•
Occwpatio,e of tlec Trinity River, Ii46-1772
recently cleared fields, which was beginning to sprout. In reporting the progress made, Governor Barrios hopefully pointed out that if nothing unfavorable happened and the rains were normal, enough corn would be raised to supply the needs of the civil settlers when they came. To help train the recruits in their new duties, he had sent fourteen experienced soldiers from Los Adaes in addition to the regular garrison. This, no doubt. accounts for the rapid progress made. 32 Although both the governor and the viceroy had written to the College of Zacatecas requesting missionaries to establish a mission for the Orcoquisacs and Bidais in connection with the new presidio. the Padres had not arrived. But there is little doubt that the natives were friendly and that, attracted by the novelty and the unavoidable bustle contingent upon the establishment of an outpost in the wilderness, they helped Ruiz and his men with the planting. In the meantime Governor Barrios had been getting a supply of goods used by the Indians, such as beads, trinkets, paint, and certain kinds of cloth to have them ready as an inducement for the natives to come to the new mission. Attitude of tlte French. These goods, like most of the supplies, had to be secured in Natchitoches. Prior to the arrest of Blancpain and the decision to take possession of the lower Trinity River, the French had been very friendly, but since they learned of the new presidio and mission among the Orcoquisacs and Bidais they had become sullen. The governor experienced difficulty in purchasing the Indian gifts and was forced to pay excessive prices for them. The French explained that the high prices charged were due to the war with the English, but Barrios suspected it was an indirect means of making the trade of the Spaniards with the Indians unprofitable. As soon as it was learned that a new presidio, mission and civil settle- ment had been authorized, the commander of Natchitoches publicly announced that anyone selling corn or other supplies to the Spaniards would be severely punished and his property would be confiscated. The reason alleged was a scarcity of corn, but Governor Barrios declares that the French had an abundance of this grain. The only way to secure corn now was to send the soldiers privately to Natchitoches to buy small 32 Informe del Gobernador de las ordenes llevadas a cabo para completar la dotacion del nuevo presidio de San Agustin, July 12, Ii 56. S,w Fr,wcis,v el Gr,lllde Archive, Vol. 7, pp. 80-83. Neither Dolton nor l\liss llrown had access to this and manv other documents now available which have enabled the present writer to give the iull.details of this incident. The Bexar and Nacogdoches Archives on which they relied are meager.
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