The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 107, July 2003 - April, 2004 Page: 206
660 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
(E)sp(fri)tu S (an)to Presidio on the 6th day of the current month of September
and inspected said fort, as well as all sites where it might be relocated. The gover-
nor has chosen the most suitable site, one at which it is most advantageous to re-
locate the fort, as he explains in full detail to Your Lordship."]
My dear sir:
I have afforded compliance with what Your Lordship disposed in your official
letter of January 31 of this present year, consequent to what I explained to you in
my confidential letter dated December 20 last. Your communication concerned
Your Lordship's recommending that I, upon return from the inspection I was
passing on the cavalry company at La Bahia del Espfritu Santo Presidio, go out
and carefully inspect Cfbolo Fort. Having been able to bring about the conclusion
of matters relating to the said [presidial] inspection, I started out on the 6th day
of this current month. I proceeded through all the ranches that are on the banks
of, or in the immediate area of, Cibolo Creek until I arrived at the fort. I spent two
days in this reconnaissance and, by virtue of this effort, there is no place whatever
in that district with which I am not familiar.
Consequently, I have noted with the greatest astonishment that my predecessor
the Baron de Ripperda had situated the aforesaid Cfbolo Fort in the most inap-
propriate, strange, and unusual site that could be chosen, given the intent of the
royal presidial regulations with respect to the erection of said fort. I therefore do
not know to what I can attribute the aforementioned Baron's locating the said fort
in such a place. The large number of obstacles makes the site highly improper,
and the Baron having spent funds of the royal treasury for the fort's construction,
he should be made to repay its cost, as punishment for his lack of reflection and
wisdom in situating said fort at a place so unsuitable that various perjuzcos have re-
sulted and will continue to result so long as it is not moved to a suitable location
and site.
So not to incur the same censure that my predecessor did, so not to let myself
be guided by caprice as he did, and in order to forestall petitions which owners of
ranches on the banks of the aforesaid Cibolo Creek and this river, the S[a]n
Ant[oni] o, might present to Your Lordship, I took the expedient of convening all
of the said owners at S [a] n Bartholo, the principal rancho. I made known to them
my intention as well as my object of finding the most appropriate and suitable
place at which to relocate Cibolo Fort, and I asked them to show me the site that
was most suitable for the attainment of the ends that were desired and were im-
portant to the royal service and the welfare of all concerned.
After they had showed me all the sites they considered suitable, I analyzed the
particulars of each and selected one with which all [the ranch owners] are com-
pletely satisfied. The site chosen is so appropriate, suitable, and fitting that it is the
only one whereby protection and defense can be afforded not only to the ranch-
es on the banks of Cibolo Creek but also to those along the S [a] n Ant[oni] o Riv-
er. Furthermore, the road to La Bahia Presidio can be watched over. And this new
site affords an abundance of wood and stone; and water from the creek can be ob-
tained without the difficulty and risks to which the troops are exposed at the cur-2o6
October
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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/m1/250/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.