Tlte Begi11ning of Formal Coloni:;ation
the people often had to depend on the chase for food. He went as far as to aver that horseflesh (wild) had saved the population from starva- tion on more than one occasion. The fertile lands and the abundant resources of wild cattle and horses in Texas could not help attracting the French, the Americans, and the Indians from the United States. The retrocession of Louisiana to France (its sale to the United States was yet unknown) would bring a host of scheming foreigners into the province. 6 The following year, in March, 1804, the bishop of Nuevo Leon wrote Jose Ceballos, Secretary of State in Madrid, to warn him against the dangers which beset the remote province and openly to recommend the establishment of settlements. His frequent visitations through the diocese had often taken him to the distant confines of Texas. He had been amazed by its marvelous fertility, its numerous large rivers, and its vast herds of wild cattle and horses, and for that reason he had been the more vexed that it was so sparsely populated. These things were powerful attractions for the Anglo-Americans of Louisiana. There were not sufficient troops or settlers in this important and rich province to check effectively the advance of the ambitious and enterprising frontiers- men. He suggested the founding of new centers of population. the establishment of towns and parishes, and even offered to help defray the expenses of Christian settlers from his diocese of Nuevo Le6n. 7 But the frontier commanders, the governor of Texas, and the commandant general were not the only ones who recognized the importance of developing the province in order to make it an effective buffer or bulwark against American aggres- sion. Fully aware of this menace, the Prince of the Peace, Manuel de Godoy, had the king issue an order dividing the Interior Provinces into the eastern and western commandancies-gcneral. The purpose of the change was declared to have been the need of bringing the frontier provinces into closer control so as to offer more effective resistance to the Americans. It seems that the spineless Charles IV actually granted the Province of Texas to Godoy as an appanage. 8 According to the royal The crown takes a personal interest. 6 Elguezabal to Salcedo, June 20, 1803. Bexar Archives. 7 Primo, Obispo de Nuevo Leon, to Jose Caballero, Secretario de Estado, March 7, 1804. A. G. I., Audiencio de Guadalajara, 104-2-19. (Dunn Transcripts, 1800- 1819, pp. 68-70.) 8 Smith, Ashbel, Reminiscences, 27; "British Correspondence Concerning Texas," So11tliwester11 Historical Quarterly, XIX, 293.
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