request of the Jumano Indians, who desired Christianity and friendship with the Spanish. Probably built of logs, the mission had a lower story used as a chapel and an upper story as a lookout post. The Spaniards stayed only from March 15 to May 1 while awaiting envoys from 48 tribes, and during that time they baptized many of their several thousand Indian allies. After hostile Apaches attacked, Mendoza returned with his men to El Paso six months after he had left. Unbeknownst to Mendoza, French explorer La Salle had landed on the Gulf Coast in 1684, and that fact, along with Mendoza’s report of seeing a French flag among the Indians, quickly led to other Spanish expeditions being sent to chart the Texas wilderness.