Ottr Cat/1olic Heritage in Texas
families and twenty-five or thirty Tlaxcalteca Indian families to make the required total for the new settlement on the Trinity. The loyalty, industry, and high stage of civilization of these Indians were well known. They would furthermore serve as an inducement and example to the uncivilized natives in the district to be occupied. The Tlaxcaltecas in Saltillo, Boca de Leones, and Coahuila ( Monclova) had been constantly increasing in number. Consequently, the desired quota could be recruited from among them. 36 Thus it was Barrios who suggested, in this instance, the use of the brave and loyal Tlaxcalteca Indians to advance the Spanish frontier. These "Indians had been placed successfully in every northern outpost and a small band was in fact sent in 1757 to form the nucleus of the San Saba Mission. As to expenses he thought that the Canary Island experiment should serve as a norm, that each family should be allowed transportation, a daily stipend for food while en route, the minimum equipment to start life anew, and provisions and supplies for one year. He sent a tentative list of what would be required for the viceroy's consideration. 37 Mission Nt1estra Seiiora de" la Luz del Orcoqttisac. The Indians of the various ranchenas of the Orcoquisacs and of the Bidais had come to the presidio ever since its formal establishment in May, 1756, and Ruiz and his men had, according to instructions, exerted themselves in winning their friendship and humoring them with gifts until the missionaries arrived. But in October they were still waiting for the Padres to establish the new mission formally. Father Fray Anastasio de Jesus Romero of Mission Dolores had paid the presidio a visit in August and held the first services on the feast day of Saint Augustine, the patron of the establishment. It was Fray Romero that began the formal erection of the new mission. As usual, the Indians were enthusiastic with the novelty of the establishment and the abundant and generous gifts of the Spaniards. The first mission was as yet only a project and already, true to form, each one of the rancl,erfos began to request a separate mission. The governor was giving his attention to the plans for the mission also. It seems that as early as July, 1756, he had consulted Father Fray Francisco Vallejo, President of the Zacatecan missions in east Texas, concerning the ambitions of the various native villages. Chief Tomas of the Bidais wanted a separate mission for his people in their own 36 Consulta de! Gobernador sobre establecimiento de presidios y misiones en Texas, July ;,2, 1756. San Fra11cisct1 el Gra11de Arc/ti11e, Vol. 7, pp. 83-90, '1/bid., Vol. 7, pp. 83-90.
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