Rivera's Inspection and Removal of irlissions to Sa11 Antonio 235
both Presidios of Los Adaes and San Antonio under the command of a competent officer to explore the coast from the Presidio of Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo de la Bahia to the Sabinas River, in the vicinity of Los Adaes. The detachment from this last post should go to San Antonio, and setting out from there with the men furnished for the purpose by that presidio, proceed to the coast. From La Bahia, it should follow the seashore as closely as possible to the Sabinas River and hence to Los Adaes. Throughout the trip, all bays and sounds should be carefully examined to determine if any foreigners had established a set- tlement along the shore line. This portion had been explored by order of Rivera during his visita. The Presidios of San Antonio and San Juan Bautista were advised to give each other mutual aid whenever it became necessary, by furnish- ing twelve men, including an officer, when forced to fight the various Indian enemies that infested this region. In any campaign undertaken against hostile Indians, if men, women or children were taken prisoners, these could not be disposed of as slaves by the captain or any of the officers. On the contrary, whenever possi- ble, the women and children should be released to their husbands or parents in order to incline them to peace and friendship through kind- ness and thus remove all cause for cruel reprisals on their part. A gen- eral policy of reconciliation was to be consistently observed. If after suf- fering a defeat, the hostile Indians expressed a desire to make peace, they were to be received with clemency and all prisoners taken should be returned to them as evidence of the good faith of the Spaniards, particularly in the case of women and children. Any Indian of an enemy tribe, if he peacefully presented himself at any presidio as a friend, ought to be welcomed in like manner. But the most interesting part of the ordinance is a series of price lists determining the cost to soldiers for the most commonly used sup- plies. This, undoubtedly, was the first attempt at price fixing in Texas. The minute details which the officials employed to prepare the items, give the reader a splendid idea of the goods consumed at the frontier establishments by the soldiers, the Indians, and the few scattered set- tlers. In the case of Texas two different lists were prepared, including the same goods and items, but priced a little differently. One was designed for Los Adaes and the other for both San Antonio and La Bahia. Corn was to sell at Los Adaes for five pesos a bushel, flour for twenty-five pesos a hundredweight, cattle at sixteen pesos a head, chocolate already
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