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i11issio11ary Activity Among the Apaches, 1743-1758
Don Pedro de Rabago y Teran, deceased, and captain of the ill-fated Presidio of San Xavier. The new commander had solicited the appoint- ment that same day. In his petition he recounted how he had enlisted as a soldier in 1734 and had seen service in Spain until 1740, when he was sent to Cuba to fight against the English in the Almanza regiment. A few years later he had been transferred to the garrison of Veracruz with the rank of captain of dragoons and served in this capacity until 1749, when he had been ordered to Puebla to quell a native revolt. Shortly afterwards he had been appointed Governor of Sinaloa and Sonora and Captain of Presidio de San Miguel de Horcasitas. 'While serving this important post, which he held until the end of 1755, he had been pro- moted to the rank of Colonel in His l\fajesty's armies in 1752. Such was the record that moved the viceroy to grant his petition and to entrust to him the delicate commission of removing the remnants of San Xavier to San Antonio and the establishment of a new presidio for the pro- tection of the proposed mission in the very heart of the Apache country. 19 It will be remembered that Fray Alonso Giraldo de Terreros had gone to Mexico shortly after the establishment of Mission San Lorenzo in Coahuila. Ever since his arrival he appears to have been busily engaged in perfecting a plan to enlarge his field of activity among the Apache Indians, to whom he had become deeply attached as a consequence of his experiences on the Rio Grande. Fray Alonso had a rich and influential cousin, Don Pedro Romero de Terreros. Born in Spain, educated in the famous University of Salamanca, he had come to New Spain, called by the unexpected death of his eldest brother. Circumstances forced him to remain in Mexico, where he soon amassed a great fortune from the profits derived from the two mines of Santa Brigida and La Viscaina in Pachuca. Being public-spirited and interested in the welfare of the more unfortunate memberi of society, he contributed liberally to the support of many charitable institutions and was founder of the National Pawn Shop in Mexico. Philanthropy was his favorite activity in an age characterized by the exercise of this commendable quality among many persons in Mexico. It is not strange, therefore, that he should have listened with interest to the enthusiastic The San Saba Missions win a godfat/1er.
79 Consulta of Diego Ortiz Parrilla, May 17, 17 56; Decreto of same date. In Ibid., pp. 191-197.
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