Preparing to Weatleer tlee Storm, 1790-1800
of the adoption of scientific methods for the improvement of the numerous herds is significant and unexpected at this early date in the Spanish dominions. 87 Nacogdoches, tlee gattrway to Texas. This post was the eastern spear- head of Spain's dominion in North America. More than one hundred miles of open country lay between it and Natchitoches, the nearest settlement in Louisiana. The treaty of 1783 had brought the enterprising pioneers of the West to the very banks of the Mississippi. The boundary between the possessions of His Catholic Majesty and the infant republic was not defined until 1795. Is it strange that in the closing years of the century the importance of this distant outpost should have attracted more and more the attention of Spanish officials and should haYe become the major consideration in determining new policies directed to protect and defend the frontier? It is remarkable that this obvious fact should not have been realized sooner. The hesitant attitude is traceable to the importance attached to Louisiana in the general plan to check the American advance. Difficulties in closing tlte door. Again and again the commandant general of the Interior Provinces and the governor of Texas issued strict orders against illicit trade with Louisiana, the introduction of foreign traders, and the admission of foreigners. The cooperation of the officials in Louisiana was earnestly sought, but they were equally powerless in stemming the impetuous flow of the American frontiersmen. The com- mander at Natchitoches wrote Governor Munoz in 1793 that he was as helpless as the captain of Nacogdoches in keeping Americans without passports from penetrating into the interior of Texas. He admitted that he knew they entered clandestinely, killed wild cattle, stole horses, traded with the Indians, and committed numerous outrages, but the vast expanse of the unguarded frontier prevented the effective enforce- ment of restrictions. 88 Elguezabal issued a proclamation as late as 1799, prohibiting the introduction of merchandise from Louisiana on whatever pretext. Viola- tion of the new order would result in the confiscation and sale at auction of all the property of the violator. The goods brought into the province prior to the promulgation of the decree were to be reported
11 Real Cedula, May 28, 1800. Bexar Archives. 88 Louis Blanc to Manuel Munoz, April 26, 1793. Bexar Archh,es.
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