The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905 Page: 41
xiii, 358 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Bonilla's Brief Compendium.
Serene Highness the Prince of Asturias. From the Canaries came
only sixteen families, at immense cost; with them and others from
this Nueva Espafia was made the only settlement of Spaniards that
is [now] to be found in the spacious, fertile, beautiful Province of
los Texas.'
At the end of the year 1730,2 the drove of horses of the Presidio
of San Antonio de Vexar was attacked (se insultaron) by five
hundred Apache Indians. Captain Antonio Perez went out to de-
fend it with twenty-five men; a bloody battle was fought, lasting
two hours. The Indians retreated, though many of their number
were killed, carrying off with them more than seventy head of cat-
tle, and leaving two [of the] presidial soldiers dead and thirteen
wounded.
To punish and restrain the arrogance of the Apaches, a formal
expedition was organized by order of His Excellency the Marques
de Casafuerte, in accordance with a dictamen of the Brigadier Don
Pedro de Rivera. The expedition was placed (pusose) in charge
of the governor of the province, and, with a hundred and sixty
men and sixty Indian auxiliaries, it sought the enemy in their
rancherias. [The party] went about seventy leagues to the banks
of a swollen river whither the Spaniards had never penetrated be-
fore. They found encamped in four hundred tents, which spread
over more than half a league of ground, these tribes, the Apaches,
Sandis, Pandis, and Chenis, to the number of seven hundred.
They fought a bloody contest for five hours; two hundred Indians
1"By royal cdulas of May 10, 1729 [May 10, 1723, and February 14,
1724 (Puntos del Parecer, Sec. 33)], His Majesty ordered that four hun-
dred families should come from the Canaries (ten or twelve at a time),
in register ships to Havana, whence they should be transported by way
of Vera Cruz to Texas. There they were to be maintained a year at the
expense of the royal treasury. Up to the present time only ten [families]
of five persons each have come. These were brought to Texas in June,
1730, with no little expense and trouble. [With them] and other families,
added from this country, was founded the Villa of San Fernando, which
is the only settlement of Spaniards in such an extensive province and such
an excellent frontier" (Test., Sec. 34).
2This would seem to mean that the attack was made in the latter part
of Media Villa's term, and that the Spaniards retaliated in Perez's. The
narrative, however, seems to indicate that the whole occurrence was in
Perez's term, and that 1730 is a scribal error, probably for 1731.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905, periodical, 1905; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101033/m1/43/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.