The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899 Page: 225
[335] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Founding the First Texas Municipality. 225
ernor. Perhaps it is only another case of the discrepancy between
plan and execution common to Spanish America.
The territory of the new municipality is to be divided as fol-
lows: The residence portion, with the church as a center, is to con-
sist of a square of 1093 varas.22 This square is to be divided into
144 blocks, each 240 feet square, and separated from its neighbors
by a street forty feet wide. Each family is to be given a block for
a residence lot. It is supposed that the above number of blocks will
be sufficient for the probable population of the new municipality
for several years to come. Each family is to line the borders of
its building lot with trees, and to erect as commodious a house as
possible, with a patio, corral, and all necessary buildings. The lead-
ing families were to be assigned lands about the plaza, but in other
respects the assignments and buildings erected were to be as nearly
equal as possible. Care should be taken to provide for the cleanli-
ness of the premises, and that the directions of houses and streets
should coincide.
Outside the residence portion came the common pasture lands,
extending on every side 1093 varas. A fifth part of this land was to
be set aside "para proprios de la Republica." From the limits of
this pasture land another measurement of 2186 varas in every direc-
tion, included the land destined for labors. In the later coloniza-
tion law of the Mexican Republic,2 a labor consisted of a tract of
land one thousand varas square, and it is probable that the labors
mentioned above were about the same size. Each family was to re-
ceive a labor, together with equal privileges of using the water from
the arroyo,24 or from the San Antonio. A fifth portion of this
land was also to be reserved for public use, and the remainder to be
given to future colonists. The different families were to be given
a title for their lands in the name of His Majesty, in accordance
with a'"law of the Tndies."25 This decree was to be deposited in
the house of the concejo, as part of the record for land titles.
The governor was to furnish sheep, goats and cattle for each
family and render account of these, together with everything else
SA vara is about 33 inches.
e 8 Laws of Constituent Congress of Coahuila and Texas, No. 16, Art. 11.
s4 Probably San Pedro Creek.
*5 Recopilacion de Indias, Lib. 9, Tit. 12, Ley 9.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899, periodical, 1898/1899; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101011/m1/229/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.