Reorganization and Ntrdl Policies, 1770-1800
19
The Lipans left on December 10, to join their friends, no doubt, and report what they had seen. The northern Indians remained in San Antonio until the 17th, when the Bidais and Orcoquisacs returned to their country and the Tawako~1is set out to join Ugalde. irl artine:: Pac/1eco escapes assassination. The Lipans seem to have reported the duplicity of the governor. This prompted them to take revenge. On December 29, early in the morning, six Lipan warriors entered the residence of the governor unannounced and walked stealthily into his bedroom. Martinez Pacheco realized their sinister intent, and smiling faintly as he raised himself in his bed, ,velcomed them, explain- ing he was sick with fever. He reached for some tobacco on a nearby table and offered it to his visitors. Slowly he began to dress without revealing his feelings, inquiring what he could do for them. The Indians eyed him in sullen silence. The governor suggested they have some roast meat and motioned them to the kitchen. The Indians followed him, observing his every move. He told the cook to roast some meat and casually signalled a soldier in the patio to call the guard and send twelve men through the rear. The Indians now became suspicious and started to move toward the patio. The governor tried to reassure them, telling them the meat was almost ready and urged them to stay. At that instant the soldiers appeared in the doorway, covering them with their guns. The governor ordered the men to tie up the astonished Indians, who, realizing they had been trapped, drew the knives hidden under their clothes and made a desperate effort to cut their way out of the room. Chief Santa Rosa, the leader, grabbed Martinez Pacheco as the soldiers came in to disarm the Indians. A rough and tumble fight followed, in which the chief of Valero Mission wrestled with Santa Rosa and rescued the governor. Martinez Pacheco finallyv succeeded in unsheathing his sword and transfixing the Lipan chief. The thrust inflicted a skin wound on the Valero chief as it went through the Lipan. In a few minutes four others were dead. The sixth was overpowered, taken out into the patio and killed. After the scuffle "The room was smeared with blood- the floors, the walls, the ~hairs, and the table," said the governor. One soldier was seriously wounded. In his report Martinez Pacheco assured the viceroy that the Indians had come to kill him and to spy upon the movements of the Spaniards. Fortunately not one escaped to carry information to the enemy, and con- tributed in part to the surprise at La Soledad. 24
24 Diary of Events of Martinez Pacheco. Nacogdocnes ArcMves, VI, pp. 113-119.
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