TEXAS, PIMERIA ALTA AND THE FRANCO-SPANISH BORDER CONFLICT (1687-1763)
The advance of the French into Louisiana and the Trans-Mississippi West
stimulated a new counter movement northeastward by the Spaniards from
Chihuahua, New Mexico, and Coahuila, and there ensued on the
Franco-Spanish border a contest for the control of Texas and all the
plains country as far north as the Platte River--a contest much like the
better-known "half-century of conflict" between the English and the
French on the other border. At the same time, the Spanish frontier
forged slowly northwestward into Lower California and southern Arizona.
On the other hand, the Florida frontier, which in the seventeenth
century had been pushed back by the English colonies of Virginia and the
Carolinas, was now still further contracted by the establishment of
French Louisiana and English Georgia, while in the West Indies and
Honduras Spanish rule suffered a like diminution through the continued
advance of the English, French, and Dutch. The _Asiento_ of 1713 with
Great Britain was a particularly hard blow at Spain's commercial
independence, and was made worse by England's gross violation of the
compact.
NORTHEASTWARD ADVANCE OF THE SPANISH FRONTIER
The Chihuahua mines.--In Nueva Vizcaya two notable forward steps north
were taken in the early eighteenth century. These were the opening of
the Chihuahua silver deposits and the advance down the Conchos valley.
In 1703-1704 rich ores were discovered near the recently founded mission
of Nombre de Dios. The mines proved to be among the best in America,
and, it has been estimated, produced silver worth from $50,000,000 to
$100,000,000 in the eighteenth century. Two _reales de minas_, Chihuahua
and Santa Eulalia, were established near by, and became the most
thriving centers on the northern frontier. By 1763 each had a
population of 5000, and the church at Chihuahua was one of the finest in
the new world.
Advance down the Conchos Valley.--At the same time the frontier advanced
down the fertile Conchos River Valley and across the Rio Grande into
western Texas. In 1715 the abandoned missions at La Junta were
reestablished. Soon six missions were in operation and serving Indian
towns on both sides of the Rio Grande. For ten years they succeeded, and
then, in 1725, the Indians revolted and deserted. During the subsequent
years the padres made them occasional visits, while settlement pushed
down the Conchos Valley. In 1753 the La Junta missions were restored,
and in 1760 were protected by the new presidio of Belen.
The New Mexico border. Moqui and Zuni resistance.--The reconquest of the
New Mexico pueblos had been effected by Vargas at the end of the
seventeenth century. The Moquis and Zunis, however, stubbornly resisted
Spanish influence and harbored apostates. In 1726 and again in 1741 the
Moqui district was assigned to the Jesuits of Sonora, but they
accomplished little. Rivalry led to new Franciscan visits, and in 1742
the missionaries recovered more than four hundred Tigua fugitives who
had fled during the great revolt of sixty years before. In 1745 the
field was restored to the Franciscans, but they were unable to make
permanent establishments.
Xicarrilla and Navajo missions.--In 1733 a mission was founded near Taos
for the Xicarrilla Apaches who were hard pressed by the Comanches.
Between 1744 and 1750 efforts were made to convert the Navajo, but
without avail.
New settlements.--The population of New Mexico grew slowly but steadily.
In 1706 Governor Cubero founded the new villa of Albuquerque and
reestablished La Canada. In 1760 there were 7666 Spaniards in fourteen
settlements in the upper district and 3588 about El Paso. This was a
population larger than that of English Georgia at the same time. The
largest towns were Albuquerque (1814). La Canada (1515), and Santa Fe
(1285). At the same time the Christian Indians in the province numbered
10,000.
Indian depredations.--New Mexico was constantly harassed by Navajos on
the west, Yutas and Comanches on the north, and Apaches on the east and
south. The main object of the savages was to steal stock and other
property, but they often shed human blood freely. On the basis of horses
and mules stolen in New Mexico, a regular trade was maintained by
Indians across the country to Louisiana. The exterior tribes attacked
the Pueblo Indians even more freely than the Spaniards. The Spanish
soldiery, with Indian allies, often retaliated with telling effect and
recovered stolen horses and mules. Captives taken were sold as slaves to
the settlers or in the interior. Yet there were truces between
campaigns, and by the middle of the century the Comanches and Yutas in
large numbers attended the annual Taos fair, where they sold skins and
captives.
Rumors of the French.--The French advance up the Missouri stimulated a
counter movement of the Spaniards of the New Mexico border. Before the
end of the seventeenth century wild rumors of the approaching French had
reached Santa Fe. Other interests, especially Indian relations,
furnished motives for northeastward expeditions early in the eighteenth
century. In 1706 Juan de Urribarri was sent by Governor Cubero "to the
unknown land of the plains" to ransom Christian captives from the
northern tribes. He crossed the Napestle (Arkansas) River, near the
present city of Pueblo, Colorado, and reached the Indian settlement of
El Cuartelejo, near the Colorado-Kansas border, where he heard new
reports of the French among the Pawnees.
Expeditions to the northeast and north.--The frequent campaigns against
the Indians were occasions for new exploration. In 1715 Juan Paez
Hurtado, with two hundred and fifty men, pursued Apaches into western
Texas. During the next four years several expeditions were made
northeast against Comanches and Yutas, in the course of which new
reports were heard of the French, who were now pushing up all the
western tributaries of the Mississippi. In 1719 a campaign against the
Yutas and Comanches led Governor Valverde across the Arkansas. In 1720
occurred the disastrous Villazur expedition to the Platte described
later. About 1750 Bustamente y Tagle pursued Comanches down the Arkansas
nearly to the Jumanos.
Explorers in Colorado.--Explorers also entered the Utah Basin. Juan
Maria Rivera, sent out by Governor Cachupin in search of ore, visited
and named the La Plata (Silver) Mountains, and continued to the junction
of the Uncompahgre River with the Gunnison (1765). In the following
year Nicolas de la Fora, writing in New Mexico, stated that the
Spaniards were acquainted with the country along the Cordillera de las
Grullas (in western Colorado) for a hundred leagues above Santa Fe. A
decade later (1779) Anza ascended the San Luis Valley, descended the
Arkansas River, and returned to Santa Fe over the mountains.
THE FOUNDING OF TEXAS
The Coahuila frontier.--In 1693 eastern Texas, after a temporary
occupation, had been abandoned, and the frontier fell back to Coahuila.
In the course of the next decade, however, it was gradually extended
until it crossed the Rio Grande. A most important factor in the work
were the Queretaro friars, who ever urged the government forward. By
1698 Boca de Leones and Lampazos had become the seats of flourishing
mines, missions, and ranches. Between 1699 and 1703 three missions and a
presidio had been established on the Rio Grande at San Juan Bautista,
below modern Eagle Pass. The site, being a great rendezvous and trading
place for the tribes, was known as the "Cadiz of the interior." Near
most of the missions small colonies of Spaniards and Tlascaltecans
settled. These missions served many Indians from beyond the Rio Grande,
and frequent expeditions were made into the outlying country.
Plans to reoccupy Texas.--During all this time the missionaries were
desirous of returning to the Asinai or Texas Indians, whom they had left
in '93, and with whom they had since maintained communication. In 1706
the governor of Coahuila urged the founding of a mission on the Rio Frio
as a means of securing the road to the Asinai. Three years later Fathers
Olivares and Espinosa made an expedition to the Colorado River, where
they hoped to meet the tribe. Father Hidalgo long made strenuous efforts
to get permission to return to his former charges, and Father Olivares
went to Spain to procure it. Frequent rumors of French incursions from
Louisiana were discussed in government circles, but it required an
actual danger to cause the government to act.
St. Denis in Mexico.--In 1714, led by two survivors of La Salle's
expedition, St. Denis made his expedition across Texas to trade. At San
Juan Bautista he was arrested and taken to Mexico, where it was
realized by the officials that a real menace had arisen. In a council of
war held on August 22, 1715, it was decided to reoccupy Texas with
missions, a garrison, and a small colony. Domingo Ramon, a frontier
officer, was put in charge of the expedition, and the missionary field
was assigned to the two Franciscan colleges _de Propaganda Fide_ of
Queretaro and Zacatecas. Of the missions of the former, Father Espinosa,
later known as the historian, was made president; of the latter the
president appointed was the still more renowned Father Antonio Margil.
Eastern Texas reoccupied.--In February, 1716, the expedition left
Saltillo, and in April it crossed the Rio Grande at San Juan Bautista.
In the party were nine friars, twenty-five soldiers, six women, and
enough other persons to make a total of sixty-five. They drove with them
more than 1000 head of cattle and goats, and an outfit for missions,
farms, and a presidio. A direct northeast route was followed, through
San Pedro Springs, where the city of San Antonio later grew up. By the
Asinai Indians they were given a warm welcome, and four missions were at
once founded near the Neches and Angelina Rivers. Near the latter stream
the presidio of Dolores was established. At the same time an attempt was
made to establish a mission on the Red River among the Cadodachos, but
it was frustrated by the Indians, who were under French influence.
A new base needed.--Eastern Texas had been reoccupied, but the outposts
there were weak and isolated. The French were trading among the
surrounding tribes; St. Denis was known to be planning another
commercial expedition to Mexico; and it was rumored that a large French
colony was to be established at the mouth of the Mississippi. This
prediction was verified by the founding of New Orleans in 1718. On the
other hand, Father Olivares urged advancing from the Rio Grande to the
San Antonio. These motives to action coincided with a more aggressive
Spanish policy toward the French since the death of Louis XIV, a policy
exemplified by the new viceroy Linares.
[Illustration: Texas in the 18th Century.]
San Antonio founded.--In a _junta de guerra_ held December 2, 1716, it
was therefore decided to establish posts on the San Antonio and among
the Cadodachos, while Ramon was to destroy the French establishments at
Natchitoches. The new enterprise was entrusted to Martin de Alarcon,
who was made governor of Texas and, before setting out, of Coahuila.
While the expedition was preparing, St. Denis reached the Rio Grande
(April, 1717), where his goods were confiscated. Going to Mexico, he was
there imprisoned. Meanwhile Ramon had reconnoitered Natchitoches, and on
his return early in 1717 two new missions were founded among the Ays and
Adaes, the latter being within seven leagues of Natchitoches, and
thenceforth a vital spot in the history of international frontiers.
Early in 1718 Alarcon left Coahuila with a colony of sixty-two persons,
besides the neophytes of mission San Francisco Solano, who were to be
transferred to the new site on the San Antonio River. Arrived there, a
mission, presidio, and town were founded, the beginnings of the modern
city of San Antonio. In the east Alarcon accomplished little more than
to displease the missionaries and to protest against La Harpe's new
French establishment among the Cadodachos.
WAR WITH FRANCE
Attack on Pensacola and Texas.--In January, 1719, as a result of
European complications, France declared war on Spain. The war extended
at once to the colonies, where a border contest ensued at various points
all the way from Pensacola to the Platte River. In the course of the
summer Pensacola was captured by the French of Mobile, recaptured by the
Spaniards, and again taken by Bienville and Serigney. In June, Blondel,
commander at Natchitoches, invaded eastern Texas, whence the Spanish
missionaries and garrison retreated to San Antonio without a struggle.
For two years thereafter the region was left unoccupied by Spain. While
waiting at San Antonio Father Margil in 1720 founded there a new mission
called San Jose, which later was called the finest in New Spain.
Spanish plans to fortify the Platte River.--In the course of the
campaigns against the Indians to the northeast of New Mexico, constantly
more disturbing reports had been heard of the French, who were now
making their way up all the western tributaries of the Mississippi. In
1719 Governor Valverde pursued Yutas and Comanches across the Napestle
(Arkansas) and heard that the French had settled on the Jesus Maria
(North Platte) River. New significance was attached to these reports
because of the outbreak of war between France and Spain a short time
before. Valverde warned the viceroy of the danger; wild rumors spread
through the northern provinces; and measures for defence were taken. In
1720, while plans were being made to recover Texas, the viceroy ordered
counter alliances made with the tribes northeast of New Mexico, a
Spanish colony planted at El Cuartelejo, in eastern Colorado, and a
presidio established on the Jesus Maria River, that is, in Nebraska or
Wyoming.
Destruction of the Villazur Expedition.--Although a truce had already
been declared between France and Spain, Governor Valverde, perhaps in
ignorance of this fact, sent Pedro de Villazur in June, 1720, at the
head of one hundred and ten men to reconnoiter the French. Passing
through El Cuartelejo, in August he reached the Jesus Maria. Not finding
the French, he set out to return, but on the San Lorenzo (South Platte),
in northern Colorado, he was killed and his expedition cut to pieces by
Indians using French weapons. There are indications that tribes living
as far north as Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin took part in the attack, a
fact which illustrates the wide-reaching influence of these
international contests. The Spaniards charged the massacre to the
French, and there was a new panic on the frontier. But peace had been
restored between France and Spain, and, in spite of appeals from New
Mexico, the plans for advancing to El Cuartelejo and the Platte were
dropped.
The Aguayo Expedition.--An offer to assist in the reconquest of Texas
was made by the Marquis of Aguayo, governor and the most prominent
figure of Coahuila. Abetted by Father Hidalgo, he had been interested in
a new attempt to discover Gran Quivira, and the Texas crisis seemed to
give him an opening. His offer was accepted, and before the end of 1720
he had raised, partly at his own expense, eight companies of cavalry,
comprising over five hundred men and five thousand horses. By his
instructions he was expected to reoccupy and strengthen the abandoned
posts and occupy Cadadachos, on the Red River, and Bahia del Espiritu
Santo on the Gulf.
Eastern Texas reoccupied.--The Marquis left Monclova in November, 1720,
shortly after Villazur's defeat on the Platte. From the Rio Grande in
January, 1721, he sent Captain Ramon with forty soldiers to take
possession of Bahia del Espiritu Santo, to which a supply ship was sent
from Vera Cruz. This was shortly before La Harpe attempted to reoccupy
the place for the French. Because of swollen streams, Aguayo made a wide
detour to the north, crossing the Brazos near Waco. Peace had been
declared in Europe, and at the Neches he was met by St. Denis, who
agreed to permit an unresisted reoccupation of the abandoned posts. It
was learned here that St. Denis had recently assembled Indian allies
with a view to seizing Bahia del Espiritu Santo and San Antonio, in
cooeperation, no doubt, with La Harpe.
Proceeding east, between August and November Aguayo reestablished the
six abandoned missions and the presidio of Dolores, and added a presidio
at Los Adaes, facing Natchitoches, and garrisoned it with one hundred
men. To this last act Bienville made vigorous protest. On the return to
San Antonio the weather was so severe that of five thousand horses only
fifty were left when Aguayo arrived in January, 1722. After establishing
there another mission and rebuilding the presidio, he took forty
additional men to La Bahia, and erected a presidio on the site of La
Salle's fort. Having thus completed his work, he returned to Monclova.
Texas won for Spain.--Aguayo's expedition fixed the hold of Spain on
Texas. He left ten missions where there had been but seven, two hundred
and sixty-eight soldiers instead of sixty or seventy, and four presidios
instead of two, two of them being at strategic points. Since 1718 Texas
and Coahuila had been under the same governor, but now Texas was made
independent, with its capital at Los Adaes (now Robeline, Louisiana)
where it remained for half a century. The Medina River now became the
western boundary of Texas. In 1726 the La Bahia establishment was moved
to the lower Guadalupe River.
THE EXPANSION OF TEXAS
Rivera's inspection of the frontiers.--In the years 1724-1728 a general
inspection of the frontier defences of New Spain was made by Pedro de
Rivera, ex-governor of the province of Tlascala. His remarkable journey
of 3082 leagues began at the City of Mexico on November 21, 1724, and
ended there on June 9, 1728. The northern line of military outposts at
this time ran from Fronteras through Janos, El Paso, Santa Fe, Conchos,
Monclova, San Juan Bautista, Cerralvo, San Antonio, Bahia del Espiritu
Santo, Dolores, and Los Adaes. On the whole Rivera found the presidios
in fair condition, but encountered many abuses. His reforms in the main
were in the direction of retrenchment. This was particularly true
regarding Texas, and in 1729 the post on the Angelina was suppressed and
the forces of others reduced.
San Antonio strengthened.--Rivera's policy of retrenchment was strongly
opposed by the missionaries; among the Indians of eastern Texas they had
had little success, and when the garrison of Dolores was withdrawn the
Queretaran friars moved their three missions to San Antonio, where they
were reestablished in 1731 and where their ruins still stand. In the
same year a colony of Canary Islanders was established beside the
presidio and missions, and formed into the Villa of San Fernando. There
were now at San Antonio five missions, a presidio, and a municipality.
Texas was now definitely formed in outline; Spain had maintained her
claim as against France, and had established three centers of
occupation, Los Adaes, Bahia del Espiritu Santo, and San Antonio.
The Apache Wars.--For a decade and a half after the founding of the
Villa of San Fernando the province of Texas underwent little expansion.
From the beginning of San Antonio its inhabitants were subjected to
raids by the Eastern Apaches, who also infested the highways. To check
their outrages occasional campaigns were made into their country by the
soldiery, supported by contingents of mission Indians. Notable among the
forays were those of Captain Flores (1723), Governor Bustillo (1732),
Captain Jose Urrutia (1739), and his son Captain Thoribio Urrutia
(1745). These expeditions served not only to punish the enemy and
recover stolen horses and mules, but to capture slaves as well, and to
make known the northwestern frontier. In the course of them the
Spaniards learned of mineral deposits in the Llano River country.
The work of the missionaries.--In spite of Apache hostilities, the
missionaries on the San Antonio and the Guadalupe made some progress.
The leading figures of the period were Fathers Santa Ana and Dolores y
Viana, presidents. No new missions were founded in the fifteen years'
interval, but the friars improved their buildings and farms, and sought
new neophytes in regions constantly more remote from the mission
centers. At the mission of San Antonio de Valero alone no less than
forty bands or tribes were represented by the baptisms between 1731 and
1745.
The Tonkawa missions.--During the next fifteen years the frontiers of
Texas were expanded in all directions. Between 1745 and 1749 Fathers
Viana and Santa Ana founded three missions on the San Xavier (San
Gabriel) River, in the Tonkawa country, and in 1751 a presidio was
established there. But quarrels ensued, the location proved unsuitable,
and the missions were abandoned, efforts now being transferred to the
Apache country.
The Apache missions.--Under pressure from the southward moving
Comanches, the Lipan-Apaches had ceased their hostilities and asked for
missions. Minerals had been found near the Llano River, and
communication with New Mexico was desired. Accordingly, with the aid of
a munificent gift by Don Pedro de Terreros, in 1757 a great plan for
reducing the Apaches by means of missions was launched. A presidio and
mission had scarcely been founded on the San Saba, however, when the
mission was destroyed by the Comanches and their allies (1758). In the
following year Colonel Parrilla, with a force of some six hundred men,
raised in various parts of northern New Spain, set out to punish the
offenders. At the fortified village of the Taovayas, on the Red River,
where French influence was predominant, he was routed and driven back.
The Apache mission was now transferred to the Upper Nueces, and for
several years the San Saba post sustained incessant war with the
northern tribes.
Nuevo Santander.--Wars with England and Indian hostilities now made
imperative the colonization of the Gulf coast between the San Antonio
River and Tampico--the eastern portion of Nuevo Leon--and in 1746 the
district was erected into a new colony called Nuevo Santander. Colonel
Jose de Escandon, a distinguished officer of Queretaro, was put in
charge of the enterprise, and the missionary work was entrusted to the
Zacatecan friars. Within the next three years the entire region was
explored by Escandon and his lieutenants and a number of colonies were
planned. In 1749 Escandon led a colony of more than three thousand
people from Queretaro, and in a short time established them in more than
twenty settlements, most of which persist to-day. North of the Rio
Grande the principal ones were Laredo and Dolores, but ranching soon
spread as far as the Nueces River. The post and mission of La Bahia were
now moved to the lower San Antonio River and a new mission for the
Karankawa (Rosario) was established near by. Though legally in Nuevo
Santander, this district was administered as a part of Texas, and by
1775 the Texas-Nuevo Santander boundary was officially moved west to the
Nueces.
THE FRANCO-SPANISH BORDER
The Texas-Louisiana boundary question.--The proximity of Los Adaes and
Natchitoches had furnished numerous grounds for irritation between Texas
and Louisiana. French traders engaged in contraband trade, and the
international boundary was uncertain. In 1735, when Natchitoches was
moved from the island in the Red River to the west bank of the stream, a
quarrel ensued. After several years of bickering, the Arroyo Hondo was
tentatively adopted as the international boundary in that region.
Meanwhile French traders had invaded the coast tribes and monopolized
the Indian trade of northern Texas. In 1750 the military strength of
Louisiana was considerably augmented, and it was reported in Mexico that
the new arrivals were for the western Louisiana frontier. These
conditions again brought forward the quiescent boundary question, which
was inconclusively discussed in Spanish circles for several years. While
the higher authorities debated, residents on the frontier generally
agreed on the Arroyo Hondo. In 1754 the King of Spain declared that
"boundaries between the Spaniards and the French in that region have
never been a subject of treaty nor is it best at present that they
should be."
The New Mexico border.--By this time renewed French intrusions into New
Mexico were becoming alarming. The return of the Mallet party (1739)
and the peace between the Comanches and their eastern enemies (ca. 1746)
were followed by the arrival in New Mexico of trading parties from
Canada and Louisiana under Febre, Chapuis, and others. A more vigorous
policy was now adopted and the recent comers were arrested and sent to
Spain. The intrusion into New Mexico found an echo in far western
Sonora, where in 1751 the French advance was given by a prominent
official as a reason for Spanish haste to occupy the Colorado of the
West.
The lower Trinity fortified.--The more stringent policy toward intruders
was extended to Texas, where a new outpost was established to ward off
French aggression. In the fall of 1754 traders on the lower Trinity were
arrested and sent to Mexico, and in 1756-1757 the region was defended by
a presidio (San Agustin) and a mission east of the stream among the
Orcoquiza Indians. Thus another point on the Texas-Louisiana frontier
was occupied and defended by Spain. The site was disputed by Governor
Kerlerec, of Louisiana, who proposed a joint boundary commission. The
offer was rejected and the viceroy of Mexico, on the contrary, proposed
a Spanish post on the Mississippi "to protect the boundaries." With his
proposal he sent to Spain a map showing Texas as extending to the
Mississippi. Thus the region in dispute extended from the Trinity to the
Mississippi, at least.
PIMERIA ALTA
The Jesuits.--The occupation of Texas was contemporaneous with the
advance into Pimeria Alta (northern Sonora and southern Arizona) and
Lower California. The work of the indefatigable Jesuits on the northern
frontier of New Spain is admirably illustrated by that of Father Kino
and his companions in this region.
Kino.--After the failure of Atondo's enterprise in California in 1685,
Father Eusebio Kino entered northern Sonora, arriving in March, 1687,
just at the time of La Salle's death in Texas. Mission Dolores, founded
by him in the upper Sonora Valley, became his headquarters for
twenty-four years of exploration, ranching, and missionary work among
the upper Pimas, between the Altar and Gila Rivers.
Explorations in Arizona.--In the Altar Valley Kino and his companions
founded a number of missions, which were destroyed during the revolt in
1695 and then rebuilt. In 1691, accompanied by Father Salvatierra, who
later went to California, Kino descended the Santa Cruz River to the
village of Tumacacori. Three years later, by the same route, he reached
the Casa Grande on the Gila. In 1697, with a military escort from
Fronteras (Corodeguachi), he again went to the Casa Grande, this time by
way of the San Pedro River. In the following year he was again on the
Gila, whence he returned across the Papagueria (the country of the
Papagos) by way of Sonoita, Caborca, and the Altar Valley. In 1699 he
went to the Gila by way of Sonoita and the Gila Range, and then ascended
the Gila.
A land route to California.--The current view still was that California
was an island, but during the last journey Kino returned to the
peninsular theory. If this were true, he reasoned, it would be possible
to find a land route over which to send supplies to Salvatierra's
struggling missions just established in Lower California. To test his
views he made several more journeys, crossing the lower Colorado in 1701
and reaching its mouth in 1702. He was now convinced that California was
a peninsula. In 1705 was published his map of Pimeria Alta, setting
forth this view.
Missions and ranches in Arizona.--Meanwhile Kino and his companions had
pushed the missionary frontier to the Gila and the Colorado. Kino's
exploring tours were also itinerant missions, in the course of which he
baptized and taught in numerous villages. During his career in Pimeria
Alta he alone baptized 4000 Indians. In 1700 he founded the mission of
San Xavier del Bac, and within the next two years those of Guebavi and
Tumacacori, all in the valley of the Santa Cruz River, and within the
present Arizona. To support his missions, near them he established
flourishing stock ranches, thus making the beginnings of stock raising
in at least twenty places still existing in northern Sonora and southern
Arizona.
[Illustration: Father Kino's Map of Pimeria Alta (Bancroft, Arizona and
New Mexico, p. 360).]
Decline of the missions.--The power of Spain was now at its lowest ebb,
funds were scarce, and Kino's last days were to him a time of stagnation
and disappointment. To a certain extent royal support was transferred
for the time being to the missions in Lower California. After Kino's
death in 1711 stagnation became decline, few new missionaries were sent,
and northern tours became infrequent or ceased altogether. Officials and
frontier leaders often planned to advance the frontier of settlement to
the Colorado River, but other interests interfered.
Revival after 1732.--A visit by the bishop of Durango in 1725, the
military inspection of that frontier by Rivera in 1726, and a royal
decree of 1728 gave new life to the moribund missions. New missionaries
arrived in 1732, the northern missions were reoccupied, and journeys to
the Gila were renewed after 1736 by Fathers Keller and Sedelmayr.
The Arizonac mines.--Interest in the northern frontier was accentuated
at this time by a temporary mining excitement at Arizonac in the upper
Altar Valley, where in 1736 silver nuggets of astonishing size were
discovered. There was a "rush" to the place, and considerable wealth was
found, but in 1741 the surface veins were exhausted and the camp was
abandoned. The mining incident furnished an occasion for new plans to
advance to the Gila. But Indian troubles in Sinaloa and Sonora
interfered. These troubles, on the other hand, served to advance the
military frontier by the founding of two presidios at Pitiqui
(Hermosillo) and Terrenate in 1741.
Keller and Sedelmayr.--After much discussion, in 1741 the Moqui district
was assigned to the Jesuits, who now tried to reach that region. In 1743
Keller crossed the Gila, but was driven back by the Apaches. In 1744
Sedelmayr ascended the Colorado to Bill Williams Fork. In the following
year the Moquis were again assigned to the Franciscans.
Plans to occupy the Gila and Colorado.--Sedelmayr now turned his
attention to exploring the lower Gila and Colorado Rivers, and his
Order, particularly Father Escobar, the provincial, urged the occupation
of these valleys, both as a means of support for Lower California, and
as a base for advance to Moqui and Alta California. In 1748 Father
Consag of California explored the Gulf to its head in the interest of
this plan. Royal interest was aroused also by the entry of the French of
Louisiana into New Mexico and the need of protecting California. In 1744
and 1747, therefore, the king approved advancing to the Gila. Five
years later, especially because of emphatic reports of the French
advance toward the Pacific Ocean, the king seriously considered
occupying the Bay of Monterey.
The Pima Revolt.--The new viceroy, Revillagigedo, was occupied with
founding Nuevo Santander and other absorbing tasks, while new Indian
wars in Sonora made advance impossible. In 1750 a war of extermination,
led by Governor Diego Parrilla, was begun on the Seris and lasted
several years. In 1751 a revolt occurred among the northern Pimas. At
Caborca and Sonoita the missionaries were slain, over one hundred
settlers were killed on the Arizona border, and missions and ranches
were abandoned. The uprising was suppressed by Parrilla without great
difficulty; most of the missions were reoccupied; and for greater
security two new presidios were founded, at Altar, near Caborca, and at
Tubac near San Xavier del Bac. Thus, each uprising helped to advance the
military frontier.
Continued obstacles to advance.--For twenty years more the question of
advance to the Colorado was subordinate to that of good order and
settled conditions in Sonora, necessary preliminaries to advance. The
Pima War was followed by a bitter quarrel between Governor Parrilla and
the Jesuits. The Seris made constant trouble, and when attacked
retreated safely to Cerro Prieto. Apache wars on the northern border
were even more severe, and many settlements in Sonora and Nueva Vizcaya
were destroyed by them. Nevertheless, within the protection of the
presidios several small Spanish settlements grew up, as at Terrenate,
Guebavi, Santa Barbara, Buenavista, Tubac, Saric, Altar, and San
Ignacio. The Jesuits continued to appeal, and others, pointing out the
danger from advancing Russians, English, and French, urged the
settlement of Alta California. But Spain was occupied elsewhere.
The northwestern frontier in 1763.--Sinaloa and Sonora had been detached
from Nueva Vizcaya in 1734, when the province of Sinaloa was erected.
Both were still within the diocese of Durango. By 1763 Sinaloa and
Ostimuri (southern Sonora) had ceased to be frontier regions. Most of
the missions had been secularized, the Indians had become assimilated,
and there was a considerable white population. In Sinaloa there were six
towns with white and mixed populations ranging from 1000 to 3500 each.
In Ostimuri, the part of Sonora south of Yaqui River, there were five
towns with populations ranging from 300 to 3400. In the Sonora Valley
there was a string of mining towns and small Spanish settlements
extending as far north as Fronteras. In Pimeria Alta there were eight
missions and several Spanish settlements, the latter aggregating, with
the garrisons, nearly 1500 persons. In all of the frontier settlements
there was a large element of mulattoes and mestizoes.
THE JESUITS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA
California assigned to the Jesuits.--While Kino and his successors were
struggling to advance the frontiers of Pimeria Alta, another band of
Jesuits founded missions and opened trails nearly the whole length of
the Peninsula of Lower California, and made explorations northward with
a view to meeting the mainland group at the Colorado River. After
repeated failures to occupy the Peninsula, the government of Spain
turned it over to the Jesuits, with full military and civil authority,
as in Paraguay. The missions depended at first mainly on private alms,
and in a short time $47,000 were subscribed. This was the beginning of
the famous Pious Fund of California.
Salvatierra and his companions.--In 1697 Juan Maria Salvatierra, who had
been a missionary in Sinaloa, entered the Peninsula with a handful of
soldiers, and began work at Loreto, opposite Guaymas, which became the
supply base. Missionary work was attended by unusual difficulties,
because of the sterility of the country. More than once the abandonment
of California was prevented only by the aid of Father Kino, who drove
cattle hundreds of miles to Guaymas and shipped them across the Gulf.
Transportation was difficult, and many precious cargoes were wrecked. By
the time of Salvatierra's death in 1717 he, Picolo, Juan de Ugarte and
their companions had planted five missions in the middle region of the
Peninsula, and had made extensive explorations, north, south, and across
California to the Pacific. In 1701 Salvatierra had explored with Kino in
quest of a land route from Sonora. In 1721 Father Ugarte in the same
interest explored the Gulf to its head.
Development in the South.--Salvatierra's death was followed by more
liberal royal aid and private alms, and by more rapid mission
extension, particularly in the South. The importance of this step was
enhanced by making San Bernabe a stopping place for the Manila galleon.
By 1732 Fathers Guillen, Tamaral, and Taraval had explored the west
coast as far as Cedros Island. A widespread Indian rebellion in 1734,
attended by the martyrdom of Fathers Carranco and Tamaral, caused the
founding of the presidio of San Jose del Cabo, which protected the Cape,
but by 1748 Indian disturbances had greatly reduced the southern
missions.
The Jesuits, fearful of interference in their work, as a rule opposed
Spanish settlements, presidios, and the development of industries in the
Peninsula. In 1716, 1719, 1723, and later, the government urged the
founding of forts and colonies on the western coast, with a view to
protecting and advancing the frontier, but the Jesuits usually objected,
and the settlements were not founded. The Indian revolt, war with
England in 1739, Anson's raid on the coast in 1742, and the westward
advance of the French toward the Pacific Coast, increased the anxiety,
and in 1744 new orders were given looking to the defence of the
Peninsula, but nothing came of them.
By 1750 the exclusive policy of the Jesuits had given way to some
extent, pearl fishing was again permitted, private trading vessels came
from time to time, and the Manila galleon stopped regularly at San Jose.
Mines were opened in the South, and around them a small Spanish and
mixed breed population grew up, La Paz becoming the principal center.
Missions in the North.--The conditions which had stimulated efforts to
advance to the Gila by the mainland after 1744, had a corresponding
effect on California development. Sterile California needed overland
communication with a mainland base. It was with this need in view that
in 1746 the Jesuit provincial, Escobar, sent Father Consag to reexplore
the Gulf, whose head he reached shortly before Sedelmayr descended the
Colorado to the same point.
The Colorado-Gila base was not supplied, but with new private gifts and
royal aid, the Jesuits on the Peninsula pushed northward. Santa
Gertrudis (1752), San Francisco Borja (1762), and Santa Maria (1767)
were the last Jesuit foundations, while Father Link's land journey to
the head of the Gulf in 1766 was the final step in Jesuit explorations.
READINGS
TEXAS
Arricivita, _Cronica Serafica y Apostolica_, 321-442; Bancroft, H.H.,
_North Mexican States and Texas_, I, 391-406, 600-617: Bolton, H.E.,
_Athanase De Mezieres_, I, 1-66; "The Native Tribes about the East Texas
Missions," in Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, XI, 249-276; "The
Location of La Salle's Colony on the Gulf of Mexico," in _The
Mississippi Valley Historical Review_, II, 165-182; Bolton, H.E., ed.,
_Spanish Exploration in the Southwest_, 281-422; Bonilla, Antonio, in
Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, XIII, 1-78; Buckley, E., "The
Aguayo Expedition into Texas and Louisiana, 1721-1722," in Tex. State
Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, XV, 1-65; Clark, R.C., _The Beginnings of
Texas_; Cox, I.J.. "The Early Settlers of San Fernando," in Tex. State
Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, V, 142-161; "The Louisiana-Texas Frontier,"
in Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, X, 1-76; "The Southwestern
Boundary of Texas," in Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, VI. 81-103;
De Leon, A., "Itinerary," in Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, VIII,
199-224; _Historia de Nuevo Leon_, 310-348; Dunn, W.E.. "Apache
Relations in Texas, 1718-1750," in Tex. State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_,
XIII, 198-274; "The Apache Mission on the San Saba," in _Southwestern
Historical Quarterly_, XVIII, 370-415; Espinosa, Isidro, _Chronica_,
1-10, 41-158, 206-227; Garrison, G.P., _Texas_, 20-96; Manzanet, in Tex.
State Hist. Assoc., _Quarterly_, III, 252-312; Parkman, Francis, _La
Salle and the Discovery of the Great West_, chs. 20-29.
PIMERIA ALTA
Alegre, Xavier, _Historia de la Compania de Jesus_, III; Bancroft, H.H.,
Arizona and New Mexico, 344-407; _History of the North Mexican States_,
I, 237-274, 548-580, 660-691; Bolton, H.E., Kino's _Historical Memoir of
Pimeria Alta_, especially Vol. I, 27-65; Bolton, H.E., ed., _Spanish
Exploration in the Southwest_, 425-463: Chapman, C.E., _The Founding of
Spanish California_, 1-67; Ortega, Jose, _Apostolicos Afanes_, libros
II-III; Richman, I.B., _California under Spain and Mexico_, 42-61.
LOWER CALIFORNIA
Alegre, Xavier, Historia de la Compania de Jesus, III, 91-309; Bancroft,
H.H., History of the North Mexican States. I, 276-304, 407-466, 476-491;
Bolton, H.E., Kind's Historical Memoir, consult Index under
"California," "Picolo," and "Salvatierra"; Engelhardt, Fr. Zephyrin,
Missions and Missionaries of California, I. 61-600: Hittell, T.E.,
History of California, I, 148-308; North, A.W., Mother of California,
1-78; Richman, I.B., California under Spain and Mexico, 1-41; Venegas,
Migual, Natural and Croit History of California, I, 215-455, II, 1-213.