Our Catltolic Heritage in Texas
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perda, many of the advantages secured by the work of these two men in gaining control of the northern tribes were lost through the personal rivalries of other officials. Particularly was this true in regard to the opposition offered by Hugo Oconor. From the first he and his friends suspected the natives, De Mezieres, and Ripperda. They emphasized the bad faith of the Indians, exaggerated the extent to which French traders were profiting individually through these illicit relations, and accused Ripperda of partiality towards the French and participation in illegal profits. Viceroy Bucareli y Ursua was won over to the Oconor faction and ended by not only prohibiting all trade with Louisiana, but also by eventually removing Ripperda from office. Although he was notified as early as November 15, 1776, of his transfer to Comoyagua, Honduras, the peculiar circumstances prevailing during this time in Texas kept him from departing until 1778. 6 Croi:r!s plans for the extermination of the Apaches. Early in 1776 a new administrative unit was created with the appointment of Teodoro de Croix, generally known as Caballero de Croix, as commandant general of the Interior Provinces, who chose Chihuahua as his capital. The new commander set out shortly thereafter to inspect the frontier, accom- panied by Fray Juan Agustin Morfi, who was to write a history of Texas after his return.7 The first task of the new commander was to devise a plan to check permanently, if possible, the Indian hostilities that in recent years had devastated the frontier settlements of Texas, Coahuila, New Mexico, and Chihuahua, and to chastise in particular the Apaches, the worst offenders, The Caballero de Croix counted heavily in his plan on the cooperation of the brilliant young governor and soldier of Louisiana, Bernardo de Galvez. It was his intention to unite the nations of the north, who, aided by three hundred CJ,ausseurs from Louisiana under the command of Galvez, were to fall simultaneously upon the eastern Apaches while Croix attacked them from the south and west with the entire available forces of the Interior Provinces. Pursuant to his plan, he held a council of war at Monclova in December, 1777, in which he presented for discussion sixteen questions 6 /bkl., I, 107-108; II, 13-81; Viceroy BucareU to Arriaga, April 26, 1776. A. G, /., A11diu1cla d, G11atlalafara, 103-5-21 (Dunn Transcripts, 1776). 7 Morfi wrote the well-known but unpublished Memorias and a history of Texas based on these notes, the existence of which was doubted until it was discovered and translated by the writer and published by the Quivira Society as Volume VI of its P11blicatwns. See Castaneda, Morft's History of Texas, Part I, 27-36.
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