,,,
Establiskment and Early Progress of San Xavier .Missions
the Orcoquisacs and assured the viceroy that in seventeen years he had never heard of it. 50 Provisional approval of presidio at San Xavier, April-July, 1749. To the pleas of Frays Benito and Mariano was added that of Fray Francisco Xavier Castellanos who, on March 24, entreated the viceroy to delay no longer the authorization of a presidio. He regretted that the lack of confidence in the detailed testimony furnished by the missionaries was depriving many Indians of conversion.$! The Auditor Altamira had consistently opposed the establishment of a presidio at San Xavier, but he was not so obstinate as to be blind to reason. Gradually he began to realize that the request of the missionaries for an adequate force to protect the new establishments was justified. In a report made on April 23, 1749, he finally admitted that a presidio was now necessary for the development and success of the new missions on the San Xavier. He advised the viceroy, therefore, that the matter should be taken up without further delay in a ltmta de Guerra 'Y Hacienda in order to provide the means for a presidio of fifty men and the corre- sponding officers. In the meantime, the guard of thirty men should be increased to forty- eight. For this purpose he suggested that four soldiers from Monclova and ten from Sacramento be detailed to San Juan Bautista. The commander there should in turn dispatch sixteen men from his garrison to San Antonio de Bexar. Upon the arrival of this contingent, the Captain of San Antonio should send eighteen to San Xavier, who were to remain there to help and protect the missionaries and Indians until further orders. To strengthen still more the new establishments on the San Xavier, the missionaries and captain at San Antonio should be instructed to encourage residents to move to San Xavier. Prospective settlers should be offered grants of lands and water and accorded the privileges of first settlers. As much as one hundred pesos might be given to each family to help defray the expenses of moving, on condition that it would stay five years and that it agreed to build a house and to cultivate the land. s°Fray Mariano to the Viceroy, March 13, 1749. Arcl,ivo del Colegio (Dunn Tran- scripts, 1716-1749). The information regarding the various Indian tribes and their relation and affinity contained in this report and that of Fray Benito of March 1 0 , are, as Dr. Bolton properly points out, of inestimable value to the ethnologist and the student of native tribes. SIFray Castellanos to the Viceroy, March 24, 1749. Sa" Framisco 11l Grande Archive, Vol. 19, pp. 111.
Powered by FlippingBook