133
Escandon and Settlement of Lower Rio Gra11de, 1738-1779
bordered on the east by the Gulf of Mexico, on the north by the Province of Texas, on the west by Coahuila and Nuevo Leon, and on the south by La Huasteca and Tampico, with families from Nuevo Leon, to whom free lands were to be offered, as well as the privileges of first settlers, and part of their costs of transportation were to be paid. As a further inducement, he proposed to extend the congrega system (virtual enslave- ment of the Indians) into the new territory. The occupation would join all the bordering provinces by making communication between them possible and safe. He suggested, however, that the expenses of trans- portation of the proposed settlers and the campaign that might have to be waged to reduce the Indians be borne, if not wholly, at least in part by the royal treasury, alleging that the initial cost of occupation would be more than made up by the increased revenue to the king from the silver mines and the exploitation of the salines. 2 Although the plan presented by Guevara offered the greatest advantages with the least expense, it is to the credit of the judicious and Christian- minded Don Juan Rodriguez de Albuerne, Marquis of Altamira, that the proposal was refused on the grounds of Guevara's intention of intro- ducing the congrega system into the new territory. 3 Undismayed by the rejection, Guevara went to Spain and presented his plan to the Council of the Indies and to the king. He appears to have been a natural-born promoter. By exaggerating his intimate knowledge of the land and the natives, he succeeded in convincing the sovereign of his special fitness for the undertaking. Emboldened by his success in obtaining a favorable hearing, he now requested not only that the king should pay for the major portion of the expedition, but that he, Guevara, should be granted a share in the profits to be derived from the exploitation of the salines 2 Royal Cedula of July 10, 1739. A.G. M., Provincias /nternas, vol. 174, pp. 1-9; Prieto, Historia, Geografia y Estadistica del Es/ado de Tamaulipas, 103-105; J. Eleuterio Gonzalez, Coleccio,i de Noticias y Doc11111e11tos para la nisloria del Estado de N. Leo11, 58-59; lnstr11ccio11es que los Vire-yes de Nueva Espana dejaron a sus sucesores, vol. 1, pp. 660-662; Hill, Lawrence F., Jose de Escandon and tne founding of Nuevo Sa11ta11der, 56-57; Walsh, Natalie, The Founding of Laredo and St. A11g11sti11e's Clmrck, (Master's Thesis, University of Texas) 3-12. It is to be noted that Guevara has been credited with having been the first to submit a formal proposal, when as a matter of fact he was the third. Narciso Barquin (not Marquin) de Montecuesta was in fact the first. He was not A lea/de Afayor but Corregidor of Santiago de Valles. The governor of Nuevo Leon was not Antonio but Joseph Fernandez de Jauregui. The errors in this matter have been due to Prieto, who has been generally followed by previous historians. The Royal Cedula and the /11struc- cio11es cited above give the correct sequence and names. 3 Gonzalez, Coleccion de N oticias, 60; Prieto, H istoria, I 03.
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