Our Catleolic Heritage in Texas
camped. During the next five days he explored Leona River, Carriso Creek, and Buena Vista Creek, and on March 2 reached Monte Grande, or the timber belt. If it were his intention to explore the coastal area, he was certainly far off his route. Having reached Monte Grande, he seems to have gone to the head- waters of the San Jacinto. Here he met five Choctaw chiefs, who asked him what he was doing in this region with an armed force. Despallier answered that he was exploring the country to find a place suitable for a new settlement, that the Spaniards were their friends and would take care of them. The Choctaws attested to their friendship for the Spaniards by expressing their willingness to fight for them. Despallier went on to Atascosito, where he arrived on March 4. 91 The presence on the San Jacinto of the Choctaws who had been expressly restricted to the Sabine area is just another illustration of the difficulties encountered in enforcing the commandant general's instruc- tions. The physical impossibility of effectively patrolling the country and the half-hearted cooperation of Governor Cordero make the failure of Commandant General Salcedo's policy on immigration and coloniza- tion more understandable. On May 26, Cordero transmitted to Salcedo the petition of five Louisiana settlers, Juan Bautista Le Conte, Jose Darbani, Juan Bautista Anti, Remigio Lambre, and Augustine Langlois. They had requested 580 arpents (about 870 acres) of land at Orcoquisac to be distributed among them. The governor suggested that it might be better to maintain the established Spanish land measures by making the grants in sitios rather than in French arpents. He assured his superior that he had investigated the character of the prospective immigrants and found no reason to question their integrity or loyalty. 92 Orcoquisac and A tascosito closed to settlers. Salcedo on June 16 repeated his regulations that no immigrants could be permitted to settle in Nacogdoches or Orcoquisac. He added that it would be injudicious to authorize a new settlement before the two villas had been established. He reminded Cordero that he had been explicitly instructed that the amount of land which could be allotted to an indi- vidual settler depended on the number of persons in his family and his
I 806. Bexar
91 Diario de Bernardo Martin Despallier. February 1 5-March 4,
Archives. 92 Cordero to Salcedo, May 28, 1806. Bexar Archi11es.
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