Our Catholic Heritage in T cxas
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the Province of Texas, these colonists might be sent to the mouth of the Sabinas River for a settlement at that point as suggested. 14 Arrival of Canary Islanders in Veracruz. In the meantime the first ten families sent from the Canary Islands by way of Havana for the settlement in Texas, in accord with the orders of the King of February 14, 1729, arrived in Veracruz on June 19, 1730. 15 After seven years, the plan of the colonization in the province became a reality. But at the time of their arrival, the viceroy was still undecided where they were to be established or ·how they were to be transferred, whether by water or overland. From the documents cited, it is evident that the idea of estab- lishing a settlement in the vicinity of the Presidio of San Antonio had not as yet been definitely adopted, having been urged only by Rivera. The apparent purpose of sending the Canary Islanders to Texas was primarily to furnish settlers for the coastal region near the Bay of Espiritu Santo which in the meantime had been abandoned both as a mission and as a military post. Consequently, it was impossible to follow the instructions of the king a:s to this location. Immediately upon the arrival of the Canary Islanders in Havana, the officials there had sent them to Veracruz, transmitting to the royal offi- cers of the post a certified list of the families and the number of per- sons in each. Upon their landing in Veracruz, the lists were sent on to the viceroy, and the settlers were housed, clothed, and fed by officials in that city. They were asked to remain there until instructions for the continuation of their journey were received. Casafuerte was now con- fronted with a real and not an imaginary problem. He hastily consulted both Rivera and Aguayo as to what should now be done to transport the families just arrived and where they should be settled. Destination and route to be followed. On July 13, 1730, Rivera made a long report in which he argued that to send the ten families so recently arrived by water from Veracruz to the Bay of Espiritu Santo would expose them to the known hostility of the Indians in the vicinity and the proximate dangers of shipwreck along the coast. If they were to be settled near the Presidio of San Antonio, as he had already Suo-o-ested it would be much better to send them to Mexico City under 00 ' 14Recomendaciones del Brigadier Don Pedro de Rivera. A. G. I., A11die11cia de Guadalajara, 67-4-38 (Dunn Transcripts, I 7 I 0-17 38). ISViceroy to the King, August 1, 1730. A. G. I., A11diencia de Mexico, 67-3-23 (Dunn Transcripts, 1730-1736).
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