Tlie Beginnings of Present /\'acogdoches
33 1
to their starving families, threatened with complete destruction by the infuriated Comanches. Only God and his Holy Mother the Virgin Mary could save them in their present condition. "These miserable inhabitants," he said, "are left in such a deplorable s.tate that they have no way even to hunt for food . . . for they cannot go out to hunt except in large numbers and well armed, nor can they go out together and with their weapons, lest they should leave the settlement helpless.... They can follow no other occupation than to be continuously on guard of the horses and the settlement, relieving each other morning and night. The time left free from this fatiguing work they spend in witnessing the need and the misery of their families, unable to furnish daily food by the ordinary work of hunting, fishing, or other similar means, and more- over, without hope of remedy in the future, since the best time for planting wheat has passed and not a grain has been sown up to the present." Rumors of plans for the total destruction of the suffering settlement were brought daily by friendly Indians, who said the Comanches were making alliances and would soon raze Bucareli to the ground and sell the survivors into slavery. There were only twenty-three guns and rifles in the whole settlement in serviceable condition, and the amount of ammunition for even these arms was insufficient for a prolonged engagement. True, there were four or five cannon, but there was no one who knew how to serve them. The stockade had long since rotted and was worse than useless. Hostile prowlers had repeatedly entered the settlement and left signs interpreted by friendly Indius as threats of total annihilation. Panic reigned and desperation was driving the settlers to extremes. He closed his moving appeal by an urgent request for immediate relief and troops to defend the settlement. If no soldiers could be sent, permission should be granted to the settlers to seek safety and security among the friendly Tejas Indians, the nearest neighbors. 59 Conditions were rapidly approaching a crisis. Four days after Father Garza wrote to the governor, on January 8, 1779, Ibarbo informed Cabello that the settlers were desperate and had insistently asked to be allowed to retire to the country of the Tejas, there to await the decision of the Comandante General concerning the permanent establishment of a settle- ment. Being without authority in the matter, he had consistently refused to permit them to abandon Bucareli. Ibarbo took the opportunity to praise
"Father Garza to Governor Cabello, January 8, 1779. A. G. M. Historia, Vol. 51, pp. 484-490.
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