The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 15, July 1911 - April, 1912 Page: 46
382 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Texas Historical Association Quarterly
order of ceremony being what, in general, was observed at the
founding and refounding of all missions. Solemn high mass was
celebrated, salutes fired, bells rung, bugles blown, and drums
beaten; next Aguayo formally invested with a cane the one whom
he had chosen captain of the tribe; then followed the distribution
of clothing and gifts,-which in this case, we are told, was more
lavish than had ever before been witnessed hy the Indians. Father
Espinosa, spokesman for the Spaniards, since he knew the Assinais
language, explained that their coming was primarily through His
Majesty's zeal for the salvation of the souls of the Indians, and
that he was receiving them under his royal care to protect them
from their enemies. This evidently referred to, the French.
Espinosa skillfully called their attention to the fact that while the
French (their enemies) made them gifts with the view of receiv-
ing in return skins, buffaloes, horses, and especially their wives
and children as slaves, the Spaniards, on the other hand, distrib-
uted most generously, yet asked for nothing. He was safe in mak-
ing this assertion, for Pefia says Aguayo had been careful not to
accept a single skin from the Indians. Finally came the formal
acts of possession, by which Aguayo, in the name of the king, gave
the Indians the lands and waters nearby, and left in charge of the
mission Father Joseph Guerra of the College of Queretaro.'
In the course of Espinosa's discourse, he had striven to impress
on the natives the necessity of gathering into pueblos, around the
mission, something that the Spaniards had always considered
essential in their work among the Indians and something which
these Indians always failed to do. They promisel this time, how-
ever, that they would do so. Thus, in addition to the mission,
Aguayo founded, prospectively, so to speak, the town which he ex-
pected they would form, naming it San Francisco de Valero.2
(b) The Ref ounding of the Mission of La Purisima Concep-
ci6n.--Before crossing the Neches, Aguayo had sent forward
Fathers Benito Sanchez and Gabriel Vergara with a party to make
ready the church and habitations at Concepci6n, beyond the Ange-
lina., As soon as the ceremony of refounding San Francisco was
over, Aguayo and his expedition set out, the same day, for the'Pefia, Derrotero, 16-17.
"Ibid., 16.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 15, July 1911 - April, 1912, periodical, 1912; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101056/m1/51/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.