-1 I ,I '1 I Ii
, I
ti ,. ,,
Our Cat/10/ic Heritage in Texas
ii :1 I !I ·! I I :1
I 14
Uvalde County (named thus in his honor but incorrectly spelled) and inflicted serious defeats upon the perfidious enemy. The Spaniards had decided to make the Lipan-Apaches have a wholesome respect for Spanish authority, to court the friendship of the Indians of the north, and to reorganize the mission system. The king called for detailed information on the general conditions that prevailed in the Interior Provinces, and the reports of Ugalde and other officials were sent. The Count of Sierra Gorda recounted the occurrences in Nuevo Santander, whose settlements along the Rio Grande from Laredo to the mouth of the river have come to form part of present Texas. He explained that, as a matter of fact, Laredo was east of the river. The Lipan-Apaches were a constant menace to this outpost, and were now in the habit of extending their raids to Revilla, Mier, Camargo, and Reynosa. Early in February, 1792, Chief Zapato Zas had led a party of Apaches as far as Reynosa where they had killed a mission Indian and wounded another, and succeeded in driving away a considerable number of cattle. Detachments from Camargo and Revilla set out in pursuit under Captain Bustamante, crossed the river into Texas, and overtook the marauders at Palo Blanco, killed Chief Zapato Zas and fifteen of his followers, and recovered a part of the loot. The Count of Sierra Gorda at about the same time had himself followed the tracks of another raiding party that led him to the mouth of the Nueces River, but he had not been so fortunate as Bustamante in overtaking the raiders. He remarked that in addition to the raids, the entire province of Nuevo Santander had recently suffered an epidemic of smallpox, during which almost two thousand persons had died. 1 But it is in the summary report of Viceroy Branciforte that a picture of the missionary situation throughout New Spain in 1795 is to be found. We take from it the data pertaining to all the missions in operation at that time within the present jurisdiction of Texas. At the southernmost point was Reynosa. Here there was a mission, which, although located on the Mexican side of the river, ministered to the Indians in what is today Texas in a Visita established for this purpose. One missionary looked after the Indians without charge to the royal treasury. Twelve leagues above Reynosa was Camargo where a similar mission and a Texas Visita were being administered by another missionary from the College of Zacatecas without expense to the king. Laredo had no mission but a regularly established parish with a priest,
,,
7 Conde de Sierra Gorda to the King, December 30, 1792. A. G. I., Audiencia de Mexico, 98-6-23 (Dunn Transcripts, 1792-1799, pp. 50-58).
Powered by FlippingBook