Ottr Catholic Heritage in Texas
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Santo, consequently he did not see him until May 1, after he arrived at the San Antonio River. Contrary to the statement made in the Diary of the expedition previously cited, however, Governor Alarcon gave posses- sion of the site for the new Mission of San Antonio de Valero to Father Olivares in the name of His Majesty, on May 1, 1718. This is confirmed by Olivares' statement of the facts in his report to the viceroy and by an entry, in his own handwriting, made on that date, in the records of the old mission still preserved in San Fernando Cathedral. One reads here on that day, official possession was given to the venerable missionary, and that the new mission was founded by the express order of the Marquis of Valero.M Thus the Mission of San Antonio de Valero was formally founded five days before the Villa de Bejar. With three Indians who accompanied him, and who were particularly devoted to him because he had raised them from childhood, Father Olivares soon succeeded in erecting a temporary jacal 35 in which to cele- brate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Here the old missionary and his companions lived and waited for the Indians to come. According to Father Olivares there were six missionaries here in June, but unfortunately he did not give the names and hence we are unable to tell who they were. The provisions were duly stored and the ground in the vicinity of the new mission was plowed and made ready for planting. While waiting, many new plows and other tools necessary for the cultivation of the soil were provided by the Padres. The Indians appear to have been slow in coming into the mission. This failure to congregate may have been the result of the long wait from the middle of May, 1717, when various chiefs visited Father Olivares at the Rio Grande, to May, 1718, when he at last arrived, or it may have been due to the fact that in the summer most of these tribes went long distances in search of different wild fruits and prickly pears. But Father Olivares blamed the governor for their absence. "The Indian whom this gentleman brought as a guide from the Rio Grande ran away after his arrival in San Antonio, impe11ed by the Jose, from where it was moved to the new site on the San Antonio River. Mission Records, San Fernando Cathedral, San Antonio, Texas. MLibro en que se Assien/an /os Bautismos de los Indios de esta Mision de S. Ant. de Valero, 11. Mission Records, San Fernando Cathedral, San Antonio, Texas. Olivares to the Viceroy, June 22, 1718. San Francisco el Grande Archive, VIII, 205-212. >•A structure made out of brush, mud, and straw. The waUs are made by put- ting together slender poles and brush and filling the cracks with mud which the sun bakes soon after. The roof is made out of straw.
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