Mission Rosario was founded in November 1754 by Father Juan de Dios Camberos specifically to reach Karankawan coastal bands, the Cujanes, Copanes, Guapites, and Karankawas proper, who had proven difficult to settle at other missions. In practice the mission struggled to establish the settled, agricultural routine Franciscans intended: crops largely failed in the sandy coastal soil, and Native residents kept to a seasonal pattern, wintering at the mission for food and shelter but departing each spring for traditional hunting and gathering along the coast. What did take hold was ranching; the mission's herds grew from about 5,000 cattle and 700 sheep and goats in 1768 to roughly 30,000 cattle by 1780. Baptisms rose slowly, from just 21 by 1758 to around 200 a decade later. Relations deteriorated after Karankawa bands killed shipwrecked Spanish sailors in 1778, and the mission was largely abandoned by 1781; a reopening between 1789 and 1791 proved short-lived, and competition from the newly founded Refugio mission in 1792 drew away remaining residents before Rosario formally closed in 1807. No standing structures remain. Archaeological excavations in 1940-41 and 1972-73 recovered pottery, Spanish colonial majolica, and painted wall fragments, informing today's interpretation. The ruins are preserved as an archaeological site within Goliad State Park and Historic Site and are accessible to the public only through scheduled guided tours rather than open daily access.