Pre-paring to Weatleer the Storm, I790-I800
209
appointment of his successor, Nava informed Elguezabal, the new go,·- ernor, that in the future the commander at Nacogdoches was to be changed every four or five months to prevent him from becoming too intimate with smugglers and foreign intruders. 97 How jealously Nava watched contraband trade in Nacogdoches is revealed by his action upon the request of Captain Cortez, former commander of La Bahia, to be permitted to reside in Nacogdoches after his retirement. Nava wrote Munoz that Elguezabal, who had conducted the investigation of Cortez's administration at La Bahia, suspected Cortez of having engaged in contraband trade. Consequently he was not to be allowed to settle in Nacogdoches or even to remain in Texas. He was to be ordered to retire to some post in Coahuila as far removed from the frontier as possible. His pension was to be paid by the treasurer at Saltillo. 98 A new clmrclr.. Neither the unsettled condition of the frontier, nor the approaching hurricane that threatened to sweep away Spain's dominion in America, nor the military worries of the officials discouraged the earnest missionaries in Nacogdoches from making plans for the erection of a new church. Fray Jose Francisco Moreno (not the former curate of San Antonio) secured the necessary permission from the governing Cabildo of the Cathedral of Monterrey to embark upon the enterprise. He then wrote Governor Elguezabal for his approval. He explained that the church being used by his parishioners was about to crash upon their heads. Its roof afforded little protection against the rain and its walls did not keep out the cold. It was located too far from the settlement and many were kept from attending services in bad weather. The people wanted a new church. They had already gathered a large part of the materials for the building, and he had secured the consent of the ecclesiastical authorities of the diocese. He now needed only the approval of the governor. The permission was granted and work started imme- diately.99 Thus in the encircling gloom of the_ approaching storm, the missionaries on Spain's farthest and most exposed frontier continued to raise the cross, a symbol of faith, a promise of hope in the future.
97 Guadiana to Munoz, October
2 5, 1796, March 20, 1798, March 19, 1 799, and
May 14, 1799. Bexar Arcnives. 98 Nava to Munoz, July 20, 1798. Bexar Archives. 99 Jose Francisco Moreno to Elguezabal, August 26, 1800. Bexar Archives.
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