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Tlee Beginnings of Civilized life in Texas, r731-1745
obstacles, which the missionaries had to overcome during this period, are considered. On the temporal side we find among the four missions a total of five thousand one hundred and fifteen head of cattle by actual count, two thousand six hundred and sixty-one sheep, six hundred and sixty-four goats, and two hundred and fifty-seven horses. On their farms the Indians raised annually four thousand fanegas (eight thousand bushels) of corn, one hundred and seventy fanegas of beans (three hundred and forty bushels), and two thousand pounds of cotton, besides numerous pumpkins, melons, watermelons, and sweet potatoes. To cultivate the farms and carry on their multiple tasks, the four missions had a total of eighty-six yokes of oxen, eighty-five hoes, thirty-six carts, fifty-six adzes, one hundred and twenty-two axes, and thirty-six handbars, besides all the tools necessary for carpentry, blacksmithing, stone masonry, and brick- laying. In view of these facts so conclusively presented the work of the missionaries cannot be said to have been a failure. It is no exaggeration to say, therefore, that "the most conspicuous work of the period was that done by the missionaries." 70 Investigation concerning tlee work and conduct of t/1e missionaries. But Father Ortiz was not satisfied with the private inspection of the missions in San Antonio. During the last few years there had been numerous accusations and representations against the conduct of the missionaries and the failure of their work. He called upon Captain Urrutia, therefore, and demanded that a public investigation be held and that witnesses be called to testify as to the guidance and the activity of the men who had been in charge of the four missions of the College of La Santa Cruz of Queretaro. To each witness the following questions were to be put: "Have the missionaries been occupied in the propagation of the faith? Have they gone out into the woods and the mountains to the haunts of the natives in search of new converts to be congregated in the missions? Have they used tact and kindness in the treatment of the neophytes to induce them to stay in the missions? Have they been diligent in the organization of civil government in the Indian pueblos of the missions as a means of training the new converts in the conduct of their own affairs? Have they given the neophytes light and moderate tasks to lead them to the habit of systematic work and effort? Have they exercised care to keep the missions supplied with all the things
70Bolton, Texas in the Middle Eighteenth Century, 14.
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