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sent their people. Lieutenant Bernardo Fernandez promptly transmitted the petition to Munoz, who appointed Juan Jose Bueno and Francisco Villalpando to supply the trading needs of these friendly nations. It was high time. Chief Quiscat had explained that two French agents and several Spaniards without the proper papers had been selling pro- hibited goods. He promised to catch them if they came again and to send them to Nacogdoches for examination. 24 The unauthorized traders from Louisiana and some adventurous English and American pioneers found traffic in arms and ammunition a very profitable business and extended their activities from the upper Red and Mississippi rivers to the Gulf coast. Fernandez, of Nacog- doches, complained that the Arkokisas, the Cocos, and even the Karan- kawas now had an unusually large number of arms and great quantities of ammunition, and he warned that these were being sold to them by traders from the new posts of Rapide and Opelousas. Governor M ufioz recommended that Fernandez report these violations to the governor of Louisiana and invite the cooperation of the commander at Natchitoches in checking the illicit trade. He regretted that at this time ( 1796) he was very much occupied with the problem created in the west by the alliance of the Mescaleros and the Apaches and deplored his inability to give more effective aid to the distant post of Nacogdoches. He expressed deep concern, however, at the increasing difficulty of subduing the coastal tribes which were receiving a steady supply of arms and ammunition. Friendship between them and the northern tribes should be discouraged. 25 The Spaniards found out the source of supply early in 1797. Traders who returned to Nacogdoches from the Tawakoni, the Tonkawa, and the Kichai reported that these Indians obtained their arms and ammuni- tion from the Huasas to whom they gave their horses and cattle in exchange. The Huasas, in turn, took the horses and cattle to trade with the Anglo-Americans for the prohibited arms, powder, and lead. This was more serious than a mere violation of the trade monopoly of Spain. Governor Munoz was much worried. He advised that more vigilance be exercised and the details of this dangerous but lucrative trade be ascertained. In the meantime the northern Indians of Texas were to be treated with great kindness and tact in order not to antagonize them. 26 24 Nava to Munoz, July 8, 1795. Bexar Archives. 25 .Manuel Munoz, to Bernardo Fernandez, September 25, 1796. Bexar Archives. 26 Manuel Munoz to Jose Maria Guadiana, April 25, 1797. Bexar Archives.
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