Originally built in 1716, Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hainais was established during Domingo Ramón's expedition to forge Spanish settlements in Texas. Father Félix Isidro Espinosa, the President of Querétaran missions in Texas, founded Concepción on July 7, 1716 in the village of the Hainais, the lead tribe of the Hasinai or Tejas Caddo. Accounts indicate that the mission was located east of the Angelina River, and that the church and missionary residence stood on a north-south oriented mesa, or terrace, near two springs. It served as the original headquarters of the missions in East Texas, and Ramón placed Presidio Dolores nearby. The French trader and diplomat St. Denis visited Concepción many times. After hardship and drought, the mission was resupplied in 1718 during a visit by Governor Martin de Alarcón, who also had a house built near the mission and moved the Caddo translator Angelina there. All the East Texas missions were abandoned in 1719 because of a French attack on Mission San Miguel, but they were soon reestablished and reinforced by the 1721 Aguayo expedition. When the nearby presidio closed in 1729, Concepción was relocated to the San Antonio River in 1731 and renamed Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de la Acuña. During the first fourteen years of permanent Spanish occupation of Texas, it was a key hub along El Camino Real de los Tejas, fostering interaction among Catholic priests, Spanish governors, French traders, and East Texas Indian groups.