Establislmzent of San Fema,zdo de Bejar, I723-I73I
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advance of the French, the next best place would be near the Presidio of San Antonio de Bejar. He recalled the recommendations he had made shortly after his inspection of that Presidio in 1728 and again urged that twenty-five families of those designed for settlement in Texas be established there. He considered this number would be sufficient to strengthen the presidio and to form a nucleus for a civil settlement. By reenforcing this locality, if Los Adaes were surprised by hostile forces as in the past, the garrison at San Antonio could hold out until reen- forcements were sent to drive out the invaders. Other equally suitable locations for additional settlements could be found on the San Marcos River (Colorado), which was about thirty leagues from the Presidio of San Antonio de Bejar. Rivera remarked that His Excellency had already given instructions for the tentative establishment of the Presidio of La Bahia del Espiritu Santo at this site as a protection for the missions that were going to be moved from East Texas by the Queretaran missionaries. Along its banks, he declared, there were some excellent locations where settlements could be estab- lished. No increase in families from Spain would be needed for this purpose because many persons living in Coahuila and Nuevo Reino de Leon would be glad to avail themselves of the opportunity to fill the quotas, because all colonists were offered, as inducements, the ·cost of transportation, all the tools, cultivators, seed and food necessary for maintenance of the group for an entire year. The establishment of one or two successful settlements on this river would encourage others, and in a short time, the civil population of the new province would be sufficient to withstand the hostilities of the Indians. He concluded his long report by suggesting that such settlements as were founded, should be established at convenient distances so that they could render mutual aid to each other in case of danger. But for this object the emigrants from New Spain would serve the purpose much better than those from Spain or the Canary Islands, he thought, because the former were more used to the conditions they would encounter in the new province. Until the whole matter was reconsidered by the king, Rivera thought it would be well for the viceroy to instruct the governor of Havana that if any families arrived there in the interim, pursuant to the order of the king of February 14, 1729, he should keep them there until further notice. Should it be decided that they be sent on to
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