The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 15, July 1911 - April, 1912 Page: 200

Texas Historical Association Quarterly

have almost no information, except for the report which Father
Garcia made shortly after his arrival. His statement to the effect
that the mission Indians were the same as those with whom he
had been acquainted at San Antonio since 1749 has already been
referred to. According to the Indians themselves, he said, their
reason for entering San Lorenzo was because Father Dolores had
refused to give them missions in Texas. This statement
strengthens the impression that a portion of the Apaches were
little more than professional beggars, traveling from place to place,
wherever under the pretext of a desire for missions they might
hoodwink the Spaniards and secure enough food to sustain their
lazy bodies.1
That selfish desires prompted their apparent submission at San
Lorenzo upon this occasion is borne out by the subsequent his-
tory of the mission. On June 18, 1755, Father Felix Guti6rrez
Varona was assigned to the mission, but in spite of his efforts to
curb the growing' discontent of the neophytes, on the night of
October 4 they revolted, burned all the buildings of the mission,
and deserted permanently. Father GutiBrrez remained at the aban-
doned site for some time, trying to repair the damage and re-
establish the mission. His efforts were fruitless, however, and
finally all attempt to regain the Indians was given up.2
The failure of San Lorenzo was attributed, and justly, no doubt,
to the natural inconstancy of the Apaches and their reluctance
to live in missions outside of the region which they habitually
frequented-that is, north and northwest of San Antonio, in the
section traversed by the Pedernales, Llano, and San Sab& Rivers.
This failure of a mission for the Apaches in the Rio Grande
country constituted an argument for planting one in their own
country, and led logically to the establishments on the San Saba
River. In a future paper I shall describe the various steps by
which the San Saba plan was developed, and shall give a detailed
history of the operation of this mission, together with its here-
tofore little known successors on the Nueces River.
"Ibid., 6.
'Certificaci6n de Vicente Rodriguez, Oct. 12, 1755, 2 pp.; Consulta
del Sor Fiscal respta. de los Padres, August 25, 1756, 1 p.

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