Our Catholic Heritage in Texas
declared that a vacancy was created at La Bahia in 1730, as a result of the promotion of its former commander, it must have been at that time that the viceroy appointed him to the governorship. 68 It was at the sug- gestion of Rivera, declares Father Morfi in his History of Texas, that he received this appointment. 69 It was on April 28, 1731, that the new governor finally arrived in Los Adaes, his official residence, and took possession of his office. He had set out from La Bahia on March 8, with a large train of over ninety cargas of flour, arms, clothes, and other supplies, a drove of two hundred horses, a herd of two hundred and fifty head of cattle, and five hundred sheep, all of which had retarded his progress while on the march. The winter had been unusually severe and the snow had prevented him from starting until the spring with the large train of provisions and supplies which he had gathered in the fall on the Rio Grande. This was generally the best season to travel and he had decided to wait and to go later with the convoy so as to make certain it was not unduly delayed. Well aware of the extremes to which Los.Adaes was frequently reduced by such a contingency, he had chosen to escort the train himself. 70 Upon his arrival in Los Adaes, Captain Melchor Mediavilla y Azcona made formal delivery of the garrison and all its belongings to the new governor and commander. There were at that time sixty men, including a lieutenant, an ensign, and a sergeant, according to the official list drawn up on April 30, when Bustillo y Ceballos reviewed the troops. He reported that all the soldiers were not fully provided with the necessary arms and equipment and that most of them did not have the lances, nor the ciuras, prescribed by the new Ordinance of Presidios. Several of the men entirely lacked horses or did not have the number they should. From a preliminary exploration of the vicinity, he had been impressed with the want of suit- able watering places for the stock. In the report on the age and character of each man, he declared with regard to himself, that he was forty years old and had seen eight years of service in the province, being an Hidalgo of a well known family in the mountains of Burgos in Spain. After the name of each person he listed whether he was Spanish, mestizo, mulatto, Indian, or a mixture of any of these types. An analysis shows that there 6BTitulo de Capitan del Presidio del Espiritu Santo ... A. G. I., A11diencia de G11adalajara, 104-6-8 (Dunn Transcripts, 1710-1738). 69Castafieda, Morft's History of Texas, Chapter VII. 708ustillo y Ceballos to the Viceroy, May 24, l 731. A. G. N., Provincias ltzternas, Vol. 236.
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