The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 17, July 1913 - April, 1914 Page: 382

                                
The Southwestern Historical Quarterly

the San Saba, Pedernales, Salado, and Colorado Rivers, by means
of which he believed that not only the Apaches but the Comanches
as well would be reduced to mission life. In 1749 Father Santa
Ana introduced a radical innovation in his plan by proposing that
the presidio at San Antonio should be removed to the Pedernales
River, or if necessary to a site further north. This proposition
naturally caused a storm of protest from the citizens of San
Antonio, and the idea was declared impracticable. Similar schemes
were proposed by Father Mariano de los Dolores, who succeeded
Santa Ana as president, a notable compromise plan being his sug-
gestion that the Guadalupe River be utilized as a site for the
proposed missions.
Further attention was directed to the San Saba region by the
establishment in 1754 of a short-lived mission for some Apache
tribes a few miles south of the Rio Grande. The founder of this
mission was Father Alonso Giraldo de Terreros, a man destined to
become the leading figure in the San Saba project. After a resi-
dence of less than a year, the neophytes burned the buildings and
fled to their accustomed haunts. The failure of the enterprise was
attributed by the priests to the reluctance of the Apaches to live
,so far from their own country, and it was pointed out that no per-
manent success could be hoped for unless missions were founded
further north in the region of the San Sab.'
Attention had been directed to the San Saba country, however,
for other than spiritual reasons.     The campaigns against the
Apaches had usually led the soldiers in that direction, and they
had not failed to perceive evidences of the existence of val-
uable mines in the hills. From an early date there was a wide-
spread belief that gold and silver could be found there in abundant
quantity. The danger from      the Apaches, however, had deterred
prospectors from entering the country, and little definite knowledge
had been obtained.
Exploration of the Apache Country.-With both religious and
material interests at stake, it is not surprising that more and more
attention was directed to the Apache country, and that efforts were
'A full account of these early plans will be found in "Missionary Activ-
ities Among the Eastern Apaches Previous to, the Founding of the San
,Saba Mission," in THE QUARTERLY, XV, 186-200.

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