-. ,-, ----------------------------------,.,_ ___ _ I I I 218 Our Catholic Heritage in Texas
to east, resuming its southerly direction at this point and continuing through the provinces of Nuevo Reyno de Leon and Coahuila to a dis- tance of about forty leagues from the sea, where it again turned east until it flowed into the Gulf. Close to its banks, he said, were situated the Presidios of Cadereita and Cerralvo de Leon, erring decidedly in the case of the first. Below San Juan Bautista, the river constituted a great natural moat or chasm which divided the barbarous nations that dwelt over this vast area as far as New Mexico and those that roamed the wilderness of Nueva Vizcaya and Coahuila, sometimes called Nueva Estremadura. The latter was separated from the former by a great chain of mountains that ran from north to south. He suggested that Brigadier Rivera should explore the river from the Presidio of El Paso to the moun- tain chain that divided Coahuila and Nueva Vizcaya (approximately present Langtry or Del Rio) to determine if the land was fertile and suitable for settlement and the raising of cattle, in which case it might be advisable to move the Presidios of Cerro Gordo, El Gallo, and Mapimi or Pasage to this region. This would afford positive protection to the entire province of Nueva Vizcaya. 7 The viceroy, who was a stickler for all legal formalities, called a general Junta de Hacienda to which he presented all the documents con- cerning the proposed Visita of the presidios and asked that it fix officially the amount to be paid Brigadier General Don Pedro de Rivera and the two assistants and a secretary who should accompany him for the more expeditious execution of this important mission. The Junta decided that in addition to his salary, he should be allowed, as recommended by the Fiscal and the A11ditor the sum of twelve ,pesos a day for traveling expenses, and that his two assistants and secretary should be paid five pesos a day for the duration of the Visita. It further authorized the viceroy to advance the inspector such an amount as he deemed convenient to enable him to make the preparations for his immediate start.• On October IO, the viceroy ordered the royal treasury to advance Rivera six thousand ,pesos for expenses and stipulated that contrary to the rec- ommendations of the Jtmta, his two assistants would be allowed only two ?Opinion del Auditor, Mexico, October 2, 1724. A. G. I., A11diencia de Mexico, 62-1-41. Taking everything into consideration the description of this little known area the information concerning it given here is remarkable. The idea advocated here' by Rebolledo was to be urged by the Marquis of Rubi almost fifty years later in the reorganization of the frontier line of defense of the Interior Provinces. •Opinion de la Junta de Hacienda, Mexico, October 6, 1724, in Ibid.
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