The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 107, July 2003 - April, 2004 Page: 4
660 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
The military presence was strong in San Antonio since the captain of
the presidio also functioned as a magistrate (justicia mayor). The position
of the presidial captain, moreover, was dynastic from 1733 through 1773,
as a son and grandson assumed the role. When Gov. Bar6n de Ripperdi
moved the capital of Texas from Los Adaes to San Antonio in 1771, the
governor also became the head of the presidio.8 Land grants to soldiers
and the presidio dependents provided an arena that challenged the
desires of the Islefios for private and communal land as each group
sought to establish itself in the San Antonio River area. Frequently, con-
flicts over the limited resources occurred between the civilians, the mis-
sionaries, and the Indians. The mission Indians and their lands repre-
sented cheap labor and improved property to some of the Islefios. This
fractious mix of internal dynamics and the external forces of provincial
government and Indian threat further aggravated community stresses.9
The regular (mission) and the secular (diocesan) clergy of the Roman
Catholic Church served the spiritual life of New Spain's frontier commu-
nities. In Texas the missionaries were members of the Franciscan order,
who came from the Apostolic Colleges for the Propagation of the Faith
established in Quer6taro in 1683 and in Zacatecas in 17o7.1' Initially,
San Antonio: From Ethnic Exclusivity to Community in Eighteenth-Century Bexar," in Poyo and
Gilberto M. Hinojosa (eds.), Tejano Orgins in Ezghteenth Century San Antonio (Austin: University of
Texas Press for the University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio, 1991), 45;
andJesis F. de la Teja, "Land and Society in 18th Century San Antonio de Bexar: A Commumty
on New Spain's Northern Frontier" (Ph.D. diss., University of Texas at Austin, 1988), 91-92.
8 Peter Gerhard, The North Frontier of New Spain (Pnnceton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,
1982), 338. The analogous case in Laredo is discussed in Benavides, "The Fortification of Laredo,"
14 n. 4. Capts. Jose de Urrutia (1733-1740), Toribio de Urrutia (1741-1763), and Luis Antonio
Menchaca (1763-1773); the latter was a son of Antonia Urrutia, half-sister of Toribio. Jos6 Nicolas
Menchaca (son of Luis Antonio) became a first lieutenant (1775) at San Antonio, serving as cap-
tain ad interim during the absence of Governor Cabello. Another grandson of Jose, Manuel de
Urrutia, briefly served as first lieutenant at San Antonio in 1790. See Audiencia de Guadalajara,
267, 506, 511 (Archivo General de Indias, Seville), microfilm, reel 4: docs. 70, 79-82; reel 7: doc.
19 (OSMHRL); Frederick C. Chabot, With the Makers of San Antonio (San Antonio: Artes Grificas,
1937; reprint, n.p., n.d.), 20-21, 103-105. Ripperdi arrived in San Antonio m March 1770; see
Castafieda, Our Catholic Heritage, II, 441-442 n.9). The authorization for the transfer of the seat of
government came in 1771; see Gerhard, The North Frontier, 338. The move of the settlement of Los
Adaes actually took place in 1773; see Chipman, Spanish Texas, 184-186.
9 Gov. Tomis Felipe Winthuysen reported that the villa had had no improvement because "its
settlers are more prone to mischief than increase"; see "Report of Condition of Presidios and
Missions in Texas," Aug. 19, 1744, The Bexar Archives, 1717-1836, microfilm, 172 reels
(Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin; cited hereafter as BA with reel and
frame numbers, and CAH, respectively), reel 8:0794-0799. An English translation appears as
Russell M. Magnaghi (ed. and trans.), "Texas as Seen by Governor Winthuysen, 1741-1744,"
Southwestern Historical Quarterly, 88 (Oct., 1984), 167-18o.
1o For a description of the missionary college system see Felix Saiz Diez, Los colegios de propagan-
dafide en hzspanoamica (Madrid: Raycar Impresores, 1969); for Texas Franciscan studies see, for
example, Habig, The Alamo Chain; Habig, The Zacatecan Missionaries in Texas, z7r6-834: Part I,
Excerpts from the Lzbros de los Decretos of the Mzsszonary College of Zacatecas, z707-z828, trans.
Benedict Leutenegger; and Habig, The Zacatecan Misszonaries in Texas, Part 2, A Biographical
Dzctzonary (Austin: Texas Historical Survey Committee, Office of the State Archeologist, 1973);
Castafieda, Our Catholic Heritage, II-VI.July
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 107, July 2003 - April, 2004, periodical, 2004; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101224/m1/22/: accessed May 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.