Begin11i11g of Sec11larization in San A11to11io
345
Former settlers of Los Adaes as/..: for relief. While in Ii74 a group of the more determined and energetic settlers of east Texas set out with Gil Ibarbo to found Nuestra Senora de Bucareli, many others remained in San Antonio, where they had been promised lands and the means of starting life anew. Some of these settlers eventually joined the others in Bucareli, but others continued to wait in San Antonio for the promised relief. The visit of the Co111a11da11/e General in December I7i7 and January 1778 was the occasion for the last remaining refugees from East Texas to make a concerted effort for relief. Agustin Rodriguez headed the group of sixty-three former citizens of Los Adaes who presented a formal request for aid. Alleging that they had abandoned their lands, property, and all worldly possessions in compliance with the orders issued by the king and the promise that they would be resettled in San Antonio, they requested the fulfillment of the promise. Rodriguez described their sufferings and privations which had reduced them to beggars during the four long years of waiting. He asked that a place where they could be settled should be decided upon and that they be gi,·en the necessary aid to start life anew. 1 At the time the request was made Croix and his advisers were in San Antonio, where a meeting was being held by frontier commanders from Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Texas. The matter was referred to Pedro Galindo Na\'arro, Assessor General, who made an interesting report four days later. He declared that the former citizens of Los Adaes were not needed to reenforce San Antonio, because this outpost was now able to withstand successfully any attack, and even to take the offensive if necessary. If the A d11csa11os, therefore, did not want to stay in San Antonio, there was no reason for insisting on it. Furthermore, it had been repeatedly said that there were not sufficient lands with irrigation in the vicinity. Reco111me11dations for aid lo settlers. Under the circumstances the citizens of Los Adaes could be used to found a settlement on a site more advantageous to the general defence of the frontier and their future welfare. The government was morally bound to assist them in the selection of the locality where they were to establish their new homes, providing them with the indispensable supplies, tools and seed to enable them to li,·c and plant their first crop. The governor, the Captain of La Bahia, and the city council of S:m 1 Agustin Rodrigues to the Governor and the Coma11da11/e General, January 4, 1nS. A. G. Al. Hisloria, Vol. 51, pp. 393-394. The petition is signed by the sixty-three heads of families.
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