The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 9, July 1905 - April, 1906 Page: 132
ix, 294 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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132 Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
4. Nacogdoches recognized by the government.-Since it is not
my aim to pursue the history of East Texas beyond the founda-
tion of Nacogdoches, it only remains to show how this place, set-
tled without authority, secured recognition from the government,
and to indicate briefly the importance it soon attained.
The main purpose of Ybarbo and Garza in their first reports to
Croix of the desertion of Bucareli was to show their unwillingness
to return thither, and to secure permission to remain at Nacog-
doches. By this time Ybarbo had changed his mind as to the rela-
tive desirability of Los Ais, for he concluded the letter of May 13
to Croix with the opinion that of the two available places for a
settlement, Los Ais and Nacogdoches, the advantages were with the
latter.' At the same time that he was asking Croix for permis-
in Expediente sobre el abandono, 12). Croix's assessor general, Navarro,
in reviewing the history of Bucareli in 1780, wrote that "the flood which
the river caused, and the fire which followed it, reduced to ashes the
buildings that had been made, and obliged the settlers to disperse and
seek shelter and asylum among the friendly nations near by" (Expediente
sobre el abandono y establecer Comercio, 45-46).
1With respect to returning to Bucareli Garza had written two weeks
before (Letter to Croix, April 30, 1779, in Expediente sobre el abandono,
23-24): "It is now wholly impossible to restore this population to the
same unprotected place whence they fled, without exposing them to greater
and more evident perils than those which they have already experienced,
because-not to mention this hostility [of the Comanches], which was the
cause of their flight and which may be greater in the future,-that dis-
trict has been proved uninhabitable by the inundation which it suffered
on the 14th of February." To possible locations elsewhere on the Trinity
or nearer to San Antonio he was even less favorable. "Since this is the
place formerly considered the best," he wrote, "I judge that such other
as there may be on that river to the north or to the south are as bad if
not worse. And not less unsuitable are the places which might offer some
advantages toward the west between the Brazos, San Marcos, and Guada-
lupe rivers, since these places, because of their large encenadas, are the
paths of ingress and egress for the Comanches, and are much more dan-
gerous [than the others] in proportion as they are more frequented by
these Indians, nearer tneir lands, and distant from the friendly tribes, cir-
cumstances which, having been weighed by these settlers, led them to flee
to this vicinity." His opinion of Nacogdoches, on the contrary though
based mainly on hearsay, as he frankly admitted, was highly favorable, and
he intimated--what Ybarbo expressed-a preference for it over Los Ais.
"Under these circumstances," he continued, "there is no doubt that your
Grace's generous piety will deign to approve this temporary withdrawal,
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 9, July 1905 - April, 1906, periodical, 1906; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101036/m1/136/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.