Our Catliolic Heritage in Texas
he served the king without pay. In 1727, the capable young officer went to Spain to marry the noble Dona Dominga de Pedrajo, a friend of his childhood days, perhaps, in the city of Soto la Marina. But he appears to have returned to Queretaro without delay. The charms of his youthful companion did not keep the ambitious Escandon from following the path of glorious achievement he had marked out for himself. The same year of his marriage he put down a serious revolt in Celaya and gained the rank of Sergeant Major. Continued raids by marauding Indians, who swept down from the inaccessible recesses of Sierra Gorda, a branch of the Sierra Madre, retreating like lightning to its unexplored fastnesses, kept the recently promoted officer constantly on the march. ·with unswerving determination he followed the offenders into the mountains, captured the guilty, and destroyed their hideouts. Ruthless with offenders, he was ever kind and generous with the vanquished. His firmness and his fairness won the respect of the Indians, who soon made peace. Recognition for his brilliant achievements was not long in coming. In 1740 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and shortly afterwards he was made Lieutenant General of Sierra Gorda, the area he had pacified and which had defied Spanish efforts to bring it under subjection for almost two centuries. From a warrior he now became a colonizer. Per- manent peace could be secured only by occupying the lands beyond Sierra Gorda and by reducing the conquered Indians to mission life. In quick succession he established eleven missions for the subdued tribes in the new area. This was an even greater achievement than his victories over the vanquished natives. 9 The viceroy at this time was the Count of Revilla Gigedo, one of the most capable and efficient viceroys of Mexico. He had taken possession of the government on July 9, 1746, but had immediately applied himself to the various tasks before him and had read, as one of the first things of importance, the reports of Escandon on the pacification and reduction of the Indians of Sierra Gorda. When, therefore, the Marquis of Altamira, in his report on the proposed settlement of the Seno Mexicano, suggested him as the man best fitted for the purpose, the viceroy did not hesitate in accepting the suggestion and in appointing him to undertake the enter- prise on September 3, 1746. In a special memorandum left by Revilla 9 The brief summary of Escandon's life is based chiefly on "Relacion de los meritos de Don Jose de Escandon"; "Copia de Acta de Bautismo," "Copia del Acta de Matrimonio," and "Titulos de Conde de Sierra Gorda," all in Estado General de las Fundaciones ( P11blicaciones del Arcl1ivo General de la Nacion), vol. IS, II, 303-311.
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