Built on the banks of its age-old river, San Antonio gains present-day fame from both the water and from the Alamo, that symbol of freedom that is now the city's landmark. A brash, confident representative of the Lone Star State, San Antonio was actually one of the major cities founded before Texas broke from Mexican control. Spanish missionaries arrived there in 1691, discovering and naming the river; in 1718, the Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo's official name) was established, along with a settlement to protect it and to shield subsequent missions from attack.