The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 197
717 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo
opportunity to lash the legs of his horse; and, gaining the wood, he left
them frustrated in the chase. Thereupon the monsieur commandant
returned to his presidio, glorified by his capture of a despoiled soldier
and the imprisoned fowls. Doubtless the chief, in order to conserve his
own life, did not spare, according to civilized rules, the lives of the
chickens, since they had so treacherously endangered his.2
Through the lay-brother news of war in Europe and of the
French invasion of Texas reached the other Spanish missions,
reports of both being highly exaggerated. A panic of fear
seized the Spaniards, and, to save themselves from the French,
they finally retreated to San Antonio, where the year before
had been founded the mission of San Antonio de Valero and
the presidio of San Antonio de B6xar, then Spain's only re-
maining establishments in Texas. From the point of view of
the Spanish refugees, if the cackling of geese had saved Rome,
the lusty flapping of wings by East Texas chickens had as
truly saved them from falling into the hands of their French
enemies.
It was on this scene that the renowned second Marquis of
San Miguel de Aguayo, a wealthy citizen of Coahuila, appeared
in the role of a restorer of Spanish dominion in Texas.3 That
2Statement of Fray Juan Domingo Arricivita, quoted in C. W. Hackett,
Pichardo's Treatise on the Limits of Louisiana and Texas (Austin, 1931),
I, 217.
3An authoritative secondary account of the expedition of the Marquis
of San Miguel de Aguayo to Texas was published by Eleanor Clair
Buckley in 1911 under the title of "The Aguayo Expedition into Texas
and Louisiana, 1719-1722." (Eleanor Claire Buckley, "The Aguayo Ex-
pedition into Texas and Louisiana, 1719-1722," Quarterly of the Texas
State Historical Association, XV, No. 1 [July, 1911], 1-65.) The most
important document used by Miss Buckley, and one that had never been
generally used by historical investigators, was the official diary of the
expedition, written by Father Juan Antonio Pefia, the chaplain of the
expedition, and published in Mexico City in 1722. (Juan Antonio Pefia,
Derrotero de la Expedicion en la Provincia de los Texas ... que del orden
del Exmo. Seiior Marques de Valero Vi-rey de esta Nueva Espaiia ha
hecho D. Joseph Azlor . . . Governador y Capitdn General de dicha Pro-
vincia de Texas . . . y de esta de Coahuila. . . . Mexico, 1722.) On the
basis of that document and other available original sources of lesser value
for her purpose Miss Buckley presented a detailed study of the historical
background of the expedition, the preparation for it, the route followed,
and the constructive work in Texas of the Marquis. Her cited sources,
however, fail to reveal any that were written by the Marquis, himself,
subsequent to the year 1720.
The present sketch of the life and work of the Marquis of San Miguel
de Aguayo is based upon various official documents, copies of which have
become available at The University of Texas since Miss Buckley's mono-
graph was published in 1911. These consist of contemporary letters and
reports sent by the Marquis to the king and to the viceroy of New Spain,
letters and reports of the viceroy to the king, royal cedulas, opinions
submitted by the royal fiscal to the Council of the Indies, and recommenda-
tions of the Council to the king. In these documents is found a more197
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946, periodical, 1946; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146056/m1/228/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.