Our C at/,olic H e1-itage in Texas
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ments and found Lipan-Apaches living in the missions, they invariably committed outrages that involved the property of friend and foe alike. Chief Chamanquequera visited Laredo in May, 1795, and after paying his respects to the commander, he and his followers drove off thirty head of cattle. The governor of Coahuila protested to the commander general who wrote Governor Munoz to call a meeting of the Comanche chiefs in San Antonio and explain to them that they had to respect Spanish and mission property. He was to warn them that such actions were a violation of their pledges. 16 Conditions, however, did not improve. The Comanches and other northern tribes, who now visited San Antonio frequently as friends, picked up and carried off all the property they could lay their hands on, not excepting the horses and cattle of the inhabitants of the old settlement. The prominent citizens formally protested on September 22, 1796, declaring that the continued thefts committed by the new friends of the Spaniards were becoming unbearable. Neither cattle nor horses were safe in the vicinity of San Antonio. The vigilance exercised against enemies had been relaxed, but the new friends were not responding to the trust placed in them. The abuses committed almost invariably by departing groups had infuriated the peaceful settlers and they expressed their determination to put a stop to them. They recommended that the Comanches and all northern tribes be told that in the future single members or small and irresponsible groups who came unaccompanied by a chief would not be permitted to visit in the city. Furthermore, the Indians were to be told that those who strayed from larger parties for the purpose of committing depredations wantonly would be treated as enemies by the settlers. 17 The governor deplored the losses sustained by the citizens as a result of the new policy of appeasement, recommended patience and moderation, and assured them that he would, by all the means in his power, impress upon the chiefs of the new friends from the north the need of putting an end to such reprehensible practices by irresponsible members of their tribes. A little earlier, in the summer of 1796, the commandant general had become apprehensive. Rumors, not unconfirmed, had reached him that the Lipan-Apaches, who had recently been forced to make a solemn peace 16 Pedro Nava to Manuel Munoz, June 4, 1795. Bexar Arcltives. 17 Representacion de Salvador Rodriguez, Vicente Amador, Luis Menchaca, Joaquin Leal, Jose Antonio Saucedo, Jose Hernande:t, Feliz Ruiz, and Manuel Derbon. September 22, 1796; reply of Governor Munoz, same date. Bexar Arcltives.
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