The History of Texas: Texas Between 1721 and 1724
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French and Spanish War)
THE council of the Indies, being duly
advised of the irruption of the French, their retreat, and the
subsequent measures of De Aguayo to settle the country, induced the king
of Spain to issue a royal order in May, 1721, directing the authorities
in Texas not to commit further hostilities against the French, but
forthwith to fortify all the important places, especially the bay of St.
Bernard. Accordingly, a military post and mission were established at
the crossing of the Neches; and another garrison, called our Lady of
Loreto, was located on the bay of St. Bernard, at the place formerly
occupied by La Salle. The mission of La Bahia,
under the protection of this garrison, was established on the San
Antonio, some thirty leagues distant. The marquis added yet other
improvements; three of the missions, that had been driven by the French
to San Antonio, were located permanently on that river, which, added to
the one already there, made five missions under the protection of the
garrison at Bexar.
The marquis de Aguayo, before he returned
to his official residence at Monclova, recommended the introduction of
colonists, being well satisfied that the country could never be per
manently occupied by missionaries and soldiers alone. St. Denis was
still at Natchitoches, enjoying the unbounded confidence of the
Indians,
familiar with their language, furnishing them with arms, and disposed,
at any favorable time, to light the torch of war. There were other
considerations operating on the Spanish. The expenses of the garrisons
alone were heavy, costing the royal treasury not less than sixty-three
thousand dollars per annum; while the troops were not generally composed
of Spaniards, but of the inferior classes of natives, having idle,
disorderly, and turbulent habits. It was therefore better to introduce
colonists, who would feel that Texas was their home, and have a lively
interest in its improvement and defense, and a like interest in
preserving peace with the
Indian tribes.
De Aguayo departed for his home in May,
1722. He left in Texas (or, as it was then called, the New Philippines)
four garrisons for its defense; that is, at the Adaes mission, one
hundred men; at the Neches, or Mound prairie, twenty-five; at the bay of
St. Bernard, ninety; and at San Antonio, fifty-three, making in all two
hundred and sixty-eight soldiers.
A brief notice of these troops may be
appropriately given. Each soldier received four hundred dollars per
annum, out of which he had to pay for his clothing and provisions. What
he purchased was furnished by contract, at stipulated prices, and
transported on mules from Mexico. These prices were necessarily, high.
The greater part of the soldiers spent the remainder of their pay in
gaming ; they then contracted debts, sold their horses and arms, and
became servants to the officers —caring nothing for the dignity of their
station, or the public service. They were always ready for a quarrel
with the Indians, giving the missionaries
more trouble than the savages themselves; and it was not without reason
that the enterprising De Aguayo declared that, if colonists could be
substituted for soldiers, the friars would be enabled to gain the
affections of the Indians.
Trade Between France and Spain in Texas
No sooner, however, had De Aguayo
departed, than a trade again sprang up between the French and the
Spaniards. The friends and relatives of St. Denis favored it. He was
still at Natchitoches; his popularity with the Indians was unbounded,
and his ability to raise at any time, among the Texan tribes, many
thousand warriors, operated powerfully upon the fears of the Spanish
garrison at Adaes. This trade was greatly favored by the removal of the
capital of
Louisiana from Mobile to New Orleans. The introduction of horses,
mules, and cattle, from the Spanish possessions into those of the
French, in exchange for the goods of the Company of the Indies, was
carried on with little or no interruption.
The Spanish authorities were jealous, and
bound by the orders of their government to prevent this trade and these
intrusions of the French; but the captain-general of the province
resided at Monclova, many leagues from the French frontier, and the
local officers were not more virtuous in those days than at present. In
1726, however, a war broke out between Spain and England, in which
France took part with Spain. This produced a friendly disposition on the
frontier; and while Perier, governor of Louisiana, was giving indirect
aid and comfort to Spain, in stirring up the Choctaws against the
English, Captain St. Denis, at Natchitoches, was increasing the
contraband trade with the people of Texas.
At this period, the Medina seemed to be
well understood as the western limit of Texas; and, although it was
called a separate province, it appears to have been under the control of
the governor of Coahuila, or at least both provinces were under the
jurisdiction of the same governor. De Aguayo was appointed by the
viceroy, in 1719, as governor of both provinces; and so the appointments
continued till 1727, when a governor was appointed for each province.
Spanish Colonize Texas from the Canary Islands
In the spring 6f 1728, the Spanish
government, impressed with the necessity of colonizing Texas, ordered
that four hundred families should be sent thither from the Canary
islands. They were to be transported in parties of ten or twelve
families at a time—first to Havana, and thence to Vera Cruz, whence they
were to proceed by land to Texas. The government was to support them for
one year. The Canary islands, lying near the coast of Africa, had been
conquered by Spain in the latter part of the fifteenth century, and the
Guanches, its former occupants (a race closely connected with the
Berbers of northern Africa), totally extirpated. Their places had been
supplied by pure Spaniards, who were distinguished for regular habits,
respect for females, and a rigid adherence to the catholic faith. With
these advantages, it was believed that they would be good subjects, and
supply the places of a licentious soldiery.
In the meantime, in anticipation of these
imported citizens, and to relieve somewhat the royal treasury from the
heavy expenses of the garrisons in Texas, a considerable reduction was
made in the number of the forces stationed at the various forts. The
post on the Neches was entirely suppressed; the force at the Adaes was
reduced from one hundred men to sixty, at the bay of St. Bernard from
ninety to forty, and at San Antonio from fifty-three to forty-three—thus
leaving, as the entire force of the three garrisons, only one hundred
and forty-three men.
Indian Wars in Texas
When we consider that the different
Indian tribes of Texas could at that period muster a force of ten
thousand warriors; that the Spaniards were by no means their favorites;
that the
Comanches and
Apaches, and other tribes in the interior, were naturally warlike;
and that the troops in the garrisons took little pains to secure their
friendship—we shall see at once the bad policy of this reduction of the
forces. But they relied upon the friendship of the French, the good
offices of St. Denis, and an early arrival of the new colonists. St.
Denis, however, was otherwise engaged. The once-powerful tribe of the
Natchez had been driven from the banks of the Mississippi, and was
hanging in a threatening attitude around his position at Natchitoches.
They had determined to attack him; and, to prevent the Spaniards from
giving him aid, had the address to stir up the Apaches to assail the
post of Bexar, and thus bring on a general war between the Indians and
Europeans. The Apaches, originally of the same tribe with the Comanches,
were possessed of like traits of character. They occupied the country
between San Antonio and Santa Fe. Their principal villages, in 1730,
were about the pass of Bandera, in the Guadalupe mountains, some fifty
miles from the post of Bexar. From these strongholds they made their
forays, not only upon the settlement at San Antonio, but extended their
depredations across the Rio Grande. They had excellent horses, and were
good riders ; they had also firearms (supplied them mostly by the
French), and used them, as well as their bows, with great dexterity.
They were inveterate thieves, and exceedingly treacherous, being ever
ready to treat when the fight went ill, and as ready to break a treaty
when they had a hope of the least advantage.
Indian Warriors
In 1730, the war broke out; but St. Denis
conducted it very differently from the Spaniards. Rallying his small
force in the garrison, together with the neighboring friendly Indians,
he surprised the Natchez, killing many and dispersing the remainder. The
Spaniards acted on the defensive only; while the Apaches came down in
parties, and committed murders and thefts with impunity.
More Settlers Arrive in Texas
In the meantime, there arrived at Bexar
thirteen families and two single men, conducted hither from the Canary
islands by order of the king. Others came from the banks of Lake Teztuco;
they were Tlascalans—sturdy republicans, whose ancestors the powerful
Montezumas had not been able to conquer. Others, again, came from the
new settlement of Monterey. These fresh colonists, uniting, laid the
foundation of San Fernando, around the present plaza of the Constitution
in San Antonio. This location answered admirably for irrigation.
This great addition to the small European
population of Bexar gave an impetus to the
missions, which was seen in the fact that more Indians were
captured, and brought in to be civilized; and, on the 5th of March,
1731, was laid the foundation of La Purissima Concepcion de Acuna, which
for many years afterward was a refuge for the savage and the stranger.
The new settlers, feeling themselves at
home, and galled in person and property by the inroads of the Indians,
made some incursions into their strongholds, but, at first, with no
great success. In 1732, however, a more vigorous campaign was
undertaken. The Spaniards met them in battle, and defeated them. This
victory gave peace and a temporary security to the colony, and
substantial improvements were the result. Don Juan Antonio Bustillos y
Cevallos, the governor, appeared to have at heart the welfare of the
province, and, while he was prompt to chastise the Indians, he was
equally zealous for their conversion.
More Indian Troubles in Texas
In the first of the year 1734, Don Manuel
de Sandoval was appointed governor of Texas. He was an old soldier, and
had served the king for more than twenty years, rising from the rank of
a cadet to that of captain of grenadiers. In 1727, he had been appointed
governor of Coahuila, the duties of which office he discharged with
satisfaction for seven years. This fact alone is a strong evidence of
his popularity with the viceroy, as it was the policy of the superior
government to change the governors of provinces at short intervals. His
appointment to the gubernatorial office of Texas was one of the last
official acts of the prudent, disinterested, and renowned Casa Fuerte,
viceroy of Mexico. The Apaches had again become troublesome; and the
viceroy selected Sandoval, not only for his integrity, but with
instructions to chastise the Indians.
Governor Sandoval immediately entered
upon his duties; and, in pursuance of his instructions, made a campaign
against the Apaches, and checked their depredations for some years. But,
while he was engaged in his wars with the Indians, and in improving and
consolidating the country under his charge, he became involved in a
quarrel, first with St. Denis, and then with his own government, which
gave him much trouble.
More Trouble Between France and Spain
Among other instructions from the
superior government, Sandoval was directed to keep an eye on the French,
and see that they committed no trespasses; and, if any should be
committed, to give notice to the viceroy before engaging in hostilities.
Since 1716, the French had a settlement on the right bank of Red river,
among the Natchitoches Indians, and had formed there the mission of St.
John the Baptist of Natchitoches. Their buildings were so situated,
that, on a rise of the river, the water ran round them and formed an
island. Making known this inconvenience, they were directed by the
governor of Louisiana to remove their settlement some short distance
from the river, on the same side. Accordingly, in the latter part of
1735, St. Denis, who was always active about everything to which he
turned his attention, commenced the rapid removal of the fort from the
island, locating it a few miles farther toward the Adaes, which was some
eighteen miles distant. Sandoval was at this time at Bexar, but being
informed by Don Jose Gonzalez, his lieutenant, in command at the Adaes,
of what was transpiring, he wrote to the latter, communicating his
instructions, and also to St. Denis. Sandoval had no documentary
evidence of the boundary of Texas on that frontier—in fact, there was
none; but he represented to St. Denis that Alonzo de Leon, Teran, and
Captain Don Ramon, had preceded the French in that section of the
country; that Red river had been considered as the boundary between the
territories of the two governments; and, as his instructions required
him to refer such matters to his government, he proposed to St. Denis to
suspend further labor on the new location until they could hear from
their respective sovereigns; but, should St. Denis refuse this request,
he would be obliged to repel him.
St. Denis, in reply, referred to the
discovery of Texas by La Salle in 1685;
represented that the marquis de Aguayo established the post of Adaes
only in 1721, at which time he found the French settled on the island of
Red river, having without, on the side of Adaes, houses, enclosures, and
other possessions; that since that time neither De Aguayo nor any of his
successors had opposed these establishments; that when Don Ramon visited
him, in 1718, he had shown him much kindness; that the Spaniards were
indebted to him for the possession of the Adaes, and the foundation of
its missions; that the French were acting in behalf of the Natchitoches
Indians, who were the owners of the lands on both sides of Red river;
that the boundary-line between the two settlements had never been laid
down, and he thought it very strange that the Spaniards should claim the
entire territory to the river; and, in short, that he was acting under
superior orders, which he would not disobey, and, if attacked, he would
defend himself, and protest against the consequences.
This is the summary of a correspondence
which extended to August, 1736; and, in the meantime, the French
continued their buildings, having erected, besides the fort, a chapel
and some fourteen other buildings, on the Texan side of the place.
Shortly before the close of this correspondence, however, Colonel Don
Carlos de Franquis was sent to Mexico from Spain, to fill the office of
governor of Tlascala; but, on his arrival, he found the office filled.
Casa Fuerte had died, and Vizarron, archbishop of Mexico, who knew
nothing of the merit of Sandoval, was filling the office of viceroy. As
Franquis had to be provided for, Vizarron appointed him governor of
Texas. Franquis reached San Antonio in September, 1736. He very soon
exhibited the proud and overbearing traits of his character.
Disregarding the sacred functions of the missionaries, he acted toward
them in the most insolent manner. He opened and read the letters that
were sent out of the province; and, to complete his tyranny, caused
Sandoval to be arrested and bound in fetters, deprived him of all his
papers, and, to give some color to these wicked proceedings, ordered a
criminal prosecution to be commenced against him. These transactions
being made known to the viceroy, and Sandoval being falsely charged with
conniving at the removal of the French garrison at Natchitoches, the
governor of New Leon was dispatched as a special commissioner to
investigate the affair. That functionary arrived in Texas about the
first of August, 1737; and, after taking a summary of the evidence and
proceedings, he sent Franquis to the garrison of the presidio on the Rio
Grande. But the latter thought he could do better at court, and fled to
the viceroy. As Franquis had no effects wherewith to discharge the fees
and costs of the commission, amounting to something over three thousand
four hundred dollars, Sandoval had them to pay. But this did not
terminate the matter; for, although it often happens in courts of
justice that the party who gains his suit is mulcted in the costs, yet
Sandoval was not satisfied. His honor was concerned; so also was his
purse. The sympathies of the Texans were on his side. They loved him for
his zeal in driving off the Indians, and in building up their new
country ; and they hated Franquis for his despotic conduct while
governor. Hence this suit became a state affair, in which all Texas was
deeply interested, and in which nearly half her citizens were witnesses.
But, while the two ex-governors were carrying on their lawsuit, the
viceroy appointed Don Justo Boneo governor.
In 1738, Sandoval, after paying up the
costs, presented to the judge his petition against Franquis, complaining
of the injustice done him in the previous proceedings. The papers were
duly transmitted to the viceroy, and by him laid before the
attorney-general Vedoya. These papers consisted, not only of the
petition of Sandoval, but a transcript of the previous proceedings, and
of such new charges as Franquis could make out. He had made several
different accusations against Sandoval, who was charged with not having
kept his official residence at Adaes instead of San Antonio; with not
having kept a regular account with the soldiers of that garrison; with
having reduced the number of paid missionaries, in order to save for
himself their salaries; and also, what was most important, with
conniving at the removal of the French garrison at Natchitoches.
On the 28th of March, 1740, a partial
decision of the case was had. Sandoval was not acquitted of the charge
of not residing at Adaes, although his presence was necessary at Bexar,
in defending that post against the Apache Indians; nor was he cleared in
the matter of keeping the books, although he showed that he could not
keep them when he was not there. He, however, kept a memorandum of the
funds received and transmitted, which exhibited a balance in his favor
of more than thirteen hundred dollars. On the charge of reducing the
number of missionaries, he was entirely acquitted. He was fined five
hundred dollars for the first-named offences. In relation to the more
serious charge of conniving at the encroachments of the French, Senor
Vedoya could make no decision without further evidence on various
points. Sandoval, seeing in this decree the influence of Franquis at
court, and the uncertainly of the law, paid the five hundred dollars,
and left the capitol.
On the 14th of July, 1740, the order was
sent to Governor Boneo to take testimony at Adaes, and report what
distance it was from that post to the French settlement on Red river;
what houses or forts they had erected; when this was done; who was
governor of Texas at that time; what diligence he had used to prevent
the removal of the French; if he had neglected his duty; what he ought
to have done; if, afterward, a free passage had been allowed to the
French, for what reasons; had there been any negotiations for contraband
trade; and any other information that would throw light on the subject
in litigation.
The governor proceeded to take the
testimony. He examined many old soldiers that had come out to Adaes with
De Aguayo twenty years before, and proved that the Arroyo Honda and Gran
montana, situated half way between the two posts, had always been
considered the boundary between the respective crowns; that when the
post of Adaes was established by the Spaniards, they found the French at
Natchitoches, and in possession of the country on the hither bank of Red
river as far as the Arroyo Honda; that, although Sandoval had pursued
all lawful means to prevent the removal of the French, yet the Spaniards
had never claimed farther than the Honda; and that as to the matter of
contraband trade, notices had been set up everywhere, at Adaes,
prohibiting all intercourse with the French. This evidence was
overwhelming; and the attorney-general, in his opinion of November 28,
1741, entirely acquitted Sandoval. But, in the meantime, the old
archbishop Vizarron had gone out of the viceroyalty, and the duke de la
Conquista came into office in the month of September, 1740. Scarcely had
he entered the palace, when he was besieged by Franquis; and Sandoval,
who had gone to Vera Cruz, was pursued and again thrown into prison! But
finally, in December, 1743, the proceedings coming up before Count
Fuenclara, the new viceroy, with whom Franquis seemed not to have so
much influence as over his predecessors, he acquitted poor Sandoval, and
enjoined Franquis from prosecuting him any further. In January, 1744,
Sandoval was furnished with a summary of the proceedings; and a copy of
the whole, filling thirty volumes of manuscript, were sent to the king
of Spain!
The details of this trial are given, not
only because it was the first recorded lawsuit in Texas, but because we
can gather from it something of the mode of legal procedure in those
days. It is also an important link in the great diplomatic controversy
concerning the ownership of the country.
Texas in 1744
Texas in 1744, after all the expenses
that had been incurred, and the pains taken by the missionaries and the
government, was not prosperous. Governor Boneo, with all his good
intentions, was a weak man, and ill suited for pushing forward the great
enterprise of settling a new country. All the efforts made had not
increased the population since 1722. The withdrawal of the troops, the
continual wars with the Indians, the great insecurity of life and
property, the prohibition of commerce with the French of Louisiana, all
tended to continue Texas a barren, isolated waste. It was in vain that
the fertility of her soil, the abundance of her waters, the mildness of
her climate, the excellence of her game, and her vast resources in
general, were painted in bright colors to the council of the Indies; it
seemed to be their policy from the beginning, to leave the province as
an unsettled frontier—a barrier against the encroachments of the
Europeans of the north. By a "law of the Indies," the governors of the
colonies were forbidden to invest any amount whatever of the public
funds in defraying the expenses of colonization, discoveries, or
improvements, without special instructions for that purpose from the
king; and these orders, when asked, were almost uniformly refused.
The European population of Texas, at this
period, did not exceed fifteen hundred, which, added to a like number of
converted Indians (Yndios reducidos), was divided mostly between
Adaes and San Antonio; a few only being at La Bahia, and a small fort
and mission at San Saba, which had been established out among the wild
Indians for the humane reason of the friars, that it was better to
civilize than to kill them. If there was a mission at all at this time
at Nacogdoches, it was dependent on the post at Adaes for protection.
Spain and France were now on excellent terms, and the colony of
Louisiana was gradually extending its trade, but without disturbing the
Spanish authorities on the frontier. The settlements on the south of
Texas were making but little progress. At Monclova, the capital of
Coahuila, there was a small garrison of thirty-five men; half way
between that post and the presidio of the Rio Grande (at
Sacramento, on the Sabinas), there was another garrison of fifty men;
and at the presidio itself thirty-two more. The province of
Coahuila extended from the Medina southward three hundred miles; south
of that, again, was the province of New Leon, leaving along the
gulf-coast a skirt of a hundred miles of country unsettled and
unorganized. This long line of coast afforded abundance of rich
pasturage, whither the flocks of the provinces were driven in November,
and, under the care of escorts and soldiers stationed to guard them,
remained till the following May; but, notwithstanding all their
precautions, the Indians along the coast committed frequent robberies
and murders.
The Texan missionaries kept up a regular
correspondence with the parent-convents of Queretaro and Zacatecas,
which, if ever published to the world, will exhibit a painful history of
their trials and privations. In the ecclesiastical organization of New
Spain, Texas, with Coahuila and New Leon, were attached to the bishopric
of Guadalajara.
From the close of 1744 to 1758 we find no
important event in the history of Texas. The few people living in the
territory, sunk in obscurity and indolence, seem only to have been
waiting events. Their lives were merely passive. It is, of course,
understood, however, that the faithful missionary was doing his
duty—that he was enlarging and civilizing his flock. It is also
understood that the wild Apaches and Comanches permitted no opportunity
for robbery or murder to pass unnoticed.
San Saba Indian Massacre
In 1758, however, a tragic scene occurred
at the San Saba mission. The Indians, in large numbers, assaulted the
mission, took it, and killed all, both pastors and flock, including the
small guard stationed there. Tradition informs us that none were left to
bear the news of the dreadful massacre. This mission had been
established far beyond the then Texan frontier. We have seen its
benevolent object. Such a return for such love, while it calls down
blessings upon the heads of the devoted followers of the cross. This
fearful butchery had its effect in causing the missions in Texas to
decline. In fact, they never recovered from the blow.
Efforts were made to avenge this cruel
outrage. Captain Don Diego Ortiz de Parilla was dispatched with a body
of troops to chastise the ruthless savages; but the latter fled to their
strongholds, and we have no evidence that they were ever punished.*
*
Kennedy, vol. i., p. 222. In 1752, there was discovered at San Saba
a silver-mine, which drew to the fort quite an increase of
population. It is probable that the bad behavior of the miners
toward the Indians brought on the terrible massacre of 1758. At the
time of its occurrence, there was a fort, surrounding an acre of
ground, under a twelve-feet stone wall, enclosing a church and other
buildings.—Holly, History of Texas, p. 164.
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