Our Catlioli& He1·itage in Tezas
slaves." As long as he remained in command, there was no hope of reconciling the Indians because he was too harsh with them. For the peace of the province, the salvation of souls, and the progress of the missions, it was imperative that Captain Flores be removed from control. In his place he suggested Mateo Perez, a soldier of the Presidio of San Juan Bautista on the Rio Grande, who feared God and had served His Majesty, the king of Spain, for twenty years.n Having said all he could on conditions at the Presidio of San Antonio de Bejar he now turned his attention to affairs at La Bahia and Los Adaes. The French, he said, had made the Spaniards believe that they were interested in the country surrounding the Bay of Espiritu Santo, but this was only a ruse. The country there was sterile and worthless. By means of this maneuver the French had succeeded in penetrating unobserved, the much richer and more fertile lands of the Apaches by way of the Cadodachos. The presidio at Los Adaes could not prevent these incursions or stop communication between them from its present position. The French could enter the country through the river of the Cadodachos without hindrance. Unless measures were taken to prevent these forays, an alliance could be formed between the two forces which might soon destroy all the missions and presidios in Texas. But he had a remedy to avoid so dire a calamity. He suggested that an expedition be organized to enter the country of the Apaches. This would not entail any expense to the royal treasury. The Presidios of Coahuila, Rio Grande, San Antonio, and La Bahia could furnish ten or -fifteen men each to make up fifty or sixty, the number required for the undertaking. The commander should be supplied with gifts for the Indians and he should be instructed not to attack the Apaches, but to try to attract them by kindness. Several missionaries should accompany the party to act as mediators and the women and children now held in San Antonio should be taken along to be released to their relatives. By this means, Father Gonzalez thought the Apaches could be persuaded to come to live in missions. In order to preclude all future communication between these Indians and the French, it would be necessary, he declared, to establish a presidio on the Cadodachos River by removing Los Adaes "Father Jose Gonzalez to the Viceroy, March 18, 1724. A. G. N., Provincias /nternas, Vol. 32, Part 2. The statements in regard to Flores were evident exagger- ations. Father Gonzalez did not go on the campaign and consequently did not see the battle.
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