Our Catholic Heritage in Texas
74
they seemed well satisfied and happy under the paternal care of the missionaries. 72 Such was the success attained by the missions on the San Antonio River by 1740, when Valero was twenty-two years old; San Jose, twenty; and Concepcion, San Juan Capistrano, and San Francisco de la Espada, nine. When the difficulties they had to overcome in resisting the relentless attacks of the Apaches, in suffering patiently the unprovoked insults and outrages of officials such as Governor Franquis, and in constantly searching for new recruits are considered, the achievement of such a state of prosperity is truly remarkable. But the period of preparation for new expansion had not come to an end. Several years were to elapse before the infant establishments gathered sufficient strength for a further advance into the unoccupied territory. The occasion was to be not the fear of foreign aggression, but the ardent desire to bring under the influence of the church the nations that roamed to the north and west of San Antonio and those on the lower Trinity, near the coast. The protection of the Spanish settlements along the northern frontier undoubtedly was the determining factor with viceregal authorities, but the desire to Christianize the Indians was the prime motive of the missionaries, and their ardent faith had its effect even upon practical-minded officials. Before taking up the first expansive movement, the founding of missions for the Apache nation, a movement that was to prove an unfortunate blunder on the part of Spanish officials and was to cost the missionaries the lives of two of their number, it will be well to survey in some detail the course of life in the Spanish settlements and missions throughout the entire province to the year 1745. 71 Fray Benito Fernandez de Santa Ana to Fray Pedro del Barco, March 26, 1740. A,-cl,ivo del Colegio de la Santa C,-uz, 1716-17 49. (Dunn Transcripts.) Fray Santa Ana to Fray Barco, February 20, 1740. A.G. M., Historia, vol 28.
Powered by FlippingBook