Om- Cat/10/ic Heritage in Texas
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the corresponding orders were issued by the viceroy. Thus the first priest to be provided by royal decree for a civil settlement in Texas was the one for Dolores, a settlement which has totally disappeared and which was located in Zapata County a few miles north of present San Ignacio.' 1 As in the case of Dolores, the settlement of Revilla antedated the plans of Escandon and was an independent venture which later became incorporated in the new colony of Nuevo Santander. As early as 1745, Nicolas de la Garza, a resident of Monterrey, established a ranch some twenty leagues north- west of Camargo. Two years later Jose Baez Benavides and five brothers came and opened a ranch three leagues from the site where Revilla was ultimately located, near the Rio Grande. In 1749 Antonio Tabares brought his cattle and settled at a place called Paso de los Moros in the same vicinity. None of these early pioneers brought their families. It seems, however, that this region had been granted to Vicente Guerra, a resident of Coahuila, who on learning of the colonization plans of Escandon, and wishing to elude the payment of dues to the Governor of Coahuila as did Vasquez Borrego, applied to Escandon for permission to establish a set- tlement on his lands. He offered to settle a number of families at his own expense on condition that they be granted the same privileges and exemptions as the other towns being established in the Province of N uevo Santander. Escandon not only granted the request and agreed to assign the prospective settlers lands and water, but exempted them from the payment of duties on such salt and fish as they might export. On October IO, I 7 50, he formally assigned one thousand square var as for the founding of a villa to be called Revilla, fifty sitios and three hundred caballerias of land were designated for common use, Vicente Guerra was appointed captain, and San Ignacio Loyola was declared the patron saint. A mission for Indians was to be established about a league to the north of Revilla, to be known as Mission of San Francisco Solano de Ampuero. The new settlers were duly instructed that they must try to win the frie1?,dship and good will of the natives by all means in their power and that the Indians living along both banks of the river should be induced Tlte founding and development of Revilla, 1750-1761. 41The royal cedula and the other documents concerning the appointment of a parish priest for Dolores are found in A. G. M., Provincias lnternas, vol. 1 So, pt. 1, pp. 747 • 7 55. See also Escandon to Viceroy, December 18, 1766, Provi11cias lnternas, vol. 11 o, pp. 253-256. Unfortunately we do not have the name of the priest. He was not sent to Dolores, but to Laredo, and Dolores was made dependent on Laredo instead of Revilla for its spiritual administration.
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