San Antonio de Valero and 111issionary Activity, 1716-1719 81
From there he went on to Monterrey, where he secured an escort to accom- pany him from this point to the Presidio of Coahuila.11 He arrived in the missions of the Rio Grande on May 3, and lost no time in presenting the order of His Excellency to Governor Jose Musquiz of the Presidio of Coahuila and to Captain Diego Ramon at San Juan Bautista, asking them to let him have the ten soldiers that were to serve as an escort for his train from here to the San Antonio River and to act as guard for the new mission. But neither one of these officials com- plied with the order. They stated they would have to consult with the viceroy about the matter because of the reduced condition of the garri- sons of their respective presidios. Much as he wanted to continue his journey without delay, the old and experienced missionary knew better than to march unguarded with a train of supplies and Indian gifts from the Rio Grande to the site of his cherished mission. Convinced of the unwillingness of these officers to help him, he decided to wait as patiently as he could, until the new governor arrived with the remainder of the expedition to the Tejas. He retired from the Presidio of San Juan Bautista to the Mission of San Jose, about four leagues distant, "to avoid the thefts which the soldiers commit in the neighborhood of the presidio." Alarcon's ,preparations. While the Padre waits here, let us return to Martin de Alarcon in Mexico City. On December 11, he asked the viceroy for two hundred cows, two hundred oxen, one thousand sheep, five hundred fanegas (Spanish bushels) of corn, fifty axes, fifty hoes, some clothes, sackcloth, woolen cloth, fifty plows, six large bundles of tobacco, four packages of beads, three hundred horses for the transportation of the soldiers' families, fifty guns, and three boxes of powder. These, he declared, were indispensable for the expedition and the establishment of a warehouse ( almacen} in the province of the Tejas to supply the missions. He also asked that Francisco Ugarte be ordered to turn over to him the thirty guns for the Presidio of Coahuila, which he now had in his pos- .session.12 Four days later he specified in a short note that in purchasing ,supplies one thousand varas of wide sackcloth, one dozen half bolts of red woolen cloth, and one thousand blankets-five hundred ,pastora.s and five hundred mestiza.s-be included. 11 Fray Joseph Diez to the Viceroy, February Io, 17 I 7, Provincias /11/ernas, p. 219; Despacho del Sor. Marques de Valero, y certificaciones, Queretaro, l\·Iexico• .Archivo del Colegio de la Santa Cmz (Dunn Transcripts, University of Texas). 12 Martin de Alarcon to the Viceroy, December I I, 17 I 6. Provincias /nternas Vol. 181, p. u5. ,
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