Tlie Beginnings of Present Nacogdoches
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no longer. They asked permission to return to Texas and to be allowed to go hence to Natchitoches with their families, from where they could rescue perhaps the remnants of their scattered herds and property. They promised that they would return and settle in Texas, when a site was decided upon for their establishment and that of their companions. The long stay in Mexico had consumed all their resources and forced them to pawn their arms and even their clothes. They asked the viceroy, therefore, to give them or lend them the funds necessary for the return trip. Upon being consulted, the Fiscal saw no objection to their being given the means necessary to return to Texas, with the understanding that the money was to be repaid to the governor of Texas for reimbursement to the royal treasury. But he was vigorously opposed to their being granted permission to move their families and property to Natchitoches. The viceroy accepted the recommendations and on May 16 ordered the treasury to pay thirty-five and a half pesos for the maintenance of the two envoys during their residence in Mexico from March 8 to May 19, on which day they were to return to Texas. The officers of the treasury were also to give Gil Ibarbo and Gil Flores two hundred two pesos for traveling expenses. This amount and that of their upkeep were to be paid back to the governor by the citizens of Los Adaes now in San Antonio for the reimbursement of the royal treasury. 19 Creation of a loopliole. It seemed as if the plan of lbarbo and Flores to return with their companions to Mission Dolores de los Ais had been nipped in the bud by the opportune arrival of the letter of Oconor. The initial success had been suddenly turned into a complete failure. But the vacillating policy of the viceroy was to give the determined settlers and the reluctant governor a good chance to turn the tide and carry out their long cherished scheme. On May 17, the viceroy unwittingly gave Ripperda the desired permission by instructing him that the exiles from Los Adaes were not to return to Natchitoches under any circum- stances, but·that he was to aid them in finding a suitable location "as agreed upon." This phrase and the claim of Ibarbo and Flores that the viceroy had told them verbally that the new settlement was to be not less than one hundred leagues from Natchitoches was to result in the establishment of a new colony on the Trinity River. 20 19 Petltion of lbarbo and Flores to the Viceroy, May Io, Dictamen Ftscal, May 12, Decreto del Virey, May 16, 1774. A.G. M. Historia, Vol. 51, pp. 305-311. 20 The Viceroy to Rlpperda, May 17 1 1774. Bejar Arcllives, Rlpperda to the Viceroy, September 10, 1770. A. G. M. Historia, Vol. 51, pp. 312-314.
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