The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941 Page: 241
546 p. : ill., maps ; 24 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:
Letters and Documents
assigned to the old [colonies] that may have been settled on
the San Antonio and Caudaches Rivers. Thus successively every
ten years, these presidios, together with new colonies, could
be moved ten or fifteen leagues into the interior. After a
certain length of time all of that territory would be settled. I
believe that, if those of Galicia and Vizcaya had been estab-
lished in this manner, those [provinces] would be more widely
settled, better defended, the dominions of H [is] M [ajesty]
would be broader, and the Gospel would be more widely spread.
The best way to defend the settlements in the interior of
America is to establish others near them. Thus, by their recip-
rocal aid, the benefits of time, and the increase of settlers,
they will be more effectively defended than by the soldiers of
the presidios which, never increasing in number, impose a tax
on the royal treasury for the annual payment of soldiers' sal-
aries. The same [condition] applies to missionaries who, work-
ing under this specious title in new reducciones of pagan In-
dians after the Indians have been under the [influence of]
Catholicism over a century, their descendants are still main-
tained under the same title. Thus the salaries which were
assigned to them are still bleeding the royal exchequer. This
[condition], it seems to me, should exist only in the reducciones
of wild Indians while they are new and along the frontier, not
after they are old and in the interior.
Soldiers for these five presidios should have the prerequisites
of being farmers and married. They may be enlisted in the
villas of Lagos, Aguas Calientes and others in Galicia and the
kingdom of Le6n. They will be aided by the military experience
they have acquired in dealing with the bordering Indians; and,
because of their knowledge in [agriculture], they will be able
to improve the lands given them; the ties of matrimony [will
cause them] to take root more firmly wherever they may be
assigned on military duty; they will be able to fill their pre-
sidio with the children their wives will bear them; thus they
will not vex either [Indian women] who have recently adopted
Catholicism or wild [Indian women]. This kind of disturbance
caused much resentment among the Asinaiz [Indians] that,
with Roman tactics, by refusing to furnish the necessary [sup-
plies] to the Spaniards sent there by the most excellent count
of Galne, whom they had received in a friendly manner, they
compelled them to leave their lands, which the [Spaniards]
had already peacefully occupied.241
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.
Related Items
Other items on this site that are directly related to the current periodical.
Van Dorn's Trails, 1858 - 1859 (Map)
Survey map of Van Dorn's Trails, showing Texas and Oklahoma counties, towns, rivers, creeks, and Indian reservations.
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 Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941, periodical, 1941; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146052/m1/264/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.