Return of Rabago and the Fo1111ding of Caiion ,~issions
171
The letter of Fray Jimenez was received on October 14, 1762, and the following day it was transmitted to the viceroy by Rabago, with a personal report on the trying and almost desperate conditions that prevailed in the two new missions. He not only reiterated what Fray Jimenez so vividly described, but added his personal plea·and begged the viceroy to g;int royal aid to them before it was too late. 30 Despair was beginning to grip the heart of the zealous Fray Jimenez. Late in October, 1762, he received a letter from Fray Manuel Naxera, written on February 27, informing him that the request for approval and aid had been presented to the viceroy, but that he had expressed an aversion to the new enterprise. Fray Jimenez hastened to recount the success attained in spite of handicaps and difficulties, and declared that the Indians gathered in the new missions seemed more amenable to instruction than ever before. "Although they persist in a thousand errors learned from their forefathers, they listen to me gladly and show little repulsion," he explained. But all the efforts of the missionaries and the favorable attitude of the Lipans would be of little avail "if His Excellency, the Viceroy, delayed the necessary approval any longer." A sufficient number of soldiers and an adequate supply of food were indispensable. Appeal to the Commissary General. Fray Jimenez complained bitterly against the attempt being made by the Governor of Texas to befriend the northern tribes. The reported peace with the Comanches had greatly aroused the suspicions of the Apaches. These fears had been increased by the raids during the summer. Indians of San Lorenzo and Candelaria had told him in all earnestness that among the Comanches that attacked the Lipan f'ancherias in the vicinity of the Valle de San Jose, two Spanish soldiers and four mission Indians from San Antonio had been seen. "This has persuaded some," the good friar said, "that we have gathered them at this site in order to turn them over to their enemies." He pointed out emphatically that the reduction of the Apaches and peace with the Comanches "were two objects entirely dissimilar." Fray Mariano meant well in his efforts to befriend the northern tribes, but he was mistaken in his policy. He seriously suggested the establishment of a new presidio in the Valle de San Jose to protect the two missions and permit the extension of missionary activity to the other Apache tribes. Failure to take active JO Fray Diego Jimenez to Captain Rabago, October 8, 1762, in Ibid., 149-1 52; Captain Rabago to the Viceroy, October 15, 1762. A. G. I., Audie11cia d, Mizico, 92-6-22 {Dunn Transcripts, 1748-1763, pt. 2), pp. 146-49.
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