The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905 Page: 294
xiii, 358 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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294 Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
issued in 1723. The order of February 14, 1729, recites- that
Marqu6s de Aguayo had proposed, as a means of holding Texas
more securely, and at the same time avoiding the expense of main-
taining so many presidios, and so large a force of soldiers there,
the settlement of four hundred families from the Canary Islands,
from Havana, and from the Province of Tlascala, suggesting that
they be distributed among all the missions, at Bahia [de San An-
tonio],- at Adaes, and among the Texas Indians. He also thought
that it would be well to form a mission with a settlement of Span-
iards and Tlascaltecans half way between San Antonio and the
country of the Texas. The king gave orders for the transporta-
tion of four hundred families, including the two hundred for
which orders had previously been issued.2 All these were to come
from the Canary Islands. The volunteers were to be transported
and maintained for one year at government expense, and to be
settled in the places mentioned above. In response to this decree
a few people-numbering when they left the Canary Islands but
ten families3-volunteered to come to Texas. These immigrants
reached B6xar at eleven o'clock, March 9, 1731.4
Something should be said here as to the seeming discrepancy
in the number of settlers mentioned in the various accounts given
concerning them. The exact number of families, and the number
of persons composing them has been the subject of much discus-
sion. The conclusions reached have been various- the number
of families ranging from ten to sixteen, and that of the persons
from fifty-two to fifty-six. The authorities vary, but the discrep-
ancies can be easily explained. To begin with but ten families,
under the leadership of Juan Leal Goras,5 who was the oldest man
among them and the one who subsequently received the greatest
'See p. 330, post.
2March 18, 1723.
'This, according to at least two of the royal orders, was the smallest
number of volunteers to be transported in any one vessel.
4Order of the captain of the presidio of B6xar for families to appear
for inspection. (Document in V. O. King Collection.)
'Order of Viceroy February 14, 1729, in Expediente Mandado formaO,
etc., Nacogdoches Archives.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905, periodical, 1905; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101033/m1/301/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.