T/1e Province of Texas in 1762
39
the granary, and the other buildings-all of timber with shingle roofs- had never been replaced with more permanent structures of stone and mortar, as had been done in San Antonio. In 1767, when Father Solis saw this mission, the buildings plainly showed the need of repair. But with practically no neophytes, the Padres could do little more than keep up the place. In spite of the lack of help, the church and grounds were neat and clean. Large pines and oak trees cast their kindly shade on the mission. In the church were found the necessary vestments, sacred vessels, and chalices of silver for religious services, besides some candle- sticks and other ornaments for special occasions. The devoted Zacatecan missionaries lived soberly, with only the bare necessities of life. Practically no crops were raised any more on the old mission lands, and its ranch "El Bafio," located about half a league away, had only a few cows and some worn-out horses and mules which the _Indians disdained taking. Corn no longer constituted the chief article of food. The settlers, as well as the natives, had come to depend more and more on wheat imported surreptitiously from Natchitoches. The hay needed to feed the straggling remains of the mission herd had to be brought from ten to twelve leagues away. The Indians had grown more and more independent and insolent. Only when sick or in time of famine in the winter, did they come to the Padres for aid and comfort. True, they were not hostile, nor did they harbor any animosity against the missionaries, but they had grown indifferent. With admirable Christian patience and charity, the friars labored incessantly to attract them and to induce them to become practical Catholics, for almost all the Indians in the neighborhood were baptized and most of them were buried by the church. The Padres never lost hope. They stood ever ready to aid and comfort the wayward and seemingly ungrateful wards of the old mission. They tended with the same solicitude the sixty soldiers of the presidio, their families, and the few settlers who had come to live in this remote post. 54 Presidio de San Luis de las Amarillas (San Saha). This presidio, near the present city of Menard, was originally founded on the San Gabriel River to protect the projected Apache missions of San Xavier, which ended in dismal failure after the tragic death of Father Ganzabal. The garrison had been moved in 1758 to the San Saba and increased from fifty to one hundred men, but even with this added strength, it had been unable to do more than to witness at a safe distance the burning
54 So/is Diar,y of 1767 in op. cit., pp. 31-33; La Fora, Relacion, ff. 71-72.
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