Return of R,ibago and the Founding of C{llion ,-1/issions
179
But each year in December and January, the neophytes practically abandoned the missions to go in search of food. At this time the buffalo cows and calves were fat and came out on the plains. All the able-bodied men. boys. and even some of the women went out to pro\'idc themselves with buffalo meat. Again in May and June, they sallied forth. this time to kill buffalo bulls to replenish their scanty supply of foocl. 40 How could the missionaries instruct them in the fatih and teach them the habits of industry and perseverance under such a system? But Father Jimenez clung tenaciously to his task and with the ever-present hope of the long expected royal aid that would enable his neophytes to remain in the missions the whole year, labored unceasingly to curb their unruly natures and incline them to the sweetness of Christian love. In 1763, a smallpox epidemic invaded the two missions and made deep inroads in the ranks of the already discouraged neophytes. Their first impulse was to flee from the dreaded disease. This was their time-honored practice, abandoning the sick to a lonely death. But the zealous mission- aries found the desired opportunity in this misfortune to exercise their charity in comforting the afflicted. They redoubled their efforts in minis- tering to those in distress, and persuaded the majority to stay and help their brethren. In San Lorenzo Mission, forty children and twenty-seYen adults were ·baptized during the epidemic, while in Candelaria. five children and two adults recci\'ed the cleansing waters. 41 By 1766, Mission Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria had taken the semblance of a formal establishment in spite of the sustained opposition of viceregal officials, who, although they had not ordered its abandonment. had practically ignored its existence. A decent friary and chapel of adobes had been erected near a beautiful spring of clear cold water that formed a small rivulet which flowed into the Nueces River a short distance beyond. There was also a large jacal made of brush and mud. that served as a granary and warehouse. Around these two buildings were the huts of the neophytes, temporary structures that were neYer replaced by more permanent homes. Fields had been cleared in the vicinity, but these were poorly cultivated. Five leagues upstream, on the opposite bank of the Nueces was Mission San Lorenzo de la Santa Cruz, commonly called iVI ission dd Canon. Here were stationed the thirty men a!;sig-ned for its protection and that 40 Relacion de las misiones de la Presidencia dd Rio Grande de) Norte desde Octuber de 58 hta. Diziembre de este (1764). A.G. ,II., Histori,1. \'ol. 29, pt. 1. pp. I 80-185. Arricivita, Cronica, 390-391. 41 Rclacion de las misioncs . . . A.G. ,I/., Historia, \'ol. .?9, pt. 1, pp. 160-165.
Powered by FlippingBook