01'r Catlzolic Heritage in Texas
fifteen years in the principal archives of Spain and Rome, was chosen to help Father Steck in the collation of the documents. "The vicissitudes of fortune," is how Father Foik described it, when he announced at the thirty-first annual convention in 1934 at Austin, that Father Steck had informed the Commission that he had been invited to a Professorship of Latin-American History at the Catholic University of America, Washington. This posed a serious problem. On the one hand the Commission had no wish to impede Father Steck's acceptance of such an honored and important post, and on the other hand it was thought that the duties of such work in a distant part of the country would seri- ously interfere with the advancement of the work of the Commission in which he was already engaged. By mutual consent the contract of Father Steck was terminated on January 15, 1934. "It was felt by all the mem- bers of the Commission," Father Foik reported, "that the publication of the three volumes comprising the Mission Era should be ready for dis- tribution on or before the Centennial Celebration. There was grave doubt that his portion of the undertaking could be achieved under the arrange- ments recently existing." The Historical Commission was now confronted with the most impor- tant problem of finding another historiographer. He must also have the qualifications which Father Foik had laid down in his report of 1931 at the Dallas convention. He stated then that the writer of the history needed to be one whose individual status as a scholar was recognized by great achievements in the field of historical research. "He must be," Father Foik stated, "able to hold the confidence and the high regard of specialists. His ability to seek the whole truth, to express it correctly and exactly so as to convince the most critical reader must be evident on every page of his composition ... and added to all that has been said about training in history, the scholar attempting this problem must have an intimate knowledge in this particular field." The man who answered admirably all the qualifications laid down by Father Foik was found in the person of Dr. Carlos E. Castaneda. Father Foik proposed him, and all the members of the Commission in writing endorsed the choice. His selection as successor of Father Steck was re- ported at the Austin convention in 1934. From Father Foik's report we learn the following: "Dr. Carlos E. Castaneda, a scholar familiar with the archival material and with an excellent knowledge of the Spanish language, his mother tongue, was approached with the problem. The proposal was made to him to undertake the history of the Mission Era in
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