I
Occupatio11, of tlee Trinity River, Ii46-1772
79
had cost three hundred pesos. This amount, he requested, should be paid by the royal treasury. 48 Bernardo de Miranda was sent to Mexico with the report. He lost no time on the way, for he was in Mexico City the early part of December. Viceregal officials were puzzled with the new turn of affairs. They were confronted with the problem of working out the details for the settlement of fifty families, whose ultimate destina- tion was being questioned before they set out. They had authorized the founding of one mission, and already a request for three had been made. On December 11, the Auditor took up the various questions. Evidently, the quality and number of supplies recommended and the allowance of two and a half pesos a day to each family was excessive. The governor's suggestions that the settlers be supplied with silklined hats, fancy stirrups and bridles, silk shirts, Spanish shawls, and kid shoes seemed ill-advised. According to the estimate presented, it would cost over forty-five thousand pesos. The Auditor recommended that the officers of the treasury report the expenses incurred in the settlement of the Canary Islanders in San Antonio, and that the whole matter be referred to a Junta for approval. The use of Tlaxcaltecan families was not objectionable, provided that those enlisted for the new settlement volunteered to go without compulsion. In regard to increasing the number of missions, this suggestion should wait until the country was better explored. The proposal that the ornaments and sacred vessels of the extinct San Xavier missions be used for the San Agustin presidio and mission could not be accepted, because Don Pedro Romero de Terreros had already agreed to purchase them for the new missions on the San Saba. 49 Details for tlee civil settlement. To these recommendations the Fiscal agreed on January 11, Ii57• But by this time other questions had arisen, such as, who was to bear the expense of digging irrigation ditches for the new settlement? Was this to be at Orcoquisac, where the presidio and mission were now, or at Santa Rosa del Alcazar? On these two points the Fisc<1l was of the opinion that in regard to the first the new settlers should be furnished tools for the digging of the proposed ditches, but that the treasury should not be burdened with additional expense. As to the second, if the present 41 Informe del gobernor sobre conveniencia de establecer poblacion en los ojos de agua del Alcazar, November 20, 1756, Sa11 Fra11cisco el Gra11de Archive, Vol. 7, pp. 157-164. 49 Paracer del Auditor, December 11, 1756. Sa11 Fra,1eisco el Grande Archive, Vol. 7, pp. 95-117.
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