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Tlie Beginnings of Civilized Life in Texas, r73r-r745
a lower route that made a detour of almost one hundred leagues, with river crossings much more difficult in which much cattle and other stock were drowned every year. The Indians had become insolent and they had widened the range of their depredations, because of the impotence of the present garrison to cope with the situation. If immediate action to increa5e its number was not taken, there was a grave danger of losing the entire province to the French and the Apaches. 35 In spite of the tendency to exaggerate, Governor Franquis was not far from the actual truth in this instance, but nothing was done. In March, 1740, Father Benito, unaware of the letter of Governor Franquis of I 7 37, almo!.t repeated verbatim the description of the sad state of affairs not only in San Antonio but in the entire province. He declared that the roads were infested by hostile Indians, and that the soldiers were insufficient and very poorly equipped for their duties. "They resemble," he said, "those of Russia. They have no uniforms, few of them are neat in dress, most of them look like beggars." He added that the horses of the troops were very poor. It was deplorable, the good friar Fernandez de Santa Ana observed, to see Natchitoches growing every day in settlers and in wealth, while the Spanish settlements in Texas grew daily worse. From Los Adaes to San Antonio, a distance of two hundred leagues, there was not a single post. But the solution, according to the experienced missionary, was not to increase the garrison, but to pay the soldiers in currency instead of in goods sold through the agency of unscrupulous captains, who sacrificed the interests of the entire province to their selfish greed; and to open a port for trade through La Bahia. Such a policy would encourage settlement, stimulate production and industry and eventually make the maintenance of garrisons unnecessary. The new province could then actually compete with the French by selling its wool, grain, and cattle, all of which were as good as those obtained in Europe. He pointed out that even flax suitable for the manufacture of linen grew wild in Texas. The settlement of the province and the subsequent development of its resources would force the Indians to make peace. As the Spanish settlements grew in strength the natives would be induced to come to live peacefully in this vicinity. They would become powerful allies, as shown by the example
35 Governor Franquis to the Viceroy, February 15, 1737. A. G. JI-I., Historia, vol. 524, pt. 3, pp. 848-852.
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