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Our C atlzolic H e1·itage in T ezas
350
time, which were based, as already indicated, on the limited information in the hands of the officials. Waving aside unnecessary introductory remarks, he plunged into the subject of his mission by making a direct and abrupt appeal for authori- zation to put into effect his new plan. In order that the conversion of the Apaches, so long sought, might prove effective and redound to the glory of God, and to save expense to the royal treasury, restore peace to the internal provinces, increase the settlement of Texas without cost, extend the dominions of his Majesty, and propagate the faith the viceroy should order at once a number of steps to be taken. The soldiers from the Presidio of San Antonio stationed at San Xavier should be ordered back and the entire garrison should be instructed to occupy a position on the Pedernales River or farther into the Apache country, if deemed advisable. Settlers would soon follow the garrison, and if the captain was empowered to grant lands to them, a thing not done when the presidio was first established in San Antonio, a large colony would soon develop. Once the garrison established itself in the new location, the missionaries charged with the conversion of the Apaches, accompanied by one or two of the chiefs, could select a site for a mission, as far removed from the presidio as was d_eemed convenient, some two or three leagues distant, where the Indians who desired conversion could congregate. When a sufficient number came, a complete report of the location chosen and all the other particulars could be made for the approval of his Excellency. This was the only practical way the impulsive friar declared. To attempt to found a new mission in San Antonio or its vicinity was out of the question. For fifteen leagues below the last of the five missions already established, irrigation was impossible, as shown in the records of the investigation made in 1730 and filed in the archives of the viceroy. But even if there were a site, the mission in this locality would prove a test beyond the endurance of the Apaches, who had an insurmountable attachment for their own country. If the first mission founded for them failed, it would make future attempts to reduce them all the more difficult. He pleaded, therefore, for immediate action to carry out the measures proposed, before the opportunity for success was dissipated. 18 The mountainous section along the Pedernales was a region frequented llFray Benito Fernandez de Santa Anna to the Viceroy, February 1 3 ( ?), 17 5o. A.G. M. Historia, Vol. 28, ff. 131-133. Bonilla in his Breve Com,Pe11dio attributed this proposal to Fray Mariano. His account is unreliable for obvious reasons. See West, "Bonilla's Breve Compendio," Tl,e Quarterly, VIII, 49-51.
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