Our C at/10/ic H Mjtage in Texas
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As long as the missions were primarily for the reduction of the Apaches, the obligation of Don Pedro would remain in force. He concluded by recommending that no formal campaign be undertaken at this time; that the Los Almagres-Llano proposals be rejected, that permission to move the presidio provisionally to the San Marcos might be granted, subject to a more careful survey and the opinion of the missionaries as to its suitability for missions; that if this experiment should prove a failure, the presidio should then be abolished; that if the removal to the San Marcos was made the garrison should be cut to fifty men, giving as a reason, the proximity to San Antonio; but that the reduction of the garrison to fifty, if moved to the San Marcos, should not be taken to imply the restoration of the twenty-two men to San Antonio. 7 When the matter was referred to the Auditor, Domingo Valcarcel, he concurred in all the recommendations of the Fiscal. He suggested that the whole matter should be taken up in a special ltmta.• Campaign authorized. Usually the recommendations of the two trusted counselors of the viceroy were adopted by the ltmta. But in this instance, after a heated argument, the opinions of the Fiscal and the Auditor were reversed. To abandon the site of San Saba by removing the presidio to any other site would be an admission of fear. Spanish honor demanded its maintenance at all costs. Furthermore, no evidence had been presented that the Apaches had expressed a desire to congregate somewhere else. nor that they had an aversion to San Saba. The reports submitted expressed the opinion of the commander, the officers, the soldiers, and the missionaries, but not of the Apaches. The maintenance of the presidio on its present site was essential not only to vindicate Spanish prestige, but to insure the peace and safety of Coahuila and Nuevo Santander. To avoid a recurrence of the massacre, the missionaries should be ordered to live in the presidio for greater safety, and Parrilla should be instructed to hold his post at all costs. Unanimously the f m1ta now voted in favor of authorizing a campaign to punish the daring boldness of the northern tribes that had committed the sacrilegious murders of San Saba. It was recommended that Parrilla should be instructed to call a special J,mta in San Antonio as soon as possible, which should be attended by the governors of Coahuila and 7 Dictamen Fiscal del Marques de Aranda, May 29, 1758. A. G. /., A11diencia de Mexico (Cunningham Transcripts, 1763), pt. 2, pp. 92-129, 8 Dictamen del Auditor, Domingo Balcarcel, June 12, 1758. A.G. I., Audimcia. Alh:ico (Cunningham Transcripts, 1763), pt. 2, pp. 129-139.
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