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Oi1r Catliolic Heritage in Texas
were a few corn stalks and old tree trunks probably brought down by the river in times of flood. Before returning to Refugio Mission he explored the coast line of the bay and the mouths of the Guadalupe and the San Antonio, and noted the abundance of cedar along the north bank of the former." Rettmi of Fatl1er Silva. Governor Munoz received a letter on August 8 from Father Silva asking for an escort of three to five soldiers to accompany him from Laredo to Mission Refugio. The friar explained he had just arrived with a train of supplies and that he was anxious to visit the mission. He wanted the soldiers to meet him at the crossing of the Nueces near its mouth, probably modern Calallen. He promised the governor to pay him a visit in San Antonio after he had taken the supplies to Refugio. Although the requested escort was not sent, Father Silva went on to Mission Rosario where he left the train of supplies for safe-keeping while he visited Refugio. But ill-luck seems to have pur- sued his every step. Shortly after his arrival a terrific storm almost swept the mission away. Father Silva described to Governor M ufioz the diffi- culty he experienced in preventing the sacred vessels, the statues, and the vestments he brought from being lost. He deplored the absence of a substantial church and urged the necessity of erecting one. Fathers Velasco and Garza welcomed their superior with such enthusiasm as their sad plight permitted. Father Garza soon after asked permission to retire to his college. The privations, the unhealthful climate, and the long years of service in the coastal region had completely undermined his strong constitution and he was suffering from chills and fever. Governor Munoz granted the request and Father Garza retired to Zacatecas where he lived only a few months more. 45 Father Silva brought twenty-four hundred eighty-seven pesos' worth of implements, supplies, and church goods purchased with the money granted for expenses in the establishment of the new mission.' 6 Appeal to tl,e king. A change in the organization of the Interior Provinces gave him the opportunity to appeal directly to the king in "Juan Cortes to Manuel Munoz, August 23, 1793. Bexar Archives. 0 Manuel Silva to Manuel Munoz, August 8, 1793; September 3, 1793; Jose Mariano Garza to Manuel Munoz, September 11, 1793; Munoz to Garza, September 12, 1793. Bexar Archives. "Pedro Nava to the Viceroy, November 6, 1794. A. G. /., A11diencia de Guada- lajara, 104-1-1 (Dunn Transcripts, 1790-1798, p. 57).
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