Aguayo Expedition and San Jose Mission, I7I9-I722
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of the king over the Province of the Tejas and Nuevas Philipinas, he explained that he was obliged to give full authority to his Lieutenant General, Captain Juan Valdez, to act in his name and that of the king. Captain Valdez was instructed to select the place that seemed to him best suited for the purpose, exercising due care to see that there were abundant water and fertile land for good farms and pastures for all kinds of stock. He was to found there a mission to be called San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, and to give possession of it to Father Antonio Margil de Jesus of the College of Zacatecas, who was to have charge of the new establishment. All this was to be done with "the solemnity prescribed by the royal laws." These orders were immediately transmitted to San Antonio. 32 Opposition of Father Olivares. When Father Olivares heard of the plans of Father Margil to establish a mission on the San Antonio River, he was much perturbed. Accompanied by Bartolome Lorenzo, alcalde,· Manuel, alguazil; and Agustin Solano and Baltazar Valero, regidores, all Indians from the Mission of San Antonio de Valero, he appeared before Captain Valdez on February 23, 1720, to protest against the estab- lishment of the proposed mission and to present the reasons why, in his opinion, it was not advisable to permit it. In the petition presented it was declared that the Pampopas and Pastias, who were to be congregated in the new mission, were traditional enemies of the Indians now living in San Antonio de Valero; that their establishment such a short distance away might result in serious trouble between the neophytes of the two missions; that the Marquis of Valero had granted the site originally to Father Olivares; and lastly, that the laws of the Indies provided that new missions had to be at least three leagues distant from those already founded. 33 In reply to this protest Captain Valdez informed the petitioners that he had received orders from the Marquis of Aguayo, Governor of the province, to select an appropriate site for a mission whereon to establisn the Pampopa, Suliajame, and Pastia nations, who had requested through Father Margi! suitable lands and sufficient water for irrigation to form a pueblo. He assured the petitioners that in carrying out his orders he would observe the laws of the Indies with all care, and that he would unecree of Aguayo for the establishment of San Jose, January 22, 172 0 • In Testimonio de la Possession y Mision ... A. G. I., A udiencia de Guadalajara, 67-3-11. 33Qposicion a la fundacion de la Mision de San Jose del Rio de San Antonio. In Arcliivo del Colegio de la Santa Crui, 1716-1749.
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