01'r Catlrolic Heritage in Te:ras
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supplies. With regard to the salaries, he reduced the rate of pay of the soldiers to three hundred and eighty pesos and raised that of the captain to six hundred.u The location of the Presidio of San Antonio de Bejar he deemed well chosen to withstand the attacks of the Apaches and to afford adequate protection both to the missions and such civil settlers as might decide to establish themselves in its vicinity. "It is situated in the best site I have been able to discover in all my travels," he declared. "At a distance of slightly more than half a league to the north, there is a hill, not very high, from whose sides gush forth two most abundant springs of water." These formed two streams, he said, that flowed past the presidio on either side, the one to the east, which would correspond to present San Antonio River, being larger, but both capable of supplying all the water neces- sary to cultivate the fertile and extensive fields in the neighborhood. The com, wheat, and cotton now being raised in the small portions under cultivation gave evidence of the productivity of the soil when irrigated. Furthermore, a short distance away, about seven leagues from the pre- sidio, where the Medina joined these streams, a large number of cattle grazed already, which feature promised to grow and would become suffi- cient in time to supply the largest settlement. The two missions that had been established in this locality had very many more Indians congregated under their care than those in East Texas. But in spite of their proximity to the garrison, soldiers were regularly assigned to them, who, because of their cooperation with the Padres in the management of the mission farms, were called mayordonzos, or overseers. 16 After almost three and a half years, Brigadier Rivera completed his tour of inspection, having traveled more than three thousand leagues, over mountains, through virgin forests, across deserts, fording numerous streams, traversing endless plains, patiently jogging along on horse or muleback over many a long and weary mile. "He has made himself worthy for the rewarq of Your Majesty," the viceroy said to the king, "because of the integrity and zeal with which he has executed so arduous an undertaking, as well as the constancy with which he has suffered the hardships and inconveniences of so long_and painful a journey, under- taken at his advanced age." 17 But when he returned to Mexico in the ISProyecto Mandado . .. A. G. N., Provincia.r lnter11as, Vol. 29. 16 /bid. ncasafuerte to the King, Mexico, March 2, 1730. A. G. I., A11diencia de Mex- ico, 61-2-12 (Dunn Transcripts)•
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