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011r Catholic Heritage in T e:xas
matters for the attainment of the object desired, which was the con- version and civilization of the Indians. In accord with the newly adopted ordinance for presidios, he received six hundred pesos a year, payable from the day he took charge of his office with the temporary appoint- ment of the viceroy, and was excused from payment of any dues or fees as required by the provisions of the iltfedia Auata. This was a law which provided that those appointed to fill vacancies must deduct a percentage of their salary for the time during which the office had been unoccupied. All military officers appointed to active duty in America had been excused from the payment of this fee by a special cedula issued by the king on September 23, 1727. 61 On January 7, 1731, Captain Costales informed the viceroy that accord- ing to the orders of October 2, the previous year, recently received, he had detailed nine soldiers from his garrison to guard the three new mis- sions that were being established by the Queretaran Fathers on the San Antonio River. He expressed great fear that these men would lose all idea of discipline, if allowed to reside fifty leagues from their official quarters. Soldiers assigned for such duty generally indulged in gam- bling with the mission Indians and often lost even their horses and mili- tary equipment. From this it followed that they became dissatisfied with the service and deserted. He pointed out that it was very difficult to replace such men because no one wished to enlist. Furthermore, the allot- ment of nine men to guard the new missions left him without a sufficient number of men to take care of the presidio and to attend to the various duties that must be performed, particularly in case the Indians renewed hostilities. According to his present organization, ten men were required to escort the provision trains that came from the Rio Grande, seven were on duty at the presidio, seven guarded the horses, and two acted as mis- sion guards in Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo. These left only three soldiers and two officers for special duty in case of an emergency. 62 On the other hand, general peace prevailed at this time, he declared. The three coastal tribes with whom a treaty was concluded shortly before, had maintained their friendly attitude and came in large numbers to the presidio and mission, there being about sixty or seventy warriors now 61Titulo de Capitan del Presidio del Espiritu Santo, en la Provincia de los Tejas de la Na. Espana con el sueldo de 600 pesos al ano. A. G. I., A11die11cia de Guada- lajara, 104-6-8 (Dunn Transcripts, I 7 I O•I 7 38). 62Captain Costales to the Viceroy, January 7, 1731. A. G. N., Pro11i11cias J,ztemas, Vol. 236.
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