CHAPTER V
REESTABLISHMENT OF MISSIONS AND THE FOUNDING OF SAN FRANCISCO XAVIER AND EsPiRITU SANTO, 1721-1722 One of the two objects of the Aguayo expedition was the reestablish- ment of the missions in East Texas after their forced abandonment in 1719, as a result of the attack of the French. It was with this end in view that ample supplies had been taken along on the march and that the Franciscan missionaries, both from the College of the Holy Cross of Queretaro and the College of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Zacatecas had accompanied Aguayo. The interest of the King and other Spanish officials in the conversion of the natives was genuine. In the royal orders and in the instructions of the viceregal officials we find this sentiment repeatedly expressed in the most emphatic and pious manner. But whatever was the real attitude of the officials, the motive that prompted the unselfish sons of St. Francis are beyond a doubt. It was their desire to spread the Gospel, to bring the thousands of erring and untamed Indians into the fold of the Church, to teach them the manners, the customs, the indus- tries, and the arts of civilized life. No love of glory, no spur for fame, no lure of earthly profit moved the brown-robed Franciscans in their endless toils, their painful journeys over untracked wilderness, their supreme sacrifice for the salvation of souls which many of them were called to make in the course of their missionary endeavors in far-away Texas. The fickle nature of the natives, the rigors of the climate, the privations of the pioneer, the unfounded accusations of officials, born of lack of sympathy, all of these and much more they endured with Christian patience and labored on with unshaken faith and unflinching courage. When despair gripped the heart of officials, when it seemed all labor was in vain, it was the missionaries who never lost hope and slowly, patiently, with love and understanding, laid the foundations of civilized life deep in the soil of Texas. Refounding of San Francisco de los Tejas. While still camped on the west bank of the Neches River, Aguayo sent a detachment of soldiers with Father Jose Guerra, on August 2, 1721, to go to the old site of Mission San Francisco de los Tejas to rebuild the church and dwelling place of the priests and make the necessary arrangements for reestablish- ment. The little group swam their horses across the stream and after [ 149]
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