The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 51, July 1947 - April, 1948 Page: 19
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Bishop Marin de Porras and Texas
come to him for help, but he had not been able to do anything
for them.
He then proposed that the settlement of the province of Texas
be placed in his hands. He had talked with many of the young
men who wanted to marry and who had shown a willingness to
go anywhere with him to settle down upon the condition that
he aid them with dowries. He proposed to supply the dowries
for these young men at his own expense. All he asked was that
the government give him a free hand in carrying out his project.
He requested that he be made responsible only to the viceroy
of New Spain or to the supreme council of the Indies. He felt
that this was a "simple means of populating the province and
protecting it from the invasions, as much of the barbarous In-
dians as of the Anglo-Americans." And he concluded, "I know
clearly that this [the populating of Texas] will not be obtained
by ordinary means, nor by any other means that obliges these
people to spend their wealth."
It was not until 18o5 that the bishop made a visit to Texas.
On February 5, 1805, from Camargo in New Santander he wrote
to Andres Elgu6zabal, the political and military governor of
Texas, to the effect that he expected to complete his tour of
New Santander by the end of the month, after which he expected
to enter Texas on a similar tour of inspection. He said that he
would go first to Nacogdoches and then to San Antonio de Bexar
to carry out the instructions of his superiors concerning the
settlement of that country and the creation of parishes with the
advice of the new commandant general.0 He asked Elguezabal
to provide him with an escort and to have the roads cleared and
made ready for him."
9Primo Obispo del Nuevo Reyno de Leon, Monterrey, March 7, 1804, to Josh
Caballero, in Dunn Transcripts of AGI, Audiencia de Guadalajara, ]800-1819,
pp. 69-70o, at the University of Texas.
loIn May, 1804, the northern provinces of Mexico were divided into the eastern
and western commandancies-general. The eastern commandancy included Texas,
Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and New Santander (present Tamaulipas). Pedro Grima-
rest was named commandant general of the eastern commandancy. He and Bishop
Marin de Porras had known each other in Spain. Grimarest had written to the
bishop that he intended to arrive in the New World in the latter part of 1805 and
expected to land at the mouth of the Rio Grande.
11Bishop Marin de Porras, Camargo, Nuevo Santander, February 5, 18o05, to
Andrds Elgubzabal, in Bexar Archives at the University of Texas,
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 51, July 1947 - April, 1948, periodical, 1948; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101119/m1/37/: accessed March 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.