CHAPTER VIII
ESTABLISHMENT OF SAN FERNANDO DE BEJAR, FIRST CIVIL SETTLEMENT IN TEXAS, 1723-1731 Over two hundred years have elapsed since the establishment of the first civil settlement on the present site of San Antonio. The connected story, however, of the forces that brought about this most significant event, the details of the tiresome sea voyage from the Canary Islands to Veracruz, the long and painful journey from Veracruz to Mexico City and hence to distant Texas, and the untold hardships endured by the first settlers, in spite of the solicitude of colonial officials, remains to be told. 1 The need of a civil settlement was first realized by the missionaries, who urged such action shortly after the Ramon Expedition in 1716. Contrary to the general belief, it was the Council of the Indies and not the Marquis of Aguayo who first recommended that families from the Canary Islands or Galicia be sent for that purpose. Heretofore it had been suggested, chiefly by the missionaries, that families from New Spain should be induced to settle in the vicinity of the missions founded in Texas. "It is advisable," declared the Council on March 27, 1719, "that Your Majesty issue orders to the officials of the Canary Islands and the kingdom of Galicia for two thousand families to be transported by way of the city of Veracruz.": The immediate occasion for this recommendation was the proposed occu- pation of the Bay of Espiritu Santo, designated at that time as San Bernardo Bay, and the establishment of a permanent settlement at this point to prevent the possible incursion of the French. But the king did not receive the suggestion favorably. In his instructions to the viceroy he asked that suitable sites for settlements in this region be chosen and that these be supplied with families from New Spain, who could be trans- ported with much less expense to the royal treasury and with much greater ease than from the Canary Islands or Spain. 3 Origin of ,plans for civil settlement of Texas. lThe only attempts at a critical presentation of the facts are Bancroft, Nortk Mezican States and Tezas, Vol. I, I. J. Cox, "The Founding of the First Texas Municipality," Texas Historical Quarterly, II, 217-226; Mattie Alice Austin, "The Municipal Government of San Fernando de Bexar," Quarterly, VIII, 277-353. 2satisfacci6n a la orden de V. M. con que se sirvio Remitir tres cartas ... March 27, 1719. A. G. I., Afezico, 61-6-35 (Dunn Transcripts, University of Texas). 3Royal Ced11la, April 22, 1719, Historia, Vol. 298. [ 268]
Powered by FlippingBook