CHAPTER III
THE BEGINNINGS OF CIVILIZED LIFE IN TEXAS, 1731-1745
The early struggles of the mission establishments on the San Antonio River have been recounted in some detail in the preceding chapter. But a fuller view of life in the primitive province during the trying years of its infancy should be given even at the expense of some repetition. Only in this way can an idea be obtained of the slow and painful progress made during the fifteen years after the establishment of the first civil settlement in Texas and of the sacrifices and fortitude of the Spanish pioneers who, with the Pad1·es, laid the the foundations of civili- zation upon the virgin soil of Texas. Apparently with no great driving force, with no definite objective, life began to develop with its thousand minor and insignificant incidents. Glimpses of everyday occurrences are revealed here and there. Although many seem unrelated, they form the patch quilt of a vast design in which the faith of the missionaries and their desire to convert the natives are the broad background, and the personal sacrifices and fortitude of the poor soldiers and more wretched families, who accompanied them, form the individual blocks and figures with their petty ambitions, their quarrels, their greed, their frailties, their prejudices, and their affections. The incongruous mass of circum- stances is fused into an orderly whole and is given a sharper meaning by the religious fervor of the missionaries, the flame of whose ardent love spread a warm glow over the othenvise sombre monotony of the grim struggle for existence against overwhelming odds. A ttem,pted removal of Los A daes, I 7 3 I. The farthest outpost of Spanish power, founded by Aguayo, was only seven leagues west of Natchitoches. The site had been considered unsatisfactory from the beginning. Frequent complaints as to the difficulties of raising corn and other foodstuffs to help maintain the garrison stationed at this important post had been made to the viceroy. The distance from the nearest Spanish settlements along the northern frontier of New Spain precluded the possibility of obtaining supplies rapidly when needed. These two circum- stances had made inevitable the purchase of corn, beans, and other food supplies from the neighboring French fort and settlement, and this had opened the door to illicit trade in other commodities. After the [ 7S]
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