Tlte Begiuni11g of Formal Colonization
2 93
were to be restored to their former rank. They were, however, to he promoted at the first opportunity to the rank assigned them in the regiment which had been destined to go to Texas. 19 Attempts to control immigration from Louisiana. The formal transfer of Louisiana to the United States in December, 1803, started a host of immigrants to Texas similar to that following the cession of French territory east of the lVIississippi to the English in 1763. Spaniards, Irishmen, Frenchmen, Englishmen, and disguised Americans began to pour across the border and to present themselves to the commander of Nacogdoches, or to the governor in San Antonio, seeking permission to settle preferably in Nacogdoches or its vicinity. On the one hand, the rather broad regulations concerning the admission of former Spanish vassals, issued on May 23. 1803, made it impossible to pre\·ent the entrance of scheming and unscrupulous Americans, or to weed out undesirables. On the other hand, the situation had become acute, and the necessity of immediately building an effective barrier against an aggressive and enterprising neighbor was now so urgent that it could not be put off or ignored. Impelled thus by circumstances but anxious to supervise as carefully as possible the immigrants so insistently knock- ing at the door and so much needed to populate the vast expanse of the province of Texas, Salcedo gave more detailed instructions to Gov- ernor Elguezabal on March 27, 1804. As before, the governor was to continue to receive all applications of Spanish vassals in Louisiana who wished to settle in Texas; he was likewise to admit those eligible under previous orders, and to assign them lands, subject to the ultimate approval of the commandant general. But though such immigrants might settle either in Texas, Coahuila, or Nueva Vizcaya, no one was to be permitted to remain permanently in Nacogdoches or its vicinity. Strongly suspicious of contraband trade, he preferred that the area bordering on the American frontier remain thinly populated. Most of the applicants came generally as far as Nacogdoches and waited there for a decision. Every effort was to be made to shorten as much as possible the time required to decide each case safely. The officials were to try to induce immigrants to settle in. or near San Antonio, or in the adjacent provinces of Coahuila and Nueva Vizcaya. Applicants who wished to follow a trade or profession,
19 Real Ordm, June 24, 1805. A. G. I., Audiencia de Guadalajara, 103-6-17. (Dunn Transcripts, 1800-1819, pp. 89-90.)
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