The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 107, July 2003 - April, 2004 Page: 14
660 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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14 Southwestern Historical Quarterly July
they declared a truce on their legal squabbles. Nonetheless, the animosi-
ty between the two parties continued.?
Although royal funds were approved in 1740 to construct the parish
church, the villa did not receive the money then. As late as September 1,
1745, Viceroy Marques de Altamira asked the governor for a report on
the church. Pointedly, the viceroy asked why it was not yet finished and
how much was needed for its completion. He ordered the governor,
moreover, to ensure that the cabildo of San Fernando be equally repre-
sented by the fourteen or fifteen Islefio families and the forty-nine other
families in the offices of ordinary magistrates (alcaldes), attorneys (procu-
radores), and other annual positions. At the same time, the presidial per-
sonnel (presidiales) were not to meddle in community affairs.32
On October 2, 1745, in an act of near desperation, First Alcalde Antonio
Rodriguez Mederos ordered all civilian and military residents of San
Fernando to help in finishing the construction of the church begun in
1738. Regardless of their social status, ethnicity, or condition, the individu-
als were to do their assigned task under penalty of a 25-peso fine and two
weeks in jail. This was necessary since the repeated requests for outside aid
from the viceroy and the bishop of Guadalajara had failed over the years,
and because part of the barracks chapel had collapsed. Early in the follow-
ing year, 1746, the justice and town council of San Fernando enlisted the
aid of former governor Orobio y Basterra, who was to seek funds from the
diocese of Guadalajara. His preliminary inquiry into the matter indicated
that funds would not be allocated for the construction, but he would con-
tinue to seek support for the venture from the diocese."33 Unfortunately, no
" This "treaty" provided that regardless of viceregal rulings on matters pending, the San
Antonio River would divide the mission and villa lands: lands east belonging to the mission,
lands west to the villa. Also, that m the potrero, the protected grazing commons located in the
land at the river bend between the plaza and bridge leading to the mission, no new buildings
would be constructed with the possible exception of a church should it ever be necessary.
Fernindez de Santa Ana [and cabildo members], "Escritura de combenio de los islefios y
misiones," Aug. 14, 1745, ACZ, reel 4:5214-5217 (OSMHRL); a notarized copy (Nov. 11, 1745)
with slight variation is in ACQ reel 4:1353-1355 (OSMHRL); and the original document with
emendations lacking in foregoing copies is in "Escritura ...," Aug. 14, 1745, Spanish Collection
(Texas General Land Office, Austin). See also, for example, the proposal by the cabildo that the
four Queretaran missions be united in one and that the Franciscans cease in deliberate attempts
to circumscribe distribution of ranch lands to the citizens of B6xar; Aug. 25-26, 1756, reel
9:o675-o677, BA. Although not named in the document the reference was to missions San
Antonio de Valero, San Juan Capistrano, Concepci6n, and San Francisco de la Espada; Mission
SanJos6 was administered by the Zacatecan college.
3El Marques de Altamira to governor of Texas, Sept. 1, 1745 (copy), ACQ, reel 9:1299
(OSMHRL).
" In 1731, at age eighteen, Rodriguez Mederos became the youngest member of the first
Islefio town council; see Gerald E. Poyo, "Antonio Rodriguez Mederos: Early Texas
Entrepreneur and Pohlitician," Texas Passages, I (Winter, 1986), 2-3. See also municipal ordi-
nance, Oct. 2, 1745, reel 8.o91o, BA; and Orobio y Basterra to Justice [Jos6 Curbelo?] and town
council, May 16, 1746, reel 8:0930-0931, BA.
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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/m1/32/: accessed May 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.