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Establislmzent a11d Early Progress of Sa11 Xavier Missions
adequate protection. The proximity of the site chosen to the country of the Apaches made necessary a larger force for adequate protection." Impatience of officials. The illness of Fray Mariano, the lack of supplies, the continuance of Apache hostilities, and the disfavor of Gov- ernor Barrio all caused the work on the prospective missions to stand practically still during most of the year in spite of the positive order of the viceroy of December, 1747, for their establishment. In a scorching opinion rendered on December 31, 1748, the Marquis of Altamira deplored in no uncertain terms the failure of the missionaries to inform the viceroy of the progress made and the absence of reports from Texas officials concerning the status of the project. He declared that a number of urgent matters concerning Texas were still pending for lack of adequate informa- tion and of replies to official communications. The chief of these was the reduction to mission life of different Indian tribes to be congregated on the San Xavier. The proposed site appeared to be sixty leagues northwest of San Antonio, and about the same distance from La Bahia, according to the information submitted. The authorization had been deferred for almost three years. Finally by the decree of December 23, 1747, and the supplementary instructions of January 8, 1748, the foundation of three missions had been authorized within eight months and provision had been made that thirteen soldiers from La Bahia and seventeen from Los Adaes be stationed at San Xavier for the protection of all against hostile attacks of savages. Since then, twelve months had elapsed and no report of the measures taken in carrying out the decree and instructions had been made. In the meantime, the question of founding missions for the Orcoquisacs had been raised and was still pending. The province of the Tejas proper was really the area occupied by the Indians of this name and was the region of Missions Nacogdoches and Dolores. This area had been desig- nated as such since 1690. It was a well known fact that the missions in that region had made little progress. Now the Orcoquisacs desired missions and a presidio to protect them against their enemies, the Cocos and Karankawas. Action should be postponed until the outcome of the San Xavier missions was made known, in view of the fact that Cocos and Karankawas as well as Orcoquisacs and other coast tribes had promised they would be congregated there. Furthermore the project of Escandon in Nuevo Santander was inti- mately related to the San Xavier missions, he declared, and to the
"Fray Benito to the Viceroy, June 24, 1748, in Ibid.
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