Texas Almanac, 1996-1997 Page: 49
672 p. : col. ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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History
Comanches First Recorded in Texas
The first documented sighting of Comanches in
Texas was about 1743, when a group passed near
San Antonio. The Spanish had traded with them in
New Mexico, however, for many years.
Missions were opened in 1748 on the San Xavier
(today's San Gabriel) River, near present-day Rock-
dale, Milam County. These also were unsuccessful,
partly because of constant Apache pressure on them.
However, beginning in the late 1740s, Apaches
resumed making overtures to the Spanish govern-
ment. The Apaches knew that the Spanish were so
eager for religious converts that they would protect
them from the Comanches, who continued to push
the Apaches southward.
Franciscan priests saw in these Apache overtures
opportunities for converting the indigenous peoples
to Christianity and making them into useful Spanish
citizens. The Spanish government soon decided to
establish missions in Apache territory.
By the middle of the 18th century, the
Comanches had all but driven the Apaches from the
plains. The Spanish seemed unaware that the
Apaches had lost control of the lower plains.
By this time, the Apaches could not safely hunt
on the plains, and many started raiding south of the
Rio Grande. The mission of San Juan Bautista, near
present-day Eagle Pass on the Mexican side of the
river, was a popular gathering place. The mission
San Lorenzo, about 50 miles west of San Juan Bau-
tista, was established in 1754 for Apaches. But the
Indians burned the buildings and headed north
within two years, complaining that the mission was
too far from their homelands.
Mounted and armed with French weapons, the
Wichitas, Caddoes, Tonkawas, Tawakonis, Kichais
and others banded together against the Apaches.
These former bully boys had raided into East and
Central Texas as Comanche pressure drove them off
the plains. Soon the united tribes were joined by
their former foes, the Comanches, to present a for-
midable front to face the Apaches. The goal of these
Nortefios, as the Spanish called them, was to exter-
minate the remaining Apaches. Desperate for help,
the Apaches absorbed some smaller Texas tribes,
such as Coahuiltecan groups and the Jumanos of the
Rio Grande area, both of which had once been bitter
enemies of the Apaches.
But the Apaches got little help or sympathy from
anyone else on the plains - except the Spanish. In
1749 the Spanish and the Apaches solemnized their
peace agreement, with a formal ceremony held in
San Antonio, in which implements of war, including
a live horse, were buried.
Almost immediately, the new relationship
caused friction with the Spaniards' other Indian
friends. The treaty was condsidered an act of hostil-
ity against the Apaches' enemies - the Comanches
and their allies, the Nortefios. It didn't help, either,when Spanish soldiers gave Apaches protection on
their hunting forays onto the plains.
The Apaches' presence around the San Gabriel
missions frightened the neophytes, and many of
them left. Disease epidemics also hit the San Gabriel
location, and a drought dried up water supplies.
Capt. Felipe Rabago y Terin, commander of the pre-
sidio, was accused of improprieties with the wives
of soldiers and neophytes alike. Some of his soldiers
were charged with abusing Indians. Rdbago's uncle,
Pedro, replaced him as commanding officer and
finally abandoned the presidio in August of 1755.
The missions were moved to the San Antonio River.
While the Spanish government acknowledged
that missions in what is now West Central Texas
were desirable, it provided no funds to pay for them.
Then Pedro Romero de Terreros, one of the wealthi-
est men in Mexico, offered to finance the first three
years of operation of missions created to convert the
Apaches. His cousin, Father Alonso Giraldo de Ter-
reros, was to lead the missionary effort.
The first of several expeditions to find a suitable
site for the Apache missions in 1753 was led by Lt.
Juan Galvin. Fray Miguel de Aranda of the mission
Concepci6n in San Antonio helped. After viewing
sites on the Pedernales and Llano rivers, they
selected a location on the San Saba River near
today's Menard. Lt. Galvin set up a huge wooden
cross on a horseshoe bluff overlooking the river to
mark the spot for the presidio, and a religious ser-
vice was held. Several Apaches were already in the
area.
It took four years and two more exploratory
expeditions for the Spanish government to confirm
Lt. Galvin's original decision. Pedro de Ribago y
Terin was dispatched to the same area in November
1754. Finally, Col. Diego Ortiz Parrilla, who had
been appointed commander of the presidio, and
Father Terreros, with soldiers, missionaries, nine
families of Tlaxcalan Indians and others arrived on
April 17, 1757. Work began immediately on the pre-
sidio and mission buildings.
The Spanish didn't seem to realize that the site
they had chosen was in Comanche territory, not
Apache.
Building of San Sabti Mission and Presidio
Within a short time after arrival on the San Saba
River in April 1757, the soldiers completed the pre-
sidio stockade, and the friars constructed a mission
compound. The mission was formally christened
Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) de San Sabi and the pre-
sidio, Presidio de San Luis de las Amarillas, in
honor of the viceroy of New Spain. (We are spelling
the name of the river without an accent, since that is
the way it is spelled today, but the correct Spanish
spelling of "San Saba" is used here for the mission.)
The priests wanted to prevent a recurrence of the
problems experienced at the San Gabriel missions.
They insisted that the mission and the presidio be on
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Ramos, Mary G. Texas Almanac, 1996-1997, book, 1995; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162514/m1/49/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.