Aguayo Expedition and San Jose Mission, r7r9-r722
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the result of a series of recommendations made by the Council of the Indies on March 27, in reply to the king's request for advice concerning two letters recently received from the viceroy, warning him against the intention of the French to take possession of a gulf port "by force of arms if necessary." Among other things the Council recommended that in so far as regarded the Bay of San Bernardo, commonly known to the Spaniards as Espiritu Santo, it was urgent that a ship of medium draft be dispatched immediately to reconnoiter the bay and report if the French had already occupied it. If found unoccupied, the ship should remain to guard the bay until measures for the construction of a fort were adopted. It further recommended that a number of settlements should be estab- lished between the San Marcos and the Guadalupe Rivers, both of which emptied into the bay, in order to prevent the introduction of French mer- chandise through these rivers into the Province of Texas and hence into the Reyno de Nueva Vizcaya, Province of Coahuila, and the Nuevo Reyno de Leon. Of particular interest in connection with the proposed settlements is the fact that in these recommendations is found the first mention of the idea of settling families from the Canary Islands or Galicia in Texas. "It is advisable that Your Majesty," declares the Council, "issue orders to the officials in the Canary Islands and the Kingdom of Galicia for two thousand families to be transported by way of the city of Veracruz.... It will also be greatly to the advantage of the royal service for one hundred Tlaxcaltecan families, skilled in farm labor, to be sent to Texas that they might help to teach those newly converted how to cultivate the soil ... Master carpenters, blacksmiths, and masons should also be sent to help build the settlements that are to be established." 44 Following the general recommendation of the Council, the king repeated the instructions of June II, 1718, which covered fully the question of French trade. He then urged the viceroy to take pos- session of the Bays of San Jose (near Pensacola) and San Bernardo, declaring that no foreigner was to be permitted to enter or settle within his dominions. With regard to the establishment of settlements on the Guadalupe and San Marcos (Colorado) Rivers with families from Spain, he did not believe the suggestion was practical. He ordered the viceroy therefore to select the most suitable sites in the vicinity of the Dav of San Bernardo and settle them with families from New Spain because 44 Satisfaccion a la orden de V. M. con que se sirvio Rernitir tres cartas ... March 27, 1719. A. G. I., Mexico, 61-6-35 (Dunn Transcripts, University of Texas).
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