Our Catholic Heritage in Texas
tages of the San Marcos and the character of the testimony of the witnesses that he had gone to his post with his mind made up; that he had adopted the plan of former Governor Pedro del Barrio Junco y Espriella; that not a single missionary had been allowed to testify con- cerning the San Marcos or the disadvantages of San Xavier; and that the testimony of the witnesses was contradictory and false. The proposal of the settlement on the San Marcos, the friar observed, was unbecoming of an officer like Rabago, because the San Marcos was only twenty-two leagues from San Antonio and the settlement there really did not need a garrison of fifty men for its protection. In fact it needed none, since it was not an exposed site on a frontier outpost as San Xavier. 38 When the question was again referred to the Fiscal Doctor Andreu, he analyzed carefully all the new evidence presented on August 5, 1752, and recommended that regardless of the request of Rabago, the three missions should be maintained on the San Xavier. Previous investigations, particularly the one conducted by Eca y Mi'.1squiz, had sufficiently proved that there were facilities for the missions and a presidia at San Xavier. The only matter not investigated was whether a civil settlement could be developed there also. Therefore, if His Excellency so desired it, a new investigation to determine this one point should be ordered, this to be conducted by Governor Barrios y Jauregui in conjunction with the missionaries. 39 The new investigation was never carried out. Conditions at San Xavier were so aggravated by a series of misunderstandings and the arbitrary and scandalous conduct of Rabago that they rapidly moved to a tragic climax. The quarrel witli Captain Rabago:,, Teran. Much of the unfavorable report made by Rabago can be better understood, if we review his conduct and his relations with the padres at San Xavier. While in San Antonio recruiting soldiers and settlers, Captain Felipe Rabago y Teran became intimate in his relations with the wife of Juan Jose Ceballos, a citizen of San Antonio who had enlisted in his company. When he set out to San Xavier the affair became publicly known, and the outraged husband seems to have protested to the captain by the time the company reached the Cibolo. Claiming that the unfortunate man had threatened his superior officer, Rabago placed him in chains, disregarding the fact that his 38Qpinion of Fray Benito Fernandez de Santa Anna. In Testimonio de los autos fhos., 353-364. "The Fiscal to the Viceroy,, August 5,. 17 52. In Testimonio de los autos /hos., 364-375.
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