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Oztr C at/1olic Heritage in Texas
of the Holy Virgin Mary. The Indians again promised to the Spaniards that they would congregate when a mission was founded. The little group took leave of their newly-made friends and started back. The distance from San Antonio to the site selected was estimated to be seventy leagues, about one hundred and eighty miles. On the return trip, a small stream which they called Arcon or Alarcon (present Joshua Creek), which runs into the Guadalupe. was examined but was not con- sidered suitable for a mission site. Origin of tlze San Saba plan. In his report to the viceroy, Galvan declared that there were strong indications of rich mineral deposits in the surrounding hills. The Apache Indians that would likely come to the new missions would be numerous. It was highly advisable that a strong garrison be established here in order to inspire proper respect and insure success. In his opinion a large troop of one hundred men was the minimum for this purpose, but these should be carefu\ly selected for their fitness. The location chosen was important. The Indians had assured him that New Mexico was not far and that communication with this province, as well as with the pueblos of the Julimes to the west, was possible. Return- ing to the question of the big garrison suggested, he explained that this was necessary not only to keep the Apaches from revolting, but to ward off attack by the Comanches. How could such recruits be secured without expense to the royal treasury? In the first place the soldiers stationed in San Antonio would not be necessary there if the Apaches were reduced. A small guard of three men for each mission, under one officer, with jurisdiction over the neophytes, would be sufficient. The rest of the soldiers necessary to make up the one hundred could be drawn in proportion from the five other presidios in Coahuila and Texas, designed primarily against Apache attacks and made purposeless with the conversion of these Indians to mission life. 36 It seems that Galvan's long report was in fact drawn up by Fray Aranda, who by July 19 was already back in San Antonio, from where he wrote a brief letter to Fray Mariano. The detailed outline for the proposed presidio on the San Saba was beyond the ability of the honest frontier trooper. But if not the actual author, the plan suggested by him is most significant because it became the basic idea from which the San -;;-F y Aranda to Fray Mariano, July 19, 17 S3, Lieutenant Galvan to the Viceroy, ra d .. AG S b 20 1753 in Testimonio . . . sobre ... re ucc1on . . . . . /. Audiencia eptem er , • ) 8 de Mexico, 92 .6-22 (Cunningham tr., 1763, pt. 3 , 30-31, I -23.
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