Tlzc Bcgimzi11gs of Present Nacogdochrs
The fears of Ibarbo and the settlers of Ducareli were not entirely unfounded. On January 20, Ii79, a party of four hundred friendly Indians had visited San Antonio. But Indians could not be trusted, the governor observed. They came fully armed, there being more than two hundred warriors among them. Chiefs Toyayo, Casusa, Jose Chiquito (Little Joe), Manteca Mucha (Too Much Fat), and Pato Blanco (White Duck) had insisted on leading their hordes fully armed into the frightened village. The governor confesses he had only one gunsmith and two sick soldiers in the presidio. The rest of the garrison was out on different duties. Ten had been sent to reconnoiter, twenty had b:!en detailed to escort Governor Ripperda upon his departure on January 14, twenty were stationed at the new post of Santa Cruz on the Cibolo, and twenty-four had been assigned to look after the horse herd, which numbered one thousand two hundred thirty-two animals and was being pastured some distance south of San Antonio. Governor Cabello was in a real predicament. But his experience in Florida and Nicaragua stood him in good stead. He knew the first requisite in dealing with natives was to keep a bold front. He told the chiefs they could not enter San Antonio with their men armed. They must order them to lea,·e their arms outside of the city. He would then welcome and regale them as befitted friends. The ruse worked. The chiefs brought their men into San Antonio, to the very square, without a bow or arrow, a gun or rifle, a tomahawk or scalping knife. Governor Cabello received them graciously, ordered cigarettes and candy distributed to them, and held a grand feast in honor of his unwelcome guests, who could have destroyed the settlement on the least provocation. Fortunately they left the next day, while the relieved citizens cheered with genuine joy. Governor Cabello was a practical man, a realist. He proposed at this time that the exemptions from payment of various royal revenues enjoyed by the settlers of the province be abolished, that the reYenues be collected with energy and every penny used to enlarge and maintain adequate garrisons in San Antonio and other places until all the Indians were brought under subjection or exterminated. He emphatically declared that Indians could not be trusted. There was no such thing as a friendly Indian, he assured Croix. Even those reared in the missions would revert from time to time to original type. The northern Indians were little better than the Apaches or any other Indians. They were all Indians, mo\"ed primarily by selfish interests. Those who received presents and were befriended by
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