:~;,i,•... 1 ____ ll!l!!ll!!!l_________________ 15,0111l11111:a'lE171Cm2llr.&Ya.n~Dir::m:r-11:111111mJu11lll-""Mft"""""'L -.=1:i ""'----""-"""t\1/'1!..:, ::..U ~ I I l . I 50 Our Cat/,olic Heritage in T e:cas
to indicate that he was a violent man. The Marques de Altamira wrote that 'he at once manifested his tempestuous, petulant, and hasty nature, whereupon followed complaints of disgraceful and insulting temerities with which he treated those missionary religious'." 29 The new governor blew into Texas with the suddenness of an unexpected tropical storm. The rumblings of his approach reached San Antonio by August. Sweeping down through Coahuila unheralded, he arrived at San Juan Bautista the early part of September, after having upbraided the Governor of Coahuila for his laxity in defending himself against the Indians. Finding no escort at the Rio Grande, he became enraged, and proceeded posthaste and unannounced to San Antonio, where he took official possession of affairs on September 26, 1736, in a whirlwind ceremony. He refused to show his credentials, declared he had extraordi- nary and plenary powers from the viceroy to correct all abuses, and that . he was determined to carry them out, meting just punishment to the guilty. He claimed that he had authority over the presidios not only of Texas, but of Coahuila and even of Pensacola, the commanders of which owed him the same obedience as they did to the king or the viceroy. 30 Discourtesy of tl,e new governor. It was only natural that having shown no courtesies to the civil authorities, the new governor should have failed to notify the religious of his arrival. Nevertheless, a few days after his stormy entrance into San Antonio, Father Fray Felipe Suarez de Espinosa, of Mission Valero, called upon him one morning only to be told that the governor was busy on the king's business and could not receive him. Undaunted by this discourteous treatment, the good friar returned that afternoon to present his respects. This time the governor was engaged in an informal conversation with former Governor Sandoval and Father Mariano de los Dolores. When the corporal announced the new caller, Franquis, visibly agitated, told the soldier to "Bolton, Teras in tlte Middle Eiglileenlli Century, 23-24. For brief summaries of his life and career see West, "Bonilla's Breve Compendio," Quarterly, VIII, 43; Castaneda, ,lforfi's History of Teras, pt. 2, 285-286, 296, note 13; McGill, Tlte Ad,,,inistralion of Don Carlos Franquis de L11go. (Thesis, University of Texas, 1928.) H"Confesion de! Coronel Don Carlos de Franquis," in Testimonio de las Diligencias ereculadas en la Provincia de Teras, A.G. I., Audiencia de Guadalajara, 67-2-27. (Dunn transcripts.) Carta de Fr. Benito Fernandez de Santa Ana to Fr. Miguel SeviJlano, December 28, 1736, in A.G. M., MisioneJ, Vol. 21, pt. I, p. 67.
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