Reiistablislmzent of 111issions, r72r-r722
spiritual. He further assured the Marquis that he was ready to assign an assistant to Father Guerra upon the arrival of other Pwes who, accord- ing to information received, were now on the way to Texas. To this Aguayo replied that he was ready to accede to the request of the Reverend Father Espinosa and to grant all that he had asked. He declared that the mission, now to be known as San Francisco de los Neches, was officially placed under the care of the missionaries of Queretaro; that the Indians congregated in the mission were to possess, hold, and enjoy the use of _the lands and water necessary to sow crops, raise cattle, and establish a pueblo. In case it was found advisable to move the mission and pueblo to another site, the grant would still be valid, but the mis- sionary in charge at such a time should be instructed, for the sake of information and of permanent record, to notify officially the Captain or lt,sticia of the neighboring presidio regarding the removal. As further evidence of possession, Aguayo took the Reverend Father Guerra by the hand and led him in and out of the church through both doors. He then grasped the hand of the chief of the Neche Indians in like manner and led him in and out of the church around the grounds, causing him to pull up weeds, take up dirt, and scatter rocks to the winds as tokens of occupation. After this formal ceremony, Aguayo clothed one hundred and fifty- eight Indians, men, women, and children, of the Neche tribe. Through the Reverend Father Espinosa, who knew their language, he explainec to them that they had to congregate in a pueblo which was to be known as San Francisco de Valero; he warned them that they must be loyal in their purpose of living near the mission in order that the pueblo might be permanent. The Indians promised they would do all that His Lordship asked just as soon as the crop of corn, which they now had in scattered fields, .was gathered. 3 Refozmding of Concepcion Mission. The same day that Aguayo sent Father Guerra with a detachment of soldiers to San Francisco, he also sent Fathers Gabriel Vergara and Benito Sanchez with another party of men to proceed to Mission Concepcion to make such preparations as were SThe details of the reestablishment of the Mission of San Francisco de los Tejas under its new name of San Francisco de los Neches have been gathered from Pena's Derrotero, and a copy of the official Auto de Fundacion contained in Dili- xencias Executadas Sobre el restablesimto. de Misiones perthenesientes a la Prova. de los Texas Nuevas Philipinas y Consulta echa a su Ex. por el Marques de s. Migl de Aguayo y lo demas que dentro se percibe. A. G. I., Audiencia de Mexico 61-2-2 (Dunn Transcripts, 1713-1722). '
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