The Beginning of Formal Coloni::ation
Salcedo replied that these families at Atascosito should not have been permitted even to stop there; they should have been ordered to continue to the areas opened to colonists by the officials. He repeated his former orders, and insisted that they be strictly observed. The ele\"en families were to be informed that they might be permitted to go to the new villa on the Trinity after it was started; but for the present, they must either return to their Louisiana homes or move to the interior. As for the expenses for removal, the Government could supply only the most essen- tial needs. 88 Eventually, these settlers were escorted to the Louisiana border at a cost of 1,350 pesos to the royal treasury, and told not to return. 89 Imagine, then, Salcedo's reaction when he learned in February, 1806, that Bernardo Despallier had been appointed second in command at Atascosito. Governor Cordero's specious explanations for Despallier's appointment and monthly salary of 70 pesos out of the Mestena Fund only exasperated Salcedo all the more. The governor attempted to justify this unprecedented action of taking into the king's employ a Louisiana immigrant - not yet formally admitted - by pointing out that his knowledge of Indian languages, his intimate acquaintance with the Alabamas, the Choctaws, and the Coshates, and his experience as a forester in Louisiana made his services indispensable in winning and maintaining the friendship of these and other tribes. In fact, Cordero had given Despallier, now in San Antonio, a number of blank commis- sions to issue to the chiefs of the various tribes. Salcedo acted promptly to order the immediate discharge of the new Indian agent. He informed Cordero that he had been both hasty and injudicious in making the appointment. He instructed the governor to stop Despallier's pay at once, and to consult the commandant general on all such matters in the future. 90 Despallier, meanwhile, had set out with an armed escort from San Antonio on February 15 to explore the country along the coast and to contact the various Indian tribes. The next day he camped on the San Marcos; two days later he was on the Colorado, and three more days brought him to the Tawakoni villages on the Brazos River. By February 24 he arrived at the place near the Trinity where Philip Nolan had 88 Salcedo to Cordero, July 7, 1805. Bexar Archives. 19Salcedo to Cordero, December 9, 1806. Bexar Arc/iiv1s. 90 Cordero to Salcedo, February 15, 1806; Salcedo to Cordero, March II, 1806. Bexar Arc/iives.
Powered by FlippingBook