Om· Cat/1-olic Heritage in Texas
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to the Choctaws to try to find a suitable location on this river. There were good reasons for their settlement in the area indicated. The Choctaws would help form with the Tinzas a cordon of defence along the Sabine River, and the coastal lands would be saved for white settlers who might later establish villas in that region. 79 Colonel Simon de Herrera reported to Salcedo at about the same time that a group of Pascagoulas were seeking permission to enter the province. An investigation, he declared, had convinced him of the sincerity and loyalty of these Indians, and he recommended, therefore, that their petition be granted. and requested that he be instructed where to establish them. Salcedo replied that just as the Tinzas and the Choctaws had been persuaded to settle along the Sabine River, so Chief Gonzalo Conche Blonhin should be induced to settle his Pascagoulas in that area by pointing out to him the natural advantages of the region in which his tribesmen would find themselves located among former Louisiana friends. The commandant general was, indeed, following a policy consistent with the best interests of the Indians and Spain by sending all new tribes to a locale suited to their needs, and at the same time along the frontier where they would constitute a buffer against American aggression. 80 The establishment of the new villa of Salcedo and the rumors of the authorization of a port on the Gulf had spread like wildfire throughout Louisiana. In constantly increasing numbers, by land and by water, immigrants began pouring in, seeking permission to settle in either Nacogdoches, Orcoquisac, Atascosito, or near the mouth of the Trinity. Commandant General Salcedo's insistence on keeping the frontier free of foreigners seems to have finally made an impression on Cordero, for when Richard Mordicai, one of Nolan's companions(?) and formerly a forester in Louisiana, asked permission in September, 1805, to settle in Nacogdoches, Cordero sent him to Chihuahua for a personal interview with the commandant general. 81 On October 7, 1805, Carlos de Grand Pre, commander of the post at Baton Rouge, issued a passport to Herman Wcllet, authorizing him to proceed to San Antonio in quest of permission to establisl1 his residence in that city. The passport stated that Wellet had been a settler of the Immigration restrictions. 79 Salcedo to Cordero, Aue-ust 16, 1806. Bexar Archives. 80 Salcedo to Cordero, August 16, and December 5, 1806. Bexar Arc/1ive.r. 81 Cordero to Salcedo, September 25, 1805. Bexar Arc/1ive.r.
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