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should be taken without further delay. The Junta went on record as favoring the immediate erection and it politely suggested that the viceroy, whose duty and privilege it was, should appoint a commander for the new presidia, whose salary should be fixed at six hundred pesos a year. The garrison should consist of fifty soldiers, whose pay should be four hundred pesos a year. As to the exact location of the proposed fortification, the ]uuta proposed that this be chosen by the captain, whoever he might be, in conjunction with the padres in order to insure the greatest protection to the missions. 27 Viceregal decrees for tlze e1'ectio11 of tl1e Real Presidio de San Xavier, 1751. In accordance with the resolutions adopted by the Junta, the viceroy officially appointed Captain Felipe de Rabago y Teran, com- mander of the new presidia. Rabago was at this time in Mexico City, where he had recently arrived with a royal patent from the king, dated March 6, 1750, naming him captain of the contemplated presidio. This evidently shows that the project had, as a matter of fact, received royal approval a year before the Junta finally authorized its establishment. How unfortunate the choice of the commander was events were soon to reveal. In his decree the viceroy instructed the new captain to take possession of the presidia as soon as possible. He was to restore the existing garri- son, made up of detachments from different presidios, to their respective companies and to enlist fifty men either in Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Texas, or outside of these provinces. The missionaries were requested at the same time to secure as many Spaniards and gente de razon as possible to settle near the presidia and missions to give greater stability to the settlement. Both the Governor of Texas and the captain of the new establishment were to cooperate with the missionaries in this respect and to offer by public proclamation lands, water, and the privileges of first settlers as inducements to all prospective families. 2 • On March 30 of the same year the viceroy issued a supplementary Z7Junta de Guerra y Real Hacienda, March _11, 1751. San Francisco el Grande Archive, Vol. 19 , pp. 191-194. A copy also m ~he Lamar Papers, State Library (Austin) according to Bolton, Te:ras, 461. T~e w_nter was, u~able to locate this copy. There is also another copy in A. G. I. A11dte11c,a de Afe:r1co, 92-6-22 (Dunn Tr. 1750-1751). . . 2IDecreto de la Junta de Guerra y 1:ac1enda nombrando a D. Fehpe_ de Rabago y , . 1 , d 1 presidia de San Xavier, March 26, 17 5 I. San Fra11c,sco el Grallde Teran cap1 an e Archive, Vol. 19, PP· 194-i95.
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