Our C atleolic Heritage in T e:xas
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was to be sold at auction, but the Indians living within the area were to be left in possession of their previously assigned allotments. The parish priests were to be assigned a house, a field, and an orchard. They were to receive moderate fees and an allowance from the royal treasury for their maintenance, because the lands of the new towns and haciendas were to be exempt from tithes. 71 The Junta, in taking up the matter of the regulations affecting Louisiana immigrants, went so far as to recommend (they could only recommend) financial assistance for transporting poor farmers and laborers who desired to move to Texas. They referred specifically to the Canary Islanders in Louisiana, said to be some 1,500 persons, who would long since have emigrated if they could have secured transportation. The Junta could not ignore the pressing boundary question, for it was of grave concern to the Government of both Spain and the United States. They declared that it was common knowledge that Louisiana had never exercised jurisdiction over any post west of Natchitoches; that the occupation of even Natchitoches by the French had been with the consent of the Spanish Government, who had acceded to the request out of regard for the inhabitants who had been frequently flooded out of their homes on the east side of the river; that Louisiana under France had never extended to the banks of the Missouri; and that the United States had not presented and could not produce any docu- mentary proof in support of claims as far as the Missouri. The Junta asserted that these claims of the United States were born of unbridled ambition and were being pressed on helpless Spain by those who should be grateful to her for having aided them in obtaining their inde- pendence.72 Bonavia transmitted these recommendations of the Junta to the com- mandant general on June 28 with a strong plea to approve and support them. He asserted that, although the execution of the plans would involve considerable expense, the royal treasury would be amply repaid for the investment by the resultant prosperity. He advocated setting up a special office of the royal treasury to handle the increased expenditures, and declared that his efforts to place the province in a state of defence by developing its natural resources. would prove useless if he were not
11 /bid., pp. 231-232. 71 Minutes of the /tmta de Guerra, June 19, 1809. A. G. /., At1diencia de Guada- lajara, 104-2-25 (Dunn Transcripts, 1800-1819, pp. 232-233).
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