Texas on tlee Eve of the 111 exican Revolution
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hundred twenty men and women who were being taken care of by two missionaries. In addition to the Indians, some Spaniards had rented lands and were residing in the missions. These were distributed as follows: Concepcion, eighteen men and fourteen women; San Jose, nine men and six women; San Juan, twenty-four men and twenty-two women; and San Francisco, fifty-one men and forty-two women, a total of one hundred eighty-six Spaniards. All the Indians had houses within the mission walls and each had been assigned a suerte for cultivation. According to the instructions of Pedro Nava, these Indians should have been given title to the lands assigned to them, but the officials had neglected to carry out this part of the instructions. It is of interest to note the description of the boundaries of each one of the missions. Governor Salcedo reported that the lands of Mission Concepcion extended from the mission one league to El Paso del Nogal, whence the line ran east for a league to Salado Creek, then one league north to the La Bahia Road, and hence eight leagues to the Cibolo and back to the mission. The area included some fifteen square leagues, of which only a small portion had been divided into suertes and was under cultivation. The lands of San Jose were bounded by the Arroyo de la Piedra on the south and by the ranch of the curate, Valdes, on the north. The eastern boundary was formed by the San Antonio River and the western by the Medina. In addition to these lands, the mission owned eleven sitios in San Lucas, on the Medina River, which had been bought from the king by the padres in 1766. The deed, issued by the Royal Audicncia of Mexico, was recorded in the mission archives. The mission also owned and operated a good wheat mill. San Juan Capistrano extended five leagues east from the mission to El Aguila, on the La Bahia Road. The line then followed the road to Pataguillos Lake for a distance of ten leagues, and from the head- waters of the Cibolo to San Bartolome. Its extensive lands were being cultivated in part by Spaniards. The boundaries of San Francisco de la Espada were more Yaguc. The governor commented that he had determined them from the tradition common among the oldest settlers in Bexar. They appear to ha,·e run from the back of the mission north to a small dam on the rh·er and west from this point to the ranch of Luis Perez. Its lands were bounded on the east by the property of Delgado, and on the south by Atasco1-o Creek.
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