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Escandon and Settlement of Lower Rio Grande, 1738-1779
the zealous Fray Juan Bautista when he came to Mier, thus the visita of Mier was on the site of present day Roma. In 1761 Escandon declared "Mier is likewise making progress and its inhabitants as well as its herds are increasing in number. Its entire frontier on the opposite bank of the Rio Grande del Norte is settled.... In time it may become an important post. The gentile Indians which for years have remained in its vicinity, continue without change. But both the settlers and the Indians have protested to me repeatedly that they will abandon the place, even at the cost of losing everything they have amassed, if the consolation of furnishing a priest is not given them. I have repeatedly explained to Your Excellency how important this measure is without obtaining results. It is a pity that for such a small saving [as the synod or stipend of a missionary] the benefits of this settlement should be jeopardized." It was not until 1763 that by royal decree it was ordered that steps be taken to remedy this situ- ation at Mier. 14 The founding and development of Laredo, 1755-1761. Laredo was the sixth settlement established by Escandon along the Rio Grande in point of time, but the second actually located north of the river. In reporting the state of colonization in Nuevo Santander to the viceroy in 1755, he declared that a suitable site had been selected for a new settlement ten leagues northwest of Dolores at Paso de Jacinto. This strategic location was within the limits of Nuevo Santander, its northern boundary being three leagues beyond. The crossing had been discovered and used in the past by soldiers from San Juan Bautista, who founded it in 1745. It received its name from the founder, Jacinto de Leon, probably a lineal descendant of the renowned Alonso de Leon. He further informed the viceroy that Tomas Sanchez had offered to found a settle- ment at the crossing on the north bank of the river with twelve families, if fifteen sitios of land were granted to him at El Pato, four leagues to the northeast. Sanchez promised not only to settle the families at his own expense, but to maintain a ferry for the convenience of traffic and the royal service, as was being done at Dolores. Escandon said that he "Tienda de Cuervo Inspection, in Estado General, ( Publicaciones del Arcl,ivo, XIV, 411-419, XV, 114-116); Escandon to the Viceroy, August 8, 1755, in /bid., 33-34; Lopez de la Camara Alta, Descri-pcion General, February 1, 1758, A.G. M., Historia, vol. 53, pp. 135-137; Escandon to the Viceroy, December 10, 1761 Pro- vincias lnternas, vol. I 10, pp. 162-163. •
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