The Founding of Mission Nuestra Seiiora del Refugio
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the great advantages of establishing a mission at the site called Refugio. Located at the confluence of the Guadalupe and San Antonio rivers, it would make safe communication possible between Matagorda Bay and Espiritu Santo and give access to many inland points in the province. This mission, together with Mission Nuestra Senora del Rosario, would protect the entire coastal region against transgression by foreign traders and Indian agents as far as the Colorado River. The work of conversion and civilization could thus be extended to other branches of the Karan- kawas, as well as to the Cocos, the Arkokisas, the Tawakonis, the Tawash, and the feared Comanches. It was in this memorial that Father Silva, carried away by his enthusiasm for the contemplated reduction of tribes never before brought under the influence of the missionaries, innocently proposed the seculari- zation of Mission Valero and the suppression of two of the other four missions in San Antonio. 25 The idea that prompted the proposal was to relieve some missionaries assigned to these missions so that they might take charge of the ones contemplated for the coastal tribes, and thus save additional expense to the royal treasury. Far from expediting the launching of the new enterprise and the establishment of Mission Refugio, it delayed the execution of the decree of January 4, 1792, for more than a year. His astounding proposals were referred to the fiscal, who, aroused by the far-reaching effect of the measure suggested, recommended on March 27, 1792, that Father Silva be informed of the action taken on January 4 concerning Mission Refugio, and that his proposal be sent to the Count of Sierra Gorda and to Fray Jose Mariano Reyes with a request for an opinion. The latter soon replied, raising objections to the site selected by Father Garza and suggesting that the mouth of the Nueces River offered greater advantages. In view of the numerous questions raised by the memorial of Father Silva, the fiscal rendered a supple- mentary opinion on May 21, 1792, as to the amount that should be contributed by the royal treasury for the founding of Mission Refugio. Citing as a precedent the regulations adopted for the missions of Cali- fornia, he recommended that one thousand pesos be allowed for the equipment of the new mission; that the older missions in San Ar.tonio render such aid as they could give; and that Father Silva and the Determining amount of royal aid.
25 See the preceding chapter, pp. 35-36.
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