CHAPTER III
THE FOUNDING OF MISSION NuESTRA SENORA DEL REFUGIO
At the very time the missions of San Antonio were being secularized, the sons of the College of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe of Zacatecas were fervently occupied in establishing a new outpost to civilize and convert the fierce coastal tribe of the Karankawas in the vicinity of Matagorda Bay. The diligent efforts of Captain Manuel de Espadas at La Bahia had succeeded in bringing back to Mission Rosario many of the apostate J aranames. "No sooner had Rosario been placed again in operation," declares Dunn, "than a movement began which was to result in the founding of the last of the Texas missions during the Spanish regime, that of Nuestra Senora del Refugio or Our Lady of Refugio." 1 This was not, however, due entirely to the influence of the revered memory of Fray Antonio Margil de Jesus. Rather it was the result of a series of circumstances which culminated in this "the final outburst of missionary zeal in provincial Texas . . . one of the last flickers of ebbing Spanish energy and initiative on the northeastern frontier of New Spain." To understand the conditions that brought about the founding of Refugio, a summary of the situation at that time is necessary. One year before Fray Manuel de Silva's untiring efforts resulted in the founding of the new mission, the king of Spain issued instructions to the viceroy to investigate the possibilities of establishing closer trade relations between the provinces of Louisian:i. and Texas by opening a port on the Gulf coast. He also inquired if it might not be well to extend the boundary of Louisiana to Rio Sabinas. 2 The interest in bringing about closer ties between the two provinces, Renewed interest in tlee coastal region. lDunn, W. E., "The Founding of Nuestra-Senora del Refugio, the last Spanish Mission in Texas," Tire Quarterly, XXV, 176. Up to the present, this article consti- tutes the only detailed study of this mission available. There is one other very brief account by Bolton, ''The· Beginnfngs of Mission Nuestra Senora del Refugio," Tlt4 Quarterly, XIX, 400-404. 2 King to the Viceroy of New Spain, November 1, 1789. A. G. / ., Audiencia d4 Mexico, 96-2-12 (Dunn Transcripts, 1787-1791, pp. 55-56); Viceroy Revillagigedo to Antonio Porlier, April 27, 1791. A.G. I., Audiencia de Mexico, 89-6-14 (Dunn Transcripts, 1787-1791, pp. 178-181).
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