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Permanent Occupation of Texas, 1715-1716
established this, the last of the four missions, agreeable to his instruc- tions, he now returned to his temporary camp, g1,stoso ( filled with joy) because he saw how gladly the Indians had welcomed the Padres and the Spaniards. Here he arrived alone, for the horses of his companions became exhausted on the way. Father Espinosa returned to the Mission of La Purisima Concepcion, where he made his headquarters together with Fray Gabriel Vergara. 52 In summing up the activities of the religious on the expedition, Ramon declares: "Up to this day (July 2) more than three hundred low and high Masses were celebrated at different places along the route, more than thirty sermons were preached, and more than ten large crosses were erected along the road, all feasts and days of obli- gation having been observed." The primary purpose of the expedition had been accomplished, four missions were now established, but this was just the beginning of the real work of evangelization and civilization in Texas. Reasons for settling East Texas. Why had the Spaniards chosen for the base of their activities a location so far removed from the frontier settlements of New Spain? Why had they not settled nearer to the place where La Salle had attempted to found his colony? Why did they fail to send Captain Urrutia, who knew the Indians of the region so well, to offset the influence of St. Denis and the French? To answer these questions would take us too far from the natural sequence of our narrative. Suffice it to say that from the very beginning, Spanish officials both in Spain and in America, realized logically that the Asinai group repre- sented the strongest, best organized, and most influential tribal organi- zation between the Red River and the Rio Grande. By gaining control and extending their influence through the work of the missionaries, over this group, the authority of Spain in this vast region could be better established, the activities of the French checked, and the weaker tribes that roamed over the prairies converted to Christianity. The importance attached to these Indians has already been pointed out. But their proximity to the French subjected them to contrary influences and the missionaries soon realized that the relatively weaker but much farther removed tribes llThe missionaries placed in charge of the three missions founded by friars from the College of Queretaro were: at the Mission of Nuestro Padre Senor San Francisco de los Tejas, Fathers Fray Francisco Hidalgo and Fray Manuel Cas- tellanos; at the Mission of La Purisima Concepcion, Father Fray Gabriel Vergara and Fray Isidro Felix de Espinosa; at the Mission of Nuestro Senor San Jose de los Nasonis, Father Fray Benito Sanchez. All the friars from the College of Zaca- tecas stayed at Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe for the remainder of 1716.
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