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Last Attempts at Missionary Control of Indians
the sending of Menchaca with one hundred twenty men into the country of the Comanches and the Indians of the north to make a concrete demand for restitution of stolen property was extremely dangerous. What if Captain Menchaca found stolen horses and cattle in a ranclzena and the chief refused to restore them? If his authority was defied, what then? Was it prudent to force the issue when no more than one hundred twenty men ~ould be sent against the natives? He then expressed his conviction that the number of raiders responsible for recent depredations was small, and that the extent of the loss suffered and the damages inflicted could have been reduced by greater vigilance and more caution on the part of the commander, the soldiers, and the citizens. The Spaniards themselves were in a large part ·responsible for the losses suffered. Was it fair for them to complain so loudly and to implore the cooperation of the chiefs in recovering what they had lost largely through their own carelessness? For the Spaniards, moreover, while nominally at peace, to penetrate Indian territory with an armed force, Nava observed, might justly be interpreted by the natives as a hostile act or as an indication of a suspicious move being contemplated against them. In short, the governor of Coahuila had been hasty in his action and Nava hoped only that no evil effects might follow.n Governor Muii.oz, of Texas, a more mature and experienced officer in the ways of the northern frontier, shared the fears of the commandant general. He was much relieved when he learned in July that Captain Menchaca had avoided what might have become an embarrassing situ- ation by retiring from San Saba to Agua Verde without pushing the issue with the Comanche chiefs. He wrote Nava that the action was most prudent. 23 Trade relations with the Indians, I795-I800. While trying to restrain the irresponsible bands of Comanches and treacherous Lipan-Apaches in the south and west, officials attempted to develop closer trade relations with the nations of the north along the northeastern frontier, and to guard jealously against the penetration of obnoxious foreign agents among them either along the coast or from the settlements above Natchitoches. In the spring of 1795, the old chief of the Tawakoni, named Quiscat, accompanied by a group of Kichai and Wichitas, visited Nacogdoches to request that an accredited Spanish trading agent be
22 Pedro Nava to Antonio Cordero, May 29, 1798. 23 Pedro Nava to Manuel Munoz, July 10, and July 24, 1798. BJxar .Arcl,iv1s.
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