Our C atliolic Heritage in Texas
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vicinity, he declared, were peaceful and friendly; the garrison had never been called upon, ever since its establishment, to take part in an active campaign; the only employment of the soldiers was to raise the crops necessary for their maintenance and to help the missionaries; while the captain had no other duty than to assign to each mission the soldiers requested. In view of these circumstances, the expense of supporting the presidio was entirely unjustified, as the only service it performed was to assist the missionaries. Although this assistance could be continued, yet since the greater part of the Indians still lived in their 1·ancherias, this service rendered could be done by assigning two soldiers to each mission from Los Adaes to help the faithful Franciscans and to accompany them in their frequent visits to their wards. 19 In the case of the Presidio of Nuestra Senora de Loreto at Bahia del Espiritu Santo he began by declaring that its force should never have been increased from forty men to ninety, affirming, with unpardonable ignorance, that he did not know what the occasion for the increase had been. He refers to the diary of the expedition of Aguayo as his source of information on this point, but evidently he did not read the document through, or he would have found out that Aguayo was ordered to leave fifty additional men by a direct order of the king, transmitted to him by the viceroy. 20 The presidio had been established originally to prevent any other nation from occupying the coast, as had happened in 1685, when the French erected a fort there. But time had shown that a landing by a group sufficient for settlement was next to impossible. The water over the bar was so low that it precluded the entrance of vessels of large draft, such as would be required, and the country was so swampy and unhealthful that the presidio established by the Spaniards had been moved by force of circumstances about ten leagues inland to the banks of the Guadalupe River. But Rivera misrepresented the facts in attributing the cause of the removal to the unhealthful character of the country. Although this was a factor, the real reason was the hostility of the Indians and their refusal to live in the mission after the indiscreet conduct of Domingo Ramon to punish them resulted in his own death. Regardless of the true facts, he recommended that the garrison be reduced to forty soldiers. This number, he argued, was sufficient to protect the mission, as the Indians of this region had little or no spirit and were known for their cowardice 19/bui. The remainder of the recommendations given hereafter are found in the same document. zopefia, Derrotero.
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