Handicaps to irlission Development, 1731-1750
49
cackling of geese saved Rome, the loyalty of the recently converted Indians of today's Alamo saved San Antonio in 1745. No more elo~uent proof of the success of the missionaries in Christianizing and civilizing the wild children of the plains can be found. The raids and depredations of the Apaches during the period just covered form the background of the hardships endured by the faithful sons of Saint Francis. Surrounded and harassed by implacable enemies, whose hatred and rancor were constantly stimulated by the inhuman policy of greedy officials and thoughtless settlers, who enslaved these people and robbed them of their peltry, the missionaries continued to preach the gospel of love and to toil patiently for the salvation of souls. Unostentatiously they went about their daily tasks, subduing the wild spirit of their neophytes, teaching them the habits and customs of civilized life, overcoming with gentleness and the force of example, their aversion to systematic work. The wrangle witlt Govemor Carlos Franquis de L1'go. But the troubles experienced by the missionaries as a result of the continued attacks of the Apaches were not half as detrimental to the progress of the missions as the misunderstandings with Governor Carlos Benites Franquis de Lugo. These became so violent that they practically disrupted the work of the missionaries, involving them in a series of difficulties with the goYernor and the Canary Islanders, which discouraged the neophytes and caused many of them to abandon the missions. "The Indians," declared Father Fernandez de Santa Ana, "rejoice at the differences [that have arisen], which enable them to live in idleness, consuming what they have accumu- lated in past years.... Ever since 1731, when I entered this province, I have never known a more unfortunate time." 21 In the year 1736 there arrived in Mexico Don Carlos Benites Franquis de Lugo with a royal appointment to the government of the Province of Tlaxcala. Little or nothing is known about his past career other than that he was a native of Orotoba, a village in the island of Tenerife, one of the Canaries. Since the term of the actual governor of Tla.xcala had not expired, the Viceroy, Archbishop Vizarr6n, wishing to show the royal appointee some favor, made him Governor ad interim of Texas, where the term of Don Manuel de Sandoval had ended. This proved a most unfortunate choice for Texas. "All the evidence forthcoming seems
28 Letter of Fray Denito Fernandez de Santa Ana, June 30, 1737, in Afi.sic,us, Vol. 21, pt. 2 , pp. 383-384. (University of Texas transcripts.)
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