Last A ttem,pts at Jl,fissionary Control of Indians
I II
was the only solution. It would teach the survivors and the other natives to respect the Spaniards. 1 Before a war could be undertaken, more troops would have to be sent to Texas from the other provinces; cooperation between the commanders in New Mexico, Coahuila, Santander, and Texas assured; and the friend- ship and support of the nations of the north secured. He deplored the existing conditions in the organization of the military forces and the lack of care and of equipment in the entire commandancy under his jurisdiction. There was only one royal hospital located in Durango to attend to the needs of the Interior Provinces. Both the officers and the soldiers lacked proper medical attention for the treatment of wounds and the numerous ailments which a life of exposure on the frontier entailed. The establishment of many more hospitals, distributed among the provinces would prevent the spread of epidemics, save considerable expense in the treatment of disabled veterans, who were practically invalids, save many lives by the proper care of the wounded, and prove of inestimable value in the control of smallpox and other infectious diseases among the Indians. 2 Tlie attempted s11,,p,p1·essio1t of tlee Province of Texas. But neither Neve's appeal nor the continued complaints of the authorities in Texas seem to have aroused officials in Spain to a realization of the menace that threatened Spanish interests in Texas. Convinced that this remote out- post was now an interior province, the king decided that there was little need or justification for the maintenance of a governor in San Antonio. The astonishment of the commandant of the Interior Provinces of the East may be imagined at the receipt of a royal order dated June 19, 1788, transmitted by Viceroy Flores, suppressing the office of governor of Texas and instructing Juan Ugalde to entrust the administration to the captain of the Presidio de San Antonio. Viceroy Flores recommended, however, that Captain Rafael Martinez Pacheco continue as governor ad interim until new orders were received, showing that even the viceroy could not believe this radical change was intended to be permanent. 3 Ugalde lost no time in interceding with the viceroy for the repeal of lE} Corndt. Gral. Don Felipe Neve hace relacion concisa y exacta de! estado en que ha encontrado las Prov. Int. y la divide en los 4 rarnos, Justicia, Policia, Hacienda, y Guerra. A. G. /., A11die1U:ia de Guadalajara, 1783. 103-4-10, pp. 1-60. 2 / bid., pp. I -60. 3 Viceroy Flores to Juan Ugalde, September JO, 1788. A. G. Af., Hisloria, Vol. 93, p. 2.
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