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Our Catlwlic Heritage -in Texas
vented serious incursions by foreigners. Furthermore, Bucareli on its orig- inal location had served as an outpost to register the state of mind of the numerous natives that lived in that region. The return of this brave little band of settlers had appeased the northern tribes, who had become embittered by the withdrawal of the Spaniards from Los Adaes. But the site of Paso Tomas on the Trinity, where the settlement had subsisted for four years waiting authorization for its permanence, had now been abandoned for the reasons already stated. The settlers had chosen a new location at the site of the former Mission of the Nacog- doches. The settlement would continue to render the same sen·ices at Nacogdoches, the Go,·ernor declared, that it had at Paso Tomas. But on its new location it had some added advantages, such as the protection afforded to the settlers by the friendly northern tribes, the possibility of irrigation, and the healthier climate. The chief objection was the greater distance to San Antonio and to the coast. But the former was offset by the proximity to the friendly Indians of East Texas, while the latter was not so much greater than before, so that a watch on the coast could be maintained. The governor concluded his report by stating that the number of settlers now at Nacogdoches was small and inadequate for self-defense. According to the last census aYailable, made at the close of 1777, there were one hundred and twenty-fi,·e men, including fifty-three militiamen; eighty- nine women, sixty-four boys and sixty-four girls; and five slaves, making a total of three hundred and forty-se,·en persons in all. The number could not insure the effecth·e defence of the new settlement. While it was clear that troops should be assigned for their protection, the governor deplored his inability to spare a single man from the Presidio of San Antonio or the new Fort of Santa Cruz on the Cibolo." A garrison for Nacogdoches suggested. No sooner d)d Ibarbo and his settlers arrh·e in Nacogdoches than they began to emphasize the need of a garrison to protect the settlers and to inspire greater respect for Spanish authority, promoting thereby better trade relations. On May 9, Ibarbo wrote Croix that there was much dissatisfaction among the friendly Indians in East Texas. This was attributable to the failure of the Spaniards to send trading agents as promised. The Indian chiefs had grown accustomed to receive gifts for trading privileges and now expected them. To restrict trade with the Indians, as Oconor had attempted to do, "Go,·ernor Cabello to Teodoro de Croix, May 31, 1779. A. G. Al., Hlstoria, Vol. SI, pp. 501-507.
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