Ottr Catlzol·ic Heritage in Texas
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To strengthen and supply the new military posts he suggested that new settlements be founded in their vicinity. Don Manuel then asserted that the detachment at Atascosito had been unnecessarily subjected to hard- ships, because colonists who could have supplied the troops with fresh vegetables, meat, and milk had been excluded from that region. He con- tended, however, that Villa Salcedo should be strengthened if it remained on its present site. The only justification for its continued location at the crossing on the Trinity was, in his opinion, its necesssity to Nacog- doches for assistance; but to be of effective assistance, the villa would have to be developed into a populous center and strengthened by a larger military detachment. Better still, if a suitable place could be found at a more strategic point, closer to San Antonio, the villa should be moved. The governor presented some very formidable arguments for removing- ineffectual restrictions on immigration. He considered it short of criminal for the officials to allow the rich lands of this vast province to remain uncultivated. If the port authorized by the king was opened and trade permitted with the rest of New Spain and the world at large, the province would become prosperous and thickly populated in a very short time. 63 Go,·ernor de Salcedo differed with ex-GoYernor Cordero only on details; they agreed on the fundamentals for developing the province and its defence. Simon de Herrera's experience as mili- tary commander of the Spanish forces stationed on the frontier of Texas had convinced the governor of Nuevo Leon that the adequate defence of Texas required a larger permanent army. He agreed with Cordero that the commander should be granted powers similar to those which had been given General Grimarest as Commandant General of the Eastern Interior Provinces. He would then have the authority to dispose all the available forces in the adjoining provinces as circumstances demanded. Herrera considered the opening of the authorized Port of San Bernardo as of utmost importance in maintaining this larger military force in Texas. This port at Bahia on Matagorda Bay, he said, would facilitate acquisition of material directly from Vera Cruz and Tampico with more regularity and at much less expense. fl errerds 1·eco1mne11datio11s. Having been stationed on the eastern frontier for the last three years, he had been enabled to study the conditions and appraise the strategic value of Nacogdoches in the general plan for the defence of the province. 63 M. de Salcedo to Bonavia, April 24, 1809. Bexar Arcl,ives. Copy in the Nacogdoches Arcl1ives, XI, pp. 238-254.
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