Establis/,ment of tile Dioceses, 1847-1948
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Grande) and San Roque Creek, which flowed into the Nueces. 54 Among the counties thus ceded to the Diocese of San Antonio are Val Verde, Edwards, Uvalde, Zavala, Dimmit, Webb, Kinney, and Maverick. The El Paso area, formerly under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durango, Mexico, had been assigned to the Vicariate Apostolic of Arizona in 1869. The Diocese of San Antonio, with an estimated 90,909 square miles according to the boundaries thus established in 1877, remained without significant change until the creation of the Diocese of El Paso in 1914. Conditions in Texas at the time of the erection of the new diocese were promising. The State had just passed through the last struggle of the "Carpetbagger" administration of reconstruction days. Governor E. J. Davis, denied support by President Grant, reluctantly gave up the guber- natorial office to Governor Richard Coke, the successful Democratic can- didate in the election of December, 1873. With more than 12,000 inhabitants, according to the 1870 census, San Antonio had more than tripled its population since the old Spanish days, yet it was still predominantly Spanish-speaking. The Indians in the north and west had been subdued and forced to retreat to their reservations. The successful and carefully planned campaigns of General Phil Sher- idan, William Tecumseh Sherman and R. S. McKenzie had severely chastened the roaming tribes of the great plains during the last six years and had cleared the way for the unobstructed advance of the pioneer. Railroads, which had appeared in the States as early as 1855, were be- ginning to span Texas, although most of them consisted of short, uncon- nected lines, with the exception of the Union Pacific, which had been completed in 1869. As construction on the line connecting San Antonio and Houston was progressing slowly, the new Bishop was to wait more than two years after his installation before he could ride the "iron horse" to Houston. Much more important than the railroad lines at this time were the cattle trails over which the Texas herds were driven to Abilene and Dodge City, Kansas. The cattle kings were writing the great epic of the "trail drivers." 55 Fi,st Bishop of San. A11,tonio. In selecting a bishop for the new Diocese, the Holy Father decided on Anthony Dominic Pellicer, whose appointment was made public on September 2, 1874. He was at the time 54 Map in the Chancery Office, San Antonio, Texas. 55 Matthew J. Gilbert, "San Antonio Diocese Founded 69 Years Ago," T/11 AlaHW Reguter, September 3, 1943.
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