answers: 1773
context: main church in Chapala has featured imagery from all over the world including wooden shoes, an igloo, figures to represent Africans and exotic animals. History Pastorelas, which roughly means “shepherds’ plays,” are theatrical works done by both amateur and professional groups during the Christmas season. The play first arrived in the New World in the early 1700s with the establishment of early Spanish missions. The origins of this play are unknown other than it was orally passed down in Spain during Europe’s Medieval time period. In 1718, the Spanish friars settled along the San Antonio River as an establishment for </s> The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark. Santa Claus, as a baby, is found in the Forest of Burzee by Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World (a supreme immortal), and placed in the care of the lioness Shiegra; but thereupon adopted by the Wood Nymph, Necile. Upon reaching young adulthood, Claus is introduced by Ak to human society, wherein he sees war, brutality, poverty, child neglect, and child abuse. Because he cannot reside in Burzee as </s> world as "Santa Claus" (a phonetic derivation of "Sinterklaas"). In the English and later British colonies of North America, and later in the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving's "History of New York" (1809), "Sinterklaas" was Americanized into "Santa Claus" (a name first used in the American press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait
question: when did the legend of santa claus begin