Plans for the Reorganization of the Frontier
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From the presidio at La Bahia on the San Antonio to the coast the distance was about fifteen leagues, and from the presidio to the mouth of the Nueces and San Miguel Bay (Corpus Christi) some twenty-five or thirty leagues. Beyond La Bahia (San Antonio Bay) some two or three leagues off shore, there was another island called Culebra, which was said to extend as far as the Trinity. This island was, perhaps, present Matagorda, which adjoins Matagorda Peninsula to the north. 29 Expedition of Ortiz Parrilla. Much more formal was the exploration and report made by Parrilla. Having heard from the Malaguita Indians, recently congregated in the Missions of San Juan Bautista and San Bernardo, of an island along the coast known as San Carlos de los Malaguitas or Isla Blanca, and in accord with the instructions of the viceroy to reconnoiter the coast from La Bahia to the mouth of the Rio Grande, he set out from San Juan Bautista on the Rio Grande on September 13, 1766. With a sufficient number of men and Indian guides he first went to Santa Petronila, where he established his camp. From here he sent a party of twenty-five men and nine Indians to make a thorough exploration of the island opposite the coast. It is to be noted that in his report he refers to the bay at the mouth of the Nueces River as Corpus Christi for the first time. 30 Jose Antonio de la Garza, Eugenio Fernandez, and Matheo Martinez, who conducted the exploration with the twenty-five soldiers assigned for this purpose reported on September 23. They crossed the intervening shallow lakes and found themselves on a long, narrow, flat, sandy island, varying in width from a quarter to a league, with no permanent source of drinking water. From its northern end, opposite to the southern shore of Corpus Christi Bay, about two leagues from shore, the island extended in a general southern direction, with a slight inclination to the west, for fifty-five leagues parallel to the main coast line. From its southern extremity to the mouth of the Rio Grande it was likewise about two leagues. There were ruins of abandoned rancleer1as in the southern extremity; ·but it was evident that these had never been permanently occupied, but were used by coastal tribes for relatively short seasons each year. The rain water that gathered in small pools did not last long, and the exploring party had to dig shallow wells, as the Indians did, for 29 Escand6n to the Viceroy, May 2, 1766. A. G. /,, P,-ovincias /nt1rnas, Vol. 11 o, pp. 237-241. 30 Testimonio de las Diligencias practicadas por el Coronel Don Diego Ortiz Parrilla en que da punttual noticia de la Ysla de los Malaguitas. Aiio 1767. A.G. I., Audiencia de Guadalajara, 104-6-13 (DunnTranscripts, 1767) pp. 17-35.
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