155
Escandon and Settlement of Lower Rio Grande, I738-I779
Mexico at this time, formally accepted the appointment with all its responsibilities on June 1, 1748. 25 The viceroy made a full report of the successful exploration of the Seno Mexicano and of the plans for its occupation to the king, recommending that His Majesty show some favor to Escandon. Before he had fully carried his vast plan of colonization into effect, the king of Spain, by special decree issued on October 23, 1749, saw fit to reward the zeal and loyalty of the great colonizer by ennobling him with the well-earned title of Conde de Sierra Gorda. Not satisfied with conferring this title upon him, the king further made him a Knight of Santiago, the most distinguished military order in Spain, and excused him from paying the fees of 1Wedia A 11ata and Lanzas generally demanded of the recipient of such honors. "Not only did the king," says the viceroy, "approve his services with satisfaction, but he instructed me to furnish him out of the royal treasury the funds that might be required for the com- pletion [of the enterprise]." 26 Escandon rewarded by tlie king. It is not our purpose to give a detailed account of the settlement of the entire Province of Nuevo Santander. The remainder of the chapter will deal only with the establishment of the settlements along the Rio Grande and within the present limits of the State of Texas and their progress to 1773. The unparalleled achievement of Escandon in the successful occupation of a veritable empire, spectacular and alluring as it is, cannot be treated with fairness in so short a space. It was in con- nection with the establishment of this province, however, that a new bishopric was eventually founded in the neighboring province of Nuevo Leon, which was given jurisdiction over Texas, bringing to a close the ecclesiastical regime of the Bishop of Guadalajara over the entire State. This and other events growing out of the establishment of Nuevo San- tander, which affected Texas, a part of which lay within its jurisdiction, namely, from the Rio Grande to the Nueces and along the coast as far as the mouth of the San Antonio River, will be discussed in the present chapter. 25 Appointment of Escandon, May 31, 1748; Acceptance of appointment, June 1, 1748. A. G. M., Provincias lnternas, vol. 179, pt. I, pp. 417-419. Copy also in Historia, vol. 29, pt. 2, pp. 265-266. 26 "Instrucci6n del Conde de Revilla Gigedo al Marques de las Amarillas ,, in /nstr11cciones q11e /os Virreyes ... dejaron, vol. 1, pp. 554-555; Titulos de Conde de Sierra Gorda ... 23 de Octubre de 1749," in Publicaciones del Arcllivo de la Nacion, vol. XV, pp. 307-309.
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