CHAPTER VI I I
THE BEGINNINGS OF PRESENT NACOGDOCHES
Founded by the saintly Margil in 1716. Mission Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches had maintained a precarious existence ever since I 7 29 when the Presidio of Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de los Tejas was abolished by the decree of April 26, at the recommendation of Rivera. On more than one occasion it had been suggested that this mission be suppressed or moved to a more advantageous location. The missionaries had tenaciously clung to the friendly natives in this vicinity. who had welcomed them in the early years and ,vho were still favorably disposed and seemed inclined to accept Christianity. But the abandonment of east Texas ordered by the new regulations promulgated in I i7.:? after the Rubi inspection left them no choice. With depressed hearts and reluctant steps, the Padres withdrew and joined the throng of discouraged pilgrims that made their way painfully to San Antonio in the summer of I7i3. But unforeseen circumstances were to turn the tide of fortune. The abandoned mission site was to resound anew with the life anrl activity of a pioneer settlement. The old mission itself was to hear once more the fervent prayer of thankful hearts. and Ptldres were again to intone the praises of Almighty God within its walls. The leadership and determina- tion of one man. the enduring attachment of human beings to the place of their birth, humble as it was, and the stern fortitude of the resolute Spanish pioneers were to defeat the ill-advised order of the king and to push forward the frontier of New Spain as far as the old Mission of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches. The new settlement was to become the center of Spanish activity, taking the place of the former capital of Los Adaes. It was destined to become the most important Indian agency in dealing with the dozen or more tribes that lived in its vicinity. Antonio Gil Ibarbo, to whose enterprise. firmness and perse- Yerance the change was due was to become the most powerful influence of his day in the maintenance of peaceful relations with the natives of the vicinity. But in order to understand the circumstances that brought about the founding of a civil settlement upon the deserted site of the old Mission of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, it will be necessary to follow the story of
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