Ottr Catholic Heritage in Texas
Indefinite as these boundaries are, they give an indication of the extent of the lands assigned to the various missions. The governor pointed out that these vast properties were being administered by an Indian governor in each mission and by the padres, but that neither had the ability to manage them properly. Valuable lands were thus being held without yielding a fair return. The missions had become a haven for idlers and gamblers. The churches, according to the report, were in a fair condition. 7 At La Bahia there were two missions still in operation, Rosario and Refugio. The number of Indians in the first had greatly diminished, as most of the Cocos had run away. In Refugio there were still numerous Karankawas, who spent most of the year in the mission, but who in the summer frequently abandoned the mission to go to the seashore. When Mission Valero was secularized, the lands were distributed among the remaining neophytes and Spanish settlers for cultivation. But it seems that after the lands were assigned, many failed to develop them as agreed. In August, 1809, the lieutenant governor of Valero and Doctor Vicente Amador reported on the state of cultivation of the former Valero Mission lands. They declared that Antonio Vaca had five fields which he had permitted to lie fa11ow during the last six years; Agustin Hernandez was reported as having neglected his land for three years; Andres Vallejo had not planted his field for the last twelve years; and Guadalupe Carmona for four. Among the negligent landholders was the former curate of San Antonio, Clemente Arocha, who had asked for and received two mertes from the lands of the secularized mission, but had failed to cultivate them for three years. Jose Antonio de la Garza had a farm which had not been plowed for seven years; Roberto Nunez neg- lected his, as did Juan de la Cerda, during the past twelve years; and Gertrudis Torres failed to keep her farm under cultivation for the pre- ceding seven years. Six persons, to whom lands had been granted in the secularized mission, had since died and their lands had remained uncul- tivated for ten years. 8 It is of interest to note that the high expectations of Pedro Nava had not been fulfilled and that instead of making the lands of the former mission more productive, the actual yield had fa11en far below that of the days when, under the careful supervision of the zealous missionaries, the few remaining neophytes had industriously applied themselves to their cultivation. 7 Provincia de los Texas. Padron General de las quatro misiones. A. G. I., At1di- encia de Guadalajara, 104-2-25 (Dunn Transcripts, 1800-1819, pp. 222-225). 8 Report on the lands of Mission Valero, August 18, 1809. Nacogdoches Archives, Vol. XV, pp. 43-44.
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