The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 10, July 1906 - April, 1907 Page: 113

THE QUARTERLY
OF THE
TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
VOL. X. OCTOBER, 1906. No. 2.
The publication committee and the editors disclaim responsibility for views
expressed by contributors to THE QUARTERLY.
THE FOUNDING OF MISSION ROSARIO: A CHAPTER IN
THE HISTORY OF THE GULF COAST.1
HERBERT E. BOLTON.
This sketch of the founding of Mission Nuestra Sefiora del
Rosario for the Karankawan Indian tribes of the Texas coast coun-
try was written as a by-product, so-to-speak, of a more extended
task. It aims merely to set forth the general conditions in northern
New Spain that led to a renewed attempt, after one failure, to sub-
due these tribes, and to a plan to colonize their territory and that
along the coast to the southwest; to tell the story of the struggles,
delays, and difficulties that attended the foundation of the mis-
sion that was established as one of the agencies in their reduction;
and to convey an idea of the kind and degree of success that at-
tended the first few years of its existence. If the historical im-
portance of the founding of this mission were measured by the
magnitude of the establishment or its success as a spiritual under-
'Upon the main subject of this paper there is nothing known to the
writer in print, consequently he has had no guide for even the barest out-
lines of the narrative. The materials used in its preparation are almost
entirely manuscript records in the Archivo General de Mexico and in the
Bfxar Archives. Unless otherwise indicated, the correspondence cited is
contained in a collection of manuscripts in the Archivo General (Secci6n
de Historia, volume 287) entitled Autos fhos. apedimento. . .. [de]
Frai Benitto de Santa An [a] . . que se le manden restitu [ir 4 la
Mision de] Sn. Antonio que es 4 cargo de la Sta. Cruz de Querittaro los
[con] bersos Indios de la Nacion [Cu jan] que se hallan agregados d [la
mision] de Santa Dorothea. 1751-1758. Original. Folios 108.