i1/issio11ary Activity Among tlze Apaches, 1743-1758
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that the chief concern of the officials in Mexico in considering the in- sistent petitions of the Texas missionaries in behalf of the Apaches was the ineYitable expense incidental upon the founding of an indispensable presiclio for their protection. This difficulty, insurmountable because of the increasing demands made upon the royal treasury at this time, was to be removed by the ultimate failure of the San Xavier missions, which was to lea\·e the presidio and garrison authorized for their protection free to be used somewhere else. Thus the final abandonment of this project was to make possible the realization of the long cherished plan of Fray Benito and Fray Mariano. Fray 111aria110 renews /,is efforts for Apac/1e missions, 1751. Undaunted by repeated failures, and fully aware of the antagonistic attitude ex- pressed by the recent council held in San Antonio regarding Apache missions. he now turned to Governor Barrios in an effort to enlist his support and cooperation or to hold him responsible for the failure. On June 2, 1751, he addressed himself to the governor. It was well known, the friar declared, that the Apaches caused not only a great loss all along the frontier outposts, but also caused great expense to the royal treasury ,by forcing it to maintain garrisons to fight them. Since 1749, thanks to the efforts of the missionaries, these Indians had maintained peace and had repeatedly solicited missions. The padres had tried to secure authorization to reduce them to mission life and had made great sacrifices in order to keep the Indians at peace while awaiting formal approval. But these conditions could not continue any longer. The governor must request the viceroy's consent to undertake their reduction to mission life or inform the Apaches himself that they need not harbor hopes of seeing missions established in their country. 31 The governor promptly replied that the Apaches were fickle and treacherous. No trust could be placed in them. They had betrayed the confidence of the officials of Coahuila in January, 1750, when twelve hundred pesos had been spent in an effort to congregate them at San Rodrigo. The year before, in 1749, when Fray Silva, four soldiers, and four civilians set out from San Antonio, these treacherous Indians had trailed them and murdered them before they crossed the Rio Grande. 32 It was their fear of the Comanches that drove them to seek the friendship of the Spaniards. Personally he 31 Fray Mariano to Governor Barrios. June 2, 1751. In Testimon!o .• • sobre . .. reduccion ... A. G. I. A11die11cia de Mexico, 92-6-22 (Cunningham tr., 1763, pt. 3), 32-34. 3 !Cj . account of incident by Fray Mariano, anl4, p. 189.
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