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Texas on the Eve of the ill/ ezican Revolution
San Femando de Bexar. When the site of present San Antonio was first occupied, the first mission established was called Nuestra Senora de Valero and the military post, San Antonio de Bexar. Twel\'e years later ( 1730), plans for a formal civil settlement with an independent administration were begun, and resulted in the establishment of the Villa de San Fernando with colonists brought from the Canary Islands. E\'er since that time there had been a tendency to use the names San Antonio and San Fernando de Bexar indiscriminately to designate both the pre- sidio and the civil settlement. In October, 1809, Governor Salcedo decided to eliminate the resulting confusion. In a formal proclamation he declared that in view of the fact that the civil settlement-now grown into a town-had superseded the presidio in importance, all legal documents were henceforth to be drawn up in the name of the Villa de San Fernando de Bexar. The town was to be divided into four wards: the north ward, the south ward, the Valero ward, and the Laredo ward, each of which was to have a commissioner (Alcalde) and its own citizens' committee to maintain order and street sanitation. 16 The mobilization of troops to protect the province had brought new life to the indolent outpost neglected for so many years. Shortly after Cordero's arrival in 1805, plans were drawn up for new barracks in antici- pation of the new contingents. The plans called for rock and mortar quarters to accommodate larger numbers of troops and eliminate the necessity of having to house them in the unsanitary villa. Commandant General Salcedo formally approved the project in December, 1806, and the work which had been started as early as October went forward at a more rapid pace.17 Chaplain Jose Vicente Arispe, of Monclova, who came with the troops from Coahuila, took sick shortly after his arrival and died in San Fer- nando. Fortunately for the soldiers, Father Jose Rumayor was on hand to take over the chaplaincy. Jose Rumayor had accompanied the Agua Verde detachment to Nacogdoches as chaplain and had been sent back to recuperate in the new military hospital. But before the end of the year, Chaplain Rumayor became dissatisfied with conditions at the presidio, and left without permission-much to the chagrin of the governor, who reported the matter to the commandant general. 11 16M. de Salcedo to the citizens of San Fernando de Bexar, October s, 1809. Bexar Archives.
17 Salcedo to Cordero, December 6, 1806. Bexar Arcliives. 1acordero to N. Salcedo, December 29, 1806. Bexar Arcliives.
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