Our Catlzolic Heritage in T e:xas
At the time that a decision was rendered on the settlement of the debts of Mission San Jose, final instructions were also issued with regard to the three men and five women at the mission who were still under instruction. They were to be permitted to remain at San Jose. Provision for them was to be made out of the proceeds of the property and land assigned to them, which, until further instructions from the governor, was to be administered by the missionary or parish priest in charge of the secularized mission pueblo. 43 Tl1e secularization of tlze -missions at la Ba!tia. Governor Munoz had expressed doubts concerning the practicability of putting into effect the decree of secularization of April 10 in the missions at La Bahia. On September I 1, 1794, he informed Nava that he was leaving San Antonio for La Bahia where he intended to put the Jaraname Indians of Mission Espiritu Santo in possession of the communal property, pro- vided that they were qualified to assume charge of its administration." Upon his arrival, he requested Fray Juan Jose Aguilar, the resident missionary, to assemble all the Indians of the mission. There were forty· one Jaranames, twenty-four Tamiques, twenty-one Parantones, twelve Prietos, nine Brazos Largos, six Vende Flechas, and twelve Cumpusas, a total of one hundred twenty-five. Governor Munoz saw them and talked to them. Only a few understood Spanish and fewer still could speak it. The Padre explained that these various Indians were in fact all Jaranames, belonging to the same stock and speaking the same Ian· guage. After questioning them, the governor was convinced that they were incapable of managing their own affairs. In his opinion they were as helpless as children. They had not yet learned to work. On October 13 he formally reported to the commandant general in Chihuahua that in view of the state of the natives, he had not carried out the secularization of the mission as ordered by the decree of April 10, 1794, but that he would await further instructions in the hope that an exception would be made in this instance. 45 43 /bid., pp. 220-225. "Manuel Muiioz to Pedro de Nava, September 21, 1794. Saltillo Archives, Vol. VI, pp. 190-191. 4 SManuel Muiioz to Pedro de Nava, October 13, 1794. SaUillo Archives, Vol. VI, pp. 193-195. At this time he sent also a detailed list with the names, age, and sex of each Indian in the mission. See Relacion de los Yndios de la Mision del Espiritu Santo dependiente del Presidio de la Bahia y al Goviemo de la Provincia rle Texas de las Naciones Jaranames y demas que se expresan. /bid., Vol. VI, pp. 199-202.
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