01" Catholic Heritage in Texas
before the governor shortly after his arrival and expressed their regret and sorrow because they were deprived of the service of the Padres. The Capitan Grande of the Tejas had ignored the messages of the governor to come and see him three times, until at last, Bustillo y Ceballos sent him his horse, fully saddled. When he saw the governor he expressed the same opinion as the other chiefs and asked what he or his people had done to make the Spaniards angry and what had caused the Padres to abandon their country. The governor explained to him as best he could that the orders had come for the removal from his Capitan Grande and explained to them that the other three missions near the presidio would welcome them and that the missionaries would continue to look after them. He tried to console them, he said, and to make his words more effective, gave them presents of cloth, beads, knives, and tobacco, assuring them that the Spaniards were their friends and that the missionaries would continue to care for them. All this explanation was made through a good interpreter. On his way to Los Adaes, he had visited each one of the tribes of the territory through which he had passed, and he had spent a day with each. He promised the viceroy to do everything he could to maintain the peace and persuade the Indians to congregate in the missions as he was instructed. In accord with the .new ordinance, he had requested the captains at La Bahia and San Antonio de Bejar to make detailed reports to him of the soldiers, their arms and equipment, the number of horses, the racial descent and breeding of each man, and the property of these presidios. As soon as these items were received he assured the .viceroy that he would forward them without delay. The lieutenant and the alferez of Los Adaes having become chronically ill, as happened so often in this unhealthy climate, the governor appointed Don Jose Cayetano de Vergara and Don Joseph Gonzalez to fill the vacancies, respectively. It is a strange coinci- dence, however, that the only two men in the garrison who had to be replaced on account of continued illness were the two principal subaltern officers. The appointments, of course, were temporary and subject to the approval of His Excellency. 73 The detailed account of conditions at Los Adaes and the Province of Texas in general was turned over to Rivera for his consideration and recommendations with regard to the various points raised by the new gov- ernor. After studying the document with care, he reported on July 21,
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