The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928 Page: 53
390 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Description of Tejas or Asinai Indians, 1691-172 53
FRAY FRANCISCO HIDALGO TO THE VICEROY
November 4, 1716
[Reoccupation of the Province of the Texas]
Most Excellent Sir,
[To seize] the opportunity of writing this to your noble Excel-
lency seems to me to be a binding obligation, first [of all], because
your predecessor, the most Excellent Viceroy, summoned me to
that court to propose to me an expedition among the Tejas and
to secure a report of the country and its divisions, since the In-
dians of this nation kept asking for me as their minister because
I had formerly known them when I was among them and because
the said Indians had persisted in this request from the time long
ago when their country was abandoned. From the time I left I
was under an agreement with the chief captain-who is now
dead-to return with ministers.
In seeking to carry out this agreement and being under this
obligation, I did all in my power with my prelates and superiors,
with His Catholic Majesty, and with His Excellency, the Viceroy,
Duque de Albuquerque. But due to events which occurred, all
was blank without a step of any kind being taken. Seeing that
all the means I had taken had failed, a happy thought occurred
to me. I knew that the French were settling this section as well
as that further on when it was known to be the territory of His
Majesty bordering on the Mexican Gulf; and [it was also known]
that, with great determination, they were encroaching more and
more on these frontiers of New Spain. I conceived the idea of
writing two letters to them on different occasions in order that
one of them [at least] might fall into their hands, to see if I
could secure an answer from them for the purpose of sending it
to that superior government. The reply was the arrival of two
Frenchmen at that court.
Upon this information and that which His Excellency secured
from different persons in confirmation thereof, he determined to
make plans for this conversion with the exceedingly small number
of twenty-five men. I-Ie gave orders for the establishment of four
missions-the ministers being furnished by the College of Santa
Cruz de Queretaro-but without any arrangements being made
for their maintenance.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928, periodical, 1928; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101088/m1/59/?rotate=90: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.