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Ottr Catlzolic Heritage in Texas
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There were some Asinais and Nabedaches in the mission but the rest of them were ready to be congregated when called. 11 On July 14, 1750, Eca y Mt'1squiz went to Mission San Ildefonso where, as in San Xavier, the Indians gathered in the church at six o'clock in the morning in answer to the call of the mission bell, recited the doc11·i11a, and sang the A labado. After this ceremony all the neophytes were listed in the same manner as on the previous day. There were one hundred sixty-five persons: thirty-four adult male Bidais, nineteen married and fifteen widowers or single; five Pastias, all married; sixteen Orcoquisacs, nine married, and seven single, making a total of fifty-five male adults, ranging in age from twenty to sixty years and all capable of working and bearing arms. It was noted that these Indians had an abundant supply of good horses and were all skilled in the use of the bow and arrow as well as firearms. Among the women there were thirty-one Bidais, nineteen married and twelve single; five Pastias, all married ; sixteen Orcoquisacs, nine married and seven single. The children numbered fifty-eight of both sexes and varying ages, all of whom were baptized. There were eleven Indians of this mission absent, which brought the total to one hundred seventy-six. Mission San Ildefonso, July, r750. The daily ration of corn distributed by the missionary was the same as that given in Mission San Francisco Xavier. The chiefs, on being questioned individually as to whether they were satisfied with the site, objected even more strenuously than the others to the suggestion of moving to another place no matter how advantageous. When the book of baptisms was examined it was found that from January, 1749, when the mission was established, to the day of the inspection one hundred fifty- one persons had been baptized. Of this number one hundred one were adults, two-thirds of them being Bidais who had received this rite in articttlo -mortis. Of the total number baptized thirty-six adults and four children had died. The large number of baptisms of adults shows the severity of the recent smallpox epidemic suffered by the Bidais in par- ticular, as we shall have an opportunity to recount shortly. Father Fray Joseph Ganzabal, first regular missionary of San Ildefonso, explained that the Bidais in the mission had told him on several occasions that there were three bands or groups in their nation, who although they spoke the same language, were each under a different chief, and all three
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llPadron de la missn. San Francisco Xavier. Arc/1ivo del Colegio, 17 50-1767 (Dunn Tr.) pp. 36-40.
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