Return of Rabago and tl,c Founding of Cai'ion ,1/issions
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the usual routine would consume endless months, perhaps years, and the opportunity would be lost. Immediately upon his return to Mission San Bernardo, he decided to make a moving appeal to the Guardian of the College of Queretaro, his immediate superior, and to the Discretorio in order to acquaint them with the facts and enlist their cooperation in securing viceregal approval. In a detailed memorial he recounted the origins of the idea and proceeded to outline in five points the reasons for immediate action and the manner in which the college could contribute to the success of the enterprise. In the first place, Captain Rabago y Teran had displayed such zeal and interest in the reduction of the Apaches, that he had succeeded in obtaining their solemn promise to congregate. "Many souls," he said, "may be saved through his efforts ... if we continue to do that which we should." If the missionaries refused or failed to cooperate with him, they could not escape blame in the future for the failure. In the second place, he pointed out that neYer before had he seen the Apaches less opposed to reduction to mission life. "I say less opposed," the good friar explained. "because all these Indians, if I am not mistaken, agree to be congregated half willingly and half unwillingly, as if con- strained. This is their attitude until their barbarous nature, softened by instruction in the catechism, becomes more amenable to divine grace." Furthermore, the Indians had come fully to realize the material advantages of mission life at a time when, if left alone or abandoned by the Spaniards, they would be annihilated by the Comanches. In the third place, he had personally examined the proposed location for I the first group of projected missions in the San Jose Valley (upper Nueces near present Barksdale), as well as the Chanas (Llano) where a second group could be founded later. Both locations offered excellent adYantages for the establishment of good Indian pueblos and prosperous Spanish settlements which could develop and exploit the numerous mineral deposits found in the region. In the fourth place, he called attention to the material needs of the proposed missions, stressing their importance. "Apaches," he explained, "arc not, as other Indians, humble of spirit and content to make out poorly with whate,·er is given them. They are half civilized already, as a result of their constant intercourse with Spaniards and the mission Indians." The viceroy should realize the need of granting the necessary royal aid to furnish the essential supplies to the new missions during the first years. In the meantime, until official approval was obtained, the missions on the Rio Grande could furnish corn, beans, tobacco, and some meat, provided
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