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Our Catlzolic Heritage in Texas
340
nevertheless, would have stimulated the authorities to give the new plan a more thorough trial. Eight years elapsed before another sponsor of a conciliatory policy appeared. In 1733, when San Antonio was being seriously threatened by a vigorous renewal of hostilities, Father Vergara pleaded that the establishment of missions for the Apaches would result in their ultimate reduction to civilized life. Like the previous proposal. Fray Vergara's petition was ignored. 4 Fray Benito Fernandez de Santa Anna cliampions the cause of tlze Apaclzes, I743. For twelve years, ever since his arrival in Texas in 1731, this tireless and fervent missionary had labored incessantly for the con- version of the numerous tribes of natives. All his efforts had been directed to the propagation of the faith, even to the remotest point in Texas. No one knew better the obstacle which the Apaches presented to the realization of his desire and the peace of the entire province. On March 5, 1743, he addressed a long consulta (consultation) to the viceroy. "The principal purpose that has moved me to consult your Excellency is the desire to discover the means for the successful reduction of the Apaches to the royal obedience." They were responsible, he declared, for all the hostile raids and depredations committed not only in Texas, but in Coahuila, Nueva Vizcaya, and the whole country from Durango to New Mexico. For years he had patiently gathered information about their natural habitat, their numbers, and their customs. They lived due north of San Antonio. On the east they roamed as far as the land of the Asinai, com- monly called Tejas by the Spaniards; on the west their country extended to the Rio Grande in the vicinity of Mission Guadalupe (at La Junta, present Presidio) ; on the south they descended as far as San Antonio; and on the north they were limited by the land of a nation called Comanches, whom they feared greatly. The Apaches included three groups: the Lipanes, the Pelones, and the Apaches proper, which they designated in their own tongue as A zain, N egain, and Duttain. The Apaches and Lipanes had about five hundred warriors, while the Pelones could muster eight hundred. But the latter lived far removed from San Antonio and never came to the presidio. It was the Lipanes and the Apaches who actually committed _the depredations_ on th~ frontier out- posts. The reduction of these Indians was not an 1mposs1ble task. As a matter of fact it could be accomplished without much trouble or cost. It was imperative at this time, however, to undertake their reduction
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'Ibid., 188-189.
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