CHAPTER I THE FIELD AND I TS w ORKERS
Fifteen years of tireless endeavor on the part of the missionaries had definitely established the claim of Spain to the vast empire of present-day Texas. During this time it had been the devoted sons of Saint Francis who hacl continually called the attention of officials to the clanger of French encroachments in their fervent desire to carry the comforts of religion and the blessings of civilization to the countless tribes of Indians who roamed the boundless plains and lived along the fertile valleys. Repeated failures had served only to heighten their desire and steel their determination in spite of official blunders, native ingratitude, incredible obstacles, and untold hardships. Thus by 1731 the permanent capital of the new province had been established at Los Aclaes, where a military post had been erected by the Marquis of Aguayo in 1721, approximately fifteen miles from Red River, facing the French outpost of Natchitoches. Half a league away was the Mission of San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes, under the care of missionaries from the College of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas. To the west, near the Angelina River, was the Mission of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches, and on Ayish Bayou, half way between the two, was Nuestra Senora de los Ais, likewise under the care of Zacatecan friars. The other three missions originally estab- lished by the College of La Santa Cruz de Quer;taro in east Texas had been removed to the San Antonio River as a result of the suppression of the Presidio de N uestra Senora de los Dolores de los Tejas at the recom- mendation of Brigadier Rivera. 1 The Presidio of Nuestra Senora de Loreto, generally known as La Bahia, originally founded on Garcitas Creek, not far from the head of Lavaca Bay, had been removed in 1726 to the Guadalupe River and reestablished on a site near the present city of Victoria. Here, too, was now the Mission of Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo de Zuniga. These two establishments formed the second nucleus of Spanish influence designed to civilize the cannibalistic tribes of the coastal plain and to prevent a recurrence of foreign invasion from the Gulf of Mexico. 1 For details concerning the establishment and removal of these missions see Castaneda, Tile Wi1111ing of Texas, Chapter VII.
[ I ]
Powered by FlippingBook