The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 260
616 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Diary of Pedro fose de la ete
Captain of the Presidio of 81 Paso dld Nlorte
YfHaar-fuly, 1765
Translated and edited by J AMES M. DANIEL
W HEN Manuel Antonio San Juan de Santa Cruz, Captain
of the Presidio of El Paso for the previous eleven years,
died early in 1764, the Viceroy, the Marques de Cruillas,
on June 6 appointed Pedro Jos6 de la Fuente, a former com-
mander of militia in Chihuahua, to succeed. On October 14, the
Viceroy wrote King Charles III asking for his approval of the
temporary appointment. The King, however, having received an
adverse report concerning De la Fuente, refused to approve the
appointment, and, instead, on March 27, 1765, issued a patent to
Pedro del Barrio Junco y Espriella, formerly governor of Nuevo
Le6n for six years and governor ad interim of Texas.'
The diary reproduced here, covering the months from January
through July, 1765, was forwarded to the King by the Viceroy in
order to justify De la Fuente's appointment. The viceroy's pro-
testations had no effect on the King, and Junco y Espriella re-
lieved De la Fuente early in 1766.2
The original document is found in the Archivo General de
Indias, Audiencia de Guadalajara, 104-6-13. The copy used in
making the translation is in the Archives Collection of the
Library of The University of Texas, Dunn Transcripts, 1757-1766,
pp. 163-187.
This diary is of particular interest as a day-to-day account of
life in a typical Spanish frontier outpost. As was the case with
Anglo-American outposts a century later, the enemy was never
'In such cases, the Viceroy's temporary appointment would not necessarily be
approved by the King, though suggestions of the Viceroy were followed more
often than not.
2C. E. Castafieda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas (6 vols.; Austin, 1938-1955),
III, 236-237.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957, periodical, 1957; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101163/m1/285/?rotate=90: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.