Plans for tlie Reorga,iizatio,i of the Fro,itier
239
he even sent six soldiers to New Orleans, one hundred fifty leagues down the river, to obtain flour and corn. The men complained to Rubi that they had had to row two boats both ways. Similarly, the men were frequently sent to San Antonio to bring droves of horses intended for the garrison, which upon arrival at Los Adaes were carefully divided into good, fair, and poor. The poorest were then sold to the soldiers at sixteen pesos each, while the best were sold to French traders for as much as sixty. The cost was approximately ten pesos a head in San Antonio. Another flagrant violation of the regulations, adopted in 1729 after the Rivera inspection and supposedly still in force, was the employment of the soldiers to care for the commander's stock ranch and to culti,·ate his farm. There was a communal farm also, on which the soldiers attempted to raise crops to help support themselves and their families. The arrangement which prevailed for many years was that the men did all the labor when not on duty, the governor supplied the seed, stock, and tools, and the crops were shared between them, half going to the governor and half to the garrison. In recent years. however, the governor supplied neither the seed nor the stock nor the implements, but he still demanded half of the crop. He sold his share to the men as part of their supplies at the same price as if he had bought it in Mexico. 50 From Los Adaes the disappointed inspector traveled through hea,·y woods and over dismal swampy marshes to the recently established presidio at Orcoquisac, one hundred twenty leagues to the southwest, not far from the mouth of the Trinity. The misunderstandings between Governor Martos y Navarrete and Captain Pacheco had been scandalous and had resulted in the burning of the presidio. Contrary to his expecta- tions, however, he found the garrison better uniformed than any in Texas, the presidio in fair condition after its stormy career, and the arms more suited for use. Captain Rafael Pacheco was absent, having been called by the ,·iceroy in the summer of 1765 to answer charges. The garrison was in command of Captain Melchor Afan de Rivera, appointed on August 27, 1765, who had taken charge on October 30 of the same year. There were thirty-one men, all fairly well uniformed. Although their rifles were not of the same caliber, they were in good condition, with the exception of four. 50 Inspection of Los Adaes by Rubi, September, 1767. A.G. I. A11di411cia a, Guada- lajara, 104-6-13 (Dunn Tr., 1767) pp. 313-336.
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