Ottr Cat/1olic Heritage in Texas
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he claimed that he had gone to Santa Fe and returned in seven months. But on his return the former governor had been replaced by Kerlerec, who developed a deep dislike for the enterprising cleric and refused to pay him for the expenses he had incurred in the alleged exploration. It was this incident, the failure of his school, and the insistence of his creditors that had driven him once more to the wilds to take refuge with M. Masse and hence to throw himself upon the mercy of the viceroy of New Spain by presenting himself to the governor at Los Adaes. For two months he was actually engaged by Barrios y Jauregui as tutor to his children. While at Los Adaes, he appears to have made occasional visits to Natchitoches. Ever ready for new adventures, he soon tired of the monotonous life of the frontier outpost and solicited a permit from Governor Barrios y Jauregui to go to Zacatecas. He said he wanted to visit the College of Our Lady of Guadalupe and join the Franciscan order. The governor was too busy at this time with the Orcoquisac affair to give much attention to the importunities of the restless and enterprising Frenchman, whose sincerity he had begun to doubt. While the governor was away, Disdier appealed to the missionaries in Los Adaes for a letter to the Guardian of the College. The good friars, more credulous than the governor, gladly gave it to him. When the governor returned from Orcoquisac, Disdier was gone. But before he set out for the interior of Mexico, he wrote a letter to De Mezieres, explaining to him that it was his intention to penetrate the country to Mexico City and eventually to go back to France to report his experiences in New Spain. The governor now warned the viceroy and advised that he inform the commanders along the frontier to be on the lookout for the adventurous Frenchman and to arrest him on sight. Barrios y Jauregui characterized him as quick of wit, pleasant in conversation, a man of much ready knowledge and of versatile attainments. He declared that he was cunning in the extreme and very fond of novelty and change. 18 Unfortunately, nothing more was ever heard of the restless French cleric, and his ultimate end will, perhaps, never be known. Deliberations of tl1e Junta of San Antonio, January 3-30, I759. But let us return to Parrilla and the Junta called to consider the plans and needs of the proposed campaign to punish the northern tribes that had desecrated the Mission of San Saba. Although called by Parrilla for
11 Governor Barrios y Jauregui to the Viceroy, June 16, 1757. A. G. M., Historia, Vol. !) 1, pt. 1, pp. 80-83.
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