The Begi1111i11gs of Present Nacogdoclrcs
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Trinity later known as Robbin's Ferry, at the old village of Randolph in Madison County.=~ Scttle111c11t of Pilar de Eucarcli. During the latter part of July and throughout the month of August the impoverished exiles made desperate efforts to obtain means for their return to east Texas. With the generous aid of the missions and the Padres from whom they obtained supplies and seed, and with the cooperation of Governor Ripperda, they finally set out before the end of the month to found a new settlement on the Trinity River. Before starting they agreed to call the new colony Nuestra Senora de! Pilar de Bucareli in honor of the patron saint of their old home in Los Adaes and of the viceroy who had been their benefactor. The governor, out of consideration for the exposed condition of the new settlement and of the distance that separated it from San Antonio, thought it wise to organize a prodsional company of militia, consisting of fifty men chosen from among the settlers. He appointed Gil Ibarbo Captain and l11stic-ia 1Jfayor ( Chief Justice) of the projected pueblo, he being "the best fitted and the most acceptable to his compatriots." His companion Gil Flores was made lieutenant and Juan de Mora al/be::. The appointments were subject to the approval of the viceroy. Little protection could be expected, however, from the militia company thus organized, explained the go,·ernor, since most of the men had neither arms nor ammunition. He begged the viceroy to repair this want by supplying sixty or eighty guns and the corresponding lead and powder, expressing the hope at the same time that a parish priest would be provided at government expense, for a period of ten years. \Vhen everything was in readiness the little band of exiles, numbering from fifty to seventy men and their families, set out to retrace their steps as far back as the Trinity Rh·er under the escort of Lieutenant Simon Arocha and four soldiers. Arocha was commissioned by the go,·ernor to place the settlers in possession of the new site and to make a personal investigation of the possibility of digging an irrigation ditch. I-laving established the families, Arocha, with the four soldiers and lbarbo, was to visit the Bidais, Tejas, Quitseys, Iscanis, Tawakonis, Xaran:unes, Taovayas and \Vichitas if possible, to inform them of the new settlement founded by the Spaniards who desired to lh·e in peace among them. Arocha and his men were back in San Antonio by the middle of
24 Bolton, Texas, 406.
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