Our Catholic Ii eritage in Texas
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of a new garrison in addition to the inevitable expense of settling the families. Both expenditures required the expressed approval of the king, a procedure that would consume considerable time, an element that was precious in view of the dire distress of the petitioners, who were in need of immediate relief. The Assessor General expressed fear lest the remain- ing families from Los Adaes driven by desperation should seek refuge in the interior. There was urgent need, in his opinion, to do something to keep them together until the question of founding a new settlement with and for them was decided. Under these circumstances there was but one solution: to establish them on the site of old Mission Valero. This mission, with its extensive farms, excellent system of irrigation, and rich grazing lands, was just across the river from the Presidio of San Antonio de Bejar. The Indians living in the mission were so few that even now the farms were being cultivated with the aid of Spanish labor, employed by the missionaries at relatively low wages. The maintenance of the mission cost the royal treasury nine hundred -pesos a year paid to two missionaries. This expense wa& unnecessary because the few remaining Indians could attend services in the· church of the Villa de San Fernando, which was less than three hundred paces a,vay, just across the river. The lands of the mission could be distributed among the former citizens of Los Adaes, keeping the best for the neophytes, but placing them all within the jurisdiction of the Villa de San Fernando. These plans would ob,·iate the expense of transportation, maintenance, and establishment of a new garrison required if any other site was chosen. Furthermore, it would strengthen San Antonio by extending its limits to include the new settlers on the mission lands.13 Plan for secularization of nlission Valero. Having expressed the strong reasons for the suppression of the old mission, th( A sesor General proceeded to outline a plan for carrying it into effect. He recommended that instructions be issued to Go\'ernor Cabello to make a formal inventory of all the property of the mission, its lands, cattle, farming implements, domestic animals, and farm products stored in its granary. He should then order the withdrawal of the two missionaries and join the remaining Indians to the parish of the Villa de San Fernando, ,vhere they were to go for all spiritual ministration. \\'hen the lands of the mission were duly sun·eyed and defined, these 13 Dictamen de! Asesor General Pedro Galindo Navarro. June 2, 1779. A. G. 111., /Iisloria, \'ol. 51, pp. 431-447.
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