Our C atltolic fl eritage in Texas
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Captain Rabago y Teran transmitted the report promptly on January 27, 1763, merely adding that the twenty soldiers stationed in the Valle de San Jose were insufficient to afford adequate protection to the two new missions, and deploring his inability to extend them more help because of the distance from San Saba. 33 Four days later he explained his difficult position. During the previous summer the Taovayas and their northern allies had repeatedly raided the vicinity of the presidio and actually killed two soldiers and carried away seventy horses on June 23. He was so short of men, as a result of the detachment of soldiers sent to protect the new missions, that pursuit of the enemy had been impossible. The rumored peace with the northern Indians had created serious doubts as to the sincerity of the Spaniards among the Apaches. The hostilities of their enemies during the summer had only added to their general apprehension.3' Rabago y Teran seems to ha,·e contemplated the possibility of establishing a new presidio in the Valle de San Jose under his immediate jurisdiction. Such a presidio would have afforded the new mission the desired protection. but it would ha,·e also increased considerably the expense of the royal treasury and given the commander of San Saba not only more power and prestige but more profits as well. The missionaries and Rabago had previously hinted rather broadly the advisability of a new presidio. The utilization of part or all of the garrison of Monclova, generally referred to as Presidio de Coahuila. was advanced by Rabago in 1762. He now took up the matter again in more detail, encouraged by the report of the missionaries, in which the idea was openly sponsored. Arguing that no trust could be placed in the overtures for peace made by the northern tribes, and citing the repeated attacks of these Indians as proof of their perfidy, he suggested that a new presidio with a garrison of fifty men be established in Valle de San Jose to protect the two new missons and to encourage the settlement of Spanish families. This measure would release the twenty soldiers of the Presidio of San Saba, who could return to their regular post. He could then effectively repel the attack of the raiding parties that had impudently threatened the weakened garrison, and he could pursue them to chastise their insolence. New presidia suggested. by Arricivita in his Cronica, pp. 386-389, but he dates it January 24, 1763. There are some variations in the text of the three documents, perhaps traceable to the copyist. 33Rabago y Teran to the Viceroy, January 27, 1763. A.G. I., A11die11cia de ,~/exico, 92-6-22 (Dunn Transcripts, 1748-1763, pt. 2), p. 140. 3'Rabago y Teran to the Viceroy, January 31, 1763, in Ibid., pp. 164-171.
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