Return of Rabago and t/ie Founding of Cmion 1Wissio11s
149
that this presidio had in fact been abolished, that its garrison has been utilized to found a new presidio on the San Saba River and increased from fifty men to one hundred, and that consequently Rabago could not be restored to the command of San Luis de las Amarillas, because this was a new post which he had never commanded.% But all protests were in vain. Rabago leisurely wound up his affairs at Sacramento and made preparations to take possession of Presidio de San Luis de las Amarillas on the San Saba, the largest one in Texas. Parrilla was eventually appointed Governor of Coahuila. Although news traveled slowly in those days, it was not long before the return of the man, who had so deeply disturbed the entire province in 1752, caused a wave of apprehension to sweep over Texas. The tireless and indomitable Fray Mariano de los Dolores felt compelled to journey all the way to Mexico, in spite of his years, in a futile effort to influence the viceroy. In a personal appeal to the Marques de Cruillas, he reviewed the career of Rabago from his arrival in San Antonio through his scandalous conduct to its culmination in the sacrilegious murders at San Xavier, pointing out that his return might cause disturbances again and jeopardize the peace of the entire province. The Apaches, he claimed, knew Rabago only by name, but they had become sincerely attached to Colonel Parrilla, who had founded the mission for them at San Saba. To antagonize these Indians at this time, by changing commanders, when the northern tribes were so resentful and the French and English so active among them, was dangerous in the extreme. The remonstrance of Fray Mariano was reduced to writing on October 28, 1760, and referred to the Fiscal on October 31. Conscious of the urgency of the request, he replied on November I, recommending that former Governor Barrios y Jauregui be asked to make a private report on the points raised by Fray Mariano. 3 In the meantime, Rabago had taken possession of San Saba on October 1, 1760. Opposition to Rabago's ret1em. The request to Barrios y Jauregui, who was at this time in Coahuila, must have been sent by a special messenger to enable him to answer by December 30. On that day, the former Governor of Texas informed the viceroy in a secret report that Rabago y Teran had come to San Xavier while a very young man with more money than judgment. Barrios y 2 Infonne del Coronel Don Diego Ortiz Parrilla ... June 18, 1760. Sa11 Francisco el Grande Archive, Vol. 16, pp. 16-37; Protest of Parrllla, December 7, 1 760, A. G./., A11diencia de Afe:rico, 91-3-3 (Dunn Transcripts, 1759-1763), pp. 5-7. SFray Mariano de los Dolores to the Viceroy, Marques de Cruillas, October 28, 1760. A.G. M., H isloria, Vol. 84, pt. 1, pp. 61-79.
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