Sign at entrance to the Mission San Luis: "From 1633 until 1704, Franciscan monks established and operated a chain of missions and attempted to convert Florida Indians to Christianity. Apalachee missions also served as Spanish Florida's western defense network. In 1633, about 10,000 Indians lived in Apalachee Province: present-day Jefferson, Leon, and Wakulla counties. There were eighteen Franciscan missions in Apalachee Province, though all did not exist at the same time. Each mission had two principal structures, a church and a convent, which were constructed of a wooden framework plastered with clay."
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