Welcome to Texas Fleece & Fiber Festival!

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There is always a beginning. Much of what we see today is truly a product of all we have learned from the past from building fences, sustaining a farm in harsh conditions, putting food on the table and back in to the community. This is a theme that runs true across all cultures and lifts us up for future generations. We may have replaced ox and plow with a John Deere, but the work remains fruitful only if we put our time and effort in to sowing the seeds and cultivating the land. Livestock play a huge role in putting back nutrients in to the earth, providing warmth from the wool and foraging open lands to clear them naturally. We still have much to learn about grazing habits, ancient ways to process wool, fiber arts lost in time and livestock maintenance. We hope you join us on this journey from farm to fiber experience!  

BRIEF HISTORY

"For sustenance the Spanish soldier-settlers and the missionaries at Los  Adaes depend on supplies brought overland on horse and mules from New  Spain.  The Adaeseños, as the inhabitants of Los Adaes came to be known,  are joyous at the arrival of maize, wheat flour, and cattle and sheep  sent by Governor Aguayo in the fall of 1721, an event that historian  Robert Weddle  described as "the forerunner of the cattle drives which  were to play such an important role in the later history of Texas."  But  Spanish supply convoys and livestock drives are few and far between,  often delayed for weeks and months by flooding along the many rivers and  major streams draining the coastal plain of Texas. The Adaeseños have  to provide for themselves by farming and ranching.  Repeated attempts to  grow maize are met with only modest and irregular success, owing to the  area's propensity for periods of excessive rain as well as summer  drought.  They fare far better at raising livestock.
 

To survive at Los Adaes the Spanish soon find themselves dependent on  the French at nearby Natchitoches for food and supplies that they could  otherwise obtain only sporadically.   The Spanish have livestock and the  services of their Catholic priests to offer the French.  Although most  trade with the French is officially prohibited, it is required for  survival.  Spanish authorities in New Spain periodically give the  Adaeseños permission to trade for food, but illicit trade for food and  other commodities become part and parcel of life at Los Adaes."

https://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/adaes/time.html#1720s