303
Establislmzent of San Fernando de Bejar, r723-r73r
by the viceroy. The captain of the presidio ordered each family to pre- pare ten stakes and to haul two cartloads of large rocks collectively to the site designated for the founding of the new Villa of San Fernando. ·when this had been done, he went, with the colonists, to the table-land chosen by the viceroy for the establishment of the proposed town, which was found to be about the distance of a musket shot from the presidio to the west. Once on the ground, a site was chosen for the church and the public square, and with the aid of a sun dial and a fifty-vara chain, a line running from southwest to northeast was determined. Us~ng this as a base, the survey was begun. Taking the center of the main entrance to the church as a starting point, a line was run in a northeasterly direc- tion for a distance of two hundred varas, or six hundred feet, as ordered by the viceroy and as indicated by the map. At the end of the line a marker was placed where the Casa Real was to be erected directly oppo- site to the church across the square. Another line was run at right angles from the center of the church for one hundred and thirty-three varas and two equal squares were marked off with heavy rocks and stakes. The center of the plaza was indicated by a large rock, as were also the four corners; while the streets, which were forty feet wide, were set off by stakes. The perimeter of the plaza was delineated with the aid of a plow and it measured two hundred varas in length and one hundred and thirty-three and a third varas in width, including the width of the streets. The laying out and surveying the plaza and the squares on which the church and the Casa Real were to be placed, consumed all the day. 56 The following day, July 3, Captain Almazan, accompanied by the principal families, went out to continue the survey of the previous evening. Beginning on the northwest side of the plaza, two lots were surveyed, one for the customshouse and another for one of the most prominent families. Two similar lots were then marked off on the oppo- site side; that is, the southeast; each of them two hundred and forty feet, or eighty varas square, designed for homes of the settlers. The intervening streets were marked by heavy stakes, allowing thirteen and a third varas or forty feet for each, and placing large rocks on the cor- ners and centers of the lots. This consumed the entire day and the oper- ations were suspended until the following morning. On July 4, Captain Almazan and the heads of the principal families 56 Acta de Fundacion de la Villa de San Fernando. Photostat copy in the possession of the writer. All the remainder of the descriptions concerning the survey and distri- bution of the lands are based on this document.
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