translated by Edna Brown of Corpus Christi, TX

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YEAR OF 1764

Liquidation of the quantities spent in the Colony of el Nuevo Santander formed by the Table of Reports
of Royal Tribunal of Accounts in conformity to the Royal Order contained within it.

The King wants to have a precise report of everything that might have been spent in the
enterprise of the pacification and population of Sierra Gorda in the Gulf of Mexico which, in the
year of seventeen hundred forty-eight, was ordered of the colonel of the militias of Querétaro, Don
José de Escandón and, at the same time, by whom and how the accounts of that consumed in this
enterprise have been given and taken and I give notice of this to Your Excellency of his Royal
Order so that he order the formation of a precise state or account of everything and it be sent to
me with the most possible haste with the aim of making it known to His Majesty. - God keep Your
Excellency many years. Madrid, twenty-nineth of June of seventeen hundred sixty-three. the
Baílio Frey Don Juli�n de Arriaga -Gentleman Marquis of Cruillas.

Decree. - Mexico, eleventh of December of seventeen hundred sixty-three. - In order to execute that which His Majesty orders in the preceding Royal Order placed in the books of my Superior Government, testimony will be sent to the Royal Tr ibunal of Accounts so that at its continuation the cited report be placed. - Honorable Marquis of Cruillas.

It agrees with its original which I returned to the Chamber Secretary of the Most Excellent Gentleman
Viceroy of this Kingdom to whom I submit myself. And so that it be evident to the Royal Tribunal
and Audience of Accounts of this Court, I give the following. Mexico, fourteenth of December
of seventeen hundred sixty-three - José de Gorr�ez. - (Rubric)

Most Excellent Sir.

In order to proceed to the formation of the state or account which His Majesty orders in
this Royal Order and Decree of Your Majesty, he should be served to order that, through the
Office of Governor of Don José Gorr�ez, the documents of the accounts of Colonel Escandón of
the use of the funds, which were furnished to him from the Royal Treasury from the beginning of
the conquest and pacification of the Colony of Nuevo Santander, be sent to this Royal Tribunal due
to the knowledge and determination having run through that superior government.

Tribunal and Royal Audience of Accounts, 16th of December of 1763. - Barroeta -
(Rubric) - Mella. - (Rubric) - Negreiros. - (Rubric) - Abad. - (Rubric)

Mexico, December 17th of 1763.
The documents which the Royal Tribunal of Accounts requests to be passed to it. - (a
rubric.)

Tribunal and Royal Audience of Accounts, 19th of December of 1763.

Having sent, on this day, the documents which the aforesaid proposal of this Royal
Tribunal cites, let them pass, with this Royal Order, to the Table of Records so that, according to
its literal sense and with the most thorough examination of them, of the accounts, and of the books
that contain them, it forms at the end an exact and individual report of the funds used from the
account of the Royal Treasury in the pacification and population of the conquest of Sierra Gorda
and the Gulf of Mexico, of the General Junta which presided for it until the end of the current
month, expressing distinctly the increased quantities that were paid to Colonel Escandón in virtue
of the ones of which he gave accounts to the Superior Government citing the orders of His Majesty
expedited by it, as well as the respective allowances successively satisfied each year until the
present, and executing this operation with the most clarity and brevity possible as His Majesty
orders. - (four rubrics) - Before me. - Agustín Francisco Guerrero y Tagle. - (Rubric)

Complying with the preceding decree of Your Lordship of the 19th of December of the
immediate year past, so that, according to the literal sense of the Royal Order, which also
precedes, of the date of the 29th of June of 1763, in which His Majesty orders a precise report of
everything that was spent in the enterprise of the pacification and population of la Sierra Gorda in
the Gulf of Mexico which, in the year of 1748, was ordered of the colonel of the militia of
Querétaro, Don José de Escandón and, at the same time, by whom and how they have given and
taken account of that used in this enterprise; we have seen and inspected, with the most detailed
examination, the documents which were given to this Royal Tribunal by the Superior Government
on the advice of Your Lordship, the Most Excellent Viceroy, on the date of the 19th of the
aforesaid December as well as the common books of the Royal Treasury corresponding to the
accounts of Royal Officials of this Court comprising this operation since the cited year of 1748 on
the first day, as likewise the accounts of factorage of this same Royal Bank of the keeping of its
account, which are expressed in the entries for said documents, accounts of Royal Officials and
documents of factorage, to compliment the aforesaid Royal Order, as much for that which regards
the quantities that were paid to the aforesaid colonel Don José de Escandón in virtue of the
General Junta of War and Treasury which on the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 13th of May of the forecited year
of '48, they celebrated, consequent to Royal Decrees of the 10th of July of '739 and the 13th of June
of '43, as well as those which have been paid successively each year up to the present, due to
assigned allowances to the posts and squadrons of this pacification, the ones that have been paid
to the missionary priest occupied in them, the ones which, likewise, were spent for the construction
or foundation of said missions, all evident in the common books, at it appears at its sections on the
days, years, and pages which are numbered with the expression of the superior orders that
motivated all those quantities which, as annexed to this cost, have been ordered and paid by Royal
Officials of this Matrix Treasury, general accounts of Royal Tributes, excises and, finally, laying
before Your Lordship separately, all the quantities spent thus in the origin of the pacification as
well as in the conservation of this; we shall conclude with the exposition of by whom and how the
accounts of this enterprise have been given and taken, citing the royal decrees and orders which
appear in the documents and it is in the following manner:

Quantities delivered to the colonel Don José de Escandón of the Order of Santiago, Substitute Captain General in
the Sierra Gorda, its missions, presidios, and frontiers and Lieutenant in charge of the Viceroy in the Coast of the Gulf
of Mexico for the establishment of the 14 settlements in the coast of said gulf.

On the 13th of July of 1748, in its common book on pages 253
verso, in conformity to the order of the Most
Excellent Gentleman, Viceroy of this Kingdom, Count
of Revillagigedo, from the 6th of the current,
countersigned by Don José Gorr�ez, Secretary of
Government and War of this New Spain, expedited in
consequence of that determined in General Junta of
War & Treasury, celebrated in the 8th, 9th, 10th, and
13th days of May of this same year $75,000.00 were
delivered for the said establish-
ment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 75.000 0 0

Likewise, on the 24th of December of the same year on page
257 of the same book in virtue of the decree of the
23rd of the aforesaid, $15,000.00 were turned over to Don José de Toca Y Herrera, its agent . . $ 15,000 0 0

On the 14th of February of the year of 1750, expedited to Don
José de Toca y Herrera, empowered by the cited
colonel, consequent to the order of the Most Excellent
Gentleman, Viceroy of this Kingdom, countersigned
by the aforesaid Don José Gorraez[sic], expedited in
consequence of that decided in a General Junta of War
& Treasury, celebrated the 20th day of said [month]
the quantity of $22,989, 4 tomins [1/3 drachm or 1
real]; $11,489, 4 tomins as balance of account which
said colonel deduced in the account which he
presented in said junta and the $11,500.00 remaining
which he proposed as necessary for the new entry and
the perfection of the 14 settlements which have been
established in said gulf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 22,989 4
______________________
$ 112,989 4ts

On the 20th of November of the same year, page 259,
$10,000.00 were turned over to said Toca in the name
of said colonel in conformity to the order of the Most
Excellent Viceroy from the 16th of same,
countersigned by the aforesaid Gorraez in order to
support, with it, the expenses that are necessary to
make in said gulf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 10,000 0 0

On the 18th of May of the year of '52, page 255, $12,000.00
were expedited and paid to the captain Don Agustín
de Iglesias empowered by the aforesaid colonel Don
José Escandón in virtue of the dispatch of the 18th of
April of this same year, countersigned by the aforesaid
Don José Gorraez, for the purchase of 3,500
measures of corn for the aid and support of the
settlers, squadrons, congregated Indians, and those
disposed to con-
gregate in said coast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 12,000 0 0
______________________
134,989 4 ts.

On the 25th of January of 1755, on pages 218 verso, the said
Iglesias was paid in the name of the afore-said colonel
in virtue of the decree of the 24th of December of the
past year of '54, the quantity of $24,035, 3 tomins, 8
grains from the Royal register of this Court and
$23,600.00 of the deputies in turn from the Royal
Duties of the city of Querétaro in virtue of the decree
of the Most Excellent Viceroy, expedited on the 18th
of May of the same year, of which said colonel agreed
having received on the 27th of the same and it is
justified by the certification of the General Accountant
of the Royal Taxes, Don Juan Urdanegui, on page
156, folder No. 20 of these documents; that the two
brought together compose that of $47,635, 3 tomins 8
grains, the same which resulted in favor of said
colonel in the account which he presented
in this Royal Tribunal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 47,635 3 8

Likewise, by the decree of His Excellency of the 25th of
February of the current year, they paid, for the
commerce and the vicinity of Tampico, lessees
$3,804, 1 tomin that were from those Royal Sales
TaxesTaxes, given to Don Juan de Barberena,
commanding captain of the Cordillera del Sur, and his
lieutenant Don José Odriosola who remained with the
charge from the aforesaid colonel of the purchase of
some corn, as it is justified by the cited certification
on pages 156 verso of said folder and
documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,804 1 0
______________________
187,429 0 ts 8 gr.

On the 16th of September of 1757, page 253, they paid to said
church by the aforesaid colonel in conformity to the
dispatch of his Excellency of the 24th of July of this
year, countersigned by said Gorraez, the quantity of
$16,458, 5 t. 6 grs. for a few others that resulted from
the 2nd account which he presented in this Royal
Tribunal of the expenses made in the expediting of his
charge since the 19th of July of
751 until the 26th of March of that of '56 . . . . . . $ 16,458 5 6
______________________
202,887 6 ts 2 grs.

The sum of the quantities that have been delivered to those
empowered by the colonel Don José de Escandón in
virtue of the superior dispatches, decrees, and orders,
the quantity of two hundred two thousand eight
hundred eighty-seven pesos, six tomins, and two
grains, so it appear from its sum.

Report of the quantities which were delivered to the agents,
Royal Officials of the Royal Register of the Court for
the facilitation of the missions of this gulf.

On the 19th of October of 1748, $6,000.00 were paid in
conformity to the decree of His Excellency of the 16th
of September of this same year for the purchase of
ornaments and other necessities for the service of
divine worship in the missions which were erected in said gulf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 6,000 0 0

On the 23 of December of said year, $12,000 were paid,
likewise, to the expressed said agent. $6,000.00 for
the purchase of goods for the making of ornaments in
three missions and the other $6,000.00 for the
purchase of farm implements, copper, the rest of the
goods and their freight for the fitting out of 6
missionaries, everything according to the superior
decree of the 6th of November of this Year. . . . . . $ 12,000 0 0

From the factorage account of the Royal Register of this court
in the charge of its providing agent, Don Ignacio José
de Miranda, comprehensive of the year of '49, the
distribution is evident of $9,582, 6 tomins, 1 grain in
the authorization of the holy urns, ornaments, and
other things for the 6 new missions founded in
Santander, everything in conformity to the superior
dispatch of the 10th of November of the aforesaid year
countersigned by
Don José Gorraez. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 9,582 6 1

From the factorage account of the year of '51 in the charge of
its cited agent in virtue of the superior dispatch of the
7th of September, there is evidence of the spending by
said agent of $991. 1 tomin, in the new mission which
is set down as having been established in the Río de
las Sabinas or Salado and $1,228, 3 tomins, which
were delivered to the trustee of these missions, in
virtue of the dispatch of the 10th of November of the
year of '49, countersigned by Don José Gorraez for
the freight and delivery of the ornaments and the rest
of the things for the missions founded in this year
which, the several quantities put together, compose
$2,219, 4 tomins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2,219 4 0

From the factorage account of the year of '53, there is
evidence, likewise, of the expenditure by the cited
agent, in virtue of the superior dispatch of the 15th of
September of said year, the quantity of $2,782.00, 8
grains in the authorization of the ornaments, sacred
urns of the two missions called
Escandón and Aguayo, similar to that of Revilla. $ 2,782 0 8
_______________________________

The sum of the parts delivered to the agent of this cited Royal
Register, in virtue of the orders which are referred to
for the purchase, freights, and the rest of the
necessities of the missions constructed in said gulf and
that the following parts expressed the quantity of
thirty-two thousand five hundred
eighty-four pesos, two tomins, nine grains. . . . . . $ 32,584 2 ts 9 grs

Report of the quantities delivered to the trustee of the
missionaries by reason of the stipends of these.

On the 20th of November of '748, as it is justified by the
common book of the Royal Treasury of this court,
page 255, payment was made to the captain Don
Jacinto Martínez de Aguirre, trustee of the priests of
San Francisco del Colegio de Zacatecas, in virtue of
the decree of this Superior Government of the 5th and
6th of the cited November, of $10,132.00, the
$3,600.00 for the stipends of one year advanced to the
12 priests who went out from said college to found the
6 missions which contain the following regions:
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Horcasitas, el
Patrocinio de Señor San José de San Francisco de
Asís, Nuestra Señora del Rosario de las Caldas, San
Antonio de Padua, and San Juan de Epomuceno, in
respect to 2 priests in each mission and of $300.00
stipend per year and the remaining $6,532.00 for the
purchase of oxen, corn, and other seeds for the
planting in said mission in respect to $3,266, which is
considered to be necessary for each three missionaries. . . . . . . . $ 10,132 0 0

On the 9th of December of the year 1749, pages 255 verso of
said book, payment was made to said captain as
trustee of said priests, in virtue of the dispatch of the
10th of November of the past year of '48, of
$7,582.00; $1,050.00 of this for the stipends of one
year advanced to three priests who went to found and
complete the 6 new missions which were erected in
said gulf in the same conformity that was executed
with the other 6 founded in the year of '48 in which
only nine were occupied in this form: two in that of
Vedoya, one in Camargo, another in that of Burgos,
two in that of San Fernando, two in that of Santander,
one in Padilla, of which is seen three remaining priests
from the twelve who were sent; the ones who, with
these three that were increased, compose six which
should be in attendance in the following form: one in
Reynosa and its Mission of el Monte, another in that
of San Francisco G�emes, another in that of Santa
María Llera, another in that of Altamira, another in
Santa B�rbara, and another in the city of Horcasitas,
in respect to each one at $350.00 per year; and the
$6,532.00 remaining for oxen,
corn, and seeds for planting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 7,582 0 0

On the 23rd of December of the year of 1749, page 257, there
was a payment to the aforesaid captain, trustee for the
9 priests of the 6 missions which, in the year of 1748,
were founded in the town of Vedoya, in that of
Vedoya[sic], one in Camargo, in that of Santander,
and in that of Padilla, in virtue of the decree of the
17th of December of $3,300.00 for the stipends of said
priests regarding the 2nd year advanced in this manner:
$1,200.00 for three of the aforesaid ones in the
missions called Vedoya and Camargo, in respect to
$400.00 each, and the remaining $2,100.00 to the six
of the four in
respect to $350.00 to each one. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,300 0 0

On the 16th of December of the year of 1750, pages 260 verso,
to the aforesaid trustee of the 9 priests, assistants in
the above explained missions, was paid $3,300.00 for
the stipends of the third year in virtue of the decree of
the 7th of the cited
December. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,300 0 0

On said day, on the cited page, $2,150.00 was paid to the same
trustee, in virtue of the decree of the same 7 referred
to above, for the stipends of the 6 priests of the
missions that were founded the year of '49 in the town
of Reynosa, San Francisco de G�emes, Santa María
Llera, Altamira, Santa B�rbara, and Horcasitas in
respect to $350.00 for each one, with the exception of
Reynosa which has the assignation of $400.00. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2,150 0 0

On the 14th of February of the year of 1752, on pages 251
verso, there is a payment affirmed to the said trustee
of the 15 missionary priests of this gulf of $5,450.00
in conformity to the decree of His Excellency of the
18th of January past for the stipends of these,
concerning a completed year at
the end of December of the year of '51. . . . . . . . $ 5,450 0 0

On the 22th of December of this same year, on pages 261
verso, they paid to the expressed trustee, in virtue of
the decree of His Excellency of the 7th of the current,
$5,050.00 for the stipends of the 14 priests who
attended to the missions in this year, these stipends
corresponding to the entire cited year of
'752. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 5,050 0 0

On the 23rd of September of 1753, on page 255, the cited
trustee, in virtue of the dispatch of the 15th of the
current, was paid $5.538.00 in this form: the
$2,272.00 for the stipends of three priests in the
missions founded in the town of Revilla, town of
Aguayo, and town of Escandón, $816.00 for the
stipends of that of Revilla, in two years and one-third
concerning the $350.00 which it has in assignation;
$787.00 of the stipends of the one of Aguayo, for its
stipends of two years and two months; $669.00 of the
stipends of the missionary of that of Escandón in one
year and 11 months, and the $3,266.00 remaining for
the oxen, corn, and other seeds for planting in said
three missions according to what was delivered, for
this end of the other missions, to this trustee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 5,538 0 0

On the 16th of January of 1754, on page 248, to the aforesaid
trustee, in the name of the 17 missionary priests of the
15 provinces of the Gulf of Mexico, in virtue of the
decree of His Excellency of the 6th of December of the
past year of '53, they paid $6,100.00 for the stipends
of said priest
corresponding to the year of '53. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 6,100 0 0

On the 14th of December of the same year of 1754, to the same
trustee, on page 256, they paid, for the same reasons,
in virtue of the decree of the 7th of the current,
$6,100.00 for the stipends of the related
year of '54. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 6,100 0 0

On the 16th of January of the year of 1756, on pages 248 verso,
the aforesaid trustee was paid, in virtue of the decree
of the 22th of December of the past year of '55, $6,100.00 for his stipends of said year. . . . $ 6,100 0 0

On the 22nd of December of said year of 1756, the aforesaid
trustee of the 17 priests was paid, in virtue of the
decree of the same 22, $6,100.00 for
their stipends of the aforementioned year of '56. . $ 6,100 0 0

On the 9th of February of 1758, on page 219, Don Juan
Martín de Astiz, trustee of the 17 missionary priests,
was paid, in virtue of the superior decree of the 15th of
December of the past of '57, $6,100.00 for his
stipends of one year, completed at the end of December of the same year. . . . . . . $ 6,100 0 0

On the 20th of December of 1758, on page 255, the cited Artiz,
in the name of said priest, was paid, in virtue of said
superior decree of the 1st of the current, $6,100.00 for
the stipends of the present year of
1758. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 6,100 0 0

On the 22nd of December, on pages 253 verso, the aforesaid,
for the preceding reasons, in virtue of the decree of
the same day, was paid $6,100.00 for
his stipends of all this year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 6,100 0 0

On the 9th of February of 761, on pages 248 verso, the
aforementioned, in virtue of the decree of the 17th of
December of the past year of 1759, was paid
$6,100 for his stipends of the year of '60. . . . . . . $ 6,100 0 0

On the 15th of March of 1762, on page 250, the aforesaid
Astiz, in virtue of the decree of the 17th of December
of the past year of '61, was paid $5,400 for the
stipends of 15 priests for the year completed at the end
of December of the past of
'61. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 5,400 0 0

On the 24th of December, on page 262, Don Juan Martín de
Astiz, trustee of the 15 priests, in virtue of the decrees
of the 16th of December of '62 and the 19th of the same
of '63, was paid $10,800 for the stipends of said
priests concerning two years, the past of '62 and the
present of '63, in respect to the 12 at $350.00 each and the other three at $400.00. $ 10,800 0 0
_______________________________
$ 107,502 0 ts. 0 grs

The quantities that have been expedited and paid by this Royal
Register to the trustees of the missionaries of the Gulf
of Mexico, either for their stipends from the year of
'48 or for the purchase of the oxen and other
dependencies of the missions, amount to the quantity
of one hundred seven thousand five hundred two
pesos, as it appears at its sum.
---------------

Report of the quantities of which there is evidence of their
being delivered to those empowered by the colonel
Don José Escandón for the salaries of the squadrons
and mobil companies that garrison the Colony of el
Nuevo Santander in said gulf.

On the 7th of March of the year of '750, pages 240 verso, Don
José de Toca y Herrera, in virtue of the decree of the
Most Excellent Viceroy, Count of Revillagigedo, of
the 26th of February of the same year, countersigned
by Don José Gorraez, Secretary of Government and
War, was paid $31,157, 4 tomins for the salaries of
the present year of the 127 posts of which the 10
squadrons and 2 mobile companies, which garrison the
cited
colony in said gulf, are composed. . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 31,157 4 0

On the 7th of August of 1751, pages 252 verso, in virtue of the
superior dispatch of the 12th of June, countersigned by
the gentleman D. Juan Martínez de Soria, the said
empowered person was paid $31,157.00 for the
salaries of the 127 of which the squadrons and the two
mobile companies are
composed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 31,157 4 0

On the 6th of April of the year of '53, pages 253 verso, the
captain Don Agustín de Iglesias, empowered by the
cited colones, was paid, in virtue of the decree of the
24th of December of the past year, $31,179, 6, 6, for
the salaries of said posts of the ten squadrons and two
mobile companies, this pay
corresponding to the year of '52. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 31,179 6 6

On the 11th of March of '754, on pages 250 verso, the cited
empowered person, in virtue of the decree of the 9th of
February of this same year, was paid $31,116, 6, 6
for the salaries of all this year of the
posts of the squadrons and companies. . . . . . . . . $ 31,116 6 6

On the 13th of May of 755, on pages 331 verso, the said person
was paid, in virtue of the decree of the 18th of April of
the past year, $30,960, 5 tomins for the salary of the
past year of '54 of the posts of which the 10 squadrons
and 2 mobile companies are
composed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 30,960 5 0

On the 20th of July of 1756, pages 252 verso, the aforesaid was
paid, in virtue of the decree of the 28th of May of this
year, $32,927, 4 tomins for the salaries of one year,
completed at the end of December of the year of '55,
for the 131 posts of which the 13 squadrons, which
garrison the settlements founded
in said colony, are composed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 32,927 4 0

On said day, month, and year, in the name of the overseeing
captain commander and 11 soldiers of the Presidio of
Santa Ana Camargo in the coast of the Gulf of
Mexico, the one who earlier acted as garrison in San
Gregorio Cerralvo and, by the determination of the
Superior Government, was sent to said coast with the
enjoyment of the same salaries which the others, who
garrison said coast, have assigned, in virtue of the
superior decree of the Most Excellent Viceroy,
Marqués de las Amarillas, of the 28th of May of '756,
the cited empowered one was paid $3,225.00 for the
salaries completed at the end of December of the past
year of '55. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,225 0 0

On the 10th of September of 757, the aforesaid empowered
person, in virtue of the decree of the 11th of May of
this same year, for the same reasons explained in the
preceding section, was paid $32,927, 4, 0 for
the salaries of the year of '756. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 32,927 4 0

On the same day, on the cited page, the aforesaid person,
empowered of the garrisons of the presidio erected in
Santa Ana Camargo, was paid, in virtue of the decree
of the 22nd of January of said year of '57, $3,225.00
for their salaries corresponding to the
year of '56. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,225 0 0

On the 18th of March of 1758, on page 250, on the part of the
13 squadrons who garrisoned the colonies of el Nuevo
Santander, coast of the Gulf of Mexico, $32,927, 4, 0
were paid, in virtue of the superior decree of the 4th of
February of this year, for the salaries of one year
completed at the end of
December of '57. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 32,927 4 0

On said day on the cited page, $3,225.00 were paid to the part
of the garrisons of Santa Ana Camargo in the colonies
of el Nuevo Santander, in virtue of the superior decree
of the 6th of March of said year, for their salaries of
one year completed at the end of
December of '57. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,225 0 0

On the 24th of March of '759, on pages 249 verso, Don
Agustín de Iglesias, in the name of the overseeing
captain commander and 11 soldiers of the presidio of
Santa Ana Camargo in the colonies of el Nuevo
Santander, was paid, in virtue of the superior decree
of the 22nd of February of the current,
$3,225.00 of his salaries of the entire last year. . . $ 3,225 0 0

The aforesaid on, the cited day and page, was paid $32,927, 4,
0, as empowered of the 131 posts of soldiers,
including captains, of which the 13 squadrons who
garrison the aforesaid colonies are composed, in virtue
of another superior decree of the same 22nd
day, as salaries of the year of '58. . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 32,927 4 0

On the 22nd of April of '760, on page 251, the 13 squadrons
that garrison the colonies of el Nuevo Santander were
paid, in virtue of the dispatch and decree of the Royal
Governing Court of the 10th of March of this year and
the 22nd of the same month, $32,927, 4 tomins for
their salaries concerning the entire
past year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 32,927 4 0

On said day, month, and year, on the same page, the
commanders of Santa Ana Camargo were paid, in
virtue of the dispatch of said Royal Court, $3,225.00
for their salaries concerning the said past year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,225 0 0

On the 13th of March of '761, on page 50 verso, said Iglesias,
in the name of the two captains, officials, and soldiers
of which the 13 squadrons, that garrison the colonies
of el Nuevo Santander, Coast of the Gulf of Mexico,
are composed, in virtue of the decree of His
Excellency on the 1st of the current, was paid $32,927,
4 tomins for their
salaries concerning the entire past year. . . . . . . . $ 32,927 4 0

The aforesaid, on said day and cited page, in name of the
captain, commanding overseerer, and 11 soldiers of el
Presidio de Santa Ana Camargo, in said colonies, was
paid, by another decree of the same
1st day, $3,225.00 for the same reason. . . . . . . . $ 3,225 0 0

On the 16th of February of 1762, on page 249, said Iglesias, in
name of the captain, governing overseerer, and 11
soldiers of Santa Ana Camargo, in the colonies of el
Nuevo Santander, was paid, in virtue of the decree of
His Excellency of the 23rd of December of the past
year, $3,225.00 for their salaries
concerning the entire year of '61. . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,225 0 0

On the 20th of April of said year of '62, on pages 251 verso,
the said Iglesias, empowered of the cited 13 squadrons
of Santander, was paid $32,635, 7, discounted by
$291, 5 of the amount of the vacancies of the captain
of the squadron of Santa María Llera and the
lieutenant of Santander, corresponding to their salaries
of one year completed at the end of December of '761
in virtue of the decree of His Excellency of the date of
the
23rd of said December. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 32,635 7 0

On the 16th of March of 1763, on page 249, the said Iglesias,
in the name of the captains, officials, and soldiers of
the 13 squadrons that garrison the colonies of el
Nuevo Santander, was paid, in confomity to the
superior decree of the 19th of February, $32,702, 4
tomins for their salaries of one year completed at the
end of December past, excluding $200.00 paid, in said
year of '62, to Don Antonio de Puga, captain of the
squadron of the town of Escandón, on account of his
wages by another decree of the 7th of June of said '62
which is found in the common book, page 253 in
which it is arranged that it be reduced in the first
payment and the said reduction is executed here. . $ 32,702 4

On the 16th of March of said year of '63, on pages 249 verso,
the aforesaid Iglesias, in name of the commanders of
Santa Ana Camargo, was paid, in virtue of another
decree of the date of the preceding one, $3,225.00 for
their salaries of the
entire cited past year of '62. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,225 0 0
_____________________________
Sum of that expedited for salaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 444,275 5 ts. 0 grs

Report of the quantity paid by the General Accounting of Royal
Tributes to the lieutenant-colonel and commanding
captain of la Nueva Colonia, Don Juan Francisco
Barberena.

By superior dispatch of this superior government of the date of
the 26th of May of 1751, under the consultation of the
colonel Don José de Escandón of the 10th of the
aforesaid, evident in said documents in which he
expresses having reformed the captain Don Antonio
Ladrón de Guevara from the command that he had
conferred upon him of the Cordillera del Norte and
giving charge of it for all the colony to the captain
Don Juan Francisco de Barberena, with attention to
this one's merit, he asked said colonel to assign to
him, by way of salary, the $800.00 which was
annually received by the First Mayor of the town of
los Valles, as Captain of War, from the tributes of his
jurisdiction and, in consideration of having been
reformed in the Junta of War & Treasury of the 13th of
May of '748, the $1,400.00 exempted, which the First
Mayor drew and four soldiers of the jurisdiction of
Tampico, and also having suppressed the squadrons of
Serralvo [sic] and the one of el Real de San Pedro
Boca de Leones and, in the same manner, having
stopped the salary which the First Mayor of Tantoyuca
enjoyed and because of this, the reason for the
delivery of this salary to the First Mayor of said town
of Valles having ceased, the aforesaid commanding
captain, was confirmed that which he has been
enjoying since the 25th day of May of '751, which has
been paid to him from the tributes, which have been in
the charge of the first mayors of this town until now of
the year of '62, as it is justified by these accounts, and
the last payment made to his testamentary executors in
the cited year of '62 which, in respect to the $800.00
in each year of the 11 which are counted since the
cited 25th of May of '51 until the 21st of the same one
of '62,
compose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 8,800 0 0
..............................................................
$ 8,800 0 0

That paid to the commanding captain Don José Francisco
Barberena comes to eight thousand eight hundred
pesos for the reasons explained.

---------------

Report of that which has been paid to the captain Don José
Tienda de Cuervo and to the lieutenant colonel Don
Agustín Cámara Alta, 2nd engineer for the
commission which they performed in the inspection of
this pacification.

In the account of Royal Officials of this cited Royal Register of
the year of '757, on three expeditions, the lieutenant
colonel Don Agustín López C�mera Alta, 2nd
engineer and the Captain of Dragoones of Veracruz
Don José Tienda de Cuervo, the same one who
obtained as reward of labor in the commission which
was conferred to them by the Most Excellent Viceroy,
Marqués de la Amarillas in virtue of the Royal Orders
of His Majesty for the exact inspection of the
conquests of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico obtained
by Don José de Escandón, were paid $8,000.00
which they obtained as reward of labor from the 1st of
April of said year of '757 until the 7th, inclusively, of
September of the same year, in respect to $25.00 daily
arranged by that ordered by said Most Excellent
Viceroy in his Superior Decrees of the 16th, 29th of
March and 23rd of October of the expressed '57
according to that resolved in the Junta of War which
met for
this effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 8,000 0 0
_____________________________
$ 8,000 0 ts. 0 grs.

Total paid to the subject matter, for the related reason, the
same eight thousand pesos figured.

---------------

Summary which contains all the quantities distributed in the
pacification of this gulf, as it is cited in its items and
net amount of all of its importance.
The colonel Don José de Escandón was given two
hundred two thousand eight hundred seven pesos,
six tomins and two grains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 202,887 6 ts. 2 grs.

To the agent of this Royal Register, thirty-two thousand five
hundred eighty-four pesos, two tomins, and
nine grains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 32,584 2 9

To the agent of the missions of this gulf, one hundred
seven thousand five hundred two pesos. . . . . . . . $ 107,502 0 0

Those delivered, by reason of salaries, to the squadrons and
mobile companies of el Nuevo Santander, four
hundred forty-four thousand two hundred seventy-
five pesos, 5 tomins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 444,275 5 0

That paid to the commanding captain Barberena, eight
thousand eight hundred pesos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 8,800 0 0

That paid to the assigned commissaries for the inspection
of this gulf, eight thousand pesos. . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 8,000 0 0
_____________________________
$ 804,409 5 ts. 11 grs.

These items (excepting errors) add up to eight hundred four
thousand forty-nine pesos, five tomins, eleven grains.

Agreed, then, to make this expense, as the quantity referred to is contained in its items, proceeding
to the context of the arranged Royal Decree of this action regarding by whom and how the accounts of that
consumed in this enterprise have been given and taken, we should, likewise present to this Royal Tribunal
what the documents furnish in this affair.

The comprehensive account which ran in his charge from the second of December of seven
hundred forty-eight until the nineteenth of the same of seventeen hundred fifty by the Superior Decree of
the date of the thirtieth of April of seven hundred fifty-one of page 126, folder No. 20, presented before
the Most Excellent Viceroy and by the colonel Don José Escandón, the accountants who, at present, were
of this Royal Tribunal of Results, Don Cayetano de Bian Rodríguez and ordainer Don Juan Antonio
Gutiérrez, were named for its liquidation, commentary, and adjustment, the ones who, having proceeded,
in completion of this Superior Decree, to said commentary on the second of June of the cited month and
year before said Most Excellent Viceroy, made a presentation of the proposals which were formed by this,
expressing the charge having amounted to, in the mentioned time, the quantity of one hundred fifty-seven
thousand nine hundred fifty-one pesos and one tomin. And, it being the item that they had received from
said colonel in virtue of the writings that he had presented of the quantity of two hundred six thousand six
hundred twenty-six pesos and one tomin, six grains, they explained, in the general resolution of said pages,
the result of the balance in favor of said colonel, the one of the account of eight thousand six hundred
seventy-five pesos, six grains with several observations which they likewise subscribed to the liquidation
and documents which, for this end in virtue of the cited Superior Decree, were delivered to them as it is
all justified from page 135 to 145 verso of said folder.

Of the presentation of the forecited account by the aforementioned ministers, by the Superior
Decree of the 16th of June of the cited year of '51, it was shown to the attorney-general of His Majesty and,
through the one he put forward on the 16th of September of the same year, founding the 5th Ordinance of
the 1st title, 8th book of the Summary of Indias in which it is prepared that the purser of accounts take and
close all which, for any cause, reason, or form, treat and pertain to the Royal Treasury; he concluded
asking that the accounts given and remitted by the colonel Don José Escandón be delivered, with all the
documents and notes that have accompanied them, to the Royal Tribunal and Audience of Accounts so that
they be seen and taken in it, whose fiscal response the Auditor subscribed with the date of the 12th of
October of the cited year of '51 and, by the decree of the 13th, they went to this Royal Tribunal and, by
the decree of the 22nd of the same October the accountants of Results Don José de Urueña and Orderer
Don Manuel de Monterde, the ones who proceeded to their commentary and on the 1st of August of that
of '52 they presented the pages of their settling of the account to this Royal Tribunal with the balance in
favor of said colonel of $47,635.00, 3, 8, with several repairs; that the respective documents formed by
this Royal Tribunal and a representation made to the Most Excellent Viceroy, with regard to this quantity
having exceeded the $115,700.00, determined in the Junta of War & Treasury, already cited for the
expenditures of this pacification as is manifested on page 22 of said folder by the decree of this Royal
Tribunal of the 12th of November of '53, the cited documents were declared as concluded and the balance
of the cited $47,635, 3 ts., 8 grs. declared liquid in favor of said colonel; they were ordered to be paid by
this Superior Government, as it is evident in the item of its exposition.

Following this account was the one which was sent to this Royal Tribunal, corresponding from the
19th of July of '751 to the 20th of May of '756, the one to which, by decree of this aforesaid Royal Tribunal
of the 9th of June consequent to the presentation by said colonel in the Superior Government on the 26th of
March and the fiscal response of the 26th of May of the cited '58 with a prospect to the cited law for its
commentary in this Royal Tribunal, the two ministers were committed of whom we agreed in the feature
of this operation; the one which, seen and commented upon, its charge amounting, in the anticipated time,
to the amount of $17,275.00 and its item, $33,222, 6 ts., 3 grs., resulted in a balance in favor of said
colonel, that of $16,347, 3 ts., 6 grs., and this increased by $111, 2 ts. due to shorting the payment of the
subjects that its body contains, the balance resulted liquid in the quantity of $16,458, 5 ts., the one which,
previous consultation of this Royal Tribunal, fiscal response, and opinion of the Auditor, by Superior
Decree of the 24th of July of said year of '58, was ordered to be paid by Royal Officials of this Royal
Register, as everything is evident from the respective folder of said account on page 179.

From this deed it is deduced that the first account was presented to the Superior Government and
that, in virtue of the law put out by the Attorney General, it was established in this Royal Tribunal, the
revision and commentary of the forecited as suitable from its inspection and of the one which followed it
until the total conclusion of both, which is how much we can inform Your Lordship with view and
inspection of the forecited documents and testimonies of the royal decrees and orders which accompany
them of the dates in el Buen Retiro on the 5th of March of '750, the 20th of December of '750; Royal Order
in Madrid on the 10th of January of '750; Royal Order in San Lorenzo el Real on the 20th of October of .....
finally the expediting in Madrid ...ro of '753, from whose contexts, among various other points of its
narration, it is deduced having informed His Majesty of all that occurred in this expedition, as much about
the quantities distributed as to its progresses to which we defer ourselves. Table of Accounts and Balances,
10th of March of 1764. - Joaquín Trebuesto. - (Rubric) - Manuel del Campo Marín - (Rubric).

Most Excellent Sir:

The preceding report or settlement contains, in detail, all the particulars resolved in the Royal
Order of the 9th of June of the last year which is placed as head, with specific demonstration of mounting
to eight hundred four thousand forty-nine pesos, five tomins, and eleven grains, that distributed by the
Royal Treasury in the pacification and population of Sierra Gorda in the Gulf of Mexico in the charge of
Don José Escandón in all its attentions and consignments from the year of 1748, when it began, until the
end of December of 1763,

-------------------------

SUPERIOR GOVERNMENT. YEAR OF 1766

Decree of provisions regarding the settlement of the Colony of el Nuevo Santander from the results
of the visit which Don José Tienda de Cuervo and Don Agustín de Cámara Alta made. And contained
in this folder is the resignation and the abdication which the missionary priests of el Apost�lico Colegio
de Propaganda Fide have made of the missions which have been in their charge in that colony.

The King. - Marqués de Cruillas, my kinsman lieutenant general of my Royal Army, Viceroy,
Governor and Captain General of the provinces of la Nueva España and President of my Royal Court of
those who reside in the city of Mexico. In consequence of that ordained regarding the important affair of
the population and pacification of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, alias Colony of el Nuevo Santander,
your predecessor, the Marqués de las Amarillas, made it known in a letter of the nineteenth of March of
seventeen hundred fifty-eight, with twenty-six instruments, two maps, and one plan of the view and
inspection with the Captain of Dragoons, Don José Tienda de Cuervo, and the 2nd Engineer, Don Agustín
López de la Cámara Alta, made in the aforesaid settlement and terrain converted by the colonel Don José
de Escandón, and of the not at all good provision of the Port and Barra of el Nuevo Santander, he had to
put it in a serviceable state; that the ideas of his.... the Count of Revillagigedo were a product of his
experiences and of great benefit to my Royal Service since they directed themselves to try to convert the
barbaric Indians, who lived in that territory, to the Catholic Religion and to impede whoever tried, in a
coast so extensive and indefensible, any foreign establishment, as it was happening in that of Nicaragua;
that, these ends not yet having been touched or the favorable consequences that were promised and, that
country being known, some places established, and the entrances to the port constant without the need for
the settlements to be in a state of defence in fear of some intent of invasion, he considered more necessary
the need to maintain that land in the form that the nominated Tienda de Cuervo and Cámara Alta
propose, very detailed, in their reports for various reasons and among them, to impede any introduction
which for .......te already cultivated it might be thought to be done by some country although it would be
difficult because of not adm.... disadvantage of the port and bad disposition of its coast, large containers
in which they could transport ...... that the state that the colony had then, ..... day, that within a few years
its settlements would be able to be useful to my Royal Treasury, because of the commerce that they had
established in seeds, salt, and ores but they had suspended the execution of everything until it be ordered
what they should practice, commanding only, in the interim, that the settlements called Padilla, Santander,
Soto la Marina, San Fernando, Reynosa, and Burgos be well attended by the missionary priests to whom
their administration belongs because they were found defective in this; and that he was satisfied that both
deputies had proceeded with the vigilance, zeal, and without personal interest, which resulted in his
appointment to this commission; from the said documents results the inspection and visit of the stated
colony executed by the precise deputies and that these have conformed to the instruction which were given
to them by the ...... Viceroy and charges he made verbally to them ...ar one or another with total
exactness, individuality ...ración; that the present state of the cited colony, that of there being in it twenty-three settlements and three farms called G�emes, Hoyos, Aguayo, Llera, Escandón, Horcasitas, Altamira,
Padilla, Santander, Santillana, Soto la Marina, San Fernando, Reynosa, Camargo, Mier, Revilla, Dolores,
Laredo, Burgos, Santa B�rbara, Real de los Infantes, Jaumave, and Palmillas, el Real de Borbón, Boca de
Caballero, and Hacienda de San Juan; that besides the distances from the sea and the quality of the
weather, which the aforesaid settlements and farms have, being evident, it is known there are several
haciendas, rivers, irrigation canals, mines, salt deposits, plantings, different types of houses, a diversity
of wood and other materials, to build houses and edifices, in them; twelve hundred ninety-six families with
seven thousand nine hundred ninety-four persons, twenty missionaries with six thousand one hundred fifty
pesos synod for all of them (what is given to each not being equal but rather to pro....... of what their
needs and circumstances demand, although the greatest part is aided with the quantity of ........tos and fifty
pesos which is the most common) five hundred thirty congregated Indians, seventeen hundred twenty-eight
collected, one thousand seventy-one baptized, twenty-one captains with seven thousand three hundred pesos
assigned for their salary at the rate of five hundred each (except the one who is in the settlement of the
town of Santa B�rbara who is the commander and has the grade of lieutenant colonel who enjoys eight
hundred pesos), another seven who, being land-holding subjects in the same towns where they live, have
no salary, a lieutenant with four-hundred pesos, a second lieutenant with three hundred, twelve sergeants
with three thousand for all of them at the rate of two hundred fifty each, a drummer with two reales daily,
which comes to ninety-one pesos and two reales per year, one hundred sixteen soldiers with twenty-five
thousand ...........tos and sixty-one pesos and two reales for all at the rate of two hundred twenty-five each
less the one, who is in the mission which there should be in the town of Escandón, who only has one
hundred twenty pesos and another, who is found in the town of Burgos, with ninety-one and two reales
whose total of salaries compose thirty-six thousand nine hundred fifty-two pesos and four reales which, with
the six thousand one hundred pesos of the synod of the missionaries, amount to forty-three thousand one
hundred two and four reales; that the declared settlements and sites have forty-two thousand seven hundred
twenty-six breeding beasts, five thousand one hundred forty-three mules, twelve hundred eighty-two yokes
of oxen, two hundred eighty-one thousand one hundred twenty-one head of minor livestock, twenty-five
thousand four hundred ninety-four of cattle, eighteen hundred forty male and female donkeys, and eight
thousand three hundred thirty-nine horses including, likewise, the haciendas of minor livestock which enter
to come to the aforesaid colony and missions of Indians that border upon each settlement; before Don José
de Escandón had made his entry into the new colony, all of its land was uncultivated, dominated by the
heathen and apostate Indians who made entries into the neighboring provinces, killing and stealing livestock
which they resolved to take to feed in the pastures immediate to the colony at the foot of the Sierra Madre
without those, who took them, daring to prolong their stay in order to be able to get out easily, and with
all that the experienced continuous hostilities from the Indians, losing the livestock and the shepherds; that
in the site of San Domingo de Hoyos, the small town of San Antonio de los Llanos was situated at the east
where there were only five very poor residents left, to whom the Indians has not even left horses to ride,
some wretched huts serving as lodging for them, without having anything with which to support
themselves, being ready to leave for other provinces when Don José Escandón arrived in that region and
they decided, with this remarkable occurrence to enroll themselves in Hoyos, as they exist now; that in all
the rest of the colony there were no vestiges of, nor did they know about, towns nor haciendas and there
were only some existing in the upper part of the Río Grande del Norte whose owners were residents of the
towns of el Nuevo Reino de León, the ones who came together in the towns and places that the same
Escandón established; that of the declared twenty-three settlements, fifteen are reasonable towns which
can produce a small increase with the commerce of the neighboring provinces and, although other villages
are small, their increase and formation are expected due to the increase of the citizenry of which all the
colony is composed, since there are many who come, fleeing from the extortions which they experience,
from the neighboring provinces so that they can be registered in them with the aim of being able to live
with more ease and the increase of their goods, enjoying the benefit of the lands, which are assigned to
them for farming, and the feeding of their livestock; having attracted also the convenience and advantages
that they obtain in their interests because, finding themselves as servants, they go on to be owners with the
loans which the aforesaid Escandón would make for them of some money, livestock, and clothes to cover
their nakedness, with which shelter they were encouraged and that this was the true cause of the increase
of the colony as the nominated Tienda de Cuervo and Cámara Alta experienced it during their
commission; that the four towns of Jaumave, Santa B�rbara, Palmillas, and Real de los Infantes are found
well situated and abundant in grains, that it cannot be said that they lose a crop since they have seasonal
rains, the ones which, by virtue of having been growers of grain of the colony and neighboring provinces
and that each one can maintain himself alone, most of the residents being well, it is useful to maintain [it]
to assure the communication of the colony and to be situated in the most appropriate regions; that the
aforesaid Tienda de Cuervo and C�mera Alta made to the aforesaid Marqués de las Amarillas ....... the
subsistence, increase, best state, and protection of the colony, several propositions with different
circumstances, the principal ones being the need to move the three settlements of Escandón, Reynosa, and
Burgos, the first one to the site called el Llano Alto de San Agustín, the second one to the one of la Alhaja,
and the third one to one-quarter of a league from where it is found, on elevated terrain so that, with this,
its citizenry obtain better encouragement and increases with the abundant plantings that it reaps (in respect
to its fertile territories which have been considered suitable for the expressed effect) and so that they not
suffer so much with their health and they free themselves from the experienced floods; that in order that
the best service of God be obtained in the conversion of the heathen Indians, the increase of the Royal
Treasury in the cultivation, profit of the mines, and the guarding of the aforementioned colony, with the
subjection and oppression of the apostate Indians, it was inevitable that they put in three more settlements,
the first in the region which is between la Boca which they call el Potrero de las Nueces and Arroyo del
Baratillo which is on the south of the site called Tamaulipa la Nuevo due to being a healthy and fertile
situation, with abundant water, fish, wood, and everything necessary to populate that Tamaulipa (which
is a sierra which is within the terminus of the colony) which always has been the refuge for the apostate
Indians of el Nuevo Reino de León; with which means, and placing a mission (for its being convenient)
within the cover of this settlement to congregate the heathen Indians, who are in all the surroundings and
skirt of the mountains Javalí and Malinche, it would close a door to the aforesaid apostates of the principle
ones they have for their refuge and it would facilitate being able to work the many and rich mines which
the aforesaid Tamaulipa encloses; that the second one it would be convenient to place at the skirt of the
same Tamaulipa and of the Sierra de los Encinos at a distance of six leagues from the town of Burgos on
the principle road of this to Santander to which there should be eleven leagues in a spacious and fertile
valley where there is a copious spring which forms a great reservoir and from it comes an arroyo from
which the fields can be irrigated and it is a site suitable for the raising of all livestock and it will dominate
the regions they call las Bocas de los Cuarteles and el Agua del Alumbre (which are the ones which the
aforesaid apostates of el Nuevo Reino de León continually guard to be able to travel the rest of the colony
and communicate with those who go to live in las Lomas del Capote which they have in front) and that,
this town being established, it will equally dominate all the side of the aforesaid Tamaulipa and its interior,
causing, with these two settlements and the town of Burgos, the closing of the principle mouths of the same
Tamaulipa, the three towns easily giving each other a hand without permitting them to enter nor would the
apostates of el Nuevo Reino de León be able to maintain themselves nor the hamlets of the heathen Indians
which, necessarily they must find themselves obligated to congregate in the mission which, likewise, should
be placed in this second settlement as in the first one and, with it, the attainment of the removal of rich
minerals will be facilitated, contributing in profit to the Royal Treasury and the third settlement, which it
urges, is in the region near the two mountains called las Tetillas between the skirt of la Tamaulipa Vieja
(which is another sierra which is likewise within the terminus of the colony) and las Mesas Prietas, a
distance of eight leagues of the town of Padilla, the most liked for its lands, good water, fish, pastures, and
wood, where there is the most need to place a settlement due to the many heathen Indians who live in the
forecited sierra, Mesas Prietas, and Loma de la Iglesia to which, stretching them in this way, not only
would they be obligated to congregate to the mission, but it would enable a new road to facilitate the
communication with Llera and Escandón which is not available due to the heathen Indians domineering this
large territory and the injuries, which the passengers and the immediate towns received, would be avoided,
with which three needed and urgent settlements they would obtain the total tranquility of the colony, they
would oblige the apostates to return to their missions of el Nuevo Reino de León, they would impede their
influence of the heathen Indians of all the Tamaulipa Nueva and they would find themselves needing to
congregate themselves, removing also from among them the communication of la Tamaulipa Vieja with
which, not only would their fear increase, due to being oppressed and without any other extension other
than the sierra which they possess, but also, with the enmity and war that some have with others, their
deterioration would be achieved or they would be obligated to congregate in the mission which should be
built in each of the three cited new settlements. That, aside from the three which have been discussed,
another two should increase in time according to how the citizenry of the towns of the colony would grow,
the first at the skirt of the south of la Tamaulipa Vieja in front of Escandón and Horcasitas where earlier
it was populated by the Olive Indians who were from La Florida, since they have good and fertile regions
with sufficient water and select pastures for the raising of cattle, a settlement which would facilitate, among
other very useful things, the removal of rich minerals and the heathen Indians would be dominated,
particularly the strongest tribe called Nariguana which has offered to congregate itself; the second
settlement would be important to be established in the east part of the aforesaid Tamaulipa, where they call
it Presa del Rey, near the sea, because of that site being fertile and facilitating, with it, the communication
with all the colony and dominating all the Indians of the coast who are very tame and, because of the salt
deposits there in its terrain, there could be a warehouse of salt at the proper time which my Royal Treasury
could use; that the priests, employed in the settlements that have no Indians, which are the ones of G�emes,
Padilla, Revilla, and Burgos and even one of the two assigned to San Fernando, could be sent to the
mission established in Santillana, Mier, and the new settlements that are formed in the two Tamaulipas:
that also the missionary priests could be ordered that the synods they are given be used in improvement
of the mission and that they tend to that corresponding to farming and raising of livestock to be able to
support the Indians since the missions of el Jaumave, Santa B�rbara, and Palmillas nourish them and have
them clothed and very content in their congrega, making them cultivate the land with much love; that in
order to obtain the conversion of the Indians to a congrega and for the formal establishment of the
missions, it is very important to use the means which is recognized as the only one and that alone gives
hopes of obtaining it and it is the one of the Indians being furnished, in the same congrega, a daily ration
of corn and perhaps the kindness of some tobacco to which they are very inclined, for which it is necessary
that the missions have a foundation of livestock or plantings whose products would finance it and that, for
this effect, it would be convenient that, in the settlements in which the possibility of obtaining crops is seen
due to having canals for their irrigation or because the experience demonstrates that the seasons are
regular, they be provided of all the equipment necessary for farming if they do not have it, the assignment
and property of lands of the mission preceding, adding some livestock which the missionary could use in
sterile years, and that in the regions in which the plantings do not offer a regular crop, the foundation of
the mission be established in the livestock which would prove to be best in that land so that the harvests
finance the purchase of corn and, in the one which might find itself situated in the immediacy of the salt
deposits, it would be suitable to place a bunch of mules for the transporting of the salt in respect to the corn
needed being able to be obtained with its exchange; that it is very important to make a distribution of lands;
well its concession, made to the settlers, was of two sites for minor livestock and six "caballerías" of land
to each one and, this being the only incentive that took them to so many risks that they have experienced,
many having died and left wives and children, it seems that these, with preference, are meritorious persons
for the proclaimed benefit and not that, owing to the lands at present being all together, the settlers use
them in common and according to what each one can or wants to cultivate of those assigned to the
settlement and, for this reason, it would be very conducive for the distribution of those assigned to each
settlement and of that which corresponds to each one in the terms which was offered to the settlers and
residents with distributive justice and attention to their merit and age and particularly to the right of the
Indians, in writing, for their perpetual possession which belongs to each one and his heirs according to the
seniority of their entry into the colony, which would not be suitable to be executed by a person of the same
town but rather by another different and disinterested one with the assistance of the captain who commands
it and of the residents, with which the cultivation would increase because each individual would know what
is his and would have more love, as much for the lands as for the town and that, if this order would be
formalized, it would seem necessary that in some settlements other lands be destined for the Indians of the
mission and that these be the best in all parts; that for the best safety and service to the colony, it would
be better that, rather than the troop that is present there today, a mobile company be established,
diminishing the number of captains and soldiers and the salary of the first ones, it being reduced to the
officials, corporals, soldiers, and the following salaries: a commander performed by a subaltern corporal
with eight hundred pesos, (if it is found proper to allow this employment and salary in attention to the merit
of the official who is serving today); ten captains for the command of as many settlements with three
hundred pesos each one; another one with five hundred to command the settlement of Padilla where one
of the three detachments, which divide this company, should be placed; a lieutenant with three hundred
to command the settlement of Horcasitas or Escandón in which the second detachment will be assigned;
a second lieutenant with three hundred to command the town of Burgos where it is also suitable to place
the third detachment; three sergeants with two hundred fifty each and seventy-five soldiers with two
hundred twenty-five, from which the three detachments of twenty-five soldiers and one sergeant should be
composed, whose charges come to twenty-three thousand one hundred twenty-five pesos which, subtracted
from thirty-six thousand nine hundred fifty-two which were spent in the support of the troops there are
today, my Royal Treasury would have the savings each year of three thousand eight hundred twenty-six
pesos with which irrigation canals could be facilitated for the settlements needing them and the basis of
missions in this manner: for that of G�emes, six hundred pesos; for that of Escandón, one thousand; for
that of Horcasitas, another thousand; for that of Padilla, due to its greater distance, one thousand five
hundred; for that of Burgos, five hundred; for the mission that should be established in Santillana, two
thousand; for that of Hoyos, one thousand; for the one which would be suitable to add to that of Altamira,
one thousand; for the one of Reynosa, five hundred; for the one of Camargo, one thousand two hundred;
to establish that of Mier above the goods that were assigned to that of Revilla, one thousand; to increase
the one of Horcasitas, six hundred; to encourage the cultivation and planting of Escandón, five hundred;
and for that of Santander, six hundred. So that, these last units coming to thirteen thousand pesos, all of
the costs that are considered necessary to execute the aforesaid do not come to the annual savings obtained
and, by this means, the declining settlements would be encouraged, the missions in a state of maintaining
their Indians with their crops and harvests of livestock and, as a result, it should be expected that they
remain in the aforesaid missions, that they adhere to the doctrine, and that everything would produce the
favorable effects desired along with the savings which my Royal Treasury will experience in the process
of time from which the cost of the establishment of the settlements that are increased and the
encouragement of that of Soto la Marina can come so that the aforementioned colony be put in a better
state; that, distributing the three detachments in so many equal parts and assigning them, one to Padilla,
this one will defend and guard the center of the colony, placing the colonies situated in it under protection
from the hostilities of the Indians that are feared there and they are the those of Tetillas, Mesas Prietas, and
Boca de la Iglesia; that the second one, placed in Horcasitas or Escandón, would contain the barbaric
Indians who have their refuge in la Tamaulipa Vieja, thus covering all the southern mountain chain of the
colony; and that, the third being established in Burgos, it would subdue the Indians of la Tamaulipa Nueva
and drive away the apostates of el Nuevo Reino de León where they gathered, having the colony on the
north part protected, with which distribution of detachments all the heathen Indians will be more subdued
due to this company being made so respectable if its troop is used solely to guard and seal off the lands and
roads with a party which the detachment is to have always outside, whether it be one third of it or one half,
whatever is found suitable, with attention to the rest which is to be given to the soldier, which the general
of the colony can arrange under whose orders the assigned troop should be; and so that this idea have the
complete effect required, it is considered necessary to form a rule that would establish not only the service
already proposed, but the armament, horses, and equipment that the aforesaid troop should have and the
method of satisfying the salaries for its best relief and the security of their munitions in the form in which
they are provided and equipped there; that it would not be suitable that the Iglesia or Purificación River,
which forms the route and port of Santander, be enabled for many reasons and particularly due to the great
difficulty and cost that it would entail to establish its course, due to the very grave injuries which, in doing
it, would result to my Royal Crown and because, leaving this port in the state it is now, there is no need
to distrust the disembarkation of enemies in time of war which, in its defect, should be much feared and
if it were not for attending to the relief of the colonia in its present new foundation, it would be suitable
to close the named port and prohibit all navigation from it to other parts but that, with the object of its relief
and of the disadvantages which are manifested in small parts in the reports of the declared Tienda de
Cuervo and Cámara Alta, the traffic of the schooner or the aforesaid Don José Escandón could be limited
to another port that would not be that of Veracruz; and the aforesaid seen in my Advice of las Indias, and
with what my attorney general, with his information and that of the predecessors about the affair, exposed
and getting advice about it on the tenth of November of seventeen hundred sixty-one, I have decided that
the three settlements of Escandón, Reynosa and Burgos be moved to the better furnished regions for the
well being, comfort, and health of its residents; that another three be established to contain the coming of
the barbaric Indians and to avoid the thefts that they commit in the colony and the restlessness which they
cause to the tranquil Indians with which, imperceptibly, the first can begin to be dominated and they will
lose the hope which they might still have of becoming strong, especially in the two Tamaulipas and in their
immediate woods and rivers; that you regulate the missions and their synods in all the colony and in the
new settlements that are made, giving them the instructions for the use and practice that they should do so
that they use their faculties as such missionaries with the collected and congregated Indians, having the
"obvenciones" and offerings in mind which they expect for regulating the aforesaid synods; that you
commission a person who would be completely satisfactory to make the distribution of the lands assigned
to each settlement, regulating it to the merit of each settler and his abilities and assigning them common
lands, pastures, and lands as property, giving, likewise, the corresponding ones to the Indians who might
collect in these settlements such that they can make their plantings and raise their livestock without injury
from them or from the settlers in respect to, that in the new colony, the rules which the laws prescribe for
the new conversions of Indians should not be followed because this settlement has been formed of cities
and towns of Spaniards and the Indians should only be reputed as aggregated and with subordination to the
justice given to them, although they might have their own government by means of their captains and minor
governors since this aggregation has been considered to be an effective measure to attract the Indians and
that they remain in the faith and in their establishments without having the ability to be able to apostatize
with flight as they usually do in the other missions; that regarding that which views the project about
substituting a mobile company in the new colony in place of the soldiers who live in each settlement, you
judge on this point according to what the reports, which you can get from Don José Tienda de Cuervo,
Don Agustín López de la Cámara Alta, or from other experts of the country, dictate to you and, finally,
disapproving the poorly thought idea of opening commerce in the announced Coast of the Gulf of Mexico
through the port they have called Santander, not only have I resolved both to order the suspension of all
works that have been directed to improve it, if not rather destroying those that might have been made, they
help, if it is possible, to increase the defects and impediments that it has of its own and they prohibit all
traffic of vessels through it, even the smallest of the expressed coast, in which consequence I order you
and mandate you to comply and execute and have this, my Royal Resolution be complied with and executed
punctually and effectively according to and in the form in which it is expressed since it is my desire. Date
in el Buen Retira of twenty-ninth of March of seventeen hundred sixty-three. - I the King. - By mandate
of the King Our Lord. - José Ignacio de Goyeneche - Signed with three rubrics.

Mexico, twenty-eighth of July of seventeen hundred sixty-three. - So that this Royal Decree have
an effective completion as His Majesty orders in it, be it set in the books of my Superior Government and
testimony of it in the documents of the inspection, which the lieutenant colonel Don Agustín López de la
Cámara Alta and the dragoon captain Don José Tienda de Cuervo (both deceased) made, go to the
auditor with all the others that treat of this conquest so that he explain to me his opinion regarding the
proper completion of all that is prepared. - The Marquis of Cruillas.

It concurs with its original which I returned to the Chamber Secretary of the Most Excellent
Viceroy of this Kingdom to which I defer myself; and so that it appear in the documents of the inspection
which the lieutenant colonel Don Agustín López de la Cámara Alta and the dragoon captain Don José
Tienda de Cuervo made in virtue of all ordered, I put in the present. Mexico and August twenty-two of
seventeen hundred sixty-three - José de Gorraez. (rubric)

Most Excellent Sir:

On this occasion the documents of the Inspection of the Colony of the Gulf of Mexico made by the
lieutenant colonel and 2nd engineer, Don Agustín López de la Cámara Alta and the dragoon captain Don
José Tienda de Cuervo have been brought to the auditor so that he put forward an opinion regarding the
completion of the testified Royal Decree which it precedes and in which His Majesty orders Your
Excellency to comply and execute his Royal Resolution taken in view of the testimony of the documents
of the expressed inspection and with regard to that, due to treating of the execution and completion of the
Royal Decree, the honorable attorney general is a part in whose power the documents made regarding the
pacification and population of said colony are found according to the reports the Auditor has had in this
affair, it being the superior pleasure of Your Excellency they will be served to order that the attorney
general be shown and, with what he might say, it be brought to the Auditor to consult with Your
Excellency whatever is suitable.

Mexico and September 3 of 1763. - Don Domingo Valcarcel. - (rubric)

Mexico, 6th of September of 1763. - to the honorable attorney general. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Sir:

Notwithstanding that the documents and proceedings of the pacification and population of the New
Colony, which the honorable auditor cites in his preceding decree, are not found in the power of the
attorney general, not because of this does he have reason to constrain himself in requesting the completion
of the preceding Royal Decree, although the provinces which His Majesty was served to take in it, have
been expedited in view of the testimony of documents with which the most excellent Marqués de las
Amarillas, predecessor of Your Excellency, gave an account to His Majesty and, his sovereignty having
found it suitable with the preceding consultation of the Royal and Supreme Counsel of the Indias, that all
that is served to be ordered be executed, it would be excused that the attorney general hold back in
inspecting the documents which His Majesty has already born in mind and that, for this reason, the
completion of his royal orders would be retarded more time, the ones which Your Excellency should be
served to order to be kept, complied, and executed faithfully as they are contained in the Royal Decree,
expediting for it the corresponding dispatches so that he have them be placed in the part pertaining to it and
the general of the colony, colonel Don José Escandón put them into execution; and Your Excellency
giving charge to the person, who would be to his satisfaction, for the distribution of the lands in the same
terms and as His Majesty has been served to order and, previously taking the reports of the politicians of
the country, which Your Excellency might esteem suitable, in respect to not being able to take any now
from the dragoon captain Don José Tienda de Cuervo and from the engineer Don Agustín López de la
Cámara Alta due to both having died, Your Excellency would be served, depending on something useful
resulting from them, to substitute, in place of the soldiers who live in each settlement, a mobile company
whose detachments, divided into the number, places, and form that are mentioned in the same Royal
Decree, be used in the exercises that you express and, in order to arrange the missionaries and their synods
in all the colony and in the new settlements that might be made and give them the instructions which His
Majesty is served to prepare, they be given to them and that their synods be arranged, keeping the expected
"obvenciones" and offerings in mind, Your Excellency would be served to convince, of this Royal
determination, the Reverend Father Guardian or Prelate of the Colegio Apost�lico to whom those
missionary priests might belong so that, with their "difinitorio" they inform and explain to him regarding
the number of missionaries which should be increased as well as about the reform and arrangement of
synods which all of them should have and the importance of the casual "obvenciones" and offerings which
they expect, what they would need, they might be certain of and might find suitable. And, finally, so that
in information of all types of boat traffic, even the smallest, being prohibited through the port which has
been called Santander, it not be permitted that in Veracruz or the other ports of this government a registry
be opened and cargo be removed for it or that, as in licit and permitted navigation, those that leave
Santander be admitted in them, Your Excellency would be served to expedite the corresponding dispatches,
making it known to the governors, royal officials, and others to whom it might be pertinent, the traffic and
navigation hereafter being prohibited by His Majesty from the said port to the others of this America.
Mexico 9th of January of 1764. - Velarde. - (rubric).

Mexico, 10th of January of 1764. - Return to the Auditor as he has asked. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Sir:

It being the pleasure of Your Excellency, he may command everything as the Attorney General
proposes in his preceding response which the Auditor reproduces due to it being what is suitable.

Mexico, and January 21st of 1764. - Don Domingo Valcarcel. - (rubric)

Mexico, 25th of January of 1764. - as the Attorney General requests and the Auditor subscribes to
all. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Sir:

Apparently reduced to seven points is the resolution taken by His Majesty (God keep him) on the
date of the twenty-ninth of March of seventeen hundred sixty-three, in an order for the Colony of Nuevo
Santander, placed at my command, regarding which Your Excellency is deigned to send me information
with the aim of arranging the punctual completion, as far as it is suitable to the royal service. The first one
is directed to the moving of the towns of Escandón, Reynosa, and Burgos to more comfortable regions
from the ones in which they were founded. The second one, that, for now, three new settlements in those
regions of Tamaulipa la Nueva, los Encinos, and Tetillas and, in time, another two at the south skirt of
Tamaulipa la Vieja and in la Presa del Rey be established. The third one, that the synods destined for the
priests who minister, for the soldiers, the settlers, and Indians be arranged, keeping in mind the
"obvenciones" and offerings that they expect. The fourth one, that the lands be distributed to the soldiers,
settlers, and Indians in the specified method. The fifth one, that the Indians be congregated by aggregation
to the cities and towns with subjection to their captains and not by missions. The sixth one, that Your
Excellency determine, if it is suitable, that the troop, which garrisons said colony, continue in squadrons,
as it has been maintained until now, or reduced to three companies, lessening the salary of some of the
captains. And the seventh one, that the navigation to la Barra del Nuevo Santander not be permitted to
prevent the occasion of contraband being introduced through it.

1. The towns of Escandón, Burgos and Reynosa, contained in the first point and ordered to be moved
to more comfortable regions than in which they had been established, I put into work after the
rapid floods of those rivers, not experienced until then, caused me to realize the risk to which they
were exposed, something in which I did not delay, using the authority which is conferred to me,
for such cases, that I act since I have the thing before me, contemplating it was of the royal
service; and on number nine of my letter of the twenty-ninth of May of seventeen hundred fifty-eight, in reference to my preceding consultations in the affair, I reported that the said Escandón
was already, to the satisfaction of its settlers and mine, about one-half league farther down, on a
level region which can obtain the benefit of irrigation from the same river; something which was
measured and recognized, with my assistance, to assure its duration and the usefulness to the
settlers who, today, are found very increased; they have the planting going well and an increased
number of livestock. And the same, I gave notice to the number twelve of my letter of the fifth
of May of seventeen hundred sixty, I had done with that of Burgos after having completed
perfectly its lovely irrigation canal, something that I repeated at number fourteen of my letter of
the second of May of this present year, with testimony of the review made in it, in which it will
be understood my having moved it about a distance of three leagues to an elected site on the skirt
of the Sierra de Tamaulipa with abundant irrigation, much increase of citizenry, and the happy
state which it now enjoys. And I did not move that of Reynosa because, measuring the land of that
immediacy along with the captain, the reverend minister father, the squadron, and settlers, not
having found a region that offered a better situation, and recognizing with the passing of time that
said settlement had no risk where it was, due to the large bed that the Río Grande del Norte has
opened, at the request of all of the aforesaid and with my satisfaction, I ordered it to continue
without change which I also reported; and, at present, it is found increased in settlers and in goods
of the field, not only in this part of the south of the said Río Grande, but also on that of the north
of it where its settlers have built several ranches and haciendas and opened some lands for farming,
with which I contemplate the first point was completed totally, even before it was ordered of me
and that there is nothing left to do in it.

2. On the second it is ordered to place three new settlements in the regions of Tamaulipa la Nueva,
los Encinos, and Tetillas. The first, it appears to me, should be established in el Potrero de
Nueces; this is a lovely valley at about three leagues from .....casi Leste-veste and at one to two
south-north, [sic] outside of some junctures which are found at the highest of said Sierra de
Tamaulipa la Nueva, surrounded by hills, all mineral sources which, according many assays that
have been made of their ores, its improvement offers a great sum and that of it being permanent.
The weather is cold, although very mild due to the continuous breeze from the sea, very healthy,
and suitable for all types of planting, raising of major and minor livestock due to the good quality
of its pastures; it has several springs which come down from said hills to the expressed valley and,
although in sterile years the arroyo which they form usually drys up, they have found out it is very
competent for a large settlement, which will end up in the center of all the mines. There is an
abundance of pine, spruce, live-oak, oak, and other good woods and various pastures at the
inclines of the aforesaid sierra with water and ease to build haciendas and ranches in which one
can plant sweet cane and such crops of temperate and hot climate according to the situation that
they have within those hills.

3. This said sierra surrounded by lovely valleys which pass immediate to its skirts, on the north and
the south sides, two reasonable rivers abundant with fish. The capital town of el Nuevo Santander
is on the east, corners [or quarters] to the southeast about ten leagues; that of San Fernando, east
corners to the northeast about another ten; the one of los Encinos, which is to be established, will
be to the north, corners to the northeast about six leagues; that of Burgos to the north, corners to
the northeast about seven; that of Borbón to the west about six leagues, and that of Padilla to the
south about ten; all of which are in select regions and I found it necessary to situate them thus in
order to dominate the barbarians and apostates who, empowered in that sierra and flushed with
pride that the Spaniard could not penetrate its ruggedness, committed the greatest injuries and the
course of eighteen years in continuous work have been necessary in order to dominate them and,
even today, the apostates and heathens take refuge in their steep rocks when they do something
wicked but, since it has already been penetrated and roads been opened on all sides, they are
followed with less difficulty, a fear which contains them against their propensity to rob and kill to
which they are accustomed. All their diligence is, and especially that of those who are in the
missions of el Nuevo Reino de León and its apostates, that said sierra not be settled permanently
since it was always their most secure refuge and on all the occasions, in which some miners have
gone up to begin to work the mines, they have pursued them with all their strength.

4. This population, Most Excellency, can be done with forty families of settler soldier, giving each
family one hundred pesos once in financial help for their travel in which the value of a rifle and
a sword should be included, which is the most necessary and which is the most difficult to acquire
in those regions, granting them military jurisdiction and lands in the same manner as the other
settlers and a squadron composed of twelve posts in which should be included a captain with five
hundred pesos salary, a sergeant with two hundred fifty, and ten soldiers at two hundred twenty-five which come to three thousand pesos, a cost which, in these beginnings, I find necessary for
the security of the population, which I doubt can be obtained without it due to the horror and fear
with which that Sierra de Tamaulipa has always been seen from all the borders but I conceive that,
the named population formalized, there will be so many who arise to work its mines that, within
a little time, said cost can cease. And I also find it necessary to place a priest there with the synod
of three hundred fifty pesos and the required ornaments so that he administer the holy sacraments
to said squadron, settler soldiers, and also to the Indians who might begin aggregating, in the same
way that it is disposed for the rest who administer in all the colony whose light cost, I expect, will
produce increased profit for the Royal Treasury, the work of the mines put into practice, and that
they lead very much to the total pacification, the Indians finding themselves without that
"rochela" which they had as the most secure refuge.

5. The second, in the region of los Encinos, direct road to Santander and Burgos, since it is in its
middle at the skirt at the north of said Tamaulipa, which situation is admirable for the purpose due
to its good and fruitful land, pastures, and good water, not only for fruit trees but also for some
irrigation and to provide itself with fish; it has, in its immediacy, several veins of ore which do not
seem bad and, the town put in permantly, they can inure themselves; all from which will result the
removing of the refuge which, in said region, the apostates and some heathens, who kill and rob
the passengers and also the settlers of the immediate settlements, have enjoyed up to here.

6. For this population I find thirty families of settler soldiers sufficient and I expect to facilitate them
with only the financial aid of a rifle and a sword for each one, a captain with three hundred pesos
salary and a sergeant with two hundred twenty-five, to whom I shall add, for now, four detached
soldiers from one of the squadrons where they will be least missed, in order to save their new cost,
and a priest to administer to the soldiers and Indians who collect there in the same terms as in the
preceding, with which those valleys will be dominated as well as the entire skirt of the north of
said Tamaulipa.

7. The third one, in the region of Tetillas, Most Excellent Sir, is at the western skirt of Tamaulipa
la Vieja (which lies on the eastern part in respect to the antecedent) near Mesas Prietas; this terrain
is very fertile for planting and in it the waters, which could be extended into some irrigation,
abundant and fresh fish for the expense; it is about eight leagues to the southeast of the town of
Padilla, the same to the east of that of G�emes, and about ten to the northeast from that of Aguayo;
that they have suffered much from the ever rebellious Janambres who have fought them, from said
region through the thick woods that are there, without ceasing. And, in spite of the risk there is,
its terrain being so desirable and of good weather, I judge I will be able to facilitate forty families,
which I find necessary, with the one-time financial aid of fifty pesos for each one of them, in which
the cost of a rifle and a sword should be included like in that of Tamaulipa; a captain with four
hundred pesos salary, a sergeant with two hundred fifty, and six soldiers with that of two hundred
twenty-five which seems to come to two thousand pesos, and a priest, to administer to the
squadron, the settlers, and the Indians whom they can collect, with the synod and corresponding
holy ornaments as I proposed in la Tamaulipa, and this population, outside of its great advantage
for the tranquility of the populated area and the security of the roads, I expect to become very large
due to the size of the land and its good quality.

8. The third point is directed to, that in order to regulate the synods of the reverend minister priests,
Your Excellency have present in mind the "obvenciones" and the offerings received. In which
affair, and only so that it serve as a true report, I should assure Your Excellency that, up to now,
those missionary ministers have not collected anything, of which I have had a report, by way of
"obvenciones" nor would I have permitted it of them even if they solicited them because, the
people entering to populate, being as they are, in general, the most miserable and poor and the one
of the freedom of "obvenciones", for now, one of the main incentives which move them to
establish themselves among infidels, it would not be a reason that, due to the lack of this precise
economy which that important population has produced, it would be unworthy, in the time that its
total perfection is aspired, when the diminution, which in those small synods could be promoted,
was of so little account and especially when, according to the happy state in which..... is to expect
not only the generated synods but also the major part of the cost of the squadrons, which it has
been necessary to maintain until now, to cease within a short time; a point in which I have the most
special care.

9. The offerings, which said priests receive up to now, are a thing of little consideration and very
necessary to provide themselves of wax, wine, flour for the wafers, meat, and other things
necessary for the Indians whose intended purpose is very consistent with the catholic mercy of His
Majesty.

10. The fourth, in order to distribute the lands assigned to each settlement according to the merit 2of
the settlers and their abilities, assigning them common pieces of land, pasture grounds, and lands
of their own, giving, as well, the corresponding ones to the Indians who might collect in them
regarding that in the new colony they should not follow the rules which the laws prescribe for the
new conversions of Indians due to this settlement of cities and town having been formed by
Spaniards; and the Indians should only be reputed as collected and with subordination to their
justice for which Your Excellency name a person of his satisfaction to execute it.

11. For the aforesaid assignation of lands, Sir Excellency, I was given a commission by the general
captaincy of Your Excellency since the population of said colony was begun, which has been
repeated many times with supplication and entreatment of the ones who have been public
prosecutors and auditors and of the present lord auditor and, in consequence, I have obtained, for
each one of the settlements which I have founded, the lands which I have deemed competent to
provide for its number of settlers and soldiers at the rate of two sites for minor livestock and six
"caballerías" for each one, two sites for major livestock and twelve "caballerías" for the captains,
which is what was offered to them, and those necessary for property in common and pasture
grounds, as well as for the aggregated Indians in proportion to their number and, outside of them,
I have made some other assignations to those settlers who have endeavored more in the royal
service and they need it for their plantings and raising of livestock; all of which I reported on the
general map which I presented of the foundations and their state with the date of the 8th of August
of '755, in which it can be seen, and afterwards I have repeated it of all those which have been
newly assigned.

12. The assignation of lands, Sir Excellency, since it is one of the principal incentives which brings
settlers and the one which they see is given more to the one who excels in the royal service, I have
managed it with special caution as much, so that they do not cease entering, as so they are
encouraged, in sight of that, although light, prize which is the only one with which I can encourage
and gratify them so that they tolerate the troubles of establishing themselves among those
barbarians.

13. In order to have made the assignation of lands in one body to each one of the settlements with the
qualification that they enjoy them united in the interim that, pacified, they divide the lands within
themselves and they can enjoy them without risk; I have been moved by several reports which,
perhaps, the one, who might not have practice in the most secure method of establishing, would
not be able to have present in mind.

14. It is the first one, that there is no land at all, no matter that it be selected, that does not have some
part of superior quality, another mediocre, and another which, separated from the aforesaid, is
regularly unfruitful and the one which stands out in quality gives esteem and value to the others,
in which esteem would commonly cease in the ones who are found in the posture of entering to
settle and it is normal that they would be contained if they knew that the most appreciated was
already taken and distributed since, although I always find it justified that the first settler soldiers
be prefered since all of them have been received by my hand; I have encouraged the most of them
so that they could establish themselves and they be given what each one has served in the
continuous management of eighteen years, there being, as there are, several of the ones who
entered at the beginning, who have only served to create bulk and many of the ones, who presented
themselves afterwards who have been assigned in whatever has occurred; it seems to me it would
be better to remain without the stimulus which encourages them of interesting themselves in some
part of the best, that which is disposed without prejudice to the time nor an injury of those who
have worked more, which harmony to prevent the sentiments which such graduations produce,
always needs perfect knowledge of those interested and the land.

15. The second, that it having been my idea not to reduce myself only to the fourteen settlements
which I was ordered to establish at the beginning, but rather to populate everything which that
spacious land needed to dominate it perfectly and, knowing that for it I needed many settlers and
the use of great cunning, acquainted in that any fertile valley, assigned in common, would bring
them and that, afterwards by its own accommodation, they would extend themselves and they
would increase the population, which would not happen if, immediately, there would have been
a distribution to the first ones who entered; I followed said idea, as I have continually imparted to
the general captaincy of Your Excellency, and the same work has manifested openly the good
production of such a method, that it has not only granted me a competent number of settlers that
I have established but also many others who, having maintained themselves in transit in them for
long periods of time under their protection, they have been extending themselves with ranches and
haciendas, not only in the intermediacy of said settlements but also in almost all the other shore
of the Río Grande del Norte and even further, nearly up to the Nueces River, about twenty leagues
before the Presidio de la Bahía del Espíritu Santo whose land is good for pastures and planting;
notwithstanding that I understand the inspectors set it down as useless and sterile, an error that I
attribute to their quickly believing someone who, without their having been in the region, gave
them a report because they did not see it.

16. The third, that the people, who enter to populate, being generally very poor and they themselves
the ones who have to defend the settlement, cut and dominate the land, plough, plant, and care for
the livestock, it leaves no room in practice that it could be executed usefully and securely in those
beginnings if each one, on his own, would have to live in the part that was assigned to him with
his shacks and families at long distances, from which the disunion would inevitably result which
could not occur in the urgencies of war because they should not leave their families alone, nor the
ranches exposed to being robbed and burned, nor each one on his own was capable of defending
himself from the ambushes of the Indians as some, who obstinately have separated themselves,
have experienced at the cost of their own lives. To which should be added that not all would be
able to be entitled to land useful for planting and pastures nor would they give it to those who
lucked into it, that it would inevitably result in displeasures, which in these beginnings could cause
grave damage and also that of the towns and places losing the good formation they have in which
their strength and beauty consist since, each of the settlers going out to settle their lands, they
would end up deserted and it would result in what is sadly seen, due to lack of this necessary
attention, in all of la Huasteca, in el Nuevo Reino de León, Coahuila, and other provinces, that
there is no settlement of substance due to their residents generally living in separated ranches.

17. Much to the contrary occurs with all the settlers living within the town with their families, planting
in the immediacy, each one what he can on the most useful land, putting their cows and mares with
all the rest in the common land and the minor livestock in the surroundings at the care of their sons
and daughters with which, since everything is within the sight of the town, said settlers go out to
their work with the assurance that their families have and that, their being in said fields and the
livestock within sight of one another, they obtain the same benefit and that of their not daring to
steal the seeds or the livestock and at the first voice, since they are together, they march to the
place where they already find the collection of cavalry horses and without a wasted moment they
follow the order without distrust that their said families or goods will be harmed, through which
method they have been able to establish the towns in which, unknowingly, they have been
establishing their own security, they are provided with grains and a great abundance of livestock.
By means of that which in opportune time that lo......... the Indians well dominated, there is no
fear of their injuries, .....les dividing the lands, which they have assigned in common, they place
their fields and livestock on them, but with the expressed condition that they must maintain a house
in town so that their families can be educated; they are able to hear mass and the administration
of the sacred sacraments and I have practiced it in this manner up to now with those who have built
ranches.

18. The advantages, which the aforesaid produces to the benefit of the expedition and even of the
settlers, they themselves recognize and confess, in general, and only one or another of the most
useless, who serve the least and who only think of selling the land that would be consigned to
them, tends to burst forth that there is a delay in making the distribution; but, since this short
unappreciated part deserves so little attention, I have not decided to vary the second idea which
is filling up the mind of His Majesty and already, in some of the aforesaid settlements in which
there are surely no enemies to worry about, the distribution can begin to be made as I did it in the
land of Abra de Tanchipa and Potreros de Tamat�n, among the settlers of the town of Horcasitas,
of which I reported with their respective testimonies on the dates of seventeenth of last October.
I can do no less than to report to the Sovereignty of Your Excellency that, even today, since the
territory was unknown and time has allowed the knowledge of the regions which are more suitable,
of better weather, and free of inundation, I have found it necessary to make some removals to
improve the places of situation of whice it is evidence that it was still not the time to divide the
land; in the meantime the population did not have a set establishment with the required fitness for
irrigation canals.

19. The fifth, that the Indians which were slowly being converted should only be reputed as collected
and with subordination to the captains who govern the settlements politically and militarily,
notwithstanding their having their minor governors due to this aggregation being considered an
effective means to attract them and that they remain in their establishments without having the
opportunity to apostatize as they usually do in the other missions. The exact observance of this
point I find so necessary due to the extensive knowledge, which helps me, of the nature of those
Indians, that, without it I am not convinced they would remain in subjection nor can they be
instructed in the temporal or the secular and what is common is, Sir Excellency, that every Indian
requires being dominated and, whenever this quality is lacking, he returns without fail to his bad,
primitive customs. Following from the aforesaid aggregation is that of, being familiarized with
the Spaniards, they learn the language and, occupied with them in the cultivation of the lands and
the raising of livestock, they are gradually made to eat and clothe themselves from their own work,
putting aside from themselves the laziness in which they were bred which is the mother of all vices.
And to prevent any reason for complaint or displeasure, it could be ordered, it being the pleasure
of Your Excellency, that the accommodation of the Indians, the adjustment by their salary, and the
paying of it, be necessarily with the intervention of the captains, who will be given charge in
whatever commission, and that these send a report to the reverend minister priest of the Party for
his knowledge.

20. The sixth, that Your Excellency determine whether it is suitable that the troop which garrisons said
colony continue in squadrons, as it has been maintained up to now, or reduced to three companies,
lessening the salary of some of the captains?

21. The project which Captain Tienda de Cuervo proposed for this end, so that a saving in cost to the
Royal Treasury and the best service and security of the colony be verified, consists in that two
captains could be reformed, the salaries of others lessened, that the troop, which is distributed in
squadrons, be reduced to seventy-five soldiers and be placed in three companies, the first in
Horcasitas, the second in Padilla and the third in Burgos and the three thousand pesos obtained in
savings can be applied to the construction of irrigation canals and the encouragement of missions.

22. It is true, Most Excellent Sir, that the claim of savings of cost and the improved service and
security has a good sound, but the reasons, in which it is founded, being examined and, these being
produced from poor information and a total lack of practice in such affairs, I believe, that, if that
is verified, it would produce, without delay, the contrary of what is proposed. The easiest thing
is to form a project and to dress it up with apparent reports which make it look well founded to
those who cannot examine them, but not to those who have them before them. In order to
undertake this conquest, which had been so difficult, many reports and Juntas of War and Treasury
preceded and, after much examination, it was resolved to do it on the footing it has and it has
produced, and is producing, such happy progresses. And its continuation being as secure as it is
in which the increase of the Royal Treasury is guaranteed, at the right moment, on the obtaining
of a great province which is establishing the conversion of so many infidels and the security of that
coast, it does not appear to me the prudence would permit it to change or expose it to risk of
losing, in a few months, what has been obtained in so many years, only due to the poorly founded
proposition of savings and the greater security, when neither one nor the other is verifiable due to
the reasons which I will only set down over those on which the advantage it supposes are founded.

23. He takes for granted that the salaries of the two captains can be reformed, to reduce that of ten of
them to three hundred fifty pesos, to leave one at five hundred, reduce part of the troop, which
garrisons and is continuing this establishment, reducing it to three companies of twenty-five
soldiers which should aid in the city of Horcasitas and the towns of Burgos and Padilla.

24 The reason he gives for the suspension of the salary of some of the captains is that of having
observed that in Santillana, Hoyos, Mier, Santa B�rbara, el Jaumave, Palmiras, and el Real de los
Infantes, whose captains do not have it, do the service equally as those who enjoy it, so much in
campaigns as well as in everything else that occurs, but he fooled himself totally in this, so much
that, due to the aforesaid lack of salary, I have not been able to obtain, up to now, subjects to place
as captains in el Jaumave, Palmillas, and Santa B�rbara and they have maintained themselves with
lieutenants; that not even for sergeants would I use them in other circumstances and, even to obtain
them thus, it is necessary for me to supply them with five hundred or more pesos for each one so
they can plant and maintain their families which has resulted in my loss of great quantities since,
with the excuse that the Indians took their livestock or that they have spent it in the royal service,
they rarely pay me and, since the incentive of pay is lacking, there is none of those who could be
capable who wished to subject himself to the risks of a continuous exercise with the pension of
working to eat on the days in which the frequent ambushes of the Indians might permit it. The not
having made an assignation of salary to the officials of the aforesaid settlements was to excuse the
great burden to the Royal Treasury and also because I expected to support them, as it has been
done with the squadrons of its immediacy which are found able to facilitate it; and, even with all
its help, the rebels have killed almost a third of the settlers of Aguayo and el Jaumave which has
cost much work to replace them with others and, notwithstanding that they serve when the
necessity requires it, they are only used in short journeys at a small distance from their residences
so that the cost and the absence from their homes and businesses are tolerable for them and their
service never is so useful nor can it be permanent as that of those who have a salary, nor compel
them to it when there is no contribution to their support.

25. The captains of Horcasitas and Burgos, whom said Captain Cuervo placed, could be reformed,
these two settlements being, as they are, of the most attacked due to their situation; I can only
contribute such an opinion due to lack of knowledge.

26. The salary of five hundred pesos assigned to each one of the captains is so little in respect to the
continuous exercise to which they find themselves in need and not having, as they do not have, any
"gajes" that those who do not have goods, which some of them do not have enough even for
horses, arms, food, and a small uniform even being of the cheapest of cloth, it results in it being
very difficult for me to find satisfactory subjects for these positions and finding myself, not just a
few times, needing to help them financially from my own money; and, yes, as he sets down they
be reduced to three hundred and fifty pesos, I doubt that any could remain. A captain, since he
is the head of the party, has the priests, the officials, the post, and any others who are on the road
come to his house and it is not always possible to excuse himself (nor would it look good) from
housing them, to which is added the Indians who come and go and it is necessary to give them
some corn and tobacco and that, in the frequent entries, he should be provided, not only for
himself, but also for his soldiers in case they happen to lack their basics, whose pensions are
inseparable from the office; and if the captain should wish to exempt himself from them, he will
make himself disliked and he will not be able, due to lack of people to accompany him, to fulfill
any of his functions of the Royal Service which occur.

27. The number of soldiers there are in all the new colony (excluding the officials) is one hundred
seventeen; according to the project which he proposes, there should be seventy-five remaining
which comes from the reducing of forty-two posts. The said seventy-five soldiers, as he supposes,
should be placed in one company at the command of the captain of Padilla, divided into three
squadrons of twenty-five, of which one would remain there, another in Horcasitas, and another in
Burgos. Such a project, it can truthfully be said, is of pure theory, founded in false suppositions
and totally foreign to the practical knowledge that is required to form it.

28. The capital city of el Nuevo Santander, that of Santillana, that of Soto la Marina, those of Padilla,
G�emes, Aguayo, Llera, and Escandón are frequently attacked by rebel Indians who, in small
gangs, steal their livestock and kill those they encounter alone in their guard or those in their
fields; and those of Altamira, Horcasitas, San Fernando, Reynosa, Camargo, and Burgos,
notwithstanding that they are molested only slightly, need a continual vigilance from which the
subjection of the Indians depends while their congrega is perfected and the settlers acquire the
strength required for the security of their lives and haciendas. These Indians have no other goods
other than bow and arrow, they are very fast and so agile on foot through the mountains that they
frustrate the most active diligence put into following them; when they find themselves in trouble,
they disperse and hide and, since they find provisions for eating anywhere, since the fruits of the
woods, herbs, or roots are sufficient for their maintenance, they have the great advantage of being
just as happy in any region having, as they have, the tendency of making a turn to steal the
livestock and the corn of those occupied in searching for them and chasing them, their having left
them alone.

29. The blow of the Indians is always so violent that only those on horseback can go out to defend it,
in the interim those, who can equip themselves quickly, follow them without supposing that those
of one settlement might be able to arrive, even the most immediate, in time to be useful to repair
the damage since, with good or bad outcome, they reach the immediate sierras like birds and thus
it is necessary that each settlement maintain itself in a state of defense without depending on the
aid of others, experience having shown that the greatest benefit is obtained by the means of six men
who advance quickly rather than two hundred who would follow the rebels afterwards in a formal
company. What can be inferred is that the three aforesaid, proposed squadrons would only
contribute to the security of the three respective towns to which they would be destined and in no
way to the others since, if (I give as example) the rebels would attack in la Marina, although they
would report it quickly to Padilla, which is a distance of twenty-four leagues and would be the
most immediate squadron, and at most it could take nineteen men (since they could not leave their
horses without guards), the aid would arrive only to see the cold ashes of the fires and to bury the
dead which would be the only thing to which it could aspire.

30. In order to put the squadrons on the footing in which they are found, they worked in long and
continuous practice; it has been recognized that they produce thus many advantages and that these
being, their small size notwithstanding, in continuous vigilance and with fast horses (to which care
the settlers, occupied in their farming and caring for their livestock, cannot be diverted) not only
do they leave quickly but, having fresh horses at hand, the settlers, who are closest, follow to
support them and, by this means, they frequently are able to redeem the livestock which the rebels
take off and probably leave them well punished, something which would be obtained with difficulty
their not being a squadron or ready horses available which we are continually seeing in el
Jaumave, Aguayo, Hoyos, and Santillana where one and the other are lacking.

31. To go on a campaign when it is determined, it is also useful that the squadrons be maintained thus
divided since on any order they march to incorporate themselves united with the number of settlers
which is assigned, with a consequence that each one enters, at least, with twenty-five to thirty men
selected for the time they are needed; a charge which said settlers would not tolerate at their own
cost, leaving their families, livestock, and work if, the function concluded, they would not be able
to confide in the squadron so they could dedicate themselves to what they need to support
themselves.

32. The principal foundation to which the Captain Cuervo supports the advantages obtained from these
three detachments (as far as I understand) is that he had heard said that the mobile squadron,
composed of a lieutenant, a sergeant, and eight soldiers, which resides in Padilla had made great
battles due to being destined to go to the regions in which necessity required them; and although
it is true that the aforesaid squadron, since it is of selected soldiers, has had very good conduct,
it has been equally so of the others and some of them have even had better battles. Tired of seeing
the difficulty which I observed in the subjugation of the rebels of Sigué of the border of Aguayo,
I detached to it, more than five years ago, the aforesaid mobil squadron, increased as time has
permitted with the best soldiers of the other squadrons, supported by the settlers of that town, the
ones of G�emes, Palmillas, and el Jaumave, and in such an expanded time, notwithstanding having
applied whatever aid having seemed suitable, it has not obtained anything special, its good body
notwithstanding, and the experience has shown that, however larger they are, they obtain less due
to the difficulty they have of hiding themselves from their vigilant spies and that the best method
of pursuing them is by means of small squadrons, with the exception of the cases in which, with
the reason of their location, (although these are generally for a few days) we are able to locate
them, that they should then take a proportionate strength. All things, Most Excellent Sir, require
time; with it, according to the advancement observed in this expedition (much farther than was
expected at its beginning), situation of troops and synods can be suspended and to attempt to
regulate rights which recover what has been spent and they produce, as they should, for our
sovereign; but even still finding ourselves in the conquest, congregation, and population which I
find very important that it follow up to la Bahía del Espíritu Santo, I only contemplate the present
to encourage officials and settler soldiers with the aim that, stimulated with the appreciation had
of their service, they strive for the perfection of such an important enterprise; and this I judge,
without comparison, to be of much greater service to both majesties and interest to the Royal
Treasury, than the savings proposed by the aforesaid captain.

33. The financial assistance, for which, according to the proposition of the same person, the aforesaid
saving was intended, was equally a discourse made without knowledge since the irrigation canal
of the town of G�emes, to which he consigned six hundred pesos, is finished with my only having
given fifty measures of corn and farming implements to its settlers and, although, due to the defect
of the director, it was badly planned, I believe it has an easy adjustment. The one of Burgos, to
which he had destined five hundred, is found irrigating its crops for a long time with my only
having aided them with the same as that of G�emes and by the proper method, without major cost,
the others are being prepared and this same occurs regarding those destined for missions and towns
in which it is to be noted that the one of Soto la Marina, the one of el Dulce Nombre de Jesús, of
Escandón, and the city of Horcasitas, in which placement he found its settlers so exhausted of
goods that he doubts they can remain; they are found, the first in reasonable footing and with
enough increase in livestock due to the good crops that they harvest, salt, and fish to which they
have been applying themselves; that of Escandón has increased so much that it already has more
than the double in families, of those with which a good proportion of livestock and ongoing
plantings were found; and that of Horcasitas equally increased in everything and with such good
foundations that I expect all three of them to be large places in a few years. Perhaps Captain
Cuervo thought that these settlements were made with warehouse keepers and traveling salesmen
but, it is so much to the contrary that, regularly, those miserable people, who do not get enough
to eat in the villages or they are not admitted in them due to their vices, go to them and whoever
would not accommodate himself to guide such people, let him not think about establishing himself
among barbarians. When I founded said settlements, as is evident in the documents, in general its
settlers entered without any goods and, at present, the town of Camargo exceeds one hundred
thousand heads of minor livestock, the ones of San Fernando and Revilla eighty thousand each one,
and in all the others they are increasing admirably, especially the major livestock, effects that time
is producing helped by the fertility of that country and the application of said settlers under the
rules in which they have been established. And if by the greatness of the King of Denmark we are
told about, in the Mercury of the month of June of the past year of seventeen hundred seventy-one,
Chapter of Copenhagen, of having founded two colonies with two hundred seventy-five families
who live in one hundred twelve houses distributed in nine villages, some of them provided only
with a plough, two oxen, one cow, and sixteen sheep, what would correspond, one might say,
of our catholic monarch in the establishment of the colony of el Nuevo Santander where so many
barbarians have been converted and dominated; there have been twenty-three towns and cities
founded with increased number of people, of which the most have been made essential, and various
haciendas and ranches which compose a great province? Everything which I set down in
consequence of the order, only desirous that Your Excellency, having it present can rule with
knowledge according to the present state, the measures which are required for the perfection of
such an important works, which would be a shame that it would deteriorate due to the small saving
that is proposed or due to wanting to benefit from it before its time.

34. The seventh and last point contains the prohibition of the navigation to the barra of el Nuevo
Santander, for whose punctual completion, which corresponds to me, I have given the
corresponding orders; but, intent on exploring, it fell back into an impassioned report and the total
lack of knowledge of the benefits which the navigation which was made from Veracruz by means
of two boats to it produced in that conquest and its population, I make a solemn declaration to
inform Your Excellency in a separate report the grave injury which would consequently result to
the Royal Service from said prohibition in that great establishment and that the introductions that
are distrusted are not to be feared either from the navigation being reduced to Veracruz, from
where it is necessary it be provided of all the needs which overland is very difficult, costly, and
time consuming, or the precise care with which it is guarded, as if it were within sight, so that
passing it on to His Majesty he might ordain in the affair that which his royal mercy he find
advantageous.

Your Excellency will determine what he esteems in his Superior favorableness which, as
always, will be the best.

Mexico and November 9 of 1764. - José de Escandón

Mexico and November 9 of 1764. - To the honorable Auditor. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

1. The Royal Decree received by Your Excellency, dated in el Buen Retiro on the twenty-ninth of
March of the past year of seven hundred seventy-three, which was expedited as a result of the
account which the Most Excellent Honorable Marqués de las Amarillas gave of the visit and
inspection which were made on his order by Don José Tienda de Cuervo and the engineer Don
Agustín López de la Cámara Alta of the settlements and converted land on the coast of the Gulf
of Mexico by the colonel Don José de Escandón, it was ordered with the advise of the Auditor
consequent to a previous request of the Honorable Attorney General, that the provisions it contains
be put into execution according to the orders of His Majesty, delivering for it the corresponding
dispatches so that, in the area that concerns him, they be put into practice by the same colonel Don
José de Escandón, general of the colony, and the rest of the orders expedited which were
proposed for the aforesaid end by the said honorable Attorney General.

2. Afterwards, and it even seems that the effect of administering some mandate to said colonel in
virtue of the aforesaid decree being still pending, he made an accounting from the town of el
Nuevo Santander on the second of May, directed among other affairs to report of the removal
which he already had made of the town of Burgos to another region, different and more
appropriate than its first situation and to ask permission to begin populating, without cost to the
Royal Treasury, the lands which lie in between the Río Grande del Norte and that of las Nueces
and from this one to Santa Dorotea and Presidio de la Bahía del Espíritu Santo, and with this
motive, the said consultation or accounting having been passed on to the Auditor, the doubt
occurred to him of whether enough people could be furnished to undertake, at one time, the
enterprise of populating those territories and that of establishing another three new settlements in
the regions which His Majesty, according to said Royal Decree, has certified as necessary; and
thus he proposed and it was determined by Your Excellency, that its content be made known to
said colonel so that in the expressed doubt he explain what he thought in the information of what
he had already reported.

3. And it having been made known to him, he requested all the dispatches concerning the affair be
turned over to him and, with the suggestion of the Auditor, Your Excellency ordered that only this
one, which contains the testimony of said Royal Decree, be turned over to him, that which
consequently was already determined and its own accounting which has already been mentioned,
for which reason he has had occasion to make, as he has made, a report sufficiently expanded
regarding all the measures which said Royal Decree contains, of which the Auditor comes to take
charge, with the reflections which he has found opportune and conducive to showing the will of
His Majesty and his Royal desire verified; that accordingly it is manifested by the same Royal
Decree, it is not directed to any other thing than that the undertaking of the pacification and
population of this colony to arrive at its ultimate perfection in common both spiritual and temporal
of the Indians and the Spaniards who live there and in the alleviation of the Royal Patrimony in the
present and in the future.

4. This being supposed and that, from the measures that the Royal Decree contains regarding each
one, the colonel is handling separably, in the same conformity and, by the proper order, the
Auditor will be working to avoid any confusion, that the uniformity which should be given within
the orders of Your Excellency be made clearly visible and those, which His Majesty has already
given, have been obeyed as it should have been and should be put into execution.

5. As a first provision His Majesty orders that the settlements of Escandón, Burgos, and Reynosa be
moved to the regions more suitable for the well-being, comfort, and health of its residents over
which it should be reflected upon, according to the tenor of the same Royal Decree to which
disposition His Majesty was moved in the concept that the regions of the first situation of said
vicinities would have been observed, in the occurrence of storms, not very advantageous to the
health of the inhabitants and, exposed to pernicious inundations in the floods of the river which,
in truth, are beginnings or foundations which could not produce any other resolution in his royal
mercy and love of those vassals.

6. Under this reflection, the Auditor taking charge of that which the colonel Don José de Escandón
explains regarding said first provision, he has formed a judgement that the same, which His
Majesty desires and has been his royal intention, has already been obtained in its affair because
he says that, conforming to the authority which he has had, he has proceeded in the moving of the
settlements of Escandón and Burgos situating them in the regions to which he refers, not only to
his own satisfaction, but to that of the settlers in whose new establishments they have experienced
considerable increases in their plantings and livestock, and he also states not having removed the
one of Reynosa because, with the agreement of the captain, the missionary priest, the squadron,
and the settlers, he recognized there was no better situation and that already, with the passing of
time, it was free of risks of floods due to the great depths that the Río Grande del Norte had
opened so that, although the colonel performed all this before the coming of said Royal Decree and
he refers to the accounts which, from consultations, it is true he had given to this General
Captaincy, but in this it is observed his having verified the same which His Majesty wishes in his
Royal Order for which, without doubt, said colonel says that in this particular there is nothing
more to do.

7. As a second provision His Majesty orders that another three settlements be established to contain
the attacks of the barbarous Indians and avoid the thefts which they commit in the colony and the
restlessness they cause the pacified Indians with which, unnoticeably, the first ones could begin
to be dominated and they would lose the hope, which might remain, of becoming strong, especially
in the two Tamaulipas and in its immediate woods and rivers.

8. These are the distinctive terms in which the decision or order contained in the Royal Decree is
concluded without specifying determined regions where the said three new settlements should be
established, that the Auditor comparing those, which the colonel proposes in his report to Your
Excellency as suitable, with those which were proposed to His Majesty by the most Excellent
Marqués de las Amarillas, as it was reported by the surveyors Tienda de Cuervo and C�mara
Alta, one is persuaded that they are the same without any variation, in this particular, of the
position which they should be given; well the expressed surveyors proposed such establishments
as suitable, one in el Potrero de las Nueces to the south of Tamaulipa la Nueva, the other in la
Sierra de los Encinos skirting the same Tamaulipa, and another near the two mountains called las
Tetillas between the skirt of Tamaulipa la Vieja and las Mesas Prietas; and in these names or signs
the situations, which the colonel proposes, concur for which, needing to consider the order of His
Majesty regarding this particular arrangement to the report which was made to him, once he orders
the three new settlements be established, it seems we should understand it, in those regions which
were proposed to him and thus these being the same which the colonel proposes in his report to
Your Excellency, there seems to be no doubt that, regarding this affair, it conforms to the thinking
of His Majesty and his Royal disposition and to his consequent decree.

9. Thus set down that the proposition of said colonel on the point of situation seems not to be different
from the thinking of His Majesty, it is advised in his report that it be extended to propose also the
number of families with which it would be suitable to plant said settlements, the soldiers who, at
the cost of the Royal Treasury, should be added for their protection, and a priest for the spiritual
administration of all which, in substance, it is to expose the means which he believes opportune
so that they can put the royal will into practice; and thus, this obviously having the desirable effect
and the corresponding enterprises being necessary for its execution, it only remains to resolve
those which are less painful for the Royal Treasury.

10. In said affair Your Excellency has before him the opinion of said colonel, reduced to expound with
distinction how many families should be placed, in these beginnings, in each one of the said three
settlements and the one-time financial aid with which he would be able to situate and move them
with the soldiers, captains, and sergeants which he deduces necessary for their protection such that,
for the first settlement in el Potrero de las Nueces, he proposes forty families with the financial aid
of one hundred pesos each which composes four thousand pesos for one time, a squadron of twelve
posts, including the captain and sergeant, whose salaries make up three thousand pesos annually
and a priest with the synod of three hundred fifty pesos annually. For the second one in the region
of los Encinos, road to Santander toward Burgos, he proposes thirty families with the financial aid
of only one rifle and one sword for each one for one time, a captain, and a sergeant with five
hundred twenty-five pesos salary annually for both and a priest with three hundred fifty pesos.
And for the third, forty families with fifty pesos financial aid for each, which makes up two
thousand pesos for one time, a squadron of eight posts including the captain and sergeant with two
thousand pesos annual salary, and a priest with three hundred fifty pesos synod and whatever the
holy ornaments would cost.

11. And these costs reduced to their total, I compute that it results in that, which is prepared for one
time, of six thousand pesos outside of the cost of swords and rifles for one of the settlements and
the holy ornaments for all of them; and that which is prepared annually for the support of the
soldiers is that of six thousand five hundred seventy-five pesos which, added to the thirty-five
thousand eight hundred fifty-two pesos and four reales which are spent now on the squadrons
which at present garrison the colony, the annual expenses of all the troop would come to the
quantity of forty-two thousand four hundred twenty-seven pesos, four reales.

12. In this knowledge, the Auditor remembering the costs which have been proposed for other
settlements of the internal provinces and that, by act, have been distributed, there seems to be no
doubt that in the ones, which the colonel exposes for one-time financial aid of the three being
treated, arriving, as they arrive, only at six thousand pesos outside of what the swords and rifles
for the one and holy ornaments for all cost, they are moderate enough.

13. Because he is thinking that, for the placing of one settlement at the mouth of the Río de la
Trinidad, some costs were proposed which came to seventy-eight thousand twenty-five pesos
which, even moderated by the Auditor, came to the large quantity of more then thirty thousand
pesos for only what was to be bought through factorage. That in the same province of Texas,
where said settlement would be ideal, the one of San Fernando was founded with ten families from
the Canary Islands and some others from the kingdom with much cost to the Royal Treasury and,
finally, that in the province of Coahuila the two settlements of San Fernando de Austria and San
Pedro Gigedo were founded with one hundred pesos as a one-time financial aid to each settler
which Don Pedro de R�bago y Ter�n proposed to be necessary. Such that, with such examples
and those had in the establishment of the same colony and others of the kingdom, it is not doubtful
that the costs which the colonel proposes for these three new foundations are very moderate.

14. These considerations are relative to the costs which are proposed for one time but there are others
with regard to the salaries for the troop which the colonel says are necessary in these beginnings
which also support his moderation because, its necessity being supposed, in view of the situations
which are figured for said three settlements are in some regions in which there is no doubt the
settlers must live with risks until, with the ingress of people for the labor of the mines, those sierras
of las Tamaulipas which have been the cover and receptacle of heathens and apostates might be
dominated; the number of soldiers, which he proposes for the protection of each of said three
settlements is manifested to be small and, with a well moderated salary, compared to the one they
have assigned in the other provinces, by which these said expenses do not seem excessive but this
point should be treated and resolved by Your Excellency with precedent junta of War and Treasury
and previous audience of the honorable Attorney General.

15. As a third measure His Majesty orders the missionaries and their synods in all the colony and in
the new settlements, which they are making, be arranged, giving them the instructions for the use
and execution that they should make so that they use their faculties as such missionaries with the
collected and congregated Indians, having present before them the "obvenciones" and offerings
which they expect, in order to arrange for them the aforementioned synods about which the
aforesaid colonel only explains that, up to now, those missionary ministers have not expected
anything by way of offerings of which he might have a report nor would he have permitted it
because the principal incentive for which the people might have gone, and go, to live among
infidels has been, and is, the freedom of these and other contributions and that the offerings, which
said priest expects up to now, are of little value and necessary to provide themselves with wax,
wine, flour for hosts, meat, and other necessary things for the Indians.

16. Regarding this, Your Excellency having, as he has, ordered with a petition of the honorable
Attorney General and appearance of the Auditor that, in order to arrange for said missionaries and
their synods in all the colony and in the new settlements which were made and to give the
instructions which His Majesty is served to prepare, they be given to them and that the synods be
arranged with the presence of the "obvenciones" and offerings which they expect, it be affirmed
of this royal determination to the prelate to whom those missionary priest belong so that, with their
"difinitorio", they inform and expose him, as much as to the number of missionaries which should
increase as well as regarding the reform and arrangement of synods with which all are to have and
the amount of the "obvenciones" and offerings which they expect, it does not seem that there might
be anything else to prepare now other than that this adapted determination be explained in fact.

17. As a fourth measure His Majesty orders that Your Excellency, as a commission to the person who
might be totally satisfactory to make the distribution of lands assigned to each settlement, arranged
to the merit of each settler and his abilities and assigning them common lands, pastures, and lands
of their own, giving, likewise, those corresponding to the Indians who collect in these settlement
with the aim that they can make their plantings and raise their livestock without injury from them
nor of the settlers in respect to that, in the new colony, they are not supposed to follow the rules
prescribed by the laws for the new conversions of Indians because this settlement has been formed
of cities and towns of Spaniards and the Indians should only be reputed as aggregated and with
subordination to the justices placed on them although they might have their own peculiar
government by means of their captains and small governors since this aggregation has been
considered as an effective means for attracting the Indians and that they remain in the faith and in
their establishments without their having room, by escaping, to return to apostate as they are used
to doing in the other missions.

18. This is the order of His Majesty in the same terms which the Royal Decree contains and the colonel
informs, about the affair, the reasons he has had for the assignment of land in each settlement
having been suitable to be made in these beginning in common and not in particular, being, among
them, those of most consideration and due to which there is no doubt that in this General Captaincy
it is approved to the maximum, the one that if from then the lands had been distributed in particular
to the settlers, there would no longer be an incentive for the ingress of new people in the colony
and this would become the gravest injury of its own extension and the one, of making said
distribution in particular, it would be natural that each settler would attempt to build his ranch or
hacienda and that, disuniting themselves, they would not remain in fitness to be able to oppose and
resist any invasion of the Indians; and he concludes in substance assuring that, although the cited
distribution could be made in some of the settlements, it is not the opportune time yet in all of
them.

19. Thus is the Auditor persuaded by the principles to which said colonel has referred and the rest
which he lays out but, the truth is that they were not presented to His Majesty and thus his Royal
Order expedited which has been obeyed and should be put in execution in the most useful form,
keeping this same report in mind if the Auditor, well reflecting on that the object of this measure
is to benefit the settlers and Indians looking to see that the distribution is made to them in
proportion to their merit and a rigorous distributive justice; he cannot omit the consideration which
is apparent and evident to us from all the dispatches which have been made regarding the
pacification of this colony and it happens that no one can be found with more experience of all its
territory and more knowledge of the settlers than the same Colonel Escandón because he, even
before the enterprise, made general entries at his own cost and inspected all the land of that gulf
and informed himself of its qualities and circumstances about which, summarily and minutely, he
has reported at different times, and he has been the one who has received, distributed, and placed
the families and the one who has conferred the posts of captains and soldiers; for all of which we
should be persuaded that no one like the said colonel should have that knowledge about the settlers
and soldiers of a merit necessary to complete the Royal Will and therefore, although Your
Excellency might delagate this distribution of lands to another person (in which also the
embarrassment of the costs that it should have does not stop pulsating), the intervention of the same
colonel with his reports are necessary and, without this preparation, the Auditor conceives, a
works is expounded that in itself is of such consideration at a risk that I do not come out in
conformity to the Royal intention in injury of the same settlers and Indians which is what His
Majesty wishes to avoid.

20. As a fifth measure His Majesty orders that, from what he sees of the project of substituting a
mobile company in the new colony in place of the soldiers who are in each settlement, Your
Excellency judge, regarding this point, what the reports dictate which he could get from Don José
Tienda de Cuervo, Don Agustín López de la Cámara Alta, or of other experts of the country.

21. This affair is grave and it is already seen that His Majesty leaves it in the judgement of Your
Excellency, not withstanding the report made to him, and it manifests the same Royal Decree for
which, one the Colonel Escandón expends his own, that everything is reduced to founding, that
it is not advantageous to make a change, what corresponds is to take it from other persons experts
of those countries since Tienda de Cuervo and Cámara Alta have already died and, whoever
having come, Your Excellency resolve whatever would qualify as most advantageous in conformity
to the powers that the same Royal decree confers to him.

22. Finally, regarding the measure of prohibiting in that coast the manner of using boats, said colonel
explains that in all which concerns him he has given the corresponding orders, although he
prepares to make a separate report about this particular, since nothing else corresponds to him for
now other than taking, to its proper effect, that determined by His Majesty and by Your
Excellency. Above all the Auditor judges it necessary that it be shown to the Attorney General
in whose knowledge Your Excellency will be able to order it thus or what he would find most
advantageous.

Mexico and December 19th of 1764. - Don Domingo Valcarcel - (Rubric)

Mexico, 3rd of January of 1765 - to the Honorable Attorney General - (a rubric)

-------------------------
Most Excellent Lord:

Due to finding ourselves occupied in the disposition of the Royal Treasury which, in virtue of the
last order of Your Excellency, we remitted to that Mother Coffer at the beginning of the present month,
we were not able to have the honor of acknowledging to Your Excellency, in the preceding mail, the
receipt of his superior letter of the twenty-fourth of the past [month] in which he was served to include a
paper which contains several points pertaining to the major establishment of the conquests of Sierra Gorda
and to order us that, in its continuation, we make the report which corresponds and send it to the hand of
Your Excellency.

The distance from this city to said regions is notable, as well as the lack of knowledge we have of
the perfect situation of the settlements of Escandón, Reynosa, and Burgos for which, finding ourselves
disproportionate to furnish Your Excellency the reports which he orders of us, we entreat with the
contributing discretion that practical, honest, and impartial subjects would be able to produce them in these
territories and we have not found one, recognizing with our plentiful concern, the major difficulty in
obtaining it to satisfy the mind of Your Excellency with the proper exactness of our blind obedience and
powerful accuracy, in whose true knowledge, and that we contemplate ourselves painfully constituted in
the impossibility of performing the Superior precept of Your Excellency, he shall direct himself to relieve
us of this charge and to take the measures respective to his always accredited true justification.

Our Lord keep the important life of Your Excellency many years.

San Luis Pososí, at the 6th of April of 1764. - Most Excellent Lord. At the feed of Your
Excellency. - Felipe Cleere. - (rubric) - Francisco de Sales Carillo - (rubric)

Most Excellent Lord Marqués de Cruillas.

-------------------------

Don Antonio Urresti, secretly taking the the most impartial and secure reports possible, they shall
respond regarding the following points:

1. To which region could the three settlements of Escandón, Reynosa, and Burgos be moved in the
colony of el Nuevo Santander or the conquests of Sierra Gorda for the well-being, ease, and health
of their residents.

2. Where could another three settlements be established to contain the attacks of the barbarous Indians
and avoid the thefts they commit in the colony and the restlessness they cause the pacified Indians
so that, unrecognizably, they can begin dominating the first ones and that they lose the hope they
could get of becoming strong, especially in the two Tamaulipas and in their immediate woods and
rivers.

3. What number of missionaries will be necessary so that all the colony be well provided of the
spiritual nourishment (supposing the nine settlements).

4. What instructions would be suitable to give them for the use and practice which they should do so
that, with the aggregated and congregated Indians, they use their abilities as missionaries.

5. What quantity of annual synod can be assigned to them, keeping in mind the "obvenciones" and
offerings they expect.

6. Of what number of soldiers should a mobile company, which would have the colony in control and
which would impede the training of the barbarian Indians to attack it, be composed.

Mexico, 24th of March of 1764. - Cruillas. - (rubric)

In the city of Nuestra Señora de Monterrey, in sixteen days of the month of May of seventeen
hundred seventy-four years, don Antonio de Urresti, Sergeant Major of the Militias, Constable Major of
the Holy Office and its notary, Accountant of Minor Orders, Vice-Governor, and Captain General of this
Nuevo Reino de Léon, in obedience of that ordered by the Sovereignty of the Most Excellent Honorable
Viceroy of this Nueva España, in the points which precede, I order that, in order to comply with the rest
of the report which is prepared, an oath of secrecy be received thus from the witnesses present, clerks, and
testifying subjects and, this proceeding concluded, those, that are appropriate to the completion of that
ordered by said Most Excellent Lord, follow, thus I decreed, ordered, and signed, acting before me, in the
presence of witnesses, sworn persons due to the law, since there was no scribe in the legal term, of all I
testify. - Antonio de Urresti, - (rubric) - Present - Juan Ignacio de Verridy, (rubric) - Present - Francisco
de Rivera - (rubric)

Witness Don José de Fuentes, Magistrate of the Town of Linares

In said City of Nuestra Señora de Monterrey, in eighteen days of the often said month and year,
I ordered to appear before me Don José Fuentes, Magistrate-Constable-Major of the town of Linares and
whom I attest I know; I received an oath from him in which he consented, according to the law, not to
reveal to anyone what he would be asked and would declare and, also, to tell the truth of what he might
know in each one of the points about which he would be examined by me and, having promised to comply
with the law of the oath made known to him and, questioning him, in compliance with affair of the
Superior Mandate of Your Excellency, to the first question he said:

1st That the three settlements of Escandón, Reynosa, and Burgos were in very select regions to the
satisfaction of its own settlers who, in the times in which he has dealt with them in the course of
either by way of commerce or conversation, they have assured him the same and that although,
in the first foundation of that of Burgos and Escandón, it was judged not being fit for the ease of
its residents, they were later moved by their governor at about a distance of two leagues to the
place in which they are found today, it is the best they could find and that, having wanted to do
the same with that of Reynosa, the residents with theirs minister priest supplicated that he not move
the settlement which was the most useful that could be found, according to what they had
experienced and that this is evident by certain knowledge.

2nd To the second he said: that it will be most important, for the well-being of the colony of the Gulf
of Mexico and the repair of the attacks of the barbarian Indians and the stability of the pacified
ones, that they place a settlement in el Potrero de las Nueces de Tamaulipa la Nueva whose site
has a lovely design and an abundance of water and its sierra is very rich in ore veins, seemingly
of gold and silver, and everything reported is evident to him because he has seen and traveled it,
and that, likewise, most useful would be another settlement in Mesas Prietas, immediate to
Tamaulipe la Vieja, with whose erection it will facilitate an imperceptible conversion of barbarian
Indians who inhabit it and it will remove the hope of the converted Indians of this refuge and,
lastly, for the greater security and attainment of the end in the repair of the thefts and invasions
of the barbarious Indians for their domination and permanency of the pacified ones, it is
advantageous to place another settlement in the Real they call los Encinos, near Burgos at about
eight leagues, and that, although for this reason it seems not so necessary, being, as it is, a border
of the enemy's army, it garrisons Burgos, San Fernando, and the capital of Santander whose
transits, without the help of this settlement, are most dangerous for the merchants, even making
the communication among the settlers difficult because they have experienced that, through the part
of said region of los Encinos, the Indians have performed the greatest ravage of the christians as
was seen with the company of the captain Don Manuel de la Penilla, who, in the immediacy of
said region, perished with a second lieutenant after a long skirmish in which many soldiers were
wounded.

3rd To the third he said: that, with only a minister in each settlement, it seems to him enough for the
spiritual benefit of its settlers and for the instruction of the Indians that collect, due to all being
without dispersion.

4th To the fourth he said: that according to the state in which the conquest of the Gulf of Mexico is
found today, having active war, it would be most useful that the minister priests would be given
the facility for dispensations in prohibited degrees, in the sacrament of matrimony, to consecrate
altars and the rest that might be necessary for the greater worship of God, His service, and that
of the King.

5th To the fifth he said: that a consideration of the "obvenciones" cannot be made for the support of
the ministers because it is evident to him that none are paid in the colony and that, regarding the
offerings, the amount of them expected is so small due to their giving of them being voluntary; the
missionaries consume the most in the benefit of the actual Indians and that, in this supposition, the
synod, which they have had up to not, is sufficient for their support according to what some of
them say.

6th To the sixth he said: that, looking at the smaller expenses of the Royal Treasury with the attention
warranted, it seems to him that with a body of fifty men, with the exclusion of the officers who
command it, who should be of value, judgement, and good conduct, the Indians will be subjected,
the commerce will increase, and the goods of the fields will be freed from the repeated thefts of
the Indians but that, in order to obtain this effect, a very moderate garrison in each one of the
settlements is very necessary until the time that a total pacification is verified and, having ordered
him to read his statements from point to point, he affirmed and ratified himself in them, saying
they are true as far as he feels about the affair according to his loyal knowledge and, understanding
under the oath which he has made, he said he was of the age of forty-three years and signed before
me and those in my presence to which I attest. - Antonio de Urresti. - (rubric) - José de Fuentes. -
(rubric) - Present - Juan Ignacio de Verridy. - (rubric) - Present - Francisco de Rivera. - (rubric)
In the City of Monterrey, capital of el Nuevo Reino de León on seven days of the month of June
of seventeen hundred sixty-four years, I Don Antonio de Urresti, Sergeant Major of the Militias of it,
finding the reports, which precede for the performance and completion of that ordered by the Sovereignty
of His Excellency, to be sufficient, I should order, and I do order, they be sent to said Most Excellent Lord
for the completion of his Superior measures: thus I decreed, ordered, and signed, acting before me as it
is said to which I attest. - Antonio de Urresti. - (rubric) - Present - José Ignacio de Verridy. - (rubric) -
Present - Francisco de Rivera. - (rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

Sir, with the due veneration, I received the letter and mandate of Your Excellency of the twenty-fourth of March, the one which, seen by me, I then put the proceeding into practice, making use of the
people most accredited in all truth to take the surest reports, ordering that they appear before me with
secret orders and charged with secrecy in everything with the precaution of the necessary oath, as much
to prevent the revelation of the affair as to assure the true and sincere opinion of each one in the points over
which they were examined, for which end, without the distances of thirty and forty leagues of their
residence to this city obstructing me, I facilitated their appearance before me without anyone penetrating
its purpose up to now.

The manner and method with which I procured the satisfaction of the order of Your Excellency
is the one I followed in its obedience, I do not know if I might have succeeded in obeying it but I do assure
the Sovereignty of Your Excellency that my major vigilance has been, and is, to arrive at the sure point
of success for which reason I cannot, on my part, inform Your Excellency because, the most essential that
is required to absolve the points of the Superior order of Your Excellency not being evident by sight, I
would expose myself to arrive at an embarrassment which, without the loss of honor, it would be most
difficult to save.

God keep the most important life of Your Excellency many years in his greatest exaltations.

Monterrey and June 8 of 1764. - Most Excellent Lord. - Lord. - At the feet of Your Excellency,
your least servant, Antonio de Urresti. - (rubric)

Most Excellent Lord Viceroy Marqués de Cruillas, my Lord.

Most Excellent Lord:

That ordered by His Majesty in the Royal Decree of the twenty-ninth of May of seventeen hundred
sixty-three about whose completion this expedient has been formed is reduced to six points.

1. The first is: that the three settlements of Escandón, Reynosa, and Burgos be moved to more
appropriate regions for the well-being, health, and ease of its residents but, in view of that
expressed by the colonel Don José Escandón in whose charge the pacification and settlement of
the colony is, in which he has his such accredited zeal and proper conduct, nearly having already,
in anticipation, moved those of Escandón and Burgos to comfortable and competent sites and there
being no necessity to move that of Reynosa due to the sheltering from danger of future floods,
which they feared from the banks of el Río Grande del Norte, brought about by the deep bed which
has opened, and the settlers of it, as well as those of Burgos and Escandón, are so pleased and
increased in their families, livestock, plantings, and other goods in the areas to which they moved,
the ones which are supported with the reports of five experts which he received from the order of
Your Excellency the Lieutenant as Governor of el Nuevo Reino de León, bordering upon said
colony, sent with the letter of the eighth of June of the last year and attached to this expedient in
January of the present, the attorney general recognized the Royal Will on this point being
completed, which is that said settlements subsist in comfortable places, suitable to the well-being
of its residents; and thus there is nothing to request regarding the execution of what is ordered in
this particular.

2. The second is: that another three settlements be established to contain the attacks of the barbarious
Indians, avoid the thefts that they commit in the colony and the restlessness that they cause to the
pacified ones with which they can be imperceptibly dominated and they will lose the hope of
becoming strong in the two Tamaulipas.

3. This point calls up several considerations. The first, regarding the regions in which these
settlements should be made and that they be competent for the proposed ends of containing the
attacks of the barbarians, avoiding their thefts, dominating them imperceptibly, and that they lose
the hope of taking asylum at the two sierras of Tamaulipa. The second, the number of settlers
which should be placed in each one. The third, the financial aid or encouragement with which they
should be provided for their establishment in the places that are considered competent. The fourth,
the number of soldiers that should be placed in each one for the protection and the support and the
salaries of these. And the fifth, the ecclesiastical minister for the spiritual nourishment of the
settlers and the Indians which will be pacified and aggregated to these new settlements, the synod
they should enjoy and necessary ornaments for the spiritual administration.

4. With attention to all these particulars, the colonel Don José Escandón reported and, concerning
the regions in which they should be placed, he says: that the first of said settlements be in el
Potrero called that of las Nueces which is a valley three leagues in length and one or two in width
in the highest area of Tamaulipa la Nueva, abundant in pastures and woods and with the most
desirable accommodations for the raising of livestock and for planting and, besides this,
surrounded by minerals which offer permanent profit; and, describing the situations and distances
of the settlements which surround, in all four directions, the Sierra de Tamaulipa la Nueva, a
common refuge of the barbarians and apostates, he the makes it palpable that, with the settlement
of el Potrero de las Nueces at its highest, the Indians will be dominated and, with the
communication and road to the other settlements which surround it, the hope of becoming strong
in it and its immediate woods cut off; and in the selection of this same region, the other five
experts, from whom he took reports or statements sworn to the Lieutenant Governor of el Nuevo
Reino de León, agree, responding to the second question of the instruction or interrogatory that
Your Excellency sent to him.

5. For the second of said three settlements, Colonel Escandón proposes the site called los Encinos
which he states being at the skirt of Tamaulipa la Nueva, six leagues to the north, one-fourth to
the northeast of el Potrero de las Nueces, where the first one should be placed, in the middle of
the road to the capital of Santander which is to the east of the town of Burgos which is to the north,
one-fourth to the northeast and, it being a competent distance from Santander to Burgos without
another settlement in between through which, without being noticed by either one, the Indians
could enter and exit in the woods and ruggedness of Tamaulipa; on their own they come to the
springs; that by cutting this distance by populating the region of los Encinos, it would make it
impossible or difficult for them to take refuge by this means, and in the selection of this region the
five reports taken and sent by the aforesaid Lieutenant Governor of el Nuevo Reino de León, in
which it is specified the settlement of this region being very useful, are also fitting due to it being
the most suitable one for the attacks of the Indians and the transit through there from one settlement
to another being most dangerous since it is the border of the army of the enemy and it will garrison
Burgos, San Fernando and the capital of Santander and that, with them, it will make the
treacherous invasions of the barbarians impossible.

6. The third of said settlements, so the same colonel Don José Escandón reports, that it is useful to
be placed in the region of las Tetillas near that of Mesas Prietas, which is between the two
Tamaulipas Vieja and Nueva on the east part of this one and west of the other one, that it has
beautiful valleys, very fertile for planting, select pastures, abundant water, and is a proportionate
distances from the towns of Padilla, G�emes, and Aguayo which have had many invasions from
the traitorous, rebellious Janambre Indians who take refuge in the woods between the two
Tamaulipas and, by simply taking into consideration that, in populating it, they will impede the
free and clear passage from one sierra to another and from whichever side of the north or south
which they want to sneak through, they should be sensed by the other settlements that are on both
sides and they can follow them and punish them, one can see how suitable this region is for the end
of dominating and containing them and for this reason, without doubt, the reports of the aforesaid
five experts agree in its selection, adding that, placing it, the barbaric Indians who inhabit
Tamaulipa la Vieja will lose the hope of taking refuge there to flee the punishment for their
wickedness.

7. Outside of these considerations, which occur to the attorney general, of much weight are the
expenditures by the honorable Auditor at number eight of his report of the nineteenth of December
of the last year, regarding that these same regions should be understood to be selected by His
Majesty for the aforesaid three new settlements since his Royal Mandate, although he does not
signify it specifically, fell back on the proposition that the visitors made from them with which he
reported to His Majesty the Most Excellent Marqués de las Amarillas.

8. Regarding the other considerations to which this second point speaks, Colonel Escandón reports
that the first of said three new settlements can be made with forty families of settler soldiers, giving
once one hundred pesos to each in financial aid in which is included the value of a rifle and a
sword which is the most necessary and which they obtain in those regions with the greatest
difficulty. That for its protection they put a squadron in it with a captain with five hundred pesos
salary, a sergeant with two hundred fifty, and ten soldiers at two hundred twenty-five with a total
sum of three thousand pesos annually. Asserting his well-known experience that, without this
assurance, the population cannot be obtained due to the fear and horror by which the Sierra
Tamaulipa has been viewed; and at the same time he also asserts that, the population formalized,
the annual expense of this squadron will cease because, with the many who will come to work the
immediate mines, the settlement will be secure and sustained on its own.

9. The Attorney General reflecting that the site of el Potrero de las Nueces, certified by the experts
for the first of the nine settlements, is located (according to reports) in the internal and highest of
the Sierra de Tamaulipa la Nueva, old and customary "rochela" of the enemy apostate and heathen
Indians, has not in the excess, neither in the number of settlers nor the squadron, of 12 posts which
Colonel Escandón reports, nor the one-time financial aid of one hundred pesos per family, keeping
in mind the riskiness of the region and the agricultural equipment and other necessities that might
be wanting for their transport and move in said region, the building of their homes and
improvement of the lands apportioned to them for their support nor does he see as excusable the
protection of the twelve posts during the beginning and in the interim that the population is
perfected because, it being in the interior of the "rochela" it is, without doubt, a more risky region
than the rest of the colony in which, with the consent of His Majesty, the protection of soldiers has
been certified as necessary; and the salaries, proposed for them by Colonel Escondón, as much
for the captain as for the sergeant and soldiers, are notably less than that which those of the internal
presidios enjoy and, from the beginning, the proposal is necessary that they cease formalizing that
of populating, which is plausible that it be obtained shortly since the attraction of the rich mines
is natural that it brings many people and that the multitude banish or, at least, dominate and
civilize, with the treatment, the heathen Indians and apostates who inhabit the sierra.

10. The spiritual nourishment and administration of holy sacraments are indispensable for the christian
families, who are destined to this and the rest of the settlements, and the apostate and heathen
Indians, who would be attracted by its residents, treatment, and communication, need catechism
and the doctrine, a direction and example to domesticate them and to teach them the work and, for
any of them, they cannot assign less than one missionary minister with the synod assigned to the
rest of the new colony and with the necessary ornaments for the spiritual administration.

11. The same, and with greater reason, is considered by the attorney general due to that which is
relative to the second settlement in the region of los Encinos, since for it the Colonel Escandón
simply proposes thirty families with no other expense than that of a rifle and a sword for each one
and, for their protection, a captain with three hundred pesos, which is the half of what those of the
internal presidios enjoy, and a sergeant with two hundred twenty-five since said region, although
not in the center or interior of the aforesaid Sierra de Tamaulipa la Nueva, is at its skirt and in a
site which the five experts report being the most suitable for the attacks of the Indians and the
traffic from there to other settlements extremely dangerous due to its being the frontier of the
strength of the enemy; and these reports compared to the proposal made by the colonel Don José
Escandón of the smaller number of families for this settlement and the posts for its protection, it
seems to the Attorney General, the profit of that of el Potrero de las Nueces projects itself more
because, dominating this, the common "rochela" of Tamaulipa, due to it being found at the highest
site of it, it is natural that their strength would be diminished and their invasions lessened in the,
up to now, extremely dangerous region of los Encinos which is at its skirt and is its frontier and
that for that reason Colonel Escandón finds sufficient the lesser number of settlers and posts with
much less expense than what would be necessary, were the enemies not dominated, with the proud
settlement of el Potrero de las Nueces.

12. The one, which is reported as suitable in the region of las Tetillas, near Mesas Prietas, which is
on the eastern part of Tamaulipa la Nueva and to the west of la Vieja, Colonel Escandón proposes
in his report that it be founded with forty families and fifty pesos once for each one and, for their
protection, a squadron of a captain with four hundred pesos annual salary, a sergeant with two
hundred fifty, and six soldiers with two hundred twenty-five, and its respective missionary
minister. And the financial aid being less than that proposed for the others and the salaries of the
squadron as well, the region also being more risky, situated in the woods which are in between the
two sierras of Tamaulipa Vieja and Nueva, home of the Janambres Indians who are the most
rebellious, cruel, and traitorous of all the tribes there are in the colony and whose containment has
given them more trouble, the Attorney General finds the expense of financial aid very moderate
and, in general, the one of the squadron and priest as indispensable, although all this should be
resolved by Your Excellency in a Junta of War, Treasury, and experts as the Honorable Auditor
consults at number fourteen of his judgement of the nineteenth of December of last year.

13. The third point of the aforesaid Royal Decree is that the missionaries and their synods be arranged
in all the colony and new settlements that are being made, keeping in mind the "obvenciones" and
offerings which they anticipate and giving them the instructions as to what they should do so that
they use their abilities as missionaries with the congregated and aggregated Indians.

Concerning this, the five experts of el Nuevo Reino de León report, regarding the fifth
question of the instruction, that the missionaries do not charge "obvenciones" and that the offerings
are small and Colonel Escandón adds that he would not have permitted it nor is it suitable because
one of the principal incentives of those resident settlers to have moved among infidels has been the
exception of "obvenciones" and that charging them could impede the increase of the population
from which would result the ceasing of the synods of the missionaries and the salaries of the
squadrons and that the offerings are spend on wine, hosts, meat, and other things for the Indians.
Regarding the number of missionaries who will be necessary for the entire colony, supposing the
new settlements, and the instructions which will be suitable to give them for the use and exercise
of said missionaries and salary with which they should be supported, the reports of the experts,
remitted by the Lieutenant Governor of el Nuevo Reino de León, agree that one missionary for
each settlement is sufficient and that what is suitable is three hundred fifty pesos for each one
because they do not charge "obvenciones" and, extending themselves from that which they are
asked, regarding the instruction which should be given to them for the use of their abilities as
missionaries, they responded as far as to it would be suitable to extend them, whose extension does
not correspond to the General Captaincy nor to any other Secular Tribunal since they are
ecclesiastics; but the honorable Auditor, in his cited opinion at number sixteen, affirms Your
Excellency having ordered that, regarding said instructions for the use of the abilities of
missionaries, the number in which they should remain, and the reform and arrangement of synods,
the guardian priest and the Council of the College, from where the missionaries are, report; and
this report being the one which can enlighten the resolution of this point with the greatest
intelligence, the Attorney General does not have to request more than that Your Excellency order
the said report to be made.

The fourth of the Royal Decree is that a commission be given to a person, to the
satisfaction of Your Excellency, so that, assigning public lands, common pastures, and lands of
their own to each settlement and giving the Indians, who aggregate, the corresponding ones for
their plantings and livestock, he distribute the rest with attention to the merit of each settler.
Regarding this point the colonel Escandón reports the authority which was given him from the
beginning, that, in its virtue, he has assigned to each settlement the lands in common due to the
disadvantages which, having distributed them in particular, would produce which are that of not
having any other prize with which to remunerate those who would be assigned to the service, they
would be dispirited in it due to the lack of this incentive; that, distributed in particular, each one
would apply himself to cultivate what he owned, the settlers dividing themselves in ranches and
farms and, thus divided, the enemy Indians could finish them off since they would lack the greatest
strength which results from the union; and that it was not his intention to subject himself to only
the fourteen settlements projected from the beginning, as it is accredited by it having come already
to twenty-four and their number could not increase if, among the settlers of the first ones, he had
distributed the lands of the colony, all of them reasons for such solidity that manifest well the deep
meditation and judicial conduct with which the same Colonel Escandón has managed and tempered
the ability to distribute the lands and the zeal with which he has looked to the conservation and
increase of the population of the colony and from it, is manifested the arrangement of the
provisions which he proposes so that, when they are divided in particular, it be with the
qualification that the settlers maintain a house in the cities and towns of their establishment; and
they let it be known that the complaint, of the distribution of land in particular having been
delayed, is of some who, preferring their private interest to the public good of the population and
conservation of all the colony and consequent service of God and of the King, think about their
being distributed to them so they can sell them.

The honorable Auditor, in his cited opinion at number nineteen, taking charge that these
solid foundations were not made known to His Majesty, it is apparent that what is provided
regarding this point in the Royal Decree be executed with attention to them and that, the benefitting
of the settlers with attention to their merit being his regal intention, no one is more suitable than
the same colonel Don José Escandón due to the knowledge he has of everyone; since he has
attracted them from the beginning, congregated them, and assigned them to their respective
settlements, he knows what they have served, the zeal with which they have done it, and he knows
what they can do in the future, and that even when the distribution be committed to another, his
intervention would always be necessary since, on the contrary, the work would be exposed to it
not being executed with the justification and compensatory distribution which His Majesty wishes.

The public good should go before the particular and the subsistence of all of the colony
should be attended to before the private recompense of each one of those which compose it,
principally when, in the interim that the distribution of lands is made, they do not belong to them
since they enjoy them in common and they only lack the ability to sell them, which would happen
in grave injury to the pacification and population; well it is to be fear that the ones they would sell,
the money taken, they would leave the colony with their families to locate in other parts with which
the population would diminish; well if it were their desire to remain in it, they would neither think
of selling the lands, since the planting and the raising of livestock is the only manner of using it
there is, nor would they complain that the distribution in particular is delayed, since for the
purpose of the planting and the raising of livestock, it is the same to enjoy them in common and
with not having distributed them in particular to them, they are only deprived of being able to sell
them and go outside of the colony with the money in notable detriment of its population.

Reconciling all these affairs with the distribution of lands which His Majesty orders be
made, the Attorney General approves it being executed in those settlements in which the aforesaid
difficulties do not hold and, because His Majesty wishes it to be with a justifiable distribution
corresponding to the merit of the settlers, service they may have done and which is expected they
will do, with attention to that no one can be so well instructed about both particulars as the same
colonel Don José Escandón, that he is accredited in his zeal and love of the pacification and
population of the colony in whose perfection his honor and accredited conduct are bound and due
to these circumstances, in him, more than any other, it is appropriate that the confidence of the
distribution of lands be delivered on which, in great part, its increase and perfection depend; the
Attorney General finds very opportune that which was consulted by the honorable Auditor
regarding that the person who, in conformity to that ordered by His Majesty, to whom Your
Excellency shall give the commission for the distribution of lands assigned to each settlement, be
the same colonel with arbitration of the practice in those, which would already be set up to be done
without the problems that are felt and in those which did not have them, of the suspension until a
more opportune time, always keeping in mind the principal end which is the perfect and total
pacification and population of all the land.

With the occasion of ordering, on this fourth point, that, in the distribution of lands, the
corresponding ones be given to the Indians aggregated and who aggregate in the settlements of
Spaniards as His Majesty wants them to be, notwithstanding what the laws provide regarding other
converted Indian villages and Indian pueblos; after Colonel Escandón referred to number nineteen
of his report, the solid reasons which favor the measure accredited with the long experience of the
arrogant temper of those Indians in not being dominated, he proposes that they be occupied with
the Spaniards in the raising of livestock, the cultivation of the lands, and other labors in which they
will begin to dress and eat from their own work and putting aside the idleness in which they were
bred; and, to avoid all offence and reason for complaint from the Indians in the adjustment of the
salaries for the service they might do for the Spaniards, he proposes also advantageous that they
be adjusted with the intervention of the captains, these understanding that they will be in charge
of any omission and that, adjusted in this form, they send notice to the respective missionary
minister priest for his knowledge.

Generally in all the Indians, since the conquest, they have experienced an innate inclination
to idleness and indolence and, for this reason, in the first law, title twelve, sixth book of the
Collection of these kingdoms formed from Royal Decrees repeated since the year of fifteen
hundred forty-nine until the one of sixteen hundred one, looking into its own advantage and
increase, it was ordered that they be distributed for the work of the fields, raising of livestock, and
service to the Spaniards; also looking to, that if this would cease, neither these provinces nor the
Indians, who should live from their work, would be able to support themselves; and this, which
universally proceeded in the beginning of the conversion and pacification of the Indians, all of
these provinces, holds, with more particular reason, for those of the Colonia del Nuevo Santander
for three most fundamental reasons. The first because, having lived previously like wild beasts,
nude and supporting themselves on plants, roots, and wild fruits and even without the shadow of
policy, solidarity, and government which the other congregated Indians had in their heathen
pueblos, it is natural that the idleness and the indolence be established in them more than in the
others and that for this reason it be more necessary to convert them to the labors of planting,
raising livestock, and other services of the Spaniards. The second because in that colony,
absolutely uncivilized in the that of the previous, since inhabited by Indians little different from the
brutes in policy and rational behavior, it should be more lacking than the other provinces which
were conquered in the support and sustenance of the new settlers and of the Indians who have
aggregated and were aggregated to a political and civil life; and at the pace where the povwety is
greater, the remedy is more necessary of applying ourselves to the work and labor of that which
should produce the support and conservation of all. And the third because the settlers are, not only
under the obligation of cultivating the lands and increasing the livestock for the mine workers and
their permanent subsistence in that colony, but also of defending it from the eruptions and assaults
of the enemy heathen and apostate Indians who have not even been converted (for which reason
it is ordered in general the corresponding arms be distributed to the settlers an account of the Royal
Treasury) and, as in many frequent occasions, they will not be able to give aid to the defense,
pursuit, and punishment of the aggressor Indians and at the same time help in the cultivating of the
plantings and the raising of the livestock, it is necessary that this be done by means of the service
of the Indians aggregated and who aggregate.

But this should be tempered and moderated by the rules which the same laws give, it is
convenient to know: while in the colony there might be no lazy Spaniards, mestizos, negros,
mulattos, and free zambaigos by whom these services could be done according to law nineteen,
title twelve, sixth book of the Collection of these kingdoms, that the ones who were occupied in
the cultivation of the lands which might have been distributed to the same Indians not apply
themselves to it, nor in the raising of their own livestock which they might have acquired or do
acquire, nor the ones who, voluntarily, might have been reconciled to serve, that they not take
those of some settlements to others deserting their homes and families and, much less, being of
different temperaments from that of their residence, as it is ordered in the second and twenty-ninth
laws of the same title and book; that the work be moderate and not exceed their debility nor be
such that it would discontent and exasperate them, obliging them to take flight or to view their
conversion to the political and christian life with disgust and discontent, but rather that they be
treated by the Spaniards with love and tenderness, treating them kindly, caressing them, and
teaching them more with the example than with the domination and rule in order that, brought
along more by the kindness than the obedience, they embrace with desire the civil, political, and
christian life.

The barbarity of the recently converted Indians and their consequent rusticity and
simplicity make them incapable of being able to regulate the prize of their service on their own
without being exposed to the deceit of some bad intentioned ones who, intent only in their interest
and forgetting their conscience and the public-good which will result from having them content and
satisfied, might want to defraud them and, for that reason, the proposal of Colonel Escandón, is
appropriate that, to prevent all cause or offense, it be ordered that the employment of the Indians,
regulation of their salary, and their pay be with intervention of the captains because these are the
people of the most trust, distinction, and character, judges of the settlements which are at their
command and, as such, it being their duty that the justice be observed with equality, the Indians
not be defrauded, the protection of these, maintain them in peace, and to be attentive that they not
desert due to grievances and discontent and return to the mountainous country or woods and to
commit hostilities and disquiet the settlements. It is also opportune that the regulation of the
salaries, which the Indians might make with intervention of the captains, be reported to their
respective missionary priest, he being supposed to watch that they distribute it well and not on
vices of intoxication, games, and others which will deviate them from the christian catechism and
good education which runs in his care.

The fifth point of the Royal Decree is reduced to order that Your Excellency adjudge, if
it would be suitable, that the soldiers, who are present in the settlements of the new colony, be
reduced to one mobile company, as it is dictated by the reports of Don José Tienda de Cuervo
and Don Agustín López de la Cámara Alta or of other experts. From the named ones they
cannot be taken anymore for their having died. In the one that the colonel Don José Escandón
makes, he expresses the disadvantage of this reduction of the squadrons to a mobile company on
the footing in which it was proposed by Don José Tienda de Cuervo which was to put three parts
of twenty-five men in Horcasitas, Padilla, and Burgos subject to one captain, that several posts be
reformed from which thirteen thousand pesos of savings are deduced which can be applied to the
construction of irrigation canals and the aid of missions.

Taking charge of the recommendable, which is to save such a considerable annual amount,
he continue reporting the detriments which could ensue to the colony, its settlement, and its growth
if, to tend to this said savings, the reform is brought under consideration in the manner projected
by Captain Tienda de Cuervo; he makes present the many consults, reports, fiscal views,
judgements of the honorable Auditor, and resolutions of the Juntas of War and Treasury to
undertake the pacification, settlement, and protection of this colony in the manner that it is
maintained, having been approved through the progresses which he has obtained, it being very
increased, and that, in view of this, it would be dangerous to change the method, to weaken the
protection, and to risk losing, in a few months, what has been advanced in many years. Reasons
which, in the judgement of the Attorney General, are truly solid and worthy of the greatest
attention, although the proposed savings also weighs heavily on the obligation of his office,
especially when the same colonel, in his cited report, mentions it not being necessary for the cost
of the irrigation canals or water removals for which Captain Tienda de Cuervo projected it should
be destined, since they were already obtained with the help and assistance that the colonel
expresses having ministered to the inhabitants of the respective settlements from his own wealth;
and that with the same method they can furnish the ones lacking, so that in this supposition the
savings would be effectively in favor of His Majesty and not in that of the proposition of Captain
Tienda de Cuervo, according to which the cost would only vary in destination, perfecting the
irrigation canals and helping the missions which will be excused with the reform of posts.

Relating the reasons in which the declared proposal of the captain Don José Tienda de
Cuervo is supported, he states having divulged them without the complete instruction of what, in
reality, occurs in which proof he relates several works; he reports how invaded are the settlements
of Padilla and Burgos, whose captains he proposed be reformed, being[sic] unfeasible that, for
those who remained, the salary would reach three hundred and fifty pesos for their support and for
the indispensable costs that the employment brings with it; that the reducción to the aforesaid three
squadrons of twenty-five men of all the soldiers of the colony, removing those who are distributed
in each one of the settlements, would produce, among others, the disadvantage of there not being
in them anyone who could swiftly contain the repeated assaults of the enemy Indians and their
instantaneous escapes, since they are extremely swift, as much in the commitment as in the escape.
So that only those, who are on horseback and ready for it, can stop them and pursue them
immediately while the others collect themselves, something that would be unfeasible if they
attacked, as is normal, one of the settlements in which there remained no squadron; well in the
interim that the closest neighbor, where there was one, would go to meet them, the aggressor
enemies would have already left for the rocks and woods, making their punishment impossible; that
the frequent clandestine attacks committed by the Indians, so that they not be felt, are in short
gangs which the soldiers, who are in each settlement, are able to contain at the time with the help
of the settlers who are able to quickly incorporate themselves with them or pursue them and, to
make a campaign when it is determined, it is also appropriate that the squadrons be maintained in
the way they have been since, at any order, they march to incorporate themselves in the place they
are ordered, each one taking twenty-five or thirty auxiliary troops chosen from the settlers, who
would not be able to do it alone leaving their families, homes, and haciendas and, the campaign
concluded, they would not be able to dedicate themselves to replace the work and proceedings
which they had discontinued doing during their march if it is not in the confidence of prepared
soldiers remaining to watch against the new assaults of the enemy Indians, to whom experience has
taught that it is better to pursue with small squadrons that can hide from their vigilante spies, and
not in increased divisions, if it is not when they know of the site of the hamlet and they go to fall
on it.

After all, this point is not completely instructed so that Your Excellency, to whom His
Majesty left the arbitration of its resolution, can take it because, it being ordered in the Royal
Decree that Your Excellency adjudge regarding this point according to what the reports of Don
José Tienda de Cuervo and Don Agustín López de la Cámara Alta cite in the idea of being
active or from other experts of the country, no one has reported regarding the affair more than the
colonel Don José Escandón.

The sixth point ordered in the Royal Decree is that the commerce through the Port of Barra
de Santander be rendered useless regarding about which Colonel Escandón reports having given
the opportune orders and, although he prepares that he will represent the difficulties that from this
prohibition can ensue for the colony, it should subsist while he does not do it and, with it, His
Majesty will be informed so that, weighing them in his regal consideration with those who dictated
the ordered prohibition, he deign to deliberate what might be his royal wish.

1. In attention to everything put forward, the Attorney General collecting that which the obligation
of his office is due to request, Your Excellency should be served to declare the Royal Decree as
completed in that it orders that the three settlements of Escandón, Reynosa, and Burgos be moved
to more appropriate regions.

2. That the other three be founded in el Potrero de las Nueces, Sierra de los Encinos, and Region of
las Tetillas and that, for the expenses that the foundation causes, as much in the equipping of the
settlers as in the squadrons for their protection, they form a Junta of War, Treasury, and Experts
which Your Excellency be served to nominate.

3. That, regarding the arrangement of the missionaries and synods in all the colony and in the new
settlements that are made, and, regarding what they should practice with the aggregated Indians
and the abilities which they should use, the Reverend Guardian Priest and Venerable Council of
the Apostolic College of Franciscans of Guadalupe de Zacatecas, in whose charge the missions
run, report.

4. That, for the distribution of lands of the settlements, Your Excellency continue the commission to
the colonel Don José Escandón so that he do it in the settlement in which its practice does not
produce injury to its conservation and increase and, in the others, he suspend until a better
opportunity.

5. And, regarding whether, in place of the squadrons of soldiers of each settlement, they are to
substitute a mobile company, Your Majesty should be served to take reports from the experts of
the country who were of his Superior selection.

6. And, finally, regarding the rendering useless of the commerce of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
through the port of el Nuevo Santander, he order that they keep that resolved by His Majesty and
that, if the colonel Don José de Escandón might have something to report, he do it without injury
of the execution of that ordered and, with testimony of that, it be made known to His Majesty.
Mexico and April 27th of 1765. - Velarde.- (rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

In the points contained in the judgement of the Auditor of the nineteenth of December of the last
year which are those of which the Royal Decree of the nineteenth of March of seven hundred twenty-three
treats, the Honorable Attorney General is in agreement to which he subscribes as in everything else.

Mexico and May 11th of 1765. - Don Domingo Valcarcel. - (rubric)

Mexico, 14th of May of 1765. - As the Honorable Attorney General requests and the Honorable
Auditor subscribes to all, the experts being the General Accountant of Royal Taxes and Don Francisco
Marín del Valle, who was governor of el Nuevo México. - (a rubric)

In the city of Mexico on the fourth of June of seventeen hundred sixty-five years, I the Scribe, Don
Francisco Marín del Valle present in his home, before him I presented to him the Superior Decree of His
Excellency, which precedes, who, having understood, said he hears it and that he is ready to comply, in
whatever might be his part, with what is prepared and he signed it, to which I attest. Francisco Antonio
Marín del Valle. - (rubric) - Before me. - Joaquín de Balbuena, Scribe of His Majesty and of the War. -
(rubric).

In the Junta of War, Treasury, and Experts, whom the Most Excellent Marqués de Cruillas,
Viceroy, Governor and Captain General of this New Spain ordered to convene and had today on this date
with the presence of the gentlemen Don Francisco Antonio de Echavarri and Don Domingo Valcarcel,
both noblemen of the order of Santiago, of the Council of His Majesty in this Royal Audience, the first,
senior of it and the second, sub-senior, and of the Council of His Majesty in the Royal and Supreme Indias
and Auditor General of the War; of that of the gentleman Don Juan Antonio Velarde y Cienfuegos, also
of the Council of His Majesty and his Attorney General in this Royal Audience; of that of the gentleman
Don Juan Cris�stomo de Barroeta, Regent in the Tribunal and Royal Audience of Accounts of this New
Spain, of that of the gentlemen Don Ildefonso de Mella and Don Santiago Abad, major accountants in
it; of that of Don Pedro Toral Valdéz and Don José Romualdo de Arango, royal officials of the Royal
Treasury and Bank of this Court; of that of the Licentiate Don José Rafael Rodríguez Gallardo,
Accounting Judge of the Royal Tributes of this kingdom; of that of Don Juan Antonio de Arze y Arroyo,
General Accounting Judge of the Royal Excise Taxes and that of Don Francisco Marín del Valle who was
governor of Nuevo Mexico, a report was made of the documents made in virtue and complement of that
resolved by His Majesty in Royal Decree given in Buen Retiro on the twenty-ninth of March of the past
year of seven hundred sixty-three in which, among other provisions, he orders that on the coast of the Gulf
of Mexico another three settlements be established to contain the floods of barbarian Indians and avoid the
thefts that they commit in them and, what is evident in them is that the Most Excellent Marqués de las
Amarillas, being the Viceroy of this New Spain, having given an account to His Majesty with testimony
of the documents of the view and inspection which were made from his Royal order by the captain Don
José Tienda de Cuervo and the engineer Don Agustín López de la Cámara Alta of the settlements and
converted land on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico by the colonel Don José de Escandón, he was served,
by the cited Royal Decree, to order the establishment of the said three settlements, not only for the
aforesaid effect, but also to assure the tranquility of that conquered, to hinder the disturbance that the
coming of the rebels causes in the pacified Indians, and to make progress in dominating them, especially
those who can become strong in the two serranías called Tamaulipas and their immediate woods and river,
from the Superior Decree of the Most Excellent Marqués de Cruillas in which, with the preceding
judgement of the Honorable Auditor General of War he ordered that resolved by His Majesty be put into
execution. Of the report which, with the date of the second of May of the last year of seven hundred sixty-four, the aforesaid Colonel Escandón made in this Superior Government, directed, among other affairs,
to request permission to begin populating, without cost to the Royal Treasury, the lands which lie between
the Río Grande del Norte and that of las Nueces and from this one to Santa Dorotea and Presidio de la
Bahía del Espíritu Santo. Of the one with the date of ninth of November of the cited year, that he made,
on the order of this Superior Government, with attention to that resolved by His Majesty on the affair, in
the one which, treating about the particular one of the three settlements, he proposed that the regions in
which they should be established, the first one is el Potrero called that of las Nueces and, making a very
individual report of its weather and other good qualities, he expressed that this population can be made with
forty families of settler soldiers, giving each one a one-time hundred pesos of financial aid for their travel,
including in it the value of a rifle and a sword, granting them the military power and lands in the same
manner as the rest of the settlers and that, for their security, they raise a squadron composed of twelve
posts including a captain and a salary of five hundred pesos, a sergeant with that of two hundred fifty, and
ten soldiers with that of two hundred twenty-five which composes three thousand pesos. And that also he
believes it necessary to place a priest there with the synod of three hundred fifty pesos and the necessary
ornaments so that he administer the holy sacraments to said squadron, soldiers, settlers, and Indians, who
begin congregating, in the same way as is done with the rest. The second region is the one called los
Encinos and that, for its population, he finds thirty families of settler soldiers sufficient whom, he believes,
he can facilitate with only the financial aid of a rifle and a sword for each one, a captain with three hundred
pesos salary, and a sergeant with two hundred twenty-five, adding, for now, four soldiers from one of
those squadrons, in which they are least missed, to save their cost. That, in the same manner, they place
a priest in the same terms as in the previous one and, with this, those valleys and all the skirt of the north
of said Tamaulipa will be dominated. The third region is the one called la Tetillas; this population,
notwithstanding the risk there is, its fertile land and good weather being so desirable, said colonel affirms
that he should be able to facilitate forty for it, which he thinks necessary, with the financial aid of fifty
pesos for one time for each one of them including the cost of a rifle and a sword, as in the one in
Tamaulipa, a captain with four hundred pesos salary, a sergeant with two hundred fifty, and six soldiers
with that of two hundred twenty-five, which composes two thousand pesos, and a priest to administer the
squadron, settlers, and Indians, who might aggregate, with the synod and holy ornaments. In the same
manner, according to the letter of the judgement of the Honorable Auditor, set down were its date of the
ninth of December of the last year of seven hundred sixty-four, the response of the Honorable Attorney
General of His Majesty of the twenty-seventh of April, and the judgement of the Honorable Auditor of the
eleventh of May, all three of this year, in which, making a report of the aforesaid of the state in which this
matter is found and of the costs which the establishment of said three settlements, the equipping of the
settlers and that of the squadrons offer, they requested that, for it, a Junta of War, Treasury, and Experts
be called. And, finally, there was a report of the Superior Decree of the Most Excellent Marqués de
Cruillas in which, conforming with that requested and consulted by the honorable Attorney General and
Auditor, he ordered the present Junta to convene, naming as Experts the Licentiate Don José Rafael
Rodríguez Gallardo, General Accountant of the Royal Taxes of this New Spain, and Don Francisco
Marín del Valle, who was governor of the Province of el Nuevo México. And the aforesaid seen and a
conference held, it was resolved in common accord that the three new settlements, which His majesty
orders, be established in the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to contain the entries of the barbarious Indians,
avoid the thefts that they commit in those boundaries, and assure, in the future, a tranquility which would
attract the Indians who might congregate and the settlers who might go to their establishment and they be,
and agree with each other, in the three regions which the colonel Don José Escandón cites. The first in
el Potrero called las Nueces with the forty families of settler soldiers, which he has considered necessary,
that each one of these be given one time one hundred pesos in financial aid for their move and that in it
be understood the value of a sword and a rifle; that they be granted the enjoyment of military power and
lands in the same way that it is granted to the rest of the settlers of that colony and that, to assure the
establishment of this settlement, a squadron composed of twelve posts be established and raised for now
and while the population is perfected, included in them that of captain with five hundred pesos salary, a
sergeant with two hundred fifty, and ten soldiers at two hundred twenty-five. And that, likewise, a priest
be placed there with the synod of three hundred fifty pesos so that he administer the holy sacraments to
them, dispatching, for this end, the needed ornaments. That the second settlement be managed in the
region of los Encinos with the thirty families of settler soldiers which, the aforesaid colonel Don José de
Escandón justifies can facilitate it, and that each one of them be aided with the cost of a rifle and a sword
and that, for the security and protection of their persons and goods, a captain be named with three hundred
pesos salary, a sergeant with two hundred twenty-five, the said colonel detaching, from one of those
squadrons, where they would be less missed, the four soldiers whom he says are necessary so that it will
be perfectly established and that, in the same manner as in the preceding one, a religious missionary be
placed in it with the same synod, expediting the utensils and ornaments necessary. That the third settlement
be managed in the region called las Tetillas with the forty families which said colonel considers necessary
and he believes will facilitate its population and that each one of them, as he says, be assisted one time with
the financial aid of fifty pesos, including in it the cost of a rifle and a sword and that, likewise, a squadron
be established and raised for their security composed of a captain with four hundred pesos salary, a
sergeant with two hundred fifty, and six soldiers with two hundred twenty-five; and that soon afterwards
a priest be placed there, with the synod and sacred ornaments which are customary in these cases, to
administer said squadron, settlers, and Indians, who might be aggregated there, and that the Most Excellent
Viceroy of this Kingdom, in strength of the Royal Decree of His Majesty, its date twenty-nine of March
of the past year of seven hundred sixty three, which has provoked this resolution, give the corresponding
orders so that soon afterwards said colonel Don José Escandón pass on to the establishment of said three
settlements in the form which he has consulted and, with agreement of the honorable Attorney General and
Auditor, they have been qualified according to the Royal intention directed to the service of God, of the
King, of the public cause, and, in particular, of those infidels who, as cruel strays, have traveled up to here
in solicitude of their ultimate ruin. And thus they decreed and signed it with their rubric.

Mexico, June 8, 1765. - (Marked with eleven rubrics) - Juan Martínez Soria - (rubric) - "Por mi
Compo - (a rubric)

Gentlemen his Excellency. - Echavarri. - Valcarcel. - Velarde. - Barroeta. - Mella. - Abad. -
Valdéz. - Arango. - Gallardo. - Arze y Arroyo. - Marín del Valle.

Mexico, June 16, 1765.

Keeping in mind the six points which comprises that resolved by His Majesty in his Royal Decree
of the twenty-ninth of May of seventeen hundred sixty-three, the report which was made to me regarding
the affair by the Colonel Don José de Escandón, in whose charge the pacification and population of the
colony of the Gulf of Mexico is; that, consulted by the Honorable Auditor General of War on the
nineteenth of November of last year of seven hundred sixty four with the request by the Honorable
Attorney General of His Majesty in his response of the twenty-seventh of April of this year; that, resolved
in the Royal Junta of War, Treasury, and Experts which precedes, the first being that the three settlements,
titled Escandón, Reynosa, and Burgos be moved to regions more appropriate for the well-being, health,
and ease of its residents, however it is found certified those of Escandón and Burgos being moved, with
anticipation due to the zeal of said colonel, to comfortable and competent sites and their being no necessity
to move that of Reynosa due to being assured from the future inundations that the Río Grande del Norte
predicted to him; I declare the cited Royal Decree as completed and the same as to the three settlements
ordered to be established in said colony to contain the irruptions of the enemy Indians who, up to now,
have caused hostilities in those borders, and the establishment of these to be in the regions of las Nueces,
los Encinos, and Tetillas with the number of the families of settlers, soldiers, priests, missionaries and with
the assignment of salaries and synods prescribed by that resolved in the preceding Royal Junta and with
the enjoyment of the lands, powers, and privileges with are granted to the other settlers and soldiers of that
colony, to which end, royal officials of these treasuries, to whom testimony of it and of this decree will
be passed, they will deliver, notwithstanding my prohibitive orders, to the named colonel Don José de
Escandón, the financial aid assigned to the families of the three aforesaid settlements so that soon they go
to establish themselves in them as His Majesty orders. And through the agent, their royal officials, to
whom said officials they will administer the money necessary, notwithstanding my prohibitive orders, he
shall pass to provide the ornaments, sacred urns, and other utensils necessary for the establishment of the
three missions which correspond to said three settlements in the same way as, up to now, has been
practiced with the other missions. And so that the same effect result as to the particular of the arrangement
of the missionaries and their synods and abilities, which they should use, I am satisfied with that requested
regarding this affair by the honorable Attorney General in his aforesaid answer of the twenty-seventh of
April and expressed by the Honorable Auditor General of War in the judgement of the eleventh of May,
both of this year, and in the same manner regarding the fourth, fifth, and sixth points. And so that the
named colonel can arrange the use of his abilities for everything, as much regarding the establishment of
said three settlements, their missions, the establishment of their squadrons and the distribution of lands
according to that resolved by His Majesty in the cited Royal Decree of the twenty-ninth of March of the
last year of seven hundred sixty-three, he will be given testimony of it, of the judgement of the Honorable
Auditor General of War, its date the nineteenth of December of the preceding year, of the response of the
Honorable Attorney General of the twenty-seventh of April, and the judgement of said Honorable Auditor,
which follows it, of the eleventh of May, both of this year, of the junta which precedes, and of this decree
for his knowledge and accomplishment. And through my chamber secretary a letter will be written to the
Reverend Father Guardian and Venerable Council of el Apost�lico Colegio de Franciscanos de Guadalupe
de Zacatecas, in whose charge run the missions of the colony of the Gulf of Mexico, that they inform me
regarding the arrangement of the missionaries and the synods as said honorable Attorney General and
Auditor request for which end, testimony will be passed of paragraph three and another separate one,
advising them to quickly prepare three priests for the three new settlements and missions which are being
established and they take charge of them immediately that they are informed by said colonel Don José
Escandón of their necessary assistance. And the syndic of said Colegio will be informed about this
resolution so that he proceed to the Agent of this Royal Cashier so that he deliver to him the necessary
utensils in the form provided. And so, regarding the fifth point, he can take the resolution which
corresponds, the aforesaid executed, these documents will pass to the Licentiate Don José Rafael
Rodríguez Gallardo, to the colonel Don Jacinto de Barrios y J�uregui, and to Don Francisco Marín
del Valle so that each one will inform me what they find regarding its content as conducive to this
particular. - (a rubric)

The Governor of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico informs Your Excellency of Captain Unzaga and
others being ready to begin to work two veins of gold which they have assayed in Tamaulipa.

Most Excellent Lord:

In a letter of the ninth of last May, the Captain Commander of the Frontier of the town of Hoyos
in the colony of el Nuevo Santander sends me the following paragraph:

"To risk something on the contingency in Tamaulipa, I have registered two veins in different
regions in company with Don Alonso de Mu�iz y de Zagazola and, in the few tests which I have made,
it is recognized being of gold and, if in greater improvement, it corresponds to what in a small one has
been taken out, I believe they will be more than reasonable, with a very great benefit for these frontiers;
but their work and improvement, due to being in dangerous regions, the assignment of not less then ten
soldiers with their corporal is indispensable and necessary so they can serve in the custody and security
of the operators, and said soldiers and corporal, should be completely subject to one of the partners, giving
to the elected one the necessary military grade because it is believed that he would be confronted by
frequent reasons of discord with the province of the kingdom as much due to being so close, as well as due
to said mine being the "rochela" and refuge of the discontented Indians and deserters of their pueblos and
missions; also, I contemplate it very appropriate to grant, to those who attend to the improvement and
discovery of such an important affair, some exceptions which will oblige them to the greater fervor and
obligation and it can be a means so that a great service be done for the King and the public whose
representation I implore be made to the mercy of the Most Excellent Viceroy."

I responded to him, he could arrange everything necessary for the work of the two mines to which
he refers in the knowledge of, as I understand it, his being ready to place a formal settlement in el Potrero
de las Nueces, center of that mine of Tamaulipa, by order of the Superiority of Your Excellency, there
would be no risk to anyone who wants to work in all its ore veins, and that, in the interim, my lieutenant
would give the necessary escort. The expressed two veins, to which this captain refers, he has had they
assayed for some days and, repeatedly, although in small parts, it has manifested a good grade of gold and
the same has happened with many others of silver, as I have reported to Your Excellence; I believe that
the town, placed, without the distrust which was had up to now, in the name of Tamaulipa, there should
be many who dedicate themselves to the work of the mines and, the case arriving, I shall inform Your
Excellency for whatever he deem to order of his Superior will which, as always, will be the best.

Mexico, June 4, 1765. - José de Escandón - (rubric)

Mexico, June 7, 1765. - To the Honorable Auditor where the preceding are. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

The report that the colonel Don José de Escandón communicates to Your Excellency in this
consultation is appreciable in the constitution in which the colony of el Nuevo Santander is found today
because, although, in the beginning of the establishment of its settlements, it was extremely well thought
out not to allow the working of mines with the prospect of inhabiting the one which, with its incentive
would carry the people to the mines neglecting in their taking root, now today that it is recognized having
it and being well contented in their towns with the farming of their fields and the raising of their livestock,
such a difficulty can be considered as having ceased and, thus, once with the new settlement that is trying
to be established in el Potrero de las Nueces in completion of the order of His Majesty, the laborers are
contemplated well protected in la Tamaulipa without hardship to the Royal Treasury, the discovery will
be, without doubt extremely useful regarding the approval to said colonel of the response which he has
given about the particular to the captain of the town of Hoyos, which he will be able to see it being of his
superior pleasure to manifest to him: preparing him that, in the event of the labor of said mines coming
to pass and that these increase, he then inform Your Excellency for the measures that should be taken in
the security of the interests of His Majesty, and affair which is expected said colonel will have very present
in mind from the experience which is had of his love of the Royal Service upon which Your Excellency
will resolve what he might find most appropriate.

Mexico, June 22, 1765. - Don Domingo Valcarcel. - (rubric)

Mexico, June 25, 1765. - As it appears to the Honorable Auditor. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

Complying with the Superior Decree of Your Excellency of the sixteenth of the past, I have taken
charge of the content of the Royal Decree, its date in Buen Retiro of the twenty-ninth of March of the past
year of seven hundred sixty-three, regarding that concerning the point consulted by the captain Don José
Tienda de Cuervo about the troop, which today garrisons the settlers of the colony of el Nuevo Santander,
being reduced to one lone mobile company which, divided and distributed into three parts, one be posted
in the settlement of Padilla, the other in that of Horcasitas or in that of Escandón, and the other in the town
of Burgos, all three detachments made up of twenty-five soldiers and the respective officials so that,
employed in running and inspecting the lands and roads, it be made respectable and the good effect, of
having the Indians more subjected, be obtained, of which affair the colonel Don José Escandón was
already given charge in the numbers twenty and following of the report which was made on order of Your
Excellency on the ninth of November of the last year, page 22 verso, refuting this project which he
conceives as purely theoretical and not at all suitable to the situation and state of the colony and much less
to the quality and circumstances of the war of the Indians.

If a concept should be formed, only from the intrinsic authority of those reporting, all promotion
would be reconciled, with much preference the report of the colonel Don José Escandón, the most expert
in the war and movements of those Indians who are not easy to understand from only reports; and in the
little time which Captain Tienda de Cuervo was, as in transit, in the colony, occupied in the visit and
without having been personally in a campaign with the Indians due to it not being his duty at that time; but
much better should be the report of the colonel Don José Escandón if he is considered and esteemed
interested and pledged to the good effect and best results and progresses of meditated work and proposed
by himself; and that he has embraced and begun, hazarding the disdain if its effects and good results did
not have a suitable return to the contemplated project, it being incredible that such a thought of reducing
the squadrons to a mobile company had not occurred to him and that, considering it fruitful, he would not
have embraced it and begun it in so much time, as he has reformed some of the first measures giving a
different situation to some settlements according to how the experience and practice has dictated it.

I have had, under many titles, occasion and motive to become informed and be instructed in these
documents from the beginning, either dispatching the office of fiscal agent by special confidence of the
honorable Don Pedro de Bedolla; or conferring with the honorable Auditor Marqués de Alta Mira and
even attending the juntas in the rank of minister and expert and the weight and maturity are clear to me
with which all and each one of the squadrons have been arbitrated and resolved; their establishment and
a number reduced to the most important, and with equal instruction that I have from the many documents
formed regarding the foundation and establishment of presidios of the kingdom in the provinces and
frontier governments of Indians, I recognize the cost which His Majesty expends in the colony being of
little consideration and the most reduced, compared proportionally in itself and in their consequences with
the expenses in other presidios and provinces where, after almost one and one-half century of having
planted the converted Indian villages, they neither cease nor are they suppressed, but instead they consult
and establish new presidios with fifty posts like in la Sinaloa and Sonora where they have created two
presidios over the old ones that had been there simply to contain the two tribes, Pimas and Seris, heathens
and apostates.

All of these are summed up considerations and thus I going to the specific point of reducing the
squadrons to one mobile company, to divide in three pieces without paying attention to the small apparent
savings, but rather looking at the good effect which is solicited and, guarding against that apparent savings
not being by chance productive of greater expenses and injuries, I should explain fairly to Your Excellency
that the mobile companies of twenty-five men, although posted in a determined site, would only lead to the
defense of the same site that they occupy and in no way help the surprises and advances of the Indians at
distances; I am not speaking of twenty leagues, but not even of five, and thus, not being able to prevent
the assault, its report would only lead to maim the soldiers and horses and make their future service
useless, as in the example proposed by the colonel Don José Escandón in which the Indians would attack
in Soto la Marina, a distance of 24 leagues from Padilla, where the most immediate squadron would be
whose help in the expressed event would only serve to give testimony to the event; well, recent among
other is the example of not having been able to help el Presidio de San Sab� at the immediate bordering
mission nor hinder the burning and the deaths of the missionaries almost in their view and in their paths,
and with one hundred garrison soldiers who covered their land, occupied in defending and covering them.

There is no garrison company in all the frontier provinces with the title of Mobile with the
exception of that of Huejuguilla on the road to la Nueva Vizcaya; well, although the Presidio of Sinaloa
was called Mobile, since it had no definite situation and being centered between old and distant mission
of the frontiers, the governors have always had it posted in a region, so the events have dictated it and,
thus, it has not been Mobile in reality but, rather, presidio in this or that frontier of Indians and about the
company of Huejuquilla, which is the only one which is considered a Mobile Company, it has not had the
job of covering new settlements, but rather of traveling the long highway or royal road which there is from
the Presidio del Pasaje to Chihuahua and that is why it is composed of sixty posts whose station should be
set in said Huejuquilla or in the Río Florido; and, thus, the mobile companies are not and cannot be useful
if it is not to cover the intervals of the settlements having root and established or the formal and old towns
and, in no way can they be useful to the new and commenced settlements or those centralized in the risk
and danger of the Indians, and special and strange would be the idea that, being mobile, they could work
for the present in certainty and defensibly and at such great distances without having wings and, at best,
they could lead, in some rare case in the offensive which is not the intent when it necessarily is about and
should be about the defense of the land, putting it under shelter from the hostilities so that, the population
established and productive, the heathen Indians are begun to be converted, gently and unrecognizably, to
the civil society and the christian religion.

The squadrons, although divided and situated in the fourteen settlements, can comfortably and
easily unite, when it is necessary, for example, for a formal campaign, few times or rarely advisable but,
united, not easily will they be able to proceed to help and defend the invasions in time in any of the twenty-three settlements (that the report introduced in the Royal Decree quotes and which in reality are twenty-four) and in the other dwellings and haciendas, distant and dispersed among themselves, since the war of
the Indians consist more in cunning, perfidy, and treason than in fearlessness, valor, and strength and thus
they assault, unexpectedly in small groups which cannot be felt nor prevented, their being so small,
guarding against the dust or tracks to anticipate the report and prepare the defense; and as the natural
reason dictates the use of cunning against cunning and to measure the strengths, from there it is that, a
squadron of twenty-five men not being enough in Padilla (I shall use the same example) to help Soto la
Marina against fifty Indians who assault because of the distance which divides, enough, and even more than
enough, would be the nine soldiers, one captain, and a sergeant, who now are in Soto la Marina, aided by
the residents to defend themselves and punish the aggressors without needing any other foreign and distant
aid .

It also happens that the Indians, to make fun of the intentions of our own, often try to divert the
forces, feigning to advance to a region in order for them to attack or others who are in reserve at a
differently diverse post when the arms, distant and dispersed, can no longer defend it and, thus, the three
squadrons, although with twenty-five men, could poorly defend twenty-four settlements and the dwellings
and haciendas annexed which have been defended, up to now, with the fourteen squadrons and the one
hundred seventeen soldiers and their captains and respective officials because there is much distance to the
foreign, distant, and remote help to the quick, internal, and undelayed defense in a similar type of war
whose regular and frequent actions are the surprises and assaults.

The intended purpose or end, that these three companies cut off the roads and patrol the intervening
lands of the twenty-four settlements with a half or a third of each company, which would then be six or
twelve soldiers at the most, the others remaining in the three respective regions resting alternately or
guarding the horses, could never be able to influence in the defence of a land which runs from the twenty-three to the twenty-nine degrees of latitude and to the two hundred sixty-seven of longitude and whose
length is almost one hundred forty leagues and its width from forty-five to sixty-five; well the three
squadrons, or sections at twelve men each, would compose the number of only thirty-six men and, even
though those who would be expedited might be forty or fifty, they could badly attend to all and each one
of the twenty-four regions dispersed in that dilated circumference of the colony or cut off the paths or
tracks of the barbaric Indians, not being able to give a general and absolute rule which could impede or
obstruct their intentions, because the cutting off of the tracks and observing the entries is the same as
wanting to close the doors to the fields when there is no hills or crag which does not offer a quick and
ample entry to the boldness and fleetness of some enemies little obstructed by their arms, the least bulky
and the handiest and inured to the inclemency of the weather, without needing any other provision of food
than the wild fruits and plants of the fields; that all are advantages to mock the pursuit and overtaking, even
when the direction and route they take to one of the settlements is discovered.

Ours, encumbered with their arms, without being able to cut through the short cuts, can badly
follow and overtake such skillful and agile enemies; well, what shall we say when they usually follow the
route to one part, giving the hint to attack on another, placing smoke and other false signs which deceive
or some delaying the soldiers, maiming the horses on one side, others observing to make use of the
movement when they see the arms at a distance; what is true is that, for these and many other reasons
which the experience and practice have dictated, the new settlements should not be dependent on the
contingent and distant help and, for that reason, the ordinance 157 advises that, when a mission might have
the enemies in view, the most immediate presidio administer a safeguard that can keep it for as long as the
distrust might last since, centered in the regions which the enemies have occupied, they should have an
interior safeguard until they are perfectly established and the Indians, who invade them, totally converted.

Even with there being the Presidio de los Adais in the province of Texas with seventy soldiers
to come to the defense of the missions which were founded under their protection, Ordinance 163 arranged
that two soldiers remain in each one of said missions due to no christian Indians living there, the help of
the presidio not being estimated as sufficient because of the distance and the respective interior defense of
said missions considered as necessary and, thus, should the settlements always be considered in the state
of being established and enlarged, their subsistence should not be risked nor should it be supported in the
lone aid of the mobile squadrons; and this same concept, which I have formed, is the one formed by the
experts who, on the Superior order of Your Excellency, were examined in the city of Monterrey, capital
of el Nuevo Reino de León, by the lieutenant governor of that kingdom in compliance with the instruction
found on page forty; well regarding the sixth point they explain that, although a squadron of fifty men with
their respective officials would be very useful, a moderate garrison would always be necessary in each one
of the settlements since, any other way, they would be exposed to eminent risk with all that squadron, such
that in the judgement of these experts, the settlements garrisoned, the mobile company would be more
useful to operate in the offensive and in the field, but this does not produce savings as Captain Tienda de
Cuervo figured but, instead on the contrary, it prepares major expenses which not even the colonel Don
José de Escandón has estimated necessary.

The idea and end which had been carried in this important project has not been that of conquering
nor making war against the enemy and apostate Indians who occupy this large pocket of land surrounded
by jurisdictions and provinces, some which are called pacified and others which have been for many years,
like that of Texas to the north, those of Coahuila and Nuevo Reino de León to the west, and, to the south,
the ones of Tampico, Pánuco, town of los Valles and Guadalc�zar, but rather to occupy and protect the
land with settlers so that, as a forced and necessary consequence, the Indians be converted, not having
asylum to go around, as before, free and errant, but rather with the example itself, they be converted to
a civil society which coincides so much or facilitates their christian conversion; and if, in the beginning,
an observation troop in the field were not necessary, but rather the settlements began increasing under the
protection of the escorts or small squadrons, it does not seem that today, in better outlook, the method
should be changed until the same settlements can subsist on their own and the expense be completely
excused or the population advanced until perfectly uniting the colony with the northern lands of those of
Texas and its capital of las Adais.

All the expense of the fourteen squadrons and one hundred seventeen soldiers, officials, and
overseers, which garrison the twenty-four settlements of the colony, with the visible progress which the
reports, manifested in the Royal Decree, relate, are reduced to thirty-six thousand one hundred fifty-two
pesos per year and there is no internal province, even those which count centuries of conversion, which
subsist with less costs; well, la Sonora, where only the missions are counted without any other formal
neighborhoods than the one I established under the protection of the arms with the name of Horcasitas,
today His Majesty spends one hundred seventeen thousand eight hundred forty pesos annually with the six
presidios it has including that of Buenavista in the province of Texas, one hundred ten thousand two
hundred thirty pesos are spent per year; one can just count as settlements the Presidio de los Adais, San
Antonio de Vejar, San Fernando, Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, and the Presidio de la Bahía del Espíritu
Santo and, in this manner, comparison could be made proportionately of Nayarit, Nuevo México, Nuevo
Reino de León, Coahuila, and Californias but it is more than enough and suffices to fix the consideration
in one lone Presidio de San Sab�, composed of one hundred soldiers including the captain and officials,
which is indebted to His Majesty for the enlarged distributions, plus the regular annual expense of forty
thousand seven hundred sixty pesos, without any town being placed under its protection, properly so, that
would produce or found hopes of equal benefit than what is experienced in the colony and its extension of
more than one hundred leagues.

It is evident in other documents that I have managed also that, for the company which ran in the
charge of the captain of San Sab� with the end of punishing the Indians who attacked and assaulted the
mission in its early stages, the new colony of Santander contributed with auxiliary arms which served to
the good satisfaction of the captain, it being verified that, in the short time of its foundation, it is in the state
of aiding the nearby presidios, and I have no report that the colony might have requested aid for its
subsistence in any case; and these good consequences, which are as clear as possible and are accredited
on their own, or that are authorized by documents formed in a different affair, make me confirm the
concept that the administrative and economic, in the intended purpose and distribution of the arms for the
conservation and defense of the settlements, should not be altered and that the colonel Don José Escandón,
as interested and pledged in the good consequence, should maintain the squadrons, as up to now, save in
some particular case that it might be necessary to change for the moment, well, he should work in all and
any event as he has the thing present in mind and, thus, from everything explained, it appears to me (save
always the better and more accredited opinion of Your Excellency) that nothing new should be made,
neither in the intended purpose, nor in the number, nor in the endowment of those posts and this is what
I should report for what the service of His Majesty is interested in it, the public cause, and the conversion
of those barbarians.

Mexico, July 11, 1765. - Licentiate José Rafael Rodríguez Gallardo. - (rubric)

Mexico, August 3, 1765. - To the Honorable Auditor with the documents and the other two
reports. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

With the decree of the 16th of June of this year, Your Excellency orders I give my opinion
regarding the documents of the province of the colony of the Gulf of Mexico and, having seen them with
the reflection which an affair so serious requires, I shall say to Your Excellency that, not having superficial
knowledge of the reasons which motivated the location of the populations that are found established in it,
that, without doubt, it must have been for them to sustain and defend each other, by this means, from the
assaults and surprises of the barbarians, infidels, and apostates and, the reasons explained by the lieutenant
colonel Don José Tienda de Cuervo and the 2nd engineer Don Agustín López de la Cámara Alta having
left me in the same doubt, due to the ones which the colonel Don José Escandón argues to the opposite,
and also having seen the proceedings practiced by Don Antonio Urresti by Superior Order of Your
Excellency; from everything I infer not being able to make a formal and convincing judgement to give the
opinion which Your Excellency orders me in his aforesaid decree and my want of intellect only conceives
the more moderate being the one which the Tax Accountant, Don José Rafael Rodríguez Gallardo,
explains for his speaking, instructed at the base of all the parts that are treated in the affair and the
preceding motives which persuaded the establishment of said colony, endowment of its presidios, and
distribution of them and how he explains the colonel Don José Escandón being interested in the
permanency of its establishments and the containment of the enemies who surround them and his fulfillment
supported in the dilated space of so many years, it being of the Superior pleasure of Your Excellency to
carry to the proper effect the decree of the Tax Accountant, he will be able to execute it; being confortable
with it in all its parts due to all the reasons which he explains being as clear as possible unless the
Superiority of Your Excellency concieves it in other terms, that, as in everything, it will be the most
certain.

Mexico, July 22, 1765. - Don Jacinto de Barrios y J�uregui. - (rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

Complying with the Superior Decree of Your Excellency of the sixteenth of the last month of June,
I have taken charge of the contents of the Royal Decree, its date in Buen Retiro of twenty- nine of March
of the last year of seventeen hundred sixty-three, in that concerning the points consulted by the captain Don
José Tienda de Cuervo regarding that the troop, which now garrisons the settlements of el Nuevo
Santander, be reduced to one mobile company which, divided or distributed in three pieces, be posted, the
one in the settlement of Padilla, the other one in that of Horcasitas or in that of Escandón, and the other
one in the town of Burgos, all composed of three detachments of twenty-five soldiers and the respective
officials so that, applied to guarding and inspecting the lands and roads of the settlements of the colony,
it become respectable and the good effect of having the Indians more subjugated be obtained, of which
affair the colonel Don José Escandón has already taken charge in the numbers 20 and following of the
report which he made on the order of Your Excellency on the 9th of November of last year, page 22 verso,
refuting this advantage and another which he conceives as purely theoretical and not at all advantageous
to the situation and state of the colony and much less to the quality and circumstance of the war of the
Indians.

Heeding what the experience taught me in the time in which I had charge of the government of the
Province of New Mexico, the stratagies used in the war by the barbaric and apostate Indians, the great
inconstancy in the Indians, friends of peace, the indecision and laziness of those newly catechized in the
missions and, equally, the quick support of the arms that are needed by the new settlers of intelligent
people and Spaniards for the subsistence of their families, the enlargement for the cultivation of the lands
which they posses, and the commerce of some for the other settlements until creating good roots, like the
increase of their families which some, with time, causes them to have a greater love for the lands which
enriches their necessary support; I am of the opinion that the squadrons of soldiers of the colony of el
Nuevo Santander be maintained in the settlements in which the said colonel Don José Escandón has them
posted to obtain the support and encouragement of its settlers, as the licentiate Don José Rafael Rodríguez
Gallardo expresses more extensively to whom I submit my judgement due to considering it as much of the
Royal Service of His Majesty and the good, in common, of his vassals, the new settlers of that colony, or
what Your Excellency better esteem which will be, as always, the best.

Mexico, August 2, 1765. - Francisco Antonio Marín del Valle. - (rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

From more than a century ago to now one began to think of the pacification and population of all
the land which the new colony, called today Santander, comprises in the concept that it was most useful,
and even necessary, for the conservation of these dominions that, on that part, the coast from Tampico to
la Bahía del Espíritu Santo be covered so that from that side it would make the entry to this continent
impossible to whichever foreign nation might be able to undertake it and with the more recommended end
that the national, infidel Indians in those uncivilized, cold and rough sierras come to see the light of the
holy evangelism and that they avoid the frequent apostasy of the converted ones in the bordering provinces
whom the retreat to these lands, which they considered impassable by our Spaniards, made them immune;
but the difficulties that were expected for the arrival at the obtaining of such an appreciable enterprise were
always considered insurmountable.

Thus it was manifested in the old judicial records which were formed at different times regarding
this affair and is archived in this General Captaincy until the colonel Don José Escandón, after he
inspected all its vast land, at his own expense, by means of a general entry which he made with many
people; the most Excellent, Honorable Count of Revillagigedo entrusted it to him; well, it was then when
said colonel, dedicated to perform such a singular charge, entered with the aim of planting fourteen
settlements which, according to their proposals, it had been thought, in the General Junta of War and
Treasury, necessary for the domination of the land that we had discovered and the conversion of the
Indians who inhabited it; and it was then when, advancing what had been thought, Colonel Escandón
himself reflected and put into work the establishment of twenty-three settlements (which today are already
twenty-four) without increasing any more burden to the Royal Treasury than the one which, with their
agreement, had been considered for the fourteen; and then, finally, that was when, in order to guard the
new settlers and they be made respectable to the infidel and apostate Indians, they agreed upon the troop
of soldiers and officials, which was to be placed there, whose distribution in squadrons would be given by
said colonel, situating them in the most opportune places.

And although it was practiced thus and in the end he gave an accounting of everything, with
individual particulars and specific measures at the end of the government of the most Excellent Count of
Revilla, but still with the judgement of the Auditor and in virtue of superior instructions, the Most
Excellent Marqués de las Amarillas determined that this new colony be visited in order that what had been
done be made more evident and that it be consulted as to what would be more suitable to do in the future
for the perfect completion of a project which had been discussed, most importantly to the Crown, in the
attention of which said most Excellent Marqués de las Amarillas empowered the Dragoon Captain Don
José Tienda de Cuervo and the 2nd Engineer Don Agustín López de la Cámara Alta for the insinuated
visit from which resulted that, these having gone to the compliance of their commission, although in reality
they did not have to report about what had been informed by Colonel Escandón, they made some
propositions reduced to what seemed suitable to be practiced so that this new, valuable pacification be
assured and our settlers would increase.

The report which said Most Excellent Marqués de las Amarillas made to His Majesty, it seems,
was guided by the propositions of these delegates, among them one that the troop, which was distributed
in different squadrons with a set situation in several places and is composed of one hundred seventeen
soldiers excluding the officers, be reduced to a lesser number with some of them with lesser salaries and
they be composed of a mobile company divided into three detachments of twenty-five men each, which
would compose only seventy-five posts of soldiers, placing from them, one in the settlement of Padilla,
another in that of Horcasitas or Escandón, and another in that of Burgos and, although according to the
Royal Decree of the ninth of March of seventeen hundred seventy-three, of whose compliance it treated,
expressed, and conclusive resolution has been given on other points, on this one he determined that Your
Excellency arbitrate according to what the reports, which he could take of the said Don José Tienda de
Cuervo and Don Agustín López de la Cámara Alta or of other experts of the country, dictate to him.

And the Royal Will of His Majesty comprehended thus, Your Excellency proceeded with such
conscientiousness for its completion that, giving instruction on its points, he ordered they inform royal
officers of San Luis Potosí, and the lieutenant governor of el Nuevo Reino de León Don Antonio de
Urresti from whose measure resulted that, although said royal officers might have proposed, as they
proposed, the impossibilities they faced to report with certainty, the said Don Antonio de Urresti would
have done it, as he did it, referring to the statements which he took regarding the points which the
instruction of this General Captaincy contained of which one touched on the one which is treated on now
and about which five well distinguished and expert subjects of those provinces resolved. And even still,
after the junta of the eighth of June of the current year being celebrated and a report from Colonel
Escandón himself having preceded regarding the same particular, Your Excellency ordered that in
qualification of experts the licentiate Don José Rafael Rodríguez Gallardo, tax accountant, the colonel
Don Jacinto de Barrios y J�uregui and don Francisco Marín del Valle give a report about it.

So, there is reason for Your Excellency having desired the best instruction to resolve said point
since, in reality, it is of the most gravity, although its determination should see that all the expense that the
Royal Treasury has had in the maintenance of the squadrons of soldiers, who garrison the aforesaid colony
with the distribution which Colonel Escandón has placed them, not subsist without palpable profit or that
they subsist still attesting their necessity, notwithstanding what the visitors Tienda de Cuervo and C�mara
Alta conceived because, reflecting on the depositions of the five experts whom Don Antonio de Urresti
examined, from is deduced that, for the support and growth of the colony, it discusses a necessary mobile
company of fifty posts, and at the least forty, but always leaving the settlements guarded, in which is seen
that, according to these reports, it could have been attested that, such proposals bringing greater expense
to the Royal Treasury, it was more suitable and utile not to do anything new in the establishments of the
colonel and, with everything, Your Excellency ordered the other subjects to make reports in this Court
which remain proposed.

Of the three, the Auditor observes that the colonel Don Jacinto de Barrios and Don Francisco
Antonio Marín del Valle defer to that of the tax accountant, the licentiate Don José Rafael Rodríguez
Gallardo, and with good reason, because this minister, above enjoying some great talents, which obtained
for him the confidence of the honorable Attorney General Don Pedro de Bedolla and of the honorable
Auditor Marqués de Altamira in the management of the processes of this expedition, and he managed to
reach others of equal nature, concerning the establishing of arms in the internal provinces, with the
practical experience which his quick-sighted understanding had comprehended, it having occurred due to
his having governed the provinces of Sinaloa and Sonora by special commission of the Most Excellent
Count of Revillagigedo whose charges he performed with the dexterity which is well manifested in this
General Captaincy and thus it is seen that, to support his feeling, he touches all considerations that can be
adaptable to the point and all of a most natural congruence.

Therefore, the Auditor, deferring here to this report, could conclude his judgement reducing it to
doing nothing new in the arms of the colony and their distribution and His Majesty be informed with
testimony of the dispatch, but for its corroboration he has decided to explain other considerations born from
the frequent management which he has of the documents of this enterprise and its results.

His Majesty was informed that the three detachments, of which it is concerned, be distributed
placing one in the settlement of Padilla, another in that of Horcasitas or Escandón, and another in the town
of Burgos; and according to this, it seems that the visitors tried to situate the arms, which they thought
sufficient for the protection of all the colony, in the center of the settlements which circle the two
Tamaulipas and of the ones which are at the skirt of east slope of the Sierra Gorda on whose east side are
the town of Altamira, Soto la Marina, San Fernando, and the capital of Santander and on the west the town
of Llera, Jaumave, Santa B�rbara, Palmillas, Real de los Infantes, Aguayo, G�emes, Hoyos, and Real de
Borbón; well in the middle of all these insinuated settlements, are found, one after the other from south
to north, the four starting from that of Escandón and Horcasitas and, following in said direction, that of
Padilla until arriving at the one of Burgos.

This seems to have been the judgement of the visitors, conceiving that the arms, thus centralized
which they planned, would be able to defend and garrison all the colony; but, without doubt, even being
there, they forgot the settlements which, advanced to the north and northeast, are found established along
all the shore of el Río Grande del Norte which are Reynosa with its mission, Camargo with its, Mier with
its, Revilla and its ranches, Dolores, and Laredo; because the Auditor, laying aside where they could aid
the settlements which are proposed in the preceding paragraph (because Colonel Escandón and the Tax
Accountant visibly convince that it was possible), it is such that to these which he describes in this
paragraph, it cannot be imagined to be able to give them quick and useful aid in the unforseen assaults of
the enemy because the detachment that would be the closest would be that of Burgos and this, other than
being very distant, would then have the difficulty of rivers carrying much water in between; and thus it is
that, with similar meditation, without doubt, Colonel Escandón placed a squadron with a captain, a
sergeant, and nine soldiers in Reynosa and in Camargo, a small presidio composed of a captain, a
commanding corporal, and eleven soldiers so that these other settlements of the bank of the Río Grande
del Norte would have competent aid which they absolutely would not be able to have, nor can they have,
with the other squadrons placed and distributed in the other settlements which are in the direction of the
south from Burgos and San Fernando up to Horcasitas and Altamira.

Supposed as certain, Honorable Most Excellency, all that the Tax Accountant explains regarding
the kind of war which the Indians cause, their agility and lack of incumbrance in traveling large hills,
brambles, and woods, which our Spaniards do not have, and for that reason they have difficulty in reaching
the distances, the Auditor leaves no doubt in that, if reflected on the distribution with which Colonel
Escandón has placed the arms, one can palpably recognize that his thought has been from his great
experience itself and more opportune to have the colony defended until its increments dictate other
provisions.

Because Your Excellency already sees those aforesaid arms that are situated in Reynosa and
Camargo for the aid of the settlements of the bank of the Río Grande del Norte, well, reflect on the
establishments of the others and one can see and understand truly the proposition of the Auditor. Burgos,
Padilla, Escandón, and Horcasitas are, as it has been proposed, in the center of the other settlements and
advanced to the two Tamaulipas along its two skirts or slopes, the one of the south and that of the north,
and in these four the colonel has placed the following squadrons: in Horcasitas, a captain, a sergeant, and
nine soldiers; in Escandón, a captain, a sergeant, a subordinate officer, and six soldiers; in Burgos, a
captain, a sergeant, a drummer, and nine soldiers; and in Padilla (which is situated in the center) a
permanent squadron composed of a captain, a sergeant, and ten soldiers and another mobile one composed
of a lieutenant and four soldiers; and, with this troop, it has been as the said colonel conceived it, guarding
the center of said settlements, and there has been opportunity to contain the malicious attacks of the
Indians, either nationals or introduced into said Tamaulipas. And from the sides of this center they have
distributed the rest of the squadrons in the following manner: on the east side and coast he placed, and he
has, in Altamira, situated with a little immediacy to Tampico, a captain, a sergeant, and eight soldiers; in
Soto la Marina, a captain, a sergeant, and nine soldiers; in the capital of Santander, a captain, a second
lieutenant, a sergeant, and fifteen soldiers; and in the town of San Fernando, a sergeant and eight soldiers
such that, with these squadrons, which can help one another, also aided by the settlers themselves, Your
Excellency will already observe the east side of the aforesaid center covered and not less than all the coast
hindered for the opposition of whatever strangers. And on the other side of the west he has the following
arms situated: in the town of Llera, a captain, a sergeant, a drummer, and ten soldiers; in aguayo, only a
captain with salary, just in case, because in the immediate one of G�emes he has a captain, a sergeant, and
six soldiers with which it seems to garrison this west side for the help and aid of the internal invasions of
the colony and make it difficult for the apostates of el Nuevo Reino de León and provinces that border in
this part to enter into it with the facility of before.

This being, therefore, well penetrable for whatever information, even the least reflective, the one
of the Auditor does not reach how it can be considered, in such a tender state as the colony has, to reform
arms and change situations, as the visitors proposed, without putting it in an eminent risk of losing the
entire enterprise, that if it has cost moderate expenditures to the Royal Treasury, with respect to what it
has spent and spends in other provinces, to Colonel Escandón it has cost laborious, personal efforts and
not a few expenditures from his own money and to the most excellent Viceroys and to the ministers, with
whom he has had to consult, it has also cost immense anxieties and studious, speculative tasks to meditate
the most perfect direction, an event which is very sensible when, according to the last dispatches, with
which said colonel has reported, we have the colony in the most flourishing state than one could imagine
in such few years.

Because Your Excellency is aware of the increases with which its residents are found in the
planting of seeds and the raising of livestock, according to the special instructed reports that the colonel
has communicated, and also Your Excellency is aware that if, in the beginning, the work on the mines in
those mountains was prohibited to avoid that of, with the incentive of the silver the settlers going to them,
this work is now beginning and from there another very special consideration results which corroborates
the opinion which the Auditor has and has explained to Your Excellency, well, coming to truly recognize
as true what was reported to His Majesty regarding that the state, that the colony had, persuaded one that,
within a few years its settlers could be useful to the Royal Treasury because of the commerce that they
were establishing in seeds, salt, and mines, all this evident profit with which the Royal Treasury can not
only be compensated for the expense it has made and continues to make, but also coming out the winner
would be endangered and expose it to a lamentable ruin with the measures consulted by the visitors.

The honor of Colonel Escandón is interested in that the enterprise, which has cost him so much
and on which he has worked so much, arrive at this perfection and there being, as he has given, examples
of the savings to the Royal Treasury with which he has made it, as the Tax Accountant has convinced,
having compared the costs of the colony with those of the other provinces, it is incredible that if with less
expenses and with different distribution it could be achieved, he would not have proposed it or propose it;
for all of which, the Auditor, reproducing the judgement which he leaves manifested, Your Excellency will
resolve what would be of his Superior free and uncontrolled will and pleasure.

Mexico, August 16, 1765. - Don Domingo Valc�rcel. - (rubric)

Mexico, August 19, 1765. - As it appears to the Honorable Auditor. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

Fray José Joaquín García, of el Santísimo Rosario, Preacher, present Apostolic Discreto of el
Colegio de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de los Zacatecas, in the name and with the power which, under
the necessary solemnity, I present (who asks the original to be returned to me) in the documents regarding
the erection and establishment of the missions of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico for the pacification and
conversion of the infidel and apostate Indians who infect it, its state and everything represented supposed
by said College, I say:

That by letter of the 4th of July of this present year of 1765, the report of that determined in the
Junta performed regarding the settlement of Sierra Gorda passes to Your Excellency and that in this the
establishment of three settlements and missions has been resolved, that, so that they have their due
accomplishment, the Reverend Father, Guardian and Venerable Council of my Apostolic College, order
that three priests be quickly found to occupy them and administer the Holy Sacraments once the colonel
Don José Escandón has given notice of the necessity of their attendance, abdicating to that college the
three new missions which, accumulated to the ones which, in the years of forty-eight, forty-nine, and fifty-two, Your Excellency was served to recommend, they compose the number of eighteen upon which
establishment, according to the royal laws and "bulas"of our Institute, my guardian father and Venerable
Council has recommended repeatedly, in this Superior Government and, although just and close orders
have been given by Your Excellency so that the colonel Don José Escandón verify the establishment of
the missions, according to the mandate of Your Excellency, this, until now, has not been verified in the
fifteen missions.

From the first infancies of those settlements, the congrega has been requested by that Council,
which is the characteristic end of our Institute and which allowed the priests to leave that College, the
beloved retreat of the cells, and, in view of the request of the empowered one, whom that Venerable
Council elected for that end, who was the priest Fray Ignacio Antonio Cipri�n, the Most Excellent Conde
de Revillagigedo was served to expedite his decree of the 20th of October of the year of '49 decreeing, with
the approval of the Honorable Auditor of the preceding day in which it is ordered that the Lieutenant of
General Captain Don José Escandón point out sites of the different missions and at least one league distant
from the respective settlements and that the conditions, which he expresses there, concur and, in order not
to tire the attention of Your Excellency, they are not repeated. And the execution of this so just a mandate
not having been obtained, it almost being the quarter year already in which Don José Escandón stipulated
establishing the settlements and missions such that the synods of the soldiers would cease, as is evident in
the General Junta of War performed the year of forty-eight in the month of May, the request was repeated
by the Venerable Council in this Superior Government in the month of September of the past year of fifty-two, yielding those which were judged completely foreign to the nature of mission, requesting, for the
others, the provisions which assured their establishment and offered their conservation; at the resignation
not having taken place, they were ordered practiced with the most lively zeal of Your Excellency, agreeing
that the missions of Nuestra Señora del Rosario del Cabezón de la Sal, that of Helguera, that of el Puente
de Arze, be moved to a different place to the satisfaction of the missionaries and that the mission of Ygollo
be given possession of its lands, actively trying that in all of them they confirm the building of a irrigation
canal (without which the land in those parts do not produce fruit). Of the operation and execution of these
Superior determinations, the support of Your Excellency will not find any reason in the documents that will
document its accomplishment, and to manifest this resistance to Your Excellency, in the year of fifty-nine
it was demanded by the same Venerable Council, handing them all over for their general defect with
predefined term so that, through Your Excellency, the most opportune be resolved, which representation
was shown to the Honorable Attorney General who, in his response of the seventeenth of July of the same
year of fifty-nine, advised of the injustice of the omitting of the pacification and conversion of the infidels,
which can be facilitated by means of the application and zeal of the missionary reverend fathers assisted
by the provisions they have requested, the Honorable Auditor General subscribing completely to this
request in his judgement of the twenty-eighth of July of the same year and, Your Excellency agreeing in
his decree of the third of August, liberating the corresponding Superior Despatch to the colonel Don José
Escandón, ordering its execution under the most exact terms and advising him, in case he find some
difficulty or impediment that would delay it, he report quickly in order to decree what would be
advantageous. Whoever has seen such exact and active determinations, governed by the long arm of the
Vice-Royal Authority, could deduce that of, after six years of waiting, their not being completed and
executed, well, what is true is that they have not been performed and even the manifest right not having
been attested to Your Excellency and the difficulties for the performance of that ordered deduced in his
Superior Government, well, it is a consequence that, these being proposed by the colonel Don José de
Escandón, he would have sent them to be reviewed by the Honorable Attorney General and, by request
of His Lordship and judgement of the Honorable Auditor, they would have been reported to us. For these
reasons and by a request of the Honorable Attorney General of the fourth of September of said year of
fifty-nine, to which the Honorable Auditor General of War subscribed entirely in a judgement of the sixth
of the same, by decree of Your Excellency of the eleventh of said [month], he stated there being no place
to admit, for now, the aforesaid renouncement and abdication, reserving, for its time and according to what
would result from the measures taken in His Superior Decree of the third of August, to provide whatever
is most suitable to the service of God and of the King.

The results, Most Excellent Lord, of such just and repeated measures, are the establishment of
missions not being verified until today, even after six years of awaiting the execution of that ordered; that
the priests are in the settlements of Spaniards performing only the office of priests, contrary to our
Institution; that they are maintaining themselves with the alms which His Majesty (May God keep him.)
distributes to them with the aim of active conversion without this being verified and even having lost hope,
which they had at the beginning, of the success of their ministry, seeing the repeated assistances, which
have been made on the part of my College in this Superior Government, frustrated and without success.
In view of which Your Excellency should find the motives, which that Council had for the resignation it
made of the administration of the settlers of the Gulf of Mexico, just and I, in its name in the present
representation, repeat, protesting the retirement of the priests to their College the last day of December of
this year being made indispensable due to not being able to continue in said colony without manifest
transgression of our Apostolic Institute and seraphic rule and notable and grievous injury of the Royal
Treasury.

Our Institute is so narrow to simply propagate the faith among infidels and to preach apostolically
among the faithful that in the "bula," expedited for the erection of the apostolic colleges for la Santidad de
Inocencio XI which begins: Ecclesia Catholica, that in the constitutions for its direction and government,
in the number one hundred four, it is ordered that the infidels, converted, baptized and confined to towns,
be turned over to the ordinary ones and this, without doubt because of the occasion of exercising the office
of priest having ceased due to there not being active conversions nor missions; in the following number
it narrowly prohibits and orders that the missionaries not be able to receive anything by reason of
administration of the Sacraments in the towns already converted; it also orders, as well, that the
missionaries not be able to support themselves if it is not by the Hostiatim alms entreated or of the
voluntary offerings. So, our Institute being so narrow that it prohibits us that which is not prohibited to
our seraphic religion in common, but rather only to its Colleges of Fide Propaganda, we should, for the
security of our conscience and not to be transgressors of our Institute, renounce the administration of the
aforesaid settlements for there being in them no exercise of missions nor propagation of the faith since the
missionaries are only executing the office of priests which, although so honorable, it is not granted to us
except along with conversions, reduccións, and congregations of infidel Indians. The alms which His
Majesty distributes annually to each one of his ministers for his support is through the title of active
conversion and, this not being verified, it is clear, according to that determined by our Most Holy Father
Inocencio XI, not being able to maintain it with the said alms only to administer the Sacraments to towns
of old christians, as the ones of the colony are, and, if in sixteen years the missionaries have supported
themselves with said alms, it has only been sustained with the hope of the establishment of the missions,
giving repeated clamors in this Superior Government to liberate our consciences of so much hardship and
it is not possible, with only the hope, to spend even anymore than the sixteen years with such a manifest
transgression of our Institute and even of our sacred rule, spending the alms against the intention of him
who gives it, and this is what has compelled us to such repeated assistance and what obliges us to retire.
And from this appears the obligation which is incumbent upon us to avoid the increased costs, useless up
to now, which has increased to the Royal Treasury, so that, in the future, they do not increase more on our
part.

From such solid beginnings it will be observed not to be an excessive hesitation but rather a solid
fear of our necessary obligation in repeating the clamors in the anxiety of the required remedy and
discharge of our consciences when we see ourselves with so many apostolic ministers living in fifteen
settlements of the Gulf of Mexico, with another three, for which we are ordered to send ministers without
the use of "reducción" in them nor active conversion with only the exercise of priests, contrary to our
Institute for which the Guardian Priest and Venerable Council, attending to the clamors of the consciences
of the priests and of theirs, find themselves required to remove them to their college the last day of
December of this year, remaining without any action to send others in their place since, even the prelate
cannot order the of subject that which is against his soul, since our holy rule orders it in those terms, nor
the subjects, even though the prelate, forgetful of his obligation, would like to order it, are obligated to
obey it.

And about that respective to the three missions which Your Excellency again orders that college
to take in its charge, besides their being considered of the same quality and nature as the other fifteen, if
from these, even after sixteen years, we have no hope of their verification, how will it be obtained in these?
And more than this reason, it places in the high understanding of Your Excellency the empowered one,
that with seven missions, which that college has in the province of los Texas, the number would make
twenty-five missions, a number even offensive for a province, how much more for one lone college whose
number of priests, according to the "bulas" of its Institute, is so small that it should only be thirty-three;
and even if this number can be increased with a consultation of the Council and announcement of our
Reverend Father Commissioner General, as in fact he is, it should be always with attention to the necessity
of the operators and the abundance of alms, the ones which today, due to the mine of Zacatecas and the
others being so poor, are very scarce and those who are presently available can barely support themselves
with much work; and to admit new missions it would be necessary to further increase the number of priests
against that determined by our "bulas" and in the Holy Council of Tryol for which, even when these three
missions and the anterior fifteen would be verified being active "reducciónes", that College would never
be able to admit said three missions due to it not being able to support, as a religious order, the greater
number of priests that would be necessary in order to provide those whom they administer for sickness,
death, or trouble.

More because the practical knowledge which aids most of those individuals who compose the body
of that Council; due to our having been some years in said colony, it makes us see these three missions to
be of the same and even worse nature of the fifteen first ones, the hope of the establishment of these being
so remote, as much due to the disproportion of the lands, as that college has represented several times how,
due to the rebellion of the Indians entering in the number of these, the ones, whom in the beginning we
had congregated, of whose pacification even the colonel Don José Escandón has very little hope and he
judges it will be necessary to destroy them, assuring this to my reverend guardian father in a letter of the
twenty-eighth of April of seventeen hundred seventy, which, if necessary, I shall present in the original;
and even in the time that it has run since the year of sixty to now, it shows the good foundation of the
judgement of said colonel, since the Indians have continued executing major injuries which makes the
congregation very difficult and the subjection rough, it being constant that since the year of forty-nine,
when their rebellion began, the injuries, thefts, and deaths have continued incessantly making it necessary
with this that, with repeated campaigns, their punishment and subjection be attempted; especially with the
deaths which have been executed in several places, the hate of the catholic religion and the endless ire and
brutality against the Spaniards, who have conquered them and populate that colony, have taken root, not
losing an opportunity to take the life of those they can nor of stealing their goods, having produced, by this
means, a tremendous poverty for many of them and, resulting from this, that fearful, because of their
crimes, they flee from congregating and the hope of their pacification is very remote.

And above all, Most Excellent Lord, this so well founded consideration makes the impossibility
of said missions manifest and corroborates the lack of hope that accompanies us; it is not doubtful that the
colonel Don José Escandón has tried to make his name famous by all possible means; it is also
inconclusive that true honor and great glory would result for him if he verified fifteen active "reducciónes"
in sites and with all the circumstances that the laws order and he has promised that, if they were verifiable,
he would have thus performed it for the fulfillment of his word, thus truly making his name famous, more
than his having promised it and his having been ordered it so many times, not even its establishment is
verified and this deed clearly manifests the impossibility which causes our affliction and obligates us to
retire. Of all of this, Most Excellent Lord, my Reverend Father Guardian and Venerable Council renders
evidence, it being forced upon him for the discharge of his conscience and that of his priests, the certainty
of retiring of them and without the least delay to their College the last day of December of this present year
due to the establishment of missions, so many times ordered by Your Excellency, not being verified in
sixteen years, due to the ministers being solely occupied in the office of parsons, contrary to our Institute,
supporting themselves with the alms which His Majesty (May God keep him) has provided without the end
for which he gives them being verified, contrary to our rule, all in detriment of our souls.

For all of these such powerful reasons the Guardian Father and Venerable Council and I, in his
name, ask Your Excellency he find it good to declare the indispensable retirement of the missionary priests
from the settlements of the colony being just, because hope of verifying active conversions is not perceived,
nor is it perceptible, or the assurance of the conscience of the Venerable Council and the confidence that
His Majesty has in it, serving himself, as well, to order I be given testimony of this representation with that
decreed by Your Excellency in order to give an account to His Majesty (May God keep him) of the
necessary and just retirement of the priests, serving himself as well to order that the original of the power
I present be returned to me for whatever reason is suitable to me. - Fray José Joaquín García del
Santísimo Rosario. - (rubric)

Mexico, October 9, 1765. - To the Honorable Attorney General. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

It has been brought to my attention that, on the part of el Apost�lico Colegio de Guadalupe de
Zacatecas, it has been set forth to the Sovereignty of Your Excellency its not being able to take charge of
providing priests to the three new settlements which are going to be established in the regions of
Tamaulipa, los Encinos, and Tetillas in the colony of el Nuevo Santander for which they are already
recruiting settlers and squadrons; and because the aforesaid provision of ministers does not allow a delay,
due to being obliged to enter at the same time as said settlers and squadrons, I inform Your Excellency so
that, informed of the aforesaid necessity, if he estimate its lack of admission just, he order I be notified in
order to place in them, in the interim, the ministers that I find suitable reporting which they would be and
the motives of the Royal Service and the benefit of that expedition in which they assist me for its naming,
Your Excellency approves them or he disposes whatever he thinks more just and, in this case, the one
corresponds in which the ornaments and sacred paraphernalia, which the trustee of the aforesaid Apostolic
College had already received, be sent to me without delay by the hand of the lieutenant-colonel Don
Agustín de Iglesias Cotillo, resident of this city, purveyor of the colony named. Your Excellency will
order what he values of his Superior pleasure which, as always, will be the best.

Querétaro, October 15, 1765. - Most Excellent Lord. - Your most grateful servant kisses the hand
of Your Excellency, José de Escandón. - (rubric)

Mexico, 19th of October of 1765. - To the Honorable Attorney General with whom the preceding
is found. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Marqués de Cruillas.

Most Excellent Lord:

In this city I have given some provisions for the missions of the Sierra Gorda and recruited several
families for the new settlements with which I expect to continue the march on Monday the 22nd of the
current and, the excuse of the Reverend Priests of the Apost�lico Colegio de Guadalupe de Zacatecas
having been reported to me, I include a proposal, enclosed, in which I propose to Your Excellency that,
it being of his Superior pleasure, if their excuse had been admitted, I be permitted to name ministers for
them, according to what I find appropriate, with which we will free ourselves of the delay there can be
and, perhaps, the success will be assured on the point that I find so important, since the happiness of the
population and conversion consists in it which would be much more advanced if the corresponding zeal
had been applied at the beginning by the ministers which were appointed to them.

The assignation of ministers, Most Excellent Lord, in order for that establishment to continue as
is desired, is one of the things which require major attention due to the notable difference there is of seeing
and hearing them in this Court to experiencing them practically in the deserts; and in the case that I might
place the prices, it will be with the condition of temporariness, while the Superiority of Your Excellency
would approve them or assign others according to his will.

In the case of a complaint or feigned lack of provisions having been given by said Reverend
Minister Priests, I expect to be obliged to Your Excellency that he deign to inform me in order that the
truth be made evident and that they have not been given the least reason for offense, instead what was not
reasonable to be tolerated has been tolerated due to the respect to their character.

In a letter which I just received from el Nuevo Santander, there is no news and the same occurs
in what corresponds to the Sierra Gorda.

I remain with the most reverent obligated affection for whenever Your Excellency wishes to order
me according to his wishes, praying Our Lord guard for me the important life of Your Excellency in the
greatest prosperity the many years which I wish and need.

Querétaro, October 15, 1765. - Most Excellent Lord. - Your most obliged servant kisses the hand
of Your Excellency, José de Escandón. - (rubric)

Mexico, 19th of October of 1765. - Keep present in the documents. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

After the Attorney General had responded regarding the presentation made on the part of el
Apost�lico Colegio de Guadalupe de Zacatecas regarding the relinquishing, which it attempts to make, of
the missions of the Gulf of Mexico on the last day of the present year and excuse itself of admitting the
other three ordered to be founded, these two consultations of the colonel Don José Escandón were sent
in which, having knowledge of the cited presentation, he proposes that, in case of the relinquishing having
been admitted, he be permitted to name ministers for the new mission; in the interim he informs Your
Excellency and he approves it or assigns others according to his Superior will and that, in this case, the
ornaments, which by means of his trustee the Apostolic College had already received, be delivered to him
without delay; but the Attorney General already having requested the interim provisions which he finds
more opportune, while, with the report of the same colonel, it is resolved regarding the provision of all
of them, this concept does not change the content of the consultations at all for which Your Excellency
should be served to order as the Attorney General has requested in his cited response.

Mexico, November 16, 1765. - Velarde. - (rubric)

Mexico, December 10, 1765. - To the Honorable Auditor. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

The same claim, which is made now on the part of el Apost�lico Colegio de Propaganda Fide of
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas, in whose charge the missions of the colony of the coast of the
Gulf of Mexico are, regarding that that they be allowed the leaving of them for the most proper causes
which he presents now, he made since January of the year of seventeen hundred sixty-two to which Your
Excellency, in conformity to the judgement of the Honorable Auditor General of War, ordered that the
Lieutenant-Colonel of Captain-General Don José de Escandón report, with the most speed possible and
with the major specification, precision, and clarity, all that might relate and he find appropriate in order
of the particulars expressed by the Apostolic College and, for this end, he was written a letter and he
remitted the copy which Your Excellency advised.

Now, because of the same Apostolic College having been required to have three priests ready for
another three missions ordered to be founded by His Majesty in the Royal Decree of the 29th of March of
1763 and by Your Excellency in Junta of War, Treasury, and Experts of the 8th June of the present year,
not only does he repeat that the relinquishment of the missions be allowed, affirming that he will perform
it the last day of the next coming month of December, but that he reports that the three newly ordered to
be founded by His Majesty are not useful nor accessible. And in respect to the dispatch in regard to the
attempted leaving, it has the same state that it had the cited year of sixty-two without, since then, neither
the Apostolic College having promoted it nor Colonel Escandón having made a report that it was requested
of him; Your Excellency will be served to order that he do it upon this new instance with the major speed,
individuality, and justification and without the delay of which the part of the Apostolic College notes, for
which end a letter be written with a copy of its representation; and because, in the remaining time of this
year, the furnishing of the appropriate provisions for providing the spiritual nourishment to those new
settlements and missions by means of other missionaries is incompatible and, by consequence that the
apostolic priests, in whose charge they are, continue, there is an extreme necessity, which is the Supreme
Law for all who argue for its relinquishing, Your Excellency should be served to pass, in the name of His
Majesty, the corresponding offices with the very Reverend Father Commissary General of the Order of
San Francisco in this New Spain with the end that he order that, until, with view of the report of the
colonel Don José Escandón and of the documents cited by the Honorable Auditor in his judgement of the
22nd of January of the year of sixty-two, it be resolved to do nothing new on the part of the Apostolic
College regarding the attendance of said missions and new settlements and to provide, for now, ministers
for the three ordered to be founded.

Mexico, November 13, 1765. - Velarde. - (rubric)

Mexico, December 17, 1765. - As the Honorable Attorney General requests it and the Honorable
Auditor signs. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

The Commissioner General of the provinces of this New Spain, of the Order of San Francisco, with
the greatest veneration and respect, expresses to Your Excellency that, in view of the Superior Decree of
Your Excellency of the 21st of December of the past year of 1765 and of the testimony of the request of
the Honorable Attorney General of the 13th of November to which the Honorable Auditor subscribes in
order that the Missionary Priests of el Colegio de Guadalupe de Zacatecas remain and live in the missions
and settlements of the Gulf of Mexico until newly ordered and that in the same manner the aforesaid
college quickly prepare the ministers for the three new ones that have been ordered to be founded; in
compliance of the aforesaid order of Your Excellency, I gave the corresponding ones to the Guardian and
Council of said college who responds with the proper obedience and submission that he will suspend the
removal of the priests until the new order as it is advised to him, further, for the three foundations, he
responds; that he will only be able to quickly prepare ministers when there is verification of their being
active missions, something that that Council considers difficult for reasons that it has affirmed. Regarding
this response and the request of the Honorable Attorney General, the Commissioner General informs Your
Excellency it being evident in the documents missions or active conversions not having been verified until
the present in said colony, instead only new settlements and, as a consequence, the existing priests in them
administering the Holy Sacraments to the settlers; and although this is such a saintly and laudable exercise,
it is, without doubt, immediately opposed to the Instituto Apost�lico de Propaganda Fide, which those
priests profess, they will only be in good conscience verifying active conversions and, from here are born
the troubles and the demands of el Colegio de Zacatecas to the Superior Government of Your Excellency
to resign and to leave said settlement and, it being of the charge of the Commissioner General to fulfill in
those priests the most exacting compliance of their obligations and of their Apostolic Institution,
comprehending the justice with which they cry out, he humbly beseeches Your Excellency be served to
allow the resignation they make without awaiting the report of the colonel Don José de Escandón for this
because, this gentleman being the part or against whom the college complains, the beseecher believes the
report not to be necessary. Regarding the ministers for the three new settlements, the Commissioner
general, as a faithful vassal of His Majesty, is ready to place ministers from one of the provinces immediate
to the colony of the Gulf of Mexico, whose priests do not have the impediment as those of the apostolic
colleges, for one or another end by which he will execute the orders which, in the name of His Majesty,
Your Excellency might judge appropriate; therefore, the Commissioner General beseeches Your Excellency
that, for the tranquility of his conscience and that of the priests of el Colegio de Zacatecas, he be served
to admit the resignation, which he makes anew, from the administration of the settlers of the aforesaid
colony and, regarding the provision of new ministers and for the ones that are to be founded, he determine
that appropriate to the service of God and the King as he expects it from the distinguished zeal and
justification of Your Excellency. - Fray Manuel de N�jera. - (rubric)

Mexico, 23rd of January of 1766. - To the Honorable Attorney General with the antecedents of the
affair. - (a rubric

Most Excellent Lord:

In Superior Decree of the 17th of December of the last year, in conformity to the response of the
Attorney General and the judgement of the Honorable Auditor, Your Excellency was served to resolve that
the requested report of the Colonel Don José Escandón regarding the resignation and renouncement, which
has been made on the part of el Apost�lico Colegio de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas or the
spiritual administration of the missions of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and colony of Nuevo Santander,
be completed and until, in their view, the appropriate might be ordained, nothing new be done by the
Apostolic College and, for now, the three new settlements ordered to be founded in the Royal Decree of
the 29th of March of 1763, and performed in the Junta of War, Treasury, and Experts on 8th of June of the
past year be provided with ministers to which end Your Excellency passed the corresponding office to the
very Reverend Father Commissioner General of the Order of San Francisco in this New Spain.

The main reason for this resolution was due to there having been an insinuation from the Apostolic
College finding themselves in [the position] of there priests not going to the three new settlements ordered
to be founded and they leave those already founded where they have lived and, since, in the short time left
of the year, the furnishing of the appropriate provisions to provide them spiritual nourishment by means
of other ministers was impractical, their continuation in said missions for now was necessary,
notwithstanding the disadvantages and hesitations that they set forth in order not to meet with, mainly, that
all that new colony, their settlements, and missions be left in the absolute without spiritual nourishment and
that this necessity obligate the new settlers to leave it and that what has been built in many years be undone
in one day and, if some remained, it would be without spiritual nourishment and the administration of the
indispensable sacraments among catholics besides it being natural that there would be so few that they
would not be enough to contain the interruptions of the barbaric Indians, who remain to be converted, nor
for the defense of their hostilities.

In response to the work which Your Excellency passed to the most Reverend Father Commissioner
General, he repeats the same, which he had set forth to the Apostolic College for the renunciation he made,
reduced, in substance, to missions and new conversions not having been verified but rather only new
settlements and administering the Holy Sacraments in them to the settlers, doing the service of parsons
being opposed to its sacred Institute, and he concludes in that Your Excellency be served to allow them
the renunciation without waiting for the report of the colonel Don José Escandón for this, due to it being
of whom they complain. But, although the Reverend Father Commissioner insists on the admission of the
renunciation of all the missions, he only offers ministers of some of the provinces, of the strict observance,
near the colony for the three new settlements ordered to be founded but, regarding the others in which the
apostolic missionary priests have alreaday served, he requests that Your Excellency determine that
appropriate for the service of God and the King and, since the proposed difficulty of these being left
without spiritual nourishment, explaining that what in a long time and increased costs has been done might
be lost in a short time [and] is not repaired with the offer of providing ministers to the three new
settlements, it has no merit to allow the renunciation in which he presses his petition but rather only that
the Apostolic College not be put in charge of the three new settlements which the Attorney General finds
clear the Reverend Father Commissioner preparing quickly for it the priests of the observance in the
proposed terms.

The determination of the other point requires the major premeditation due to it being one of the
gravest and in which the peace and union within the ecclesiastic and secular consists upon which the
progresses and increases in the spiritual and temporal conquests depend, and for the greater edification,
it will contribute much that the Reverend Father Commissioner General report report whether from the
provinces of the strict observation they will be able to provide thus for the three new settlements ordered
to be founded, like the ones already founded, so that their priests attend them in the same conformity in
which the Apostolic Ministers of Propaganda Fide have done. For that which Your Excellency will be
served to order, the corresponding business be passed to him so that he may do it.

Mexico, February 7, 1766. - Velarde - (rubric)

Mexico, February 17, 1766 - To the Honorable Auditor. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

The provisions which the Honorable Attorney General proposes in his previous response are, in
the concept of the Auditor, the most opportune ones and adaptable to the circumstances of the affair.
Regarding it being of the liking of Your Excellency he will be served to order and determine as the
Honorable Attorney General proposes in his cited response to which the Auditor subscribes.

Mexico, February 19, 1766. - Don Domingo Valcarcel. - (rubric)

Mexico, February 19, 1766. - As the Honorable Attorney General requests it and the Honorable
Auditor approves. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

The Commissioner General of the provinces of this New Spain, of the order of San Francisco, with
the greatest veneration and respect before Your Excellency says: that, Your Excellency, having been
served, by Superior Decree of the twentieth of February of the present year, to order this dispatch be
delivered to him in order, in his view, to report its justification regarding the points which His Majesty's
Honorable Auditor of War and Attorney General request so that if from the provinces of their charge they
can provide missionaries, as much for the three new settlements ordered to be founded by order of His
Majesty as for the ones already established in the colony of the Gulf of Mexico and which at present are
in the charge of el Colegio Apost�lico de Propaganda Fide of Zacatecas, as this one, since the
Commissioner General has made a renouncement of the aforesaid missions due to the reasons which have
been represented and are evident in these proceedings.

The Commissioner General having been given charge of the gravity of the matter and that those
new settlements being left without spiritual nourishment due to lack of ministers, it would expose what in
much time and with such increased costs of the Royal Treasury have been made to be lost in a short time,
as is expressed well by the Honorable Attorney General. And on another side, the Commissioner General
considering no province of his order being able to take charge of all these missions due to finding
themselves so divided from the Convents and Doctrines which, on order of His Majesty, have passed to
the Secular Clergy and, as a consequence, the requisite number of priests which they had being diminished,
it has been necessary to entreat and consult the providers and "definitorios"of the three provinces of el
Santo Evangelio de México, San Pedro y San Pablo de Michoac�n, and San Francisco de Zacatecas so that
they take charge, respectively, of these missions and the new ones ordered to found.

And the Commissioner, having received the responses of said provinces and the satisfaction of their
being ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the faith, service of God and the King, notwithstanding
the copious number of missions which each one has in its charge, in this information and in the concept
of the distinguished merit which the aforesaid provinces, newly earn in sacrificing their sons to the works,
sweats, and hardships of the missions and conversion of the heathens, the justification of Your Excellency
should be served to send, in name of His Majesty, that, for the best management, administration of the
Holy Sacraments, population, and conversion of the immediate tribes of heathens, the following points be
put into practice and observed inviolably:

First, that the missionary priests keep all the exceptions, prerogatives, and privileges which the
Laws of "Indias" and repeated Decrees of His Majesty prepare without the captains of the presidios,
justices, and Chiefs, who command that colony, being able to contravene that which is ordered.

Second, that in respect to its becoming necessary to distribute these missions or new settlements
in the aforesaid three provinces and these to have in their charge others which are immediate to the colony
of the Gulf of Mexico so that the missionaries be in the view of the watchmen who are the immediate
prelates whom they should recognize and obey in the discharge of their obligations, the Commissioner
General having been made charge and instructed regarding the chain of mountains, distances and regions
of the aforesaid missions, it also be ordered by Your Excellency that to the custody of San Salvador de
Tampico, pertaining to this province of el Santo Evangelio, four missions of the aforesaid Gulf of Mexico
be added; it is appropriate to know: the one of Altamira, that of San Juan Bautista de Horcasitas, the one
of Santa B�rbara de Tanguanchín, and the one of Escandón alias Guayalejo.

To the Custody of Río Verde, pertaining to the province of Michoac�n, that the missions of Santa
María de Llera, by another name las Rusias, that of San Francisco de G�emes, and the new one which is
to be founded in the region of las Tetillas be added.

To the Custody of el Nuevo Reino de León, pertaining to the province of Zacatecas, are to be
added the rest whose names are: that of Aguayo, the one of San Antonio de Padilla, the new one which
is to be placed in el Potrero de las Nueces, that of Santander, the one of Soto la Marina, the new one which
is to be placed in the region of los Encinos, that of San Fernando, by another name las Presas, the one of
Burgos, the one of Camargo, the one of Reynosa, and that of Revilla.

Distributed in this way they will be well administered in the spiritual and the missionaries with the
best proportion to the distances and immediacy of their respective prelates.

Third, that with attention to the inability of the settlers and new converts to give offerings or
"obvenciones" with which the missionaries can support themselves being evident from these documents,
they be aided and assigned the same synod which the charity of the King has been giving to the
missionaries of el Colegio de Zacatecas and that with the respective certifications they be paid annually to
the Royal Treasury.

Fourth, that it be ordered by the Superior Government of Your Excellency that the colonel Don
José de Escandón and the rest of the chiefs of that colony concur respectively in their districts to the
delivery which the Priests of el Colegio de Zacatecas should make to those of the three provinces, as much
of the material of the missions as of the formal, inventorying the holy ornaments and other things connected
and pertaining to said missions so that what some deliver and other receive be lawfully evident.

The Commissioner General has considered these points necessary, which, in the discharge of his
obligation he presents to Your Excellency for the best management and government of those new
settlements, the ones which, being of the Superior pleasure of Your Excellency, he will order they be
observed with all others which his justification judge appropriate to the service of God and the King.

Mexico, July 4, 1766. - Fray Manuel de N�jera, Commissioner General. - (rubric)

Mexico, July 4, 1766. - To the Honorable Attorney General with the documents. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

In the report, which precedes, of the Reverend Father Commissioner General of the provinces of
the Order of San Francisco of this New Spain, overcome are the difficulties which he had left pending in
his preceding report regarding the provision of ministers who might attend the missions of the coast of the
Gulf of Mexico or Nuevo Santander in place of the Apostolic Missionaries of el Colegio de Nuestra Señora
de Guadalupe de Zacatecas who have attended them and have resigned from them, offering that they will
be attended by priests of the strict observance of the provinces which surround the colony, in the manner
that he proposes, with attention to the greatest respective closeness of the missions to each one of the
custodies of said provinces.

The provinces he proposes, with regard to the missionaries having the corresponding exceptions
preserved without the contravening of them by the military chiefs, that they be aided with the customary
synod and that, for the best formality and legitimate constancy of the delivery and receiving of the goods
of the missions, the chiefs of the district of each one concur and that, before them, the inventory be made
as much of the ornaments of the churches as of the other goods, the Attorney General holds as moderate
without finding reparation in any of them.

It could only be offered by that of a letter having been sent to the colonel Don José de Escandón
since the nineteenth of December so that he report regarding the affair with the greatest speed and
justification; he has not done it up to now, but once, with the presented offer of the aforesaid Reverend
Father Commissioner General, he meets the difficulties which he had left pending in his previous report
and that no difficulty is conceived in that ministers of the same religion of San Francisco be substituted in
place of the apostolic ministers and rather those are excused whom the Apostolic College and the Reverend
Father Commissioner empower, they will be followed in the spiritual of which would follow those of the
Apostolic College and it is fearful that even in the temporal they would be followed, being discordant with
the colonel Don José de Escandón and chiefs of the colony, not only does the Attorney General not find
reparation in which Your Excellency is served to defer to the renunciation and resignation of el Apost�lico
Colegio de Zacatecas and the report of the Reverend Father Commissioner General, but he considers it
opportune; giving to said Apostolic College testimony, if he requested it, and delivering the corresponding
dispatch. But because this affair has always run with judgements of the Honorable Auditor, Your
Excellency will be served to order that the documents be delivered to him beforehand.

Mexico, July 24, 1766. - Velarde. - (rubric)

Mexico, July 28, 1766 - To the Honorable Auditor. - (a rubric)

Most Excellent Lord:

It being of the Superior pleasure of Your Excellency, he will be served to determine in everything
as the Honorable Attorney General proposes in his preceding response to which the Auditor subscribes,
for it being what is appropriate.

Mexico, July 28, 1766. - Don Domingo Valc�rcel. - (rubric)

Mexico, July 29, 1766. - As the Honorable Attorney General requests it and the Honorable Auditor
subscribes. - (a rubric)

In the aforesaid the testimony was given to the Reverend Priests of San Fernando.

The dispatch made on the 5th of August.

-------------------------

REPORT OF DON JOSE DE ESCANDON WHICH MANIFESTS THE
FOUNDATION OF THE DIVERSE COLONIES WHICH HE VERIFIED.

Most Excellent Lord:

With the date of the thirtieth of April, from the settlement of Altamira, I gave an accounting to the
Sovereignty of Your Excellency of that which, until then, had occurred and, now, I do it from having
maintained myself in it until the third day of May, giving the appropriate provisions to its establishment
and permanency. It was left with its squadron and settlers totally complete and mindful that Manuel de
Castro Correa, captain of the company of Tampico since the inspection made in the coast, has dedicated
himself with the most constancy without exempting work or diligence to whatever has led to the success
of this enterprise, not only with his person, but also with the soldiers of said company, maintaining a least
fifteen continually present in it, seeing the eagerness with which they aspired to reap the benefits of that
land in some way, contenting themselves, for now, with permission to take in their livestock, remove some
salt, and to make fishing possible; informed that its claim granted the greatest security and increase of said
settlement, not only did I condescend to their request, but I assigned the captain, his lieutenant, and several
others a site for a house and orchard in which they were already farming and beginning to bring their
livestock with which, the people increasing, not only does it assure the permanency but, probably, it will
become, in a short time, a large place with much commerce, to which contributes its land being open,
fertile, and temperate, it being an admirable thing having moved it such a short distance since all the south
side of that Barra is double so hot, sickly, infertile, and of bad pastures and in the one of the north the
contrary is experienced.

This settlement has also been protected with continuous pickets by Antonio Chirinos, captain of
the company of Pánuco, notwithstanding his having maintained himself in company with the greatest part
of it more than three months patrolling the borders, a service which they have happily done for several
companies and they offer to continue with only the grace of the military jurisdiction which is declared in
its favor.

The settlers of this foundation, with their captain Juan Pérez, entered it with such eagerness that
there were even contracts to be admitted and the provisions enlivened them so much that, having given
them an order to march the first day of December, as to all the others, with the aim that the Indians, being
seized with wonder, would make no move; he executed it the first of November and, having placed his
camp at the edge of a profound, large lake surrounded by a thick belt of woods, against what is practiced
in similar cases and, confident that the Indians had come out from the immediate hamlet to look at them
in peace, these fell upon them, covered by the same woods and lake, on the tenth before dawn and took
them so unprepared that, in the first shower of arrows, they killed two soldiers and two settlers, outside
of wounding others and, crossing the lake by swimming, since they were unable to follow them nor get
the slightest satisfaction for then, said Indians were encouraged and settlers and soldiers so terrified that
they marched instantly to Tampico without the desire to return to cross the Barra; with which report had
by the captain Don Juan Francisco de Barberena, in whose zealous care I have confided the provisions
which, for the moment, are required in that mountain range, he marched to said port and, after much work,
he led, on the thirteenth of December, the settlers and soldiers to the region in which the old Presidio de
San José had been, about one quarter league from where the present foundation is found. There they built
their shacks and he left them arranging their settlement due to it being necessary to go, as he did, to the
city of Horcasitas and patrol the border of Tamaulipa with his company of Villa de Valles, in order to
assure the bringing of provisions and the communication of the settlers who were already establishing
themselves, but, said settlers and soldiers intimidated by only one roving voice that the Indians wanted to
fight them again without their captain nor Captain Manuel de Castro Correa, who was present, being
enough to contain them, they returned to Tampico after twenty-four days.

At the beginning of February, finding myself on the coast to the north of Tamaulipa, considering
how important it would be to open a road to Horcasitas and Altamira, which were about twenty-five
leagues to the south on the east side of said mountain, with the aim of sending to said city for corn and
hard-tack since there was already a lack of it, I sent one hundred twenty-five pack mules with two trusted
officials and thirty soldiers, accompanied by some Indian friends and the same Indian captain who had met
his own at the settlement of Altamira; he had accompanied me with great loyalty for a month with which
I recognized him to have the most popularity in all the coast; he speaks Spanish, he is called Juan Antonio,
and is the one who, in the year of forty-five, conducted to Tampico the two French children whom, from
the sloop which was lost on the north of the Río Bravo, the hamlet of Captain Morales to the south of the
Barra of the Santander River had concealed captive, an action that deserved a prize for the difficulties
which he overcame among his own to obtain it; he told me that, in place of this, they had sent him then
prisoner to Tantoyuca where, after giving him two hundred whiplashes and the same to two brothers who
accompanied him, they sent him to that court from which jail, in the allegiance of Our King, the mercy
of Your Excellency ordered him freed, that he left for Pachuca where he learned the doctrine (which he
knows) and those apostolic priests baptized him and that, on the way to his land, they captured him again
in Tampico from where he fled for which, and one of his said brothers having died and the other one being
confused, he was left irreconcilable with the people of Tampico in whose vengeance he expressed his
people wanting to revenge themselves and for that reason they had attacked the settlement of Altamira; but
that they might be pardoned and he might have his brother returned, they would be ready for whatever
would be ordered, thus I offered to do it and, informing Tampico regarding his narration, I found that he
complained justly and that the method, which the Spaniards have practiced with the Indians up to now, is
even more barbaric than theirs with them, over which I omitted making legal proceedings as much for the
lack of time as due to, laying the past aside, I have strived only to establish the best regulated order for the
future; the brother, whom he says was confused for him in Tampico, I found to have died.

And at this time the aforesaid captain Don Juan Francisco de Barberena was in Tampico for the
second time with the report of the leaving of the settlers of Altamira who, encouraged by my immediacy
and good effects which I had produced with the Indians for all that frontier and road which I had already
opened through the middle of them, they left for the third time with said captain on the nineteenth of
February to the region in which, I affirmed in the aforesaid of the thirtieth of April, was the foundation
of Altamira. I gave charge to its captain Juan Pérez whom I deposed; but having heard his pleas (that
everything was extrajudicial) and considering that his being displeased with what its settlers gave, after
having condemned very much for them the action and tax on the profits which followed and what they
should do, I reinstated him, everyone being so content that they offered to add other several settlers without
financial aid, of which some already were there and I doubt that in a short time it will not be a great place
due to the many opportunities which it offers for commerce. The two aforesaid retreats caused me the
grief which I leave to the consideration of Your Excellency due to the prejudices which, for this reason
jealousy spread without taking into consideration that they are accidents of war, that I could not be
everywhere at one time, and that one particular accident could not take with it everything which generally
was going well.

The necessary provisions for the permanence of said foundation of Altamira and its settlers well
provided with corn, I left happily on the third of May for the region of Tancasneque which is between
Altamira and Horcasitas on the shore of the same river (navigable with pirogues) in front of Pánuco. Here
there was a presidio in olden days which the rigor of the Indians depopulated in the year of twenty-nine;
it has good land for a settlement due to its fertility, good temperate weather, fields, woods, and fish, and
it is very necessary in it so that the mountain chain will be completely closed and secure; I found two
cannons of twelve in it which had been in the region since then.

The three hamlets of Indians, who live there and impeded communication, were presented to me
then with women and children, something that they do only when they proceed with sincerity; I gave them
dresses with many wares, tobacco, and supplies and, their having requested of me to assign them a site for
their congregation, I did it with pleasure at a distance of two leagues of Horcasitas. In this region some,
sent by the heathen Indians of Tamaulipa la Vieja, reached me ratifying the word which they had given me
of friendship and that after I had sent the Spaniards, they would build their towns, offering that they would
not admit any apostate of those who bothered the frontiers; [of] these heathens, which is a large number,
I have a great satisfaction because of the experience of them which helps me, that they will be converted
with ease and they are the only ones who, in the entire coast, have large huts, an abundance of corn, beans,
sweet potatoes, watermelons, and even earthenware and they have only given me the condition that I not
remove them from their fertile land. These dispatched and having conferred with Antonio Chirinos,
captain of Pánuco, the establishment of Tancasneque, which will be easy because of the desirable comforts
that if offers its settlers; leaving all that frontier examined, I marched on to Horcasitas.

In said city of Horcasitas I had prepared that necessary to go to inspect the mine of Tamaulipa at
a distance of six leagues, but I was unable to execute it, as much for the great amount of rain in those days
as well as due to the need to continue the march to the town of Llera, with the aim of castigating the
Indians which I marked down in my aforesaid antecedent, after I had finished what I had to do there.

The aforesaid city of Horcasitas is in a very fertile valley, colder than temperate, appropriate for
all types of grains and the raising of livestock; on the north shore of the great river formed by those of el
Jaumave, el Frío, and el Mantle, all of which come out of the immediate Sierra Gorda, abundant in types
of fish, salt deposits, and the immediate said mine, all of which has its settler very happy and, although
at present it has no water which can be introduced into it, it can easily be taken from said river el Jaumave,
not only for the general intent but to irrigate more than five leagues of land which are nearby.

I made the foundation of this city of San Juan de Horcasitas on the eleventh of said month of May
with a captain who is Don José Antonio Oyarvide, a sergeant, nine soldiers, fifty families of settlers, and
fifty-nine families of Olive Indians; that some are of those who were left from the old mission of
Tancasneque and have always been clamoring for it, maintaining themselves on the borders of la Huasteca
and the others, descendants of those who have already died of the same ones, with which is formed a
reasonable body, enough for the defense of any accident which might occur; to said Indians they give a
weekly ration of corn for their support, in the interim they plant and harvest, for which end I provided
them with oxen, plowshares, and agricultural equipment, prepared for when the settlement of Tancasneque
is put in, thirty of said families are to go there, to which they gladly consented; and I also ordered to give
a ration of corn to the aforesaid three hamlets which must compose almost two hundred families according
to how they begin to congregate. Since the first of December the appointed Captain Barberena, with his
company of the town of Valles, has maintained himself in it and those in its immediacy or mountain chain,
without whose help neither this one nor the one of Altamira would have been able to remain and, in order
to make such continuous work in some way tolerable to the soldiers, I gave them the privilege of being able
to remove salt for ten years from the salt deposits, that were already beginning to crystalize, as if they were
settlers and I executed the same with the companies of el Jaumave, Tula, Valle del Maíz, Guadalc�zar,
Pánuco, and Tampico which are the ones who have done everything, since from el Reino de León and
Coahuila I used no one. I left there that I ordered the construction of a large pirogue so that the floods of
said river would not impede the communication with la Huasteca and Villa de Santa B�rbara and it leave
the pass to Altamira open without their remaining in between Indians who would cause damage, with which
the pleasure of the settlers of these two foundations was assured and, some of them encouraged, they were
left already arranging the fields for planting.

At a distance of about five leagues of said city and almost to the west of it, where the Río Frío and
el Mantle join forming an island, which up to here they have named el Potrero de Tamat�n, it must be one
league long and a little less wide of very fertile land with many bananas, avocados, and a variety of fruits
where no Spaniard had been due to the depth of said rivers and not having discovered a ford in them. In
this one, many years ago, there lived a hamlet of Huasteco Apostates whose captain was called Baltasar
and, from it they would go out to their forays, closing up the livestock there and other things they would
steal, satisfied that it was impenetrable to said Spaniards, as they had experienced many times; well,
followed by the soldiers, they were accustomed to returning from its border, with which they were much
to spoiled, and they had not wanted to concur, which gave me grave worry. One of the three captains of
Tancasneque told me that the said Indians were the principal ones who had concurred with the hamlet of
Tetillas in the theft of three thousand sheep which they made in the hacienda of the Reverend Carmelite
Fathers of San Luis Potosí, killed two shepherds and one settler of those of the town de Llera, who
proceeded to the defense of the rest of the livestock and he offered to help with their people, if it were
necessary for the punishment, which I appreciated and did not allow, giving him to understant that at the
time that I would like to punish them I would be able to do it with a few of my soldiers against whose valor
was a small impediment, the difficulty of crossing the rivers. Being at this, two soldiers arrived who were
bringing me eight horses from Santa B�rbara, saying fifty Indians from the aforesaid hamlet had taken them
from them and put them on said island through swimming, with which it seemed to me appropriate to give
an order so that the captain of the town of Llera, Don José Escajadillo, with thirty-five soldiers of el
Jaumave, twenty of his, thirty of the town of G�emes with its captain, Don Felipe Téllez Girán, and thirty
Indian friends would go to said hamlet of Tetillas well prepared for what they should execute and I would
go to the appointed island, not only for the punishment of the apostates that were found there, but also to
examine if they had an entry or make it possible for them in any possible way.

The captain, Don José Escajadillo, went to Tetillas but the apostate Indians of that hamlet,
informed with smoke by one of the Indian friends (who is already in this jail) took flight, if well followed
on it, they lost some, who died from shots, and whatever they had in their hamlet, in which some sheep,
horses, saddles, and arms of the Spaniards, whom at this time and others they had killed, were found, their
remaining, although not as I would have liked, reasonably punished, the roads opened, and those pastures
and haunts, which were their old protection, inspected.

I was able, by means of one of the pickets which the campaign always had running, to seize an
Indian of the apostates of Tamat�n who, placed in prison and threatened with death, offered to show me
a ford to said island with which I decided to attack it with eighty-five soldiers and twenty Indian friends;
thus it was executed but, although the Indian guided well, in respect to the water reaching the middle of
the chest and the exit being craggy and brambled, the Indians, who then presented themselves, had time
to prepare themselves fighting like wild savages; in the meantime their women and children swam across
a large lake which, intervening between two rivers, closed the island and the they did the same leaving six
dead, outside of others that I heard died later from the many who were wounded, there having been, on
our part, no greater misfortune than that of two soldiers who were slightly wounded. We were not able
to continue the overtaking due to the impossibility of crossing said lake but they scattered so much
afterwards that they offered to congregate and to cause no more trouble, with which I made them
understand I was satisfied, but it was simply to give time for better articulation in which to be able to make
an end of the affair of these perverse apostates without risk. We took fourteen horses that, outside of the
eight, they had in their hamlet, some arms and saddles, supplies, and other things, that were distributed
among the Indian friends and we also found many sheepskins from the stolen sheep in Tetillas and other
known jewels which gave evidence of their having been in the function, which the aforesaid Indian prisoner
also confessed with all its particulars, that because of his being an apostate of the mission of Tula and the
one who principally moved and directed it, I sent him to that jail, which his companions gave us to
understand that they celebrated because of his being the one who had lost and set me against them. The
island was well inspected and its entrance enabled, for which I doubt that the apostate will return to it.

On the fourteenth, after having ordained all that had to do with the city of Horcasitas and made a
special request that its captain communicate frequently, by means of pickets, with those of Altamira, Santa
B�rbara, and Llera and that, united they proceed with the punishment of whatever Indian that causes
trouble; having made my camp in the pirogue, because the river was swollen, and having sent to Llera a
number of young oxen and cows which I brought from Altamira for its settlers and Indians and those of
el Jaumave and Palmillas, I marched to the town of Santa B�rbara, in which short transit of fifteen leagues
I stopped two days to inspect its land, entries, and exits to the provinces which, in the future, they would
eventually provide.

On the sixteenth, I arrived in the region called Tanguanchín which is a great valley which, at the
skirt of the Sierra Gorda on the east part, forms, with another hill which, leaving the said Gorda, follows
toward the Villa de los Valles; its weather is temperate, somewhat inclined to be cold, it abounds in woods
of live oak, pine, at a small distance small evergreens and red cedar, the lands for planting need no
improvement and its fields have no comparison; well four months after having entered the cattle produced,
each one more milk than five from around here outside regularly produce, whose beautiful qualities the
settlers have forwarded without financial aid or expense to the Royal Treasury, that even with them those
that might be very ignorant had difficulties; it has several springs and arroyos which, although they offer
little irrigation, they fertilize it and make it fruitful and even without it raining, the slight showers are so
abundant that they are enough to benefit the corn and all types of grains.

In said region on the nineteenth, I founded the Villa de Santa B�rbara with thirty-four families of
Spaniards and educated persons, besides another five which remain located in the region of la Laza, a
distance of two leagues to the west pertaining to said town, it being advisable to keep it settled for the easy,
secure transit of the road with the same jurisdictions and lands as the antecedents and that belonging to all
who, in the six following months, will become a neighbor to it, for which another fifteen were already
presented and I believe its citizenry will increase very much, for which end and to encourage them, being
mindful of their having maintained themselves four months in the field which is necessary for them to
continue; the lack of corn and arms which they had, I distributed to them one hundred measures of corn,
twelve rifles, twelve sabres, twelve oxen, plowshares, hoes, axes, other tools and some cows, in the
manner which I have practiced in the others, with which they were extremely happy.

On said day, at a distance of nearly one league on the north side, I founded the mission of Igollo
with the dedication of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad and thirty-four families of Indians that, with thirteen
who remained located in said region of la Laja, there are forty-seven whose captain, named Juan Antonio
de Barberena, another is Marcos de Villanueva, great soldier and most affectionate to the Spaniards; I
dressed them, gave gifts to their wives and children, I provided them with corn so that in the meantime
they may reap their crops, oxen, cows, plowshares, and tools for farming and to said captain, a saddled
horse and all arms, whose example would have congregated others who inhabit that sierra, were they not
met at the moment with the epidemic of small-pox of which many have generally died, but I do not doubt
that it will be possible for them to free themselves from it.

This foundation is the same one which contains the number of 83 from my consultation of the
twenty-six of october of the past year of seven hundred forty-seven; having been protected at its coast by
the captain Don Juan Francisco de Barberena with the most christian zeal without restoration of costs
or work for which I left him as captain of it, with the condition that he place in it a lieutenant and corporals
of his satisfaction, as he executed it and it is one of the most important due to forming a triangle with
Horcasitas which is fifteen leagues to the east, Llera another fifteen to the northeast, el Jaumave twelve to
the north, Tula ten to the west, and Villa de los Valles eighteen southeast such that, increasing in citizenry,
as I expect it shortly, not only will it dominate those valleys and the Sierra Gorda which has been the
refuge for those apostates in their attacks, but also that, united with the immediate settlers of Horcasitas
and Llera, they are the most ready for the punishment of whatever rebellion and they totally impede the
transit of the barbarians to la Huasteca which they attack in that region, to which is added it being the most
suitable, straight road for the entire coast and through el Jaumave and the new Real de Minas de los
Infantes, of which I will speak in the future, for the commerce of all of la Huasteca, Pánuco, and Tampico
with el Nuevo Reino de León and all the land within, the one which I have ordered opened and it has
already begun to be traveled by muleteers and passengers who go for good pastures and springs without
the risk and great circuitous ways they had before.

The day of the twenty-second, after having ordained all the suitable to said foundation and chain
of mountains of la Huasteca and sent the captain Don Juan Francisco de Barberena so that he go check
his home, since his businesses, in arrears in his long absence, needed it, I went toward the mission of Tula,
crossing the Sierra Gorda which is encircled in this region in only six leagues by a reasonable road; I found
in said mission news of the state of the foundations of the mountain range of the north without a report of
worry and then I dedicated myself to writing the necessary orders for its permanence and increase.

Awaiting me there, due to an arrangement I had made for him, was Don Nicol�s de Salazar,
resident of Matehuala, who, since the first of November of the last year of seven hundred forty-eight, had
presented himself with others offering to make a settlement in the region called el Pantano, at a distance
of twelve to fourteen leagues to the northwest of said mission of Tula, with the aim of working some rich
mines that there are in that region and the qualification of the settlers being given competent lands for
pastures and plantings, to which I not only conceded but also promised to help and encourage them in
whatever they might need, as I have executed it with corn and other things which they would not have been
able to obtain on their own. He reported to me of having entered since the middle of February with
nineteen families, having planted eight portions of well reaped corn, having built a foundry oven, building
an hacienda, and others working three mines with much abundance of good ores which, according to the
repeated assays, produced from four to twelve ounces per slab with earnings of alloy for gold and silver,
asking me to come to inspect with my own eyes and to give the respective possession, which he cannot do
personally due to having too much to do, as much in giving the orders for all the founding as well as corn
and other supplies of which had been provided in that region, for which I sent, with commission, the
lieutenant of the company of Guadalc�zar Don José Ambrosio de Avila, an intelligent miner of profession
and a person in whom I have complete confidence, who found that which said Don Nicol�s had reported
to be true, of which he set down a report in detail, and returning amazed (as it appears in his report) of the
abundance of mines, metals obtained, and their good quality to which is added the fertility of valleys for
all types of planting and the good weather, more cold than temperate, which are have the center of those
hills of the Sierra Gorda, all of which are mines, and another twenty families being ready to enter, who
only awaited my arrival for that effect.

This region being, as I have set down, from twelve to fourteen leagues northwest of the mission
of Tula, it has at about fifteen the settlement of el Jaumave, on the southeast, about seventeen to the east
that of llera, and from eight to ten leagues, entering through the same Sierra Gorda, the plains of the coast
and Mesas Prietas which face Tamaulipa la Vieja; it is on the same skirt on this side of the Sierra Gorda
where everything has been depopulated and almost incognito with the exception of some minor livestock
which, with increased escort, used to enter to pasture in those springs; it is in a triangle with said towns
of Llera and G�emes and in such a lovely relation to close up that mountain chain and free the new
settlements of the attacks which, at not being facilitated by this means, it would be necessary to place a
settlement there and a squadron on the account of His Majesty in whose consideration, on the twenty-six
of the said month of May, I founded, in the aforesaid region, el Real de los Infantes with the dedication
of el Señor San Miguel, granting to its settlers the military power like there is in the others newly
established with the qualification that, as soldiers of active war, they should try to attract and convert three
small hamlets of apostate Indians and infidels who inhabit those hills, give aid to the new settlements, and
enter into the campaigns that might be needed; two thousand square rods for the settlement, two springs
for its support, six sites for major livestock for pastures and firewood, and sixty "caballerias" of wheatland
in common for them to plant outside of the ones of a valley in which the settlement is founded, between
the same hills of the mines, which should be about two league from south to north and one and one-half
from east to west with no risk, of which I will give an accounting with its respective folder; I left Don
Francisco L�zaro de Salazar as captain with the necessary instruction and commission so that he keep
punctual reports of the silver [or money] that would be coming out and that he assure or perceive what
pertains to the Royal Rights of His Majesty.

This Real, Most Excellent Lord, without any doubt due to the abundance of ores, wood, firewood,
pastures, and fertile land, will become a great place within little time; its settlers will discover and work
many other mines that there are in the hills which intervene the eight leagues which there should be
between it and the plains of the coast due to everything being minerals and were the lack of corn not too
great, which is not found at any price, I believe it would already have more than one hundred families; it
has had no cost to His Majesty and can produce much in the future, as much in the royal rights as for the
total pacification and security of the colony of el Nuevo Santander due to its being from where the needed
aids can be ministered with the greatest facility.

The lands, on which this foundation is placed and that of the town of Santa B�rbara, I have been
told, are included in some summer pastures which in the past were granted, those of the first one to the
haciendas, which at present the Convent of Carmelites of San Luis Potosí owns, and the ones of the second
one to the ones which are administered by Don Felipe Moctezuma, resident of el Valle del Maíz, that
some of them I found deserted with the exception that, as I have expressed, they are accustomed to
introducing their livestock for short periods with increased escort and risk, which only serves to make the
Indians worse than they are since the shepherds, because they do not kill them, give them meat and
contribute whatever they ask for, a knowledge that makes them insolent and encourages many christians
to apostasy, certain that by the aforesaid means they are assured of food without the difficult task of
working.

I concluded the very long battle which had continued between the Indians and the soldiers of said
mission of Tula in that general captaincy, leaving them arranged, delineated, and marked to the satisfaction
of some of them and, also, I sent, to this jail, five mulato Indians or natives who, with their transgressions
and free life, were destroying said mission, that everything will be evident by the folder of proceedings
which Your Excellency was served to order it be sent to me for that purpose and I shall remit it with
consultation so that he determine from them what might be of his superior pleasure.

Mindful of not having been able to go to the missions of el Valle del Maíz and that of San Nicol�s
of the Custody of Río Verde in order to delineate and mark their lands for them as Your Excellency was
served to order me to do and, considering how necessary it was, I sent a commission so the captain Don
Antonio Fern�ndez de Acuña would do it and, I will do the same, completing these proceedings, for those
of San José Alquines, Gamotes, and Peniguan of said custody.

About Santa Dorotea I have not yet had news, nor do I expect it until it rains due to the drought
being so formidable that there is not even water to drink found on the roads nor is there a man who dares
to travel them, but I have no doubt that Captain Basterra with the presidio and mission of la Bahía del
Espíritu Santo is already to be found in that region as he was ordered.

Don Pedro Gonz�lez de Paredes, captain destined for the town of Bedoya in the Nueces River,
was one of the last one to recruit, but he completed his fifty families of settlers and the squadron of soldiers
of the best people of those countries, who only wanted to go, taking him as captain due to all of them being
kinsmen and relatives, with whom he delayed his march due to the general lack of corn and the epidemic
in the horses because of the lack of pastures, but I have a report that he made it and, according to the
weather, he will have been at his destined site since the fifteenth of last May.

About the towns of Camargo and Reinosa, it has been reported everything going favorably, its
settlers planting and the Indians from the immediacy congregating and the same about that of San Fernando
and its mission, about Cabezón de la Sal in which Don Marcos de Villanueva is going along congregating
Indians at a great rate and that Juan Miguel Cano and his families were already working in the place of
Maliaño; all the said foundations, since they are composed generally of Bozal Indians of docile nature,
offer no risks.

The town of Burgos in Ciénegas de Caballero, notwithstanding its squadron and settlers being
complete the month of December, mindful of having had it occupied with its captain in the escort of the
others and the conducting of equipment and supplies and not having been able to send it to its destination
until the beginnings of April, no longer finding corn to take for their support due to my having become
confused, in a great part, about those which, on account of His Majesty, I had bought with much
anticipation in that frontier, it was necessary to stop in the town of Linares until the month of July, when
they assure me there will already be new corn, but they have sent that necessary for the support of more
than eighty families of apostates and heathens who are congregated in its mission of Cueto, those who have
contained the other apostates who in all that frontier are not of importance, as yet, since they have not
experienced the least damage from them, a benefit which the Nuevo Reino de León and its residents can
already enjoy, who even in their own homes suffered continuous, daily attacks.

The town of Santander, although it is in the center of the Indians, since it abounds in settlers, it
enjoys so many comforts which its lovely natural terrain offers and it has as captain Don Antonio Ladrón
de Guevara whose accredited military practice with said Indians is well known, not only is it growing but
also that, with the commerce of its immediate salt deposits which are already beginning to show a profit
which they have recognized in the livestock and the fertile growth of corn, they should expect much
increase to which fishing from that great river contributes and the hope of enabling the port. In this town
I left as lieutenant with the salary of four hundred pesos the Dragoon Lieutenant Don José de Varona y
Horcasitas who not only accompanied me, but who, with his good military practice, capacity, valor, and
zeal for the royal service, has contributed much to the general pacification for which he makes himself
worthy that the charity of Your Excellency be served to dispense to him the favors that would be of his
pleasure.

The town of San Antonio de Padilla is situated in the most beautiful, fertile territory at the shore
of a good river, with whose water it can irrigate itself entirely, and in the most necessary site for the transit
and safety of the chain of mountains of the north, but at the present time it is one of the riskiest and most
exposed places to the cruelty of the apostate Indians who inhabit the south part of Tamaulipa la Nueva and
el Malinche between it and San Antonio de los Llanos; well, although almost all their captains concurred,
not only have they not verified their coming to congregate, but not even their presenting their wives and
children, nor their leaving off the stealing of livestock when they notice they are not carefully guarded, and
to encourage those settlers, these being only thirty, I increased another ten with the financial aid of a
thousand pesos. This town had the misfortune of the shepherds having burned, as they are accustomed in
order to obtain the regrowth of grass, all their fields up to near their own houses and, finding themselves
having to maintain the livestock and the horses on the other side of a woods of dangerous transit at a
distance of more than two leagues, not only do they use, in its guarding, the principal part of the squadron
and settlers but, in whatever unexpected attack, since they are on foot, the give aid with much difficulty;
and the same happened in the town of San Francisco de G�emes over which, their captains having
complained to me, I ordered, with grave penalties, they not take haciendas of sheep into the five leagues
of the environs of said foundations, as much so that they do not eat the pastures they need, as so that they
do not burn them with the risk of the same happening to the houses and haciendas of said towns, as it
would have been verified if they had not quickly gone to their aid, to which all those valleys are very
inclined due to the large amount of grass that grows in them. Due to the distance at which their horses
were maintained, having notified its captain Don Gregorio de la Paz that the Indians were taking some
oxen, he attacked them with so few people that they had the boldness to face them at a narrow pass and,
although he punished them, he ran them off and took some of the oxen; it was with the misfortune of an
arrow having pierced one of his thighs of which he is already well and very encouraged and happy with
my having added the ten settlers and given him a dozen oxen in place of those they had taken from him.

The town of San Francisco de G�emes is increasing and for the reparation in any emergency; I left
an order for this captain, for the one of said town of Padilla, for that of Nuevo Santander, and of Real de
los Infantes and the town of Llera, that they mutually aid and help each other with the greatest promptness,
communicating with each other and conferring together regarding what would lead to the security and
permanence of said foundations and I also left it for the overseers of that of el Jaumave and Tula and the
captains of the companies of Guadalc�zar and of el Valle del Maíz so that, with notice from the captain
Don José Escajadillo they enter quickly any time it was requested.

The town of Santa María de Llera has been so battled by the apostates that only the valor of its
captain would have been able to attain the tolerance of its settlers to so much risk and work, which I expect
to be brief with the punishment made on the Indians of the Tamat�n Island and the placing of the
settlements of Santa B�rbara and Real de los Infantes, which will be aided by the new road from el
Jaumave that I ordered opened for this town; and it is almost finished, its distance along it only being about
six leagues while the one which used to be travelled, other than being very rugged, was more than sixteen;
I granted this town, above and beyond its forty settlers, another ten with the financial aid of one thousand
pesos, as much because of two having died (one in the war and the other of illness) and five wounded
because, since because they were few for so many continuous campaigns, escort of livestock, and supplies,
and the security of the town, and also I gave them some corn, oxen, and cows which I sent from Altamira
and, their cost being little, it leads to much encouragement and pleasure with which said settlers continue.

The Indians are good, in general, especially all the heathen Bozales whose total nudity and the
eagerness with which they came to meet me with their wives and children only because I communicated
with them when I entered to inspect, proves well their sincerity and many of them are beginning to
congregate and there would be many more if the corn were not so scarce and its bringing not so difficult,
even discounting its intolerable costs.

Among the apostates there are all kinds; many have congregated, others offer to do it when they
are liberated from the epidemic of small pox which they suffer, and others, who are very few, have
maintained themselves without wanting to meet, saying they are afraid of being punished and only can
those of the stated Isle of Tamat�n and hamlets of Tetillas, which do not come to two hundred and live
between Tamaulipa la Vieja (whose heathen Indians will not have helped them), and those of the towns of
Llera, Santa B�rbara, and said Real de los Infantes be called rebels. These offered to meet in peace and
congregate, whose word I allowed, not because I am satisfied that they will do it but to make use, by this
means, or time or truce, while the settlers establish themselves, plant, and reap grains, rest and fatten their
horses, inspect the land, and open roads to all parts without whose circumstances any campaign made is
painful and very risky and, on the contrary it can be obtained easier and without risk.

The companies, which I took to Guadalc�zar, Valle del Maíz, Tula, and the picket of this regiment
were in a campaign for six months and the same was done by the captain Don Juan Francisco Barberena
of the town of Valles and those of Pánuco and Tampico; they worked incessantly day and night with the
greatest diligence and even having lost the greater part of their horses and tolerating the rigorous cold,
winter sleets, and summer heats in those deserts, and having left their poor families and goods to the will
of the weather, they were pleased and happy, by which they manifest the favor they have received from
the General Captaincy of Your Excellency to correspond well in the military privilege they enjoy by which
they make themselves worthy of meriting attention. This consideration and that of if they did not go out
to plant, the time elapsing, they might be destroyed completely, obliged me to order them to return to their
homes; and since in all the borders no horse was found for riding nor mule for carrying supplies, whose
lack is so great that in several areas they assured me that the people were dying of hunger which prohibited
me from sending for a new troop, I found it suitable to come, as I did, to this city where I arrived the fifth
day of the current in the afternoon, having left the said mission of Tula the twenty-eighty of the past after
lunch.

Compelled by the edict, which I published in all the frontiers since the month of November, so that
the apostates present themselves and congregate, either in the old towns or missions or in other new ones
that might be established, with general pardon of their old transgressions, advising them they would be
treated as their children and that, if the contrary, they would be taken by fire and blood, many [Spaniards]
presented themselves of which a part remained (because they requested it thus), collected in the old
missions, and another reasonable number, with its captain, Francisco de la Garza, that is one of the ones
which they have destroyed the most in el Nuevo Reino de León, after having accompanied me much time
at the coast, offered to congregate themselves to the mission in the region of Tapextle which is between
the towns of Cadereita and Linares of said Nuevo Reino de León, to which I agreed; and having been given
clothes and gifts, provided with plowshares and farm equipment, I sent them to the governor so that he
make the foundation, concur in all the possible terms so that it would be effective and, that done, he
provide oxen and some corn for their support until they would reap a crop, for which end I supplied the
necessary reales and that executed, they require the Reverend Father, custodian of those missions of the
province of San Francisco de Zacatecas to provide a priest, advising me of the result so that I do the same
to Your Excellency; and, although he communicated to me said captain and part of his [group] having
presented themselves, he expresses not being able to verify the congregation right away due to all and their
families having the small pox of which many have died but that he would do it after this is over with they
are free of it.

Upon my exit I had them repeat the same edict in general, making use of it so that it would come
to a report of all of them, of Indian friends and even of the apostates which could be found who, I generally
observed to be timid and intimidated to which the closing of the refuge and cover, which they had before
in the infidels of the coast, contributed much, a point to which I gave the greatest special care.

Founded are one city, eleven towns (without the one of Balmaceda in Santa Dorotea for which
families are being sought), one place, and one "real de minas" which makes up fifteen; those projected
were fourteen; the town of el Nuevo Santander, which contains the number 99, I found more suitable to
place in el cerrito del Aire, number 89, that of this one on the shore of el Río del Norte with the name of
Reinosa, and the one destined for la Mesa de las Caldas, number 90, in Ciénegas de Caballero, the skirt
of the north of Tamaulipa la Nueva with the name of Villa de Burgos; the twenty-five families prepared
for Tetillas, number 87, joined those of the towns of Santander and Padilla due to the number they had
being small. At present there remain in them six hundred ninety families of Spaniards and educated people
among settlers and soldiers, including the officers, with the exception of those of Villa de Balmaceda, its
presidio, and place of Maliaño where they do not enter.

In their surrounding area I also leave founded three missions that, with the removal to Balmaceda
or Santa Dorotea, they make fourteen; in eight of them there are congregated Indians; the other five do
not even have a site, although they have offered to unite, in which I have gone ahead up to now with the
greatest gentleness in order to give opportunity for the settlers to establish themselves well, a point in which
the perfect, general pacification consists.

Of the aforesaid fifteen foundations, the eight and their missions which, with Padilla, Santander,
San Fernando, Camargo, Reinosa, Bedoya, Balmaceda, and Burgos, are destined for their spiritual
administration by the priests of el Apost�lico Colegio de Guadalupe de Zacatecas; the other five of San
Fernando de G�emes, Llera, Horcasitas, Altamira, and Santa B�rbara by those of el Apost�lico Colegio
de San Fernando to whom will be added those of Tetillas, Tancasneque, and another which is needed at
the east point of Tamaulipa la Vieja when the case arises to place them. The place of Maliaño can be
administered for now from Burgos which lies immediate to it; that of Real de Minas de los Infantes remains
in the charge of the priests of la Custodia de Río Verde who admitted it by way of their custodian and they
offered to place one in it without cost to the synod.

Several other subjects are collecting families to form some other settlements of which I will report
once it is verified.

Generally, Most Excellent Lord, the attainment of this glorious, utile, and so desired enterprise
was doubted and it was even felt to be impossible, founded on the smallness of my troop which they
thought of as undisciplined and, since it was not paid and poor, incapable of making the long campaigns
required and in that it was not feasible to obtain families who, for the miserable financial assistance of one
hundred pesos, leaving their peaceful lands, their houses, roots and relatives, would want to subject
themselves voluntarily to populate an unknown land full of barbarians and apostates who, from so many
years to now, are the terror of the frontiers; I confess, Lord, that in the usual they did not go totally
misguided, that while they ignored many private reports which aided me for confidence and which were
born in mind by the Sovereignty of Your Excellency and Lords of which the General Junta of War and
Treasury was composed; and I also confess that everything has been miraculous because the Sovereign
Lady of Guadalupe, whom I have always carried in the Royal Standard and to whom, from the beginning
(in that which is on my behalf), I dedicated the general patronage of this colony, she has protected us
visibly, with the admiration of the many who accompanied me, without whose help, I do not believe such
good effects would have been produced by the measures, which the christian zeal of Your Excellency has
ministered and I have managed to practice, without excusing work, cost, nor diligence, confident that the
divine mercy, to whose major honor and glory it is directed, would do it all.

She has served in the small troop of militiamen and settlers with such punctuality, as the best paid
soldier would be able to do it, at the same time that the difficulties were coming together in which they
were very much aggrieved by the terrible smallpox epidemic which as many families suffered as entered
and in which, also, the Divine help was seen clearly since, of six hundred ninety families only three
children died which, seen in respect to what has happened in the areas of the frontiers, it caused more than
a little admiration. I placed the most special care in that the art would conquer all, for which the sword
had little exercise but, in the cases in which it was necessary to use it, the soldiers marched with such joy
as if they were going to a great party, so much that it was work for me to contain them.

Five hundred fifty-four families of settlers and soldiers had been considered necessary for the new
foundations and I now have left, as I have stated, six hundred ninety in them, without the twenty who
should already be in el Lugar de Maliaño and many others who are collecting; all have entered of their free
and spontaneous will with, neither on my part nor on that of the officials, who have been employed in the
recruiting, was the slightest action practiced that might sound like compulsion or pressure; there has been
much to their benefit, the viewing made by the same frontiersmen two years ago of that fertile land in its
general inspection; but, commonly they express having moved fleeing from the tyranny by which they have
been treated by the justices and the slavery in which they lived having been made tenant farmers of the
owners of haciendas, aspiring to liberate themselves of one and the other and to leave, even if it be at the
risk of losing their lives, their children established in such a desirable land; in the quality of said families
there are all kinds since they are composed of Spaniards, mestizos, and mulattos; that all of them go with
the distinction in their respective positions but, generally, since servants in the frontiers are good soldiers
and practical in the entries against the barbarians, which is principally what is required in these beginnings,
two-thirds of them are reasonably provided with goods and, on the other hand, there are very few who stop
having their yokes of oxen, jobs, and similar things with which to support themselves.

Said families have gone from Tampico, Pánuco, la Huasteca, jurisdiction of Guadalc�zar, Nuevo
Reino de León, Mazapil, Saltillo, Charcas, Matehuala, and even from this city whose management of
affairs and the needed attention to each one of them per se, in their particular affairs in order to have them
content, has caused me to work day and night; and because there have been costantly subjects who
discouraged them and tried all means to make the trip difficult, even pretending and making them believe
they owed something that they did not; in order to avoid the disorder that passion could produce, I ordered
all the creditors of said settlers to meet with me; satisfied that the one who justly owed, his having enough
with which to pay, I would make him pay, and the one who had no goods, I would arrange the best method
in which he would be able to go along executing it, with which measure such a pernicious hazard was
cooled down and those who came forward, who were few, either ended up paid or arranged to their
satisfaction; I had several accusations, especially from el Reino de León regarding that I not admit families
from it as if to these it would not be free to go of their of their own free will to the place or part which
would offer them comfort, regarding which I only prohibited the receiving of no servant, save he be with
the will of his owner and satisfying him what was owed him which seemed to me to be what justly
corresponded.

Since the month of September I sent, to the frontiers of said Reino de León (as to all the others),
money and an order to buy the corn which I considered necessary for the support of the settlers, soldiers,
and Indian friends and the rest who were congregating, which was executed with superabundance and,
confident that I was sure of having it for transport at the opportune time, I found myself in March with the
news that, with the pretext that there was little in said kingdom, its governor had ordered in a proclamation
no corn be taken out from there and in private, to the subjects in whose power was that of His Majesty's,
not only that of not remitting or turning any over, but that they could sell it for the public support. Thus
they said it and executed it, in the most part moved by the elevated price in which it now was; well, their
having bought it at twelve reales per measure, which was regular, they were selling it at twenty and at
twenty-four which originated from the greed of some who, considering selling it at the elevated price, they
dedicated themselves to hoard to resell and the large amount they took to the outside; well, the crop in
those regions was regular and the number of measures that was bought on the account of His Majesty so
small that it just barely came to one thousand five hundred, when it is evident that there were particular
hucksters and providers of haciendas who collected major quantities paying its value in goods at elevated
prices, at the same twelve reales at which the purveyor had paid in pesos and doubloons and said
prohibition did not correspond to them. With this motive, notwithstanding that, having put said governor
in charge, he responded that that which was ordered did not correspond to the aforesaid corn and that he
would do all possible to provide of that necessary; I was deficient by more than six hundred measures
which were destined for the town of San Fernando and its mission, that it was necessary to provide with
flour at an increased cost for that of Burgos whose foundation, as I have stated, was delayed until July, and
for the support of my soldiers whose lack caused me great loss due to finding myself having to send the
necessary one of Horcasitas and Llera; and since my spirit has always been directed to see that the service
of God and the King be done without break or particular trouble, if at all possible, taking charge that, the
error once known, said governor would try to remedy it and that, the not obtaining it, was not by his hand
due to not finding corn anymore at that time at any price, I omitted formalizing the charge that
corresponded to it.

To the sergeant-major Don Antonio Ladrón de Guevara, captain of the town of el Nuevo
Santander, who had been wonderful about everything, I left an instruction of what he should do when the
disputes present themselves and an order for all the other captains so that, in my absence, they proceed to
him and, in the interim, it be reported to me they conform to the judgement.

The continuous, daily, military exercise and their being many pending charges has not permitted
me to form the accounts of the costs, which I shall execute, and, the proceedings of the foundations,
squadrons, and everything else which contribute, after some that are missing arrive, I shall send to Your
Excellency, being careful to put in his high comprehension whatever other thing might occur.

The foundations assigned to the Apostolic College of Guadalupe de Zacatecas are provided, as I
have said, with priests with the exception of that of Reinosa. To the five of this Apostolic College of San
Fernando, not even one has gone, whose lack is notable due to the disconsolateness in which its settlers
and Indians are. For those of the town of Llera I left its attendance, in all possible, in charge of the
missionary priest of el Jaumave; for those of Altamira, the one of Tampico; for those of the town of
G�emes, those of the one of Padilla, the one of Horcasitas, in which for six months there was a priest of
the custody of Tampico to whom, outside of the support of one hundred pesos for his vesture, in respect
to his having left, it was left without hope, due to the distance, of having someone to attend it, and the same
the one of Santa B�rbara and its Indians, in the interim the priests of said Apostolic College are arriving.

The captain Don José Díaz Maldonado has accompanied me on the expedition with the honor and
accuracy which he has always accustomed and he is one of the ones who, since he also attended the
inspection at my side, understands better everything of the coast and its frontiers.

In a letter of the twenty-sixth of April that, due to the mail having lost its way because of the tour
I made along the border of Villa de Valles, it was not able to reach me until the twenty-second of May in
Tula, Your Excellency is served to order me to leave the most exact measures which will assure the
permanence of the established foundations, in which visit, notwithstanding having decreed those which my
want of instruction reached, I repeated several others again, strengthening and encouraging officials,
settlers, and soldiers; and I also received with it the one of the twenty-fifth of the same with testimonies
of that requested by the honorable Attorney General and Auditor on the thirtieth and thirty-first of January
and twenty-second of March in which Your Excellency is served to agree in decrees of the thirty-first of
said month of January and the twelfth of April; and on the return, in the vicinity of this city, I received
those of Your Excellency of the fifteenth and twenty-third of May with the two testimonies of that
requested by the honorable Auditor General of War, in view of my last two letters of the eighteenth and
thirtieth of April, on the twelfth and twenty-first of the same and decrees of the thirteenth and twenty-second of the named month of May in which the merciful graciousness of Your Excellency is served to
honor me with the approbation of what I had executed up to then, qualifying it as well done with the
specification of this affair being obtained, the one of greatest importance which has been treated since the
conquest of the kingdom to the service of God and the King whose glorious expression is, for me, the most
desirable prize and, in its view, I consider the many troubles and risks I have had and the large quantities
of pesos, which I have expended from my own wealth, as worth it. May the divine mercy, to whose
greater honor and glory so much work is directed, grant us, as I expect it, through the glorious intercession
of the Most Holy María de Guadalupe, seeing this great colony perfectly established and all the Indians
in it pacified so that, completing it, to its holy name be sung the triumph obtained from the infernal dragon
which had its seat in it so many years, and it give me life so that, sacrificing it in such a glorious affair,
it can, in part, befit the confidence which the generous attention of Your Excellency, without any merit
of mine, has made of my person. To all the captains and soldiers, and especially to the regaled militiamen
who have worked so much, I have written, and I shall repeat, the letters of gratitude in the name Your
Excellency which he is served to order me, which I understand is well needed so that such a continuous,
laborious work does not dispirit them; and by all possible terms I shall promote the practice of all the
honorable Auditor General, with his great experience and fervent christian zeal, advises.

Through mail, which I have just received from el Nuevo Santander, its captain informs me of all
the Indians, which were already congregated in it, having deserted that mission of Soto la Marina (that
there were many) with the reason that the missionary priest wanted to whip one of the principal ones
because he cut the head of the woman he had as wife and the little affability with which he treated them
but that, said priest having gone to his college and one having remained of more accommodatingly soft
character known by them, although with some work, he collected them again and that also aggregated were
those which were punished at my entry to el Cerrito del Aire (due to their having wounded some horses
with arrows) and others from the border, only leaving those from the west part at war, that with two
hamlets of Apostates with whom I advise him to maintain himself at the defensive (save that with surety
its punishment is furnished), in the interim those settlers plant and take root well, for which time I shall
give the measure which is suitable to subject them if the love and good treatment might not have converted
them.

He also expresses to me finding himself afflicted due to having a letter from Don Roque Barreras,
resident of the town of Linares, appointed purveyor for all the mountain range of the north, not being able
to send him the corn which his settlers needed because of it not being found at any price and for which
purchase they had left in his possession the money from their own financial assistance, for which he would
send mules loaded with salt to the town of Llera, with the aim of seeing if, sending him some, it would
remedy such a grave necessity. On the date of his letter he had not received one of mine in which,
distrusting the same which happened, I advised him that in a similar case he might repair to said town of
Llera for the requisite, in respect to my having it in it (although with much trouble) for such urgencies, and
he also tells me the captain of the aforesaid town of Llera having sent without delay what he requested.
Which I share with Your Excellency in case (as it tends to happen) contrary voices might run, as well as
that in the immediacy of el Jaumave I had them plant several cornfields early so that, having corn in July,
they do not lack such a necessary provision, in that which, like opening roads and whatever leads to the
perfect establishment, I have not excused any proceeding of those which is humanly possible to be done.

This admirable pacification, Most Excellent Lord, so repeatedly recommended by the catholic zeal
of His Majesty (may God keep him) so many times undertaken and always frustrated, it seems the Divine
Providence had it reserved for the happy time of the Government of Your Excellency in which I can say
looks totally obtained, to which I give the congratulations to his Grandee who, above all, will determine
what might be of his superior will which, as always, shall be the best. Querétaro and June thirteenth of
seventeen hundred forty-nine years. José de Escandón. - (rubric)

APPENDIX



STATEMENT OF THE MERITS OF DON
JOSE ESCANDON

In the year of 1715 he began to serve His Majesty with the post of Cadet of the Company of
Mounted Horsemen, Agents of the City of Mérida of the Province of Yucat�n and in this appointment he
remained for the space of six years, at his own expense without fail, in the frequent occasions in which his
company was in arms with the design of dislodging the English from the Laguna de Términos during the
war which was promoted at that time and that, of this merit, the governor of that province informed His
Majesty. It is evident, as well, that in the year of 1721, he went to establish himself in the city of
Querétaro, that in it he was conferred the title of Lieutenant of one of the Companies of that Regiment of
Militias, whose employ he served also at his expense, assisting in the repeated functions of the Royal
Service which presented themselves to repel and castigate the barbarian and apostate Indians who
frequently attacked those frontiers from la Sierra Gorda. It is likewise evident that, those of the
Jurisdiction of Celaya having risen in rebellion in the year of 1727, he was order to go, as he did it with
eighty men to quell that rebellion and thus he practiced with quickness and success arresting the aggressors.
That in the year of 1728, attentive of his merits and services, the Most Excellent Lord, predecessor of Your
Excellency, Marqués de Casafuerte, appointed him Sergeant Major of the original Regiment and that,
since then, he applied himself to making war and castigating the barbaric and apostate people of those
frontiers, being thus that all this had been obtainable in more than sixteen years, notwithstanding the many
expenses of the Royal Treasury. That penetrating, then, with his armed people through the thickets and
roughness of the Sierra Gorda, circling the hill called San Crist�bal, and arriving up to the region they call
la Media Luna, he established there a settlement of fifty families for the protection of an old mine deserted
because of the hostilities of the barbarians and that, although later it had been recovered by the honorable
Accountant Don Gabriel de Ardila, its settlement could not maintain itself without great restlessness
because of the fear of new invasions. That at the same time he had meetings with the Indian L�zaro, head
of the rest, and its management, helped by sagacious expressions and gifts, he succeeded in bringing the
conversion of those people under consideration with the assistance, which he managed, of a clergyman.
That in the year of 1732, the Indians and other peoples of el Real de Minas de Guanajuato, likewise,
having risen in rebellion, placing that jurisdiction in great fear and danger and much more because of
fearing what the rebels might call up as they did it to la Mecos de la Sierra Gorda, everything was quieted
and they avoided the inconsequences of the convocation by the conduct and respect of the deceased,
honorable colonel and that the same occurred in a similar attack caused by the Indians of the jurisdiction
of Irapuato. That in the year of 1734, more than ten thousand Indians of the district of the town of San
Miguel el Grande having similarly rebelled, the Honorable Escandón, having been informed by his Chief
Justice, marched for twenty-four hours with five companies of cavalry of that regiment of his and he
succeeded in resisting the rebels and that after the tumult ceased, seizing more than four hundred of the
principal ones and leaving the land in tranquility, that had already been deserted by the greater part of its
families and because he deserved it, he was given the thanks of this Superior Government. Afterwards,
around the year of 1740, he was sent by the Captaincy General the title of colonel of the same regiment
and around that of 1741 that of Lieutenant of Captain General of the Sierra Gorda and its Frontiers, and
since the immediate year, he made four general entries to that sierra with the captains, corporals, and
soldiers of the militia companies of the neighboring jurisdictions and, not only inspecting the land, but also
encouraging the best education and confinement of the heathen apostates, all at his own expense and
without any to the Royal Treasury, instead with a savings to it in the support of many of the ministers.

That at the same time and on order of this General Captaincy, he visited the missions as much of
the Sierra Gorda as of Río Verde and from his inspection and representations resulted the profit to the
Royal Treasury of the suppressing of many synods of the missionaries and also the restoration of some
missions and the new creation of others were owed to it, as were those of Pacula, Fuenclara, Guadalupe,
Jalapa, Landa, Tilaco, Tancoyol, Conca. La Divina Pastora, Palmillas, and el Jaumave, having been
successful in aggregating a large number of Indians who took cover in those asperities and that, in fact,
he managed to obtain the enterprise, reputed as impossible to pacify and populate the Sierra Gorda,,
placing in it the settlements of San José Vizarrón, Peña Millera, Herrera, and el Jaumave and,
reestablishing others in that thick ridge of mountains, in remuneration of which, plus of the inspection
which, with such happiness and benefit to the state he made of the land of the colony from la Barra de
Tampico up to la Bahía del Espíritu Santo, without any cost to the Royal Treasury, His Majesty was
deigned to give him the title of Castilla de Conde of the same Sierra Gorda for him and his legitimate
descendants, free of obstacles and of Media Anata, with the clearest expressions of the compliance and
demonstration with which the hard labor and continuous work of the Honorable Don José in the enterprise
had been of the Royal pleasure and reserving the merciful liberality of the King, other men in the future,
and when the population would be concluded in which he was engaged.

The cares and misgivings, caused by the war which in the year of 1742 was prepared against the
English Nation and the attack which the Admiral of Arms of Great Britain Ubernon was trying to make
at the Port of Veracruz, were the reasons that in the time of eight days they began the march to that city
with five hundred ten cavalry soldiers, armed and prepared with food, notwithstanding the drought which,
as in common it was prejudicial to all, taking with him the sergeant major, captains, and other officers with
the aggregate of one hundred ninety-six serving grooms and lancers and, although arriving in this capital
to receive orders, the fear had already moderated and the admiral went toward Cartagena; with everything
he was advised to arrange a trip to Tehuac�n, where he already had the troop, that he detach two
companies from it for Orizaba at the orders of the Governor of Veracruz and have the rest of the people
countermarch, doing it all to the satisfaction and without the minutest cost to the Treasury.

He quieted the city of Querétaro in the insurrection which the common people made due to the lack
of corn with the general lack experienced in the year of 1749, such that, his persuasion not being enough
to contain the tumult, he took advantage of the strength and, with some of his servants and other officers
who joined him, he repressed the violence, arrested the leaders, and the corresponding punishment was
imposed on them.

He liberated the Nuevo Reino de León and the frontiers of Pánuco, Tampico, Villa de Valles,
Guadalc�zar, and Charcas of the attacks, hostilities, and excesses which the barbarian Chichimecos
committed, their frequent invasions which prognosticated the destruction of these lands and provinces if
an opportune remedy were not provided.

He made visible the plan, situation, and beautiful circumstances of all the coast of the Gulf of
Mexico which, after many years and grave costs, had not been able to be procured, clarifying its transit,
security, and other qualities; because he was thanked and ordered that he continue in the pacification,
conquest, and population, the Most Excellent Count of Revillagigedo confirming to him the title of his
"Lugar Teniente" and subordinating the governors, Captain Generals, and other Justices of the Frontiers
of la Sierra Gorda and the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to him, where he established fourteen settlements
with increased cost from his own wealth, overcoming difficulties and dangerous engagements which
obstructed him, also seeing to it that they suppress new synods of missions which were unjustly paid and
that different lands which had been usurped be restored, deserving in its conduct, industry, and
management; that in the year of 1765 he would have succeeded in having twenty-four settlements
established without including the haciendas and ranches with more than ten thousand persons who already
inhabited that land infested with barbarians, up to then esteemed as inhabitable and their conversion,
attained with efforts of arbitration [and] other means, and of eighteen years of one continuous campaign
to comply with the charges of the Captaincy General, serve the King, and extend his dominions, increasing
his vassalage since those people were already giving up, rather, in the misfortune of not recognizing our
sovereigns, certified thus by the view which was made by Don José Tienda de Cuervo and the lieutenant
colonel Don Agustín de la Cámara Alta, appointed by the most excellent Marqués de las Amarillas
according to the orders of His Majesty, executing everything with many expenses to his treasury. That
he had abandoned the trend of the commerce which he followed before and, with the small expense of the
Royal Treasury which the approved accounts indicate and the the attorney general has already related in
another place, where he also explained how much it contributed to have knowledge of the increases that
he obtains with the established branches in those provinces of the colony, savings of salary and synods of
missions; he obtained the happy progresses, which have also been indicated, regarding that with the
judgement which, in December 19 of the year of 1764, the present Honorable Auditor of War presented
in a decree of the 3rd of January of the following [year] of 1765; whatever provinces he had taken were
approved sending him thanks for the zeal, enthusiasm, and impartiality with which he continued in the
perfection of that important establishment which had been put in his charge.

At his own expense he built a church and a cistern in the town of el Nuevo Santander, today capital
of the colony, in which he put more than fifteen thousand pesos for which thanks were also sent in the
decree of the 1st of January of 1759, consequential of the fiscal request which the honorable Marqués de
Aranda put out on the 30th of December of 1758, in these words: this and the rest of the services of the
appointed colonel, which accredit well his zeal and manifest his conduct, not only does the attorney general
consider them worthy of the attention of Your Excellency but also that they be placed in the Royal Report
of His Majesty so that it be found with that of the merit of the aforesaid colonel.

It is evident that he built a house, in the town of Santander, capable of favoring all the citizenry
in the case of their experiencing the revolt of the Indians such that, inspected by the engineer Don Agustín
de la Cámara Alta, he found it exact and sufficient for a great defense, qualifying its good and sensible
handling by the Most Excellent Gentlemen Conde de Revillagigedo and Marqués de las Amarillas and,
confirming the advantageous progresses that he attained in his commission, accuracy, and activity with
which he continued it with the efforts of his indefatigable work, which the Honorable Auditor General of
War and Senior of this Royal Audience Don Domingo Valc�rcel, deserving, with his deeds, the
satisfaction that the same Most Excellent Conde de Revillagigedo would request of His Majesty he not only
give him the favor which he conferred upon him in the Royal Decree made in San Lorenzo on the 23rd of
October of 1749, of the title of Castilla de Conde de la Sierra Gorda free of Lanzas and Media Anata for
him, his heirs, and successors, also added the grade and salary of Field Marshal which was over which the
reserve, which the King made of other honors for the future and when the population was finished, seems
to have relapsed.

-------------------------

EARLDOM OF SIERRA GORDA
Titles of Count [or Earl] of Sierra Gorda and Viscount of the house of Escandón granted to Don José de Escandón by His Majesty Don Fernando VI in San Lorenzo on the 23rd of October of 1749.

The title of Count of Sierra Gorda in favor of the Colonel of the Militias of the city of Querétaro,
Don José de Escandón, free of Lanzas and Media-anata perpetually for him and his successors. With
attention to the merits that are expressed. Creation number 857, Secretary Montiano (on the margin).
On the twenty-third of October of seventeen hundred forty-nine. Don Fernando, etc. Inasmuch, in
attention to the zeal, impartiality, and justification with which you, the Colonel of the Militias of the city
of Querétaro, Don José de Escandón, have dedicated yourself to the pacification of the barbaric nations
of Chichimecas, heathens and apostates of Sierra Gorda who, at a distance of one hundred leagues of the
city of Mexico, occupy the best land of that Kingdom, establishing several missions and settlements of
Spaniards at great cost to your wealth, having inspected the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and other large
lands and, obtaining the brief transit and communication of some provinces to others, as my Viceroy of
that Kingdom, Don Juan Francisco de Gúemes y Horcasitas has informed me and in what, in his view,
the Counsel of Indians has explained to me in the consultation of the twenty-second of September of the
past [year]; by decree signed by my Royal hand on the sixth of the current, I have come to grant the Title
of Castilla, free of Lanzas and Media-anata perpetually for you and your legitimate descendants with the
denomination of Count of la Sierra Gorda. And, in its conformity and to honor and to elevate your person
and house more, my will is that you, the aforesaid Don José de Escandón and your legitimate descendants,
each one in his time perpetually, for ever and ever, can call and title yourselves, that you might call and
title yourselves, be called and titled and I make and entitle you COUNT OF LA SIERRA GORDA. And
by this, my letter, I order the Infantes, Prelates, Dukes, Marquises, Counts, Grandees, Priors of the
Orders, Knights, Deputy-Commanders, Governors of the Castles and Casas Fuertes y Llanas, and those
of my Council, Presidents and Judges of my Supreme Courts, Mayors, Constables of my House and Court
and chanceries, and all the Counsels, Corregidores, Assistants, Governors, Magistrates and ordinary
mayors, Peace Officers, Merinos, provosts, and any other of my Judges, Justices, and persons of
whatever state, condition, preeminence or dignity, that they be his vassals, subjects and natives, so much
those who are today as those who might be in the future, and each one and anyone of them who find and
have, call and entitle as much you, the aforesaid Don José de Escandón, as each one of the aforesaid your
descendants, COUNT OF LA SIERRA GORDA, and they protect you and cause to protect all the honors,
freedoms, liberties, privileges, preeminences, prerogatives, favors, grants, and other ceremonies that are
protected and should be protected for the other counts of this my Kingdoms, all well and completely,
without anything lacking. And because, according to the orders given by the Honorable King Don Felipe
IV (may there be holy glory) to the persons to whom the title of Count or Marquis would be given, the one
of Viscount should precede and remain suppressed by dispatch of the day of the date of this, I have given
you the title of VISCOUNT OF THE HOUSE OF ESCANDON which, in conformity of the said orders,
remains broken and canceled in my Secretariat of la C�mara de Gracia y Justicia y Estado de Castilla and,
noted and prepared, that suitable in the setting down in the book so that it not be valid nor have effect nor
be given up as lost, duplicated, nor in any other form at any time, and if from this, my dispatch, and of
the grace and mercy contained in it, you the aforesaid Don José de Escandón or any of the aforesaid your
legitimate descendants, now or at anytime, would like my letter of privilege and confirmation, I send my
Adjusters and Major Scribes of the Privileges and Confirmation, and my Steward, Chancellor, and Major
Notaries, and the other officers who are at the table of my seals that they to you give, liberate, pass, and
seal the strongest, firmest, and enough that you might request of them and necessity there might be. And
from this, my dispatch, the report is to be taken in the general Accounts of values and distributions of my
Royal Treasury to which are attached the books of Media-anata and of the general Registry of grants and
I declare that of this you do not owe the right of Media-anata nor the service of Lanzas [lancers] nor will
your successors owe them due to my having relieved you, of one and another perpetually, by my cited
Decree as it reported.

Given in San Lorenzo on the twenty-third of October of seventeen hundred forty-nine. I THE
KING. - I Don Agustín de Montiano y Luyando, Secretary of the King Our Lord, had it written by his
mandate. - The Bishop of Barcelona. - The Marqués de Lara. - Don José Bentura G�el. - Diego de la
Fuente. - (signed with a rubric)

-------------------------
He was born in Soto la Marina, mountains of Burgos, in the year of 1700; he came to Mérida de
Yucat�n in 1715 and died the 10th of September of 1770; he made, on his account, the conquest of Nuevo
Santander, founding and populating more than 50 towns; he built, as well, from his own capital, the church
and the cistern in the town of Cinco Señores, capital at that time of Nuevo Santander, etc., etc.

-------------------------

COPY OF THE RECORD OF MATRIMONY OF
DON JUAN J. DE ESCANDON AND DO�A DOMINGA DE PEDRAJO
The underwritten, Priest Curator of the parish of el Santísimo Salvador de Soto de la Marina,
Diocese and Province of Santander, in five days of the month of October of the year of grace of nineteen
hundred twenty-six.

I certify: That in the Archive of this parish, Section of Marriages, First book, Folio eight, found
is a section which, copied to the letter states thus:

On the thirtieth of April of the year of seventeen hundred twenty-seven, I, the licentiate Don Juan
Manuel de Revilla Castillo, Beneficiary Curate in this Soto de la Marina, veiled Juan José de
Escandón, legitimate son of Don Juan de Escandón and Doña Francisca de la Helguera, residents of
this place and of celibate state, and Doña Dominga de Padrajo, legitimate daughter of Don Juan Manuel
de Pedrajo, deceased, who was resident of this place, and of Doña Dominga de Revilla, who is equally
resident of this said place. - Their godparents were Juan del Castillo Pedrajo and Antonia de Pedrajo. -
Witnesses were Tom�s de Villanueva and Angel de Revilla Castillo to which I attest. - Juan Manuel de
Revilla Castillo. (Signed with a rubric)

This copy agrees with the original to which I defer and at a petition of ....... I expedite it signed
and sealed in Soto de la Marina, Date "ut supra." - Fernando S�iz Díaz. - (rubric)

A seal which states: "Parish of el S. Salvador del Mundo - Soto la Marina - Hark - Honor Glory
Sanctity."

-------------------------

COPY OF THE RECORD OF BAPTISM OF
ANTONIO DE ESCANDON

The undersigned Curator Priest of the parish of el Santísimo Salvador de Soto de la Marina,
Diocese and Province of Santander, at five days of the month of October of the year of grace of nineteen
hundred twenty-six.

I certify: that in the archive of this parish, section of baptisms, first book, folio four, is a section
which, copied to the letter, states thus:

In the place of Soto de la Marina at thirty days of the month of May of seven hundred nine, I the
licentiate Don Antonio de Ruisoto Beneficiary Curate of said place, baptized and placed holy oil and
chrism on Antonio de Escandón, legitimate son of Don Juan de Escandón, resident of this place and of
Doña Francisca de la Helguera, his wife, resident as well of said place. - Paternal grandparents, Juan
de Escandón and María de Rumoroso, deceased; maternal Juan de la Helguera and Francisca de la
Llata, deceased. - Godparents were Juan del Castillo and María de Escandón, residents of said place;
they said he had been born on the twelfth day of said month. - I advised them of the spiritual bond which
they had contracted and the obligation of teaching the christian doctrine. -
Witnesses were José de San Miguel and Tom�s de Villanueva. - I sign it. - Antonio de Ruisoto. (Signed
with a rubric.)

The present copy agrees with the original to which I defer and at a petition of ....... I expedite it
signed and sealed in Soto de la Marina, Date "ut supra." - Fernando S�iz Díaz. - (rubric)

A seal which states: "Parish of el S. Salvador del Mundo - Soto la Marina - Hark - Honor Glory
Sanctity."

-------------------------

DOCUMENT OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE CITY OF TAMPICO
DE TAMAULIPAS AND THE ASSIGNATION OF LANDS TO THE SAME
Documents sent to be printed by the R. Municipal Government of 1898, to serve
as text in the Municipal Schools of Tampico and its jurisdiction.
TESTIMONIAL COPY OF THE DISPATCH FORMED REGARDING THE REPOPULATION OF SANTA ANA DE TAMPICO THE 12TH OF APRIL OF 1823, TAKEN FROM THE ONE WHICH IS IN OPERATION IN THE ARCHIVE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE R. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF TAMPICO.

4th seal provided for the Mexican Nation. - Tollhouse of August. - May 3 of 1824. - 3rd and 2nd
Folio - Dr. Don Jacinto Arechavaleta. - Rodríguez. - fifteen hundred forty-two. - Honorable General of
the Liberating Army: The Municipal Government of this town, in completion of the obligations of its
institution, has not ceased meditating one moment and putting into practice any measures they have found
suitable with the end of causing a rebirth in it of the prosperity and abundance which it has enjoyed in other
times; and with said objective, noting that its commerce had fallen to the last degree of its impotence due
to the obstacles that stood before its progress and the continuous exactions they suffered, determined to
represent to the high Government, requesting the favors of being conceded repopulating, with residents
of this footing, the high ground of the old Tampico in demarcation of this province and original of this
jurisdiction situated at the northern edge of the river of its name in a most advantageous position as much
for the mercantile traffic as for the health of the inhabitants; but since the verification of this project could
remove from the Pueblo Viejo some pare of the numerous population and riches which it possesses at
present, all owing to the erroneous calculation of the old government in establishing the Maritime Custom
House in that point which is the least suitable for it; its commerce and citizenry did not leave off trying
whatever means were possible to them with the end of stupefying any superior resolution favorable to the
solicitude of this Municipal Corporation and thus it is that, the Brigadier Don Manuel Gómez Pedraza,
commissioned by the Supreme Government to examine the point which would be most advantageous for
its locality to situate the indicated Custom House, they succeeded that said gentleman decide in its favor
with a pledge to adhere to his claim as he manifested it in his public conversations, saying that he knew
the reason that those of Altamira had, but that he, as Commanding General of the Province of Huasteco
would favor it although it be with prejudice to some others. Perhaps this same thing urged him not to
register the place already cited since, his needing to be convinced of the justice that helps us to repopulate
it as Y.L has seen with reflection when it has passed by him; he found himself in the necessity of either
lacking the truth, informing falsely, or supporting our solicitude contrary to that of those of his Province,
for which cause, in spite of the repeated gestures we have made to the Supreme Government regarding the
same affair up to the present, the permission which we solicit has not been obtained and, since this citizenry
is found in the daily and fast necessity of adopting the indicated measure in evidence of its decline; on
another side, keeping in mind that the object of the Nation cannot be any other than the increase and
aggrandizement of its population, this being a sufficiently suitable means for it and, equally, since the
prosperous luck has not furnished the happy arrival to this town of an army, protector of the true liberty,
this Municipality has resolved to ask Y. L, without delay, while the legitimate Sovereign Congress to
whom it will direct itself for its approval is installed, to permit us to put in practice the above-stated
repopulation, the cited place delineated and giving possession of lots to its settlers so that they build houses
and do the rest of the needed works, supplicating to Y.L. he energetically deign to place us under cover
of all popular aggression or arbitrated by some authority that tries to impede our progress, giving us a
document which accredits the protection of Y.L. towards our solicitation. - Therefore, we request and
supplicate Y.L. decree as we have stated, which is just. Chapter House of the Municipal Government of
Altamira, April fifth of eighteen hundred twenty-three. - Third of the Independence and first of the Liberty.
- Juan de Villatoro, President. - Ignacio S�nchez. - Félix Polanco. - Pablo Maya. - Néstor Gallegos. -
Juan Ruiseñor. - Felipe de Lagos, - Recorder. - Juan de Escobar, Provisional Secretary.

Altamira, April seventh of eighteen hundred twenty-three. - In virtue of the solid reasons which
are expressed in the present instance by the illustrious Municipal Government of this town and after having
taken all the necessary reports to proceed with effect on the point to which they refer, I have felt it suitable
to the benefit of the Nation to grant, in the interim and until the approbation of the Supreme Government,
the formation of a village in the region called Tampico el Viejo, conforming to the plan which, for that
effect, has been presented to me and I examined scrupulously; well, this measure contains, among others,
the known advantage of the increase of the population to which, by so many titles, we, all the lovers of the
Country, should incline. - López de Santa Anna. Liberty, Virtue, Equality.

Having reunited in our Chapter House, convened by the President of the Corporation, we were
informed of the Decree dated seventh of the current which Y.L. has been served to give in consequence
of the representation which we directed to him requesting the repopulation of the old Tampico and,
penetrated with gratitude for the protection which Y.L. has deigned to bestow to our project, we have
resolved that so posterity remember at all times the name of the Liberator of the Country who has given
being to an old settlement, that the one that will be newly founded carry the title of Santa Ana de Tampico
and, not being able to be confirmed without the approbation of Y.L., we direct to him the present, with
the object of his conceding it to us if he think well of it. - God and Liberty. - Altamira, eighth of April of
eighteen hundred twenty-three. - Third of Independence and first of Liberty. Juan de Villatoro, President.
- José Ma. Boeta. - Juan Ruiseñor. - Antonio Mariño. - Ignacio S�nchez. - Félix Polanco. - Néstor
Gallegos. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary. - Honorable General of the
Liberating Army, Brigadier Don Antonio López de Santa Anna. - Altamira.

Altamira, April eighth of eighteen hundred twenty-three. - Being an attribute of the founders of
any settlement to give them the name which they believe most adequate, the gentlemen of this Illustrious
Municipal Government may do it in the terms they judge suitable. - López de Santa Anna.

In the town of Altamira at eight days of the month of April of eighteen hundred twenty-three, the
Municipal Government assembled in its Chapter House, they presented the decree of the Honorable
General Don Antonio López de Santa Anna, Chief of the Liberating Army, date of the same day in which
it devolved to the manifestation which this Municipal Corporation made requesting the determination taken
by it of titling the new village which is to be founded in the high ground of Tampico el Viejo with the name
of Santa Ana de Tampico, to be approved, and, seen from the cited decree, which your Lordship consigns
to the will of this Municipality to confer it as they deem suitable, they agreed unanimously that said
settlement carry the indicated title in memory of the benefactor who conceded the permission, although
provisionally, to found it.

Successively, they agreed on the names which the plazas and streets of the same settlement should
have and they were inscribed in its plan. It was also determined that, in order to keep the proper
uniformity in the construction of buildings, when at all possible, that in that which the harmonious view
of a settlement is concerned, according to the modern order, the hut-houses should have exactly a height
of four rods from the pavement of the street to the entablature, this is for the one which might come out
to the street, leaving that of the interior huts to the will of the residents to whatever they wish to give them;
and those of stone, six rods of height from said pavement to the cornice which is sufficient for the comfort
of the inhabitants as well as the most suitable for the decoration. Finally, it seemed suitable to the
Municipal Government that the residents, who had lots with a front to the riverbank and wished to build
porches, be ceded, for it, four rods of land of the thirty that correspond to the district. All of which was
ordered to be observed as a municipal ordinance if the Most Excellent Provisional Deputation of el Nuevo
Santander is so kind as to approve it thus, for which purpose it will be given opportune account with the
expedient that it be formed regarding the matter as it is determined. With which the present writing was
concluded, which the gentlemen, composing the Municipal Government, signed. I attest. - Juan de
Villatoro, President. -José Ma. Boeta, Vice-President - Juan Ruiseñor. - Antonio Mariño. - Ignacio
S�nchez. - Félix Polanco. -Pablo Maya. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. Néstor Gallegos. - Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

In the town of Altamira at nine days of the month of April of eighteen hundred twenty-three, the
Municipal Government assembled in its Chapter House, the individuals who are to populate the high
ground of the old Tampico presented themselves saying that after having signed on the twenty-first of June
of the last year, eighteen hundred twenty-two at the costs that could be divided as much in the cleaning of
the land, opening of the road as in the ones that were originated in Mexico to attain from the Superior
Government the license for it; they had a particular right in being preferred, as much in the area where
they should build their houses as in the extension of land that their lots were to occupy, this preference
being obliged to be understood, concerning the grade, according to the quantities with which they might
have contributed to said costs; in whose virtue they requested they be given, when it came to the restoration
of the land, a double lot to each one with twenty-five rods of front and fifty of depth and that to the other
settlers, who might aggregate, they adjudge a simple one of the same dimension, allowing all to elect the
site according to the preferred place which suits them in the concept that all must concur on the day of
distribution and, the one who does not verify it, be left behind in choosing. And in view of the reasons
in which the representatives supported their petitions, the Municipal Government agreed that they be
granted the favor they beseech, giving the old settlers two lots each of twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth and to those newly aggregated, a lot of the same dimension, nothing more, keeping for it the
corresponding order in the election of the site according to the grade of preference which each one obtains,
for which effect a list be made of all the cited settlers, distinguishing the old ones aggregated and, with
respect to it, the distribution be made, which was confirmed in the following manner:

Old settlers. - Don Cayetano Quintero, Misters Teja Lastra and Company, Don José Antonio
Quintero, Don Juan Benito de Castilla, Don Felipe Ederra, Don Antonio García Jiménez, Don Juan
Gonz�lez Castilla, Don Gabriel Quintero, Don José de la Cruz, Don José Antonio Boeta, Don
Romualdo Segovia, Don José Vicente Pérez, Don Benito Justelo, Don Felipe Andrade, Don José de
la Lastra, Don Manuel de Galdames, Don Juan Ruiseñor, Don Miguel García, Don Ignacio S�nchez,
Don Domingo V�zquez, Don Mariano Andrade, Don Antonio Sedeño, Don Felipe de Lagos, Don Juan
de Escobar, Don Antonio del Pilar Valdez.

Aggregated settlers. - Don Sabino S�nchez, Don Juan de Villatoro, Don Antonio Mariño, Don
Néstor Gallegos, Don Manuel Arana, Don Pedro Serna, the Hon. Priest Don José Ignacio Echavarría,
Don José de la Dehesa, Don Vicente de la Torre, Don Guadalupe Cardona, Don Domingo Arbel, Don
José Pérez. Monsieur Jaquet, Monsieur Poulen, the master smith Lucas Olmo, Don Francisco Delgado,
Don Rosalío Alascón, Don Agustín Conisel, Monsieur Rajero, Don Juan Mariño, Don Crist�bal
Gonz�lez, Don Marcelino Clemente, Don Rafael Quintero, Don Francisco Roade, Don José María
Boeta, Don Félix Polanco, Don José Zenón de Echavarría, Don Antonio Alvarez, Don Pascasio
Ju�rez, Don Luciano Pérez, Don Félix Benavídez, Don Santiago Ederra.

NOTE. - That, separated from the list of the old settlers are Don Gabriel Macías because, after
having agreed at the beginning, he has later manifested little adhesion to the project nor has he even
presented himself at the present; Don Pedro Zuazo due to being absent and there being no one to represent
his action, and Don Miguel Alvarez due to having died and there also being no one to respond for him.
And, the list concluded, the President had those inscribed in it called and he notified them that, by the
twelfth day of the current, everyone be at the high ground of the old Tampico in order to give them
possession of lots; with which was concluded and dissolved the Junta who signed. - Juan de Villatoro, -
José Ma. Boeta. - Juan Ruiseñor. - Ignacio S�nchez, - Félix Polanco. - Antonio Mariño. - Pablo Maya. -
Néstor Gallegos. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS OF FOUNDATION

On the high ground of Tampico el Viejo, at twelve days of the month of April of eighteen hundred
twenty-three, the President of the Municipal Government of Altamira Don Juan de Villatoro, the
Recording Procurer Don Felipe Lagos, and all the settlers who appear on the list, were present before me,
the Secretary of said Corporation, with the object of delineating and planning out the town, distributing
the land, and giving possession of lots; further, since there was no Land Surveyor to execute the
delineation, the honorable President appointed, with general applause of the assembly, Don Antonio
García Jiménez, a subject who is aided by professional knowledge so that, with the aid of the Recorder,
he exercise the functions of such and, the operation begun, they measured thirty rods from the edge of the
ravine and a forked pole was placed perpendicularly from which the line of the district was drawn in the
direction of east to west and of south to north, forming the square totally rectified. Afterwards the major
plaza of one hundred square rods was planned out, then the one of el Muelle with the same dimensions and,
forthwith, eighteen blocks of one hundred rods, each one into four, were delineated, leaving within it a
space for a street of fifteen rods of width. One block was assigned for the church and priest's office,
leaving a lot in one corner marked with twenty-five rods in front and fifty-three in depth and, successively,
the rest were divided into eight lots each, one of twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, leaving two
lots of said dimension assigned in the Major Plaza for Consistorial houses. Finally, the lots were numbered
and so the town was planned, which was given the name of Santa Ana de Tampico, according to that
agreed upon by the Illustrious Municipal Government, and everything was concluded in accordance to the
plan raised for the purpose, which works united with this course of business, the operation being finalized
and the President, the Recorder, the appointed Land Surveyor, and I the Secretary signing this proceeding
to which I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Antonio García, - Before me Juan
de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

In Santa Ana de Tampico on the thirteen days of said month and year, Don Juan de Villatoro,
Constitutional Mayor of the first naming of Altamira and President of its Illustrious Municipal Government
ordered that possession of lots be given to the individuals who had requested them and, the Recording
Procurer Don Felipe Lagos being present, Don Cayetano Quintero was called, from the list of settlers,
to whom, by his choice, was adjudged two lots which correspond in the plan to the numbers fifty-eight and
seventy-nine, each one with fifty-five rods in front and fifty in depth and, said honorable President having
taken him by the hand, he took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession, with which the act
was finished, ordering this proceeding extended which the appointed President signed with the Recording
Procurer and the one interested. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. By Don
Cayetano Quintero, Antonio García, - Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then the gentlemen Teja, Lastra, and Company were called and, Don Antonio García,
having presented himself as associate of it, chose two lots which correspond in the plan to the numbers
forty-four and seventy-seven, each one with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth and, the President,
taking him by the hand, took him by the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which this proceeding
was concluded which the appointed President signed with the Recording Procurer and the one interested,
of which I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -Teja, Lastra, and company. - Before
me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then Don José Antonio Quintero was called who selected two lots which were adjudged to
him and are those corresponding in the plan to the numbers eighty and forty-seven, each one with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the
indicated land as a sign of possession with which the proceeding was concluded which the aforesaid
President signed with the Recording Procurer and the one interested. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe
de Lagos, Recorder. By Don José Antonio Quintero, Antonio García, - Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then it was Don Juan Benito de Castilla who selected two lots which were adjudged to him
and are those corresponding in the plan to the numbers three and four, each one with twenty-five rods in
front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as
a sign of possession with which the proceeding was concluded which the aforesaid President signed with
the Recording Procurer and the one interested. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -
Juan de Castilla, - Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Felipe Ederra who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and are
those corresponding in the plan to numbers forty-two and one hundred eleven with twenty-five rods in front
and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign
of possession with which the proceeding was concluded which the aforesaid President signed with the
Recording Procurer and the one interested. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -
Felipe Ederra.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Antonio García Jiménez who chose two lots that were adjudged to him
and are those corresponding in the plan to numbers thirty-two and one hundred twenty-two, each one with
twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through
the indicated land as a sign of possession with which the proceeding was concluded which the aforesaid
President signed with the Recording Procurer and the one interested. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe
de Lagos, Recorder. - Antonio García.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Juan Gonz�lez Castilla who chose two lots that were adjudged to him
and are those corresponding in the plan to numbers one and two, each one with twenty-five rods in front
and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign
of possession with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan Gonz�lez
Castilla. - Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Gabriel Quintero who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and are
those corresponding in the plan to numbers eleven and twelve with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in
depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of
possession with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the
one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Gabriel Quintero.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don José María de la Cruz who chose two lots that were adjudged to him
and are those corresponding in the plan to numbers five and six with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in
depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of
possession with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and due
to the one interested not being able to write, it was done at his request by Don Juan Pedro Bernal. I attest.
- Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -At the request of the interested one, Juan Pedro
Bernal.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don José Antonio Boeta y Salazar who chose two lots that were adjudged
to him and are those corresponding in the plan to numbers seven and eight with twenty-five rods in front
and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign
of possession with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -For Don José
Antonio Boeta, Manuel de Galdames.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Romualdo Segovia who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and
are those corresponding in the plan to numbers forty-one and one hundred twelve with twenty-five rods
in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land
as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording
Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -
Romualdo Antonio de Segovia.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Vicente Pérez who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and are
those corresponding in the plan to numbers thirty-three and one hundred twenty-three with twenty-five rods
in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land
as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording
Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -For
Don José Vicente Pérez, José Silvestre Rendón.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Benito Bustelo who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and are
those corresponding in the plan to numbers thirteen and one hundred thirty with twenty-five rods in front
and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign
of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Benito Fern�ndez
de Bustelo.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Felipe Andrade who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and are
those corresponding in the plan to numbers nine and ten with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth,
and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Due to illness of Don Felipe Andrade,
José de la Lastra.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don José de la Lastra, as special resident, who chose two lots that were
adjudged to him and are those corresponding in the plan to numbers thirty and one hundred twenty-nine
with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him
through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the
President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de
Lagos, Recorder. - José de la Lastra.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Manuel de Galdames who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and
are those corresponding in the plan to numbers seventy-eight and forty-three with twenty-five rods in front
and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign
of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Manuel de
Galdames.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Juan Ruiseñor who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and are
those corresponding in the plan to numbers fourteen and fifteen with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in
depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of
possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan Ruiseñor.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Miguel García who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and are
those corresponding in the plan to numbers thirty-six and one hundred thirty-two with twenty-five rods in
front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as
a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording
Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -
Miguel García.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Ignacio S�nchez who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and are
those corresponding in the plan to numbers seventy-four and eighty-three with twenty-five rods in front
and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign
of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. Ignacio S�nchez.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Domingo V�zquez who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and
are those corresponding in the plan to numbers twenty-six and twenty seven with twenty-five rods in front
and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign
of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Due to the absence
of Don Domingo V�zquez. Miguel García - Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Mariano Andrade who chose two lots that were adjudged to him and
are those corresponding in the plan to numbers thirty-four and one hundred twenty-four with twenty-five
rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated
land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording
Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder.
Mariano Andrade.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Antonio Rold�n y Cedeño who chose two lots that were adjudged to him
and are those corresponding in the plan to numbers thirty-nine and one hundred fourteen with twenty-five
rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated
land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording
Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. Antonio
Rold�n y Cedeño.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then the Recording Procurer, Don Felipe de Lagos, as special resident and subscribed since
the beginning, chose two lots that were adjudged to him and are those corresponding in the plan to numbers
twenty-eight and one hundred twenty with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President,
taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession and, without anyone
having the least opposition, with which the proceeding was concluded, the president signing it with the one
interested. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim
Secretary.

And then I, the Secretary, as special resident and subscribed since the beginning, chose two lots
which are those corresponding in the plan to the numbers thirty-one and one hundred twenty-one with
twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking me by the hand, took me through the
indicated land as a sign of possession, present being the Recorder and the witnesses Don Romualdo
Segovia, Don Ignacio S�nchez, and Don Miguel García; with which the act was concluded which the
President, the Recording Procurer, the witnesses, and I, the interested one, signed. - Juan de Villatoro. -
Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. Juan de Escobar. - Ignacio S�nchez. - Romualdo Antonio Segovia. - Miguel
García.

And then called was Don Antonio del Pilar Valdés who chose two lots that were adjudged to him
and are those corresponding in the plan to numbers twenty-nine and one hundred twenty-eight, each one
with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth and, the President, taking him by the hand, took him
through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the
President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de
Lagos, Recorder. For José Antonio Valdés. Antonio García.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim
Secretary.

At fourteen days of the month of April of the cited year of eighteen hundred twenty-three, being
in the same place of Santa Ana of Tampico, the aforesaid Mayor and President ordered that possession of
the lots be given to the aggregated settlers and, in the presence of the Recorder they proceed to it in the
following manner:

Called up from the list was Don Sabino S�nchez and he chose a lot which corresponds in the plan
to the number one hundred-thirteen with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth which was adjudged
and, the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession;
with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one
interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. For Don Sabino S�nchez.
Antonio Rold�n y Cedeño. - Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then Don Juan de Villatoro, as special resident and scribe, chose a lot of the four which are
assigned in the plan for consistorial and they were reduced to two since it seemed enough land for them,
and it is the one which makes a corner at the Plaza of the Constitution and a quarter street of Miradores,
with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, which was adjudged to him; and Don José Ma. Boeta,
second Mayor of Altamira and Vice-president of its Municipal Government, being present, took him by
the hand and took him through the indicated land in sign of possession, giving said lot the number nineteen
because the one which corresponds to this number in the plan was suppressed due to the break in the land;
with which this act was concluded which the aforesaid Vice-President, the Recorder, and the interested one
signed. I attest. - José Ma. Boeta. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. Juan de Villatoro. - Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then the repeated Don Juan de Villatoro, returning to act as President, called Don Antonio
Mariño who chose a lot surveyed in the plan to the east of the consistorial houses and it is the one which
makes a corner to the Plaza de la Constitución and one-quarter street from Bravo with twenty-five rods in
front and fifty in depth to which they gave the number eighteen because the corresponding one in the plan
to that number was suppressed due to the break which the ravine makes and, the President, taking him by
the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was
concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de
Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - José Antonio Mariño. - Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim
Secretary.

And then called was Don Néstor Gallegos who chose the lot corresponding in the plan to number
forty with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, which was adjudged to him and the President, taking
him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding
was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan
de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. Néstor Gallegos.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim
Secretary.

And then called was Don Manuel Antonio de Arana who chose the lot which was adjudged to
him and is corresponding in the plan to number forty-nine with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth,
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. Manuel Antonio de Arana.- Before me
Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was the honorable Priest of Altamira, Don Ignacio Echavarría who chose a lot
corresponding in the plan to number sixty, which was adjudged to him, with fifty in depth and twenty-five
rods in front, the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of
possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. José Ignacio de
Echavarría.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don José de la Dehesa who chose the lot which was adjudged to him, with
twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and is corresponding in the plan to number twenty-four which
was adjudged to him [sic] and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land
as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording
Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder José de
la Dehesa.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Vicente de la Torre, further, since he was not present nor the one who
represented his action, he did not choose a lot because he did not like any of those left. His right was left
for the successive. Which, for constancy, was noted and signed with a rubric. - Felipe de Lagos,
Recorder.

And then called was Don Guadalupe Cardona who chose the lot with twenty-five rods in front
and fifty in depth, which was adjudged to him, and is corresponding in the plan to number sixty-one and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder, Antonio Guadalupe Cardona.- Before
me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Domingo de Arbel who chose a lot, with twenty-five rods in front and
fifty in depth, corresponding in the plan to number forty-eight, which was adjudged to him, the President,
taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the
proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I
attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. Domingo Arbel.- Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don José María Jerez and he chose a lot which was adjudged to him, with
twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, corresponding in the plan to number one hundred four, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. José Ma. Jerez.- Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then called was Monsieur Jaquet and he chose a lot which was adjudged to him, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, corresponding in the plan to number sixteen, and the President, taking
him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding
was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan
de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. Jaquet.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Monsieur Poulen who chose the lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth, which was adjudged to him, and is corresponding in the plan to number seventeen and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder, Monsieur Poulen.- Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Lucas Olmo and, in his name D. Benito Bustelo presented himself and
he chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, which is corresponding in the plan to
number sixty-seven which was adjudged to him, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him
through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the
President, the Recording Procurer, and the aforesaid Bustelo for the cited Olmo signed. I attest. - Juan
de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. For D. Lucas Olmo, Benito Fern�ndez de Bustelo.- Before
me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Francisco Delgado who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and
fifty in depth, which was adjudged to him, and corresponds in the plan to number forty-five, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. Francisco Delgado.- Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was doña Rosalía Alarcón and, in her name Don Juan Ruiseñor presented
himself and he chose a lot for said lady, which was adjudged to her, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth, corresponding in the plan to number twenty-three and the President, taking him by the
hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was
concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the said Ruiseñor for the interested. I attest. -
Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. For doña. Rosalía Alarcón, Juan Ruiseñor.- Before me
Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Agustín Courtel who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth, corresponding in the plan to number thirty-eight, which was adjudged to him, and the President,
taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the
proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I
attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Agustín Courtel.- Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then called was Monsieur Rapen who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in
depth, which was adjudged to him and is corresponding in the plan to number one hundred fifteen, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Monsieur Rapen.- Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Juan Mariño who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in
depth, corresponding in the plan to number ninety-two, which was adjudged to him, and the President,
taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the
proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I
attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. [Mariño's signature omitted] - Before me Juan
de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Crist�bal Gonz�lez who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and
fifty in depth, corresponding in the plan to number thirty-five, which was adjudged to him, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Crist�bal Gonz�lez.- Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Marcelino Clemente who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and
fifty in depth, corresponding in the plan to number twenty-five, which was adjudged to him, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Marcelino Clemente.- Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Rafael Quintero who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth, which was adjudged to him, corresponding in the plan to number sixty-two, and the President,
taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the
proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I
attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. For Don Rafael Quintero, -Felipe Ederra.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Francisco Roade who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty-three in depth, which was adjudged to him, corresponding in the plan to the one which was marked at a
corner of the Parish and since it had no number it was given that of one hundred thirty-three, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Francisco Roade.- Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don José Ma. Boeta who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth,which was adjudged to him, and is the one corresponding in the plan to number fifty-seven, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - José María Boeta.- Before me Juan
de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Félix Polanco who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth, which was adjudged to him, and is the one corresponding in the plan to number fifty-one, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos. - Félix Polanco.- Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don José Zenón de Echavarría who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front
and fifty in depth, which was adjudged to him, and is the one corresponding in the plan to number seventy-five, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of
possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder - For the interested
one, Ignacio S�nchez.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Antonio Alvarez and in his place Don Gabriel Quintero presented
himself, representing his action, who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, which
was adjudged to him, corresponding in the plan to number fifty, and the President, taking him by the hand,
took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded
which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the said Quintero, for the interested one, signed. I attest.
- Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Gabriel Quintero.- Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Pascasio Ju�rez who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth, which was adjudged to him, corresponding in the plan to number fifty-four, and the President,
taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the
proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I
attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Pascasio Ju�rez.- Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Luciano Pérez who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth, which was adjudged to him, corresponding in the plan to number fifty-six, and the President,
taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the
proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I
attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder,- Luciano Pérez, - Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Félix Benavídez who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth, which was adjudged to him, corresponding in the plan to number forty-six, and the President,
taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the
proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I
attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder,- Félix Benavídez, Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Santiago Ederra for whom his brother Don Felipe presented himself
and he chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, corresponding in the plan to number
one hundred twenty-five, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land
as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording
Procurer, and the said Don Felipe Ederra, for the one interested, signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. -
Felipe de Lagos, Recorder,- Felipe Ederra, Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was Don Pedro de la Serna and in his place Don Mariano Andrade presented
himself who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, which was adjudged to him,
corresponding in the plan to number twenty, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through
the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President,
the Recording Procurer, and the said Andrade, for the one interested, signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro.
- Felipe de Lagos, Recorder,-For don Pedro Serna, Mariano Andrade, Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

And then the aforesaid Recording Procurer, in the name of the people, chose a lot for the
elementary school house which is the one corresponding in the plan to number one hundred ten, with
twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the president said that the cited lot was adjudged to the
town with the indicated object; with which this proceeding was concluded which the President, the
Recording Procurer, and I, the secretary, signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos,
Recorder,- Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And in the said manner they concluded the possession given of its respective lots to the fifty-six
settlers who presented themselves whom the President advised that, according to that agreed upon by the
Municipal Government, they would be conceded to those present for a term of one year, from this date,
to build their houses and, to the residents who might aggregate later, six months and that, said term
completed without their having confirmed it, it would be understood that they would relinquish their lots
to be given to whomever would request them. In the same manner that, for the construction of homes, they
should all observe regarding the height, as much from those of stone as the shacks, that which was
determined by the Municipal Government itself in the accord of the date of the eighth of the current, the
one which runs attached to this dispatch. And, lastly, that there were fifty one lots remaining empty with
the numbers seventy-six, eighty-one, eighty-two, fifty-nine, ninety-one, seventy-four, eighty-three, seventy-one, ninety-three, seventy-two, eighty-five, eighty-six, ninety-four, seventy, eighty-seven, eighty-eight,
seventy-nine, sixty-three, ninety-five, ninety-six, sixty-four, sixty-eight, eighty-nine, ninety-nine, ninety,
sixty-five, ninety-seven, ninety-eight, sixty-six, one hundred three, ninety-nine [in twice], one hundred
fifty-five, one hundred five, one hundred six, one hundred one, one hundred two, fifty-three, one hundred
seven, one hundred eight, fifty-two, thirty-seven, one hundred sixteen, one hundred nineteen, twenty-two,
one hundred eighteen, one hundred seventeen, forty-six, one hundred nine, one hundred, one hundred
twenty-nine, one hundred twenty-seven, one hundred thirty-one, to adjudge them to the nine settlers who
might present themselves requesting them, to whom a lot will not be given outside of that marked until all
those are occupied which are vacant at present, according to how it was ordered by the same Municipal
Government of Altamira in the accord of the eleventh of the current in which they equally resolved that
no land be adjudged to build in the pass of the Río de Tampico since this place should remain free for the
traveler who has it rented or who might rent it in the future, not permitting more than that the said
passenger build a cottage to protect himself from the inclemency which, in time, the community will buy
it when they have the funds for it and everything will run in his account with the object of avoiding
contraband trades which can open up in said pass if residents situate themselves in it. And all persons
present, being informed about what is reported, the act was concluded, this proceeding being laid out,
which the indicated honorable President signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Lastly, Don Manuel Antonio de Arana having presented himself before the honorable President
saying that, in attention to the fact that the lot number one hundred five was vacant, since none of the ones
present had chosen it, the expositor was requesting it to build in it in the predetermined manner; and, since
the Recording procurer who was also present, explained the same, said President determined to adjudge
it to the named Arana, which was confirmed, taking him by the hand and taking him through the indicated
land, which consists of twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, as a sign of possession; with which the
proceeding was concluded which the cited individuals signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de
Lagos, Recorder,- Manuel Antonio de Arana, Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Forthwith, several individuals presented themselves soliciting lots of the ones remaining in the plan,
to whom they were conceded, of whom Don Pedro Zuazo was called, that his having come from his trip,
he reclaimed the right which corresponded to him, equal to the others previously bound by contract, and
which was owed to him to be counted in the number of the old settlers, for which he chose two lots which
were adjudged to him and are the ones corresponding in the plan to numbers eighty-five and ninety-three,
each one with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took
him through the indicated land as a sign of possession with which the proceeding was concluded which the
President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de
Lagos, Recorder,- Pedro de Zuazo, Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Forthwith, called was Doña María del Carmen Perea who chose a lot corresponding in the plan
to number twenty-two, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, which was adjudged to her, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took her through the indicated land as a sign of possession, with
which the proceeding was concluded which they signed, the one interested not doing it due to now knowing
how and her daughter Doña Ana Joaquina Ruiz did it in her name. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe
de Lagos, Recorder. - Ana Joaquina Ruiz.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

And then called was the captain Don Ramón Perea who chose a lot corresponding in the plan to
number twenty-one, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the
hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was
concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de
Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Ramón Perea.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Juan Iznardi who chose a lot with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in
depth, and corresponding in the plan to number forty-six, and the President, taking him by the hand, took
him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which
the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe
de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan Iznardi.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Forthwith, called was Don Tom�s Rossel who chose a lot which was adjudged to him and is the
one corresponding in the plan to number ninety-four, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Tom�s Rossel.- Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Jacinto de Alles who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number eighty-six, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Jacinto de Alles.- Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Francisco Torres who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number one hundred thirty-one, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in
depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of
possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Francisco Torres.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Jacinto Pereira who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number seventy-one, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -For Don Jacinto Pereira, Tom�s Rossel.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Inocencio Navarro who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the
one corresponding in the plan to number one hundred nineteen, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in
depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of
possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Inocencio Ramón
de Navarro.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Joaquín Casado who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number one hundred sixteen, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth,
and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Joaquín Casado.- Before me Juan
de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Juan Guerra who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number fifty-five, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Mariano Andrade.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Juan Besoy who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number one hundred twenty-six, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in
depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of
possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan José Besoy.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Antonio Gonz�lez who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the
one corresponding in the plan to number one hundred one, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth,
and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Antonio Gonz�lez.- Before me Juan
de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don José Bosque who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number sixty four, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Juan de Castilla.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Carlos Moret who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number one hundred six, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Juan
Ruiseñor.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Antonio Maya who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number ninety-six, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - José Antonio Maya.- Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Pedro Santam�n who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number one hundred, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Juan
Ruiseñor.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Antonio Arana who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number sixty-five, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Francisco Delgado.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Juan Fabi�n who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number seventy three, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Juan
Ruiseñor.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Constancio Santam�n who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is
the one corresponding in the plan to number eighty four, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth,
and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Juan
Ruiseñor.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Fermín Urcadis and, due to his absence, appearing in his name was Don
Miguel García who chose a lot which was adjudged to said Urcadis and is the one corresponding in the
plan to number one hundred twenty-seven, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Miguel García.- Before
me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Enrique Pugerman who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the
one corresponding in the plan to number one hundred three, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in
depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of
possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested
one, Juan Ruiseñor.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Felipe de la Garza who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the
one corresponding in the plan to number ninety-five, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Felipe de la Garza.- Before me Juan
de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Victor Beltr�n who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number ninety-nine, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Juan Ruiseñor.- Before
me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Monsieur Nartiga who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number seventy-two, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Juan Ruiseñor.- Before
me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Antonio Cervantes who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the
one corresponding in the plan to number seventy-six, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - José Antonio Cervantes.- Before me
Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Francisco Benavídez who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the
one corresponding in the plan to number ninety-seven, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth,
and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For my dependent, Felipe Ederra.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Lino Perea and, appearing in his name was his brother Don José Antonio
Perea who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one corresponding in the plan to number
sixty-three, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand,
took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded
which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. -
Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For my brother Don Lino, José Antonio Perea.- Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Faustino Alonso who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number sixty-six, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed.
I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Faustino Alonso.- Before me Juan de
Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Juan Fern�ndez de Lagranda who chose a lot which was adjudged to him,
and is the one corresponding in the plan to number ninety-eight, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty
in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of
possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan Fern�ndez de
Lagranda.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Pedro Bernal who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number one hundred nine, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth,
and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan Pedro Bernal.- Before me Juan
de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Monsieur Catal� who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number one hundred seven, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth,
and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Juan
Ruiseñor.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Juan Bautista Lezama and having made it known that he needed two lots,
which he would commit to build, it was agreed to adjudged then to him, for which he chose those which
correspond in the plan to numbers one hundred two and fifty-three, each one with twenty-five rods in front
and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign
of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and
the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan de Lezama.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don José Cribelli to whom they also adjudged two lots due to his having made
it known that it was necessary and committing to build in the terms agreed to by the Municipal
Government, which lots correspond in the plan to numbers one hundred eight and fifty-two, each one with
twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him through
the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the President,
the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos,
Recorder. - José Cribelli.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Doña Simona Clemente and, appearing in her name was Don Marcelino
Clemente, her brother, who chose, for said lady, a lot which was adjudged to her, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number sixty-eight, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and Don Marcelino Clemente
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Marcelino
Clemente.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Doña Ana Pérez and, appearing in her name was her brother Don Mariano
Pérez, who chose, for said lady, a lot which was adjudged to her, and corresponds in the plan to number
eighty-one, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand,
took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded
which the President, the Recording Procurer, and Don Mariano Pérez signed in the name of the interested
one. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, Mariano Pérez.-
Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Pedro Vallejo and, appearing in his name was Don José Vicente Pérez, who
chose, for said Vallejo, a lot which was adjudged to him, and corresponds in the plan to number fifty-nine,
with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, took him
through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding was concluded which the
President, the Recording Procurer, and said Don José Vicente Pérez signed in the name of the interested
one. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - For the interested one, José Vicente
Pérez.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Pedro Meyén and, appearing in his name was Don Juan Benito Castilla,
who chose a lot which was adjudged to said Meyén, and corresponds in the plan to number one hundred
seventeen, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the hand, he
took, through the indicated land, said Castilla who took it and signed for the interested one with the
President and the Recording Procurer. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan
Castilla.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don José Baumbush and, appearing in his name was Don Juan Benito Castilla,
who chose a lot which was adjudged to said Baumbush, and corresponds in the plan to number one
hundred eighteen, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the President, taking him by the
hand, he took, through the indicated land, said Castilla who took it and signed for the interested one with
the President and the Recording Procurer. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -
Juan Castilla.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don José Ma. Vidaondo who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the
one corresponding in the plan to number ninety-one, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - José Ma. de Vidaondo.- Before me
Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Juan de los Reyes who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the
one corresponding in the plan to number sixty-nine, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President and the Recording Procurer signed and, at the
request of the one interested, Don José Antonio Cervantes did it for his not knowing how. I attest. - Juan
de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - José Antonio Cervantes.- Before me Juan de Escobar,
Interim Secretary.

Then called was Lucas Veza who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number seventy, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and, the one interested not
knowing how, Don Pascasio Ju�rez did it in his name. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos,
Recorder. - Pascasio Ju�rez.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Joaquín Sosa who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, with twenty-five
rods in front and fifty in depth, and it corresponds in the plan to number ninety, and the President, taking
him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which the proceeding
was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested signed. I attest. - Juan
de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Joaquín de Sosa.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim
Secretary.

Then called was Juan de Villatoro, as special resident requested a lot for his brother D. José
Vicente and he chose the one which corresponds in the plan to number eighty-two, with twenty-five rods
in front and fifty in depth, which was adjudged to him and the second Mayor of Altamira and Vice-President of its Municipal Government, D. José María Boeta being present, he took said D. Juan de
Villatoro by the hand and took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession, which he took in
name of his brother, with which the act was concluded, which was signed by the declared Vice-president,
the Recording Procurer, and the said D. Juan de Villatoro for the one interested. I attest. - José María
Boeta. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder.- Juan de Villatoro. - Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don Pablo Maya who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and is the one
corresponding in the plan to number eighty-seven, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and
the President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with
which the proceeding was concluded which the President, the Recording Procurer, and the one interested
signed. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim
Secretary. [It does not indicate Maya signing]

Then called was Don Macedonio Agabo who chose a lot which was adjudged to him, and it
corresponds in the plan to number eighty-nine, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President and the Recording Procurer signed and, for the one
interested, D. Juan Ruiseñor did it. - Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

Then called was Don José María Alejandro who chose a lot which was adjudged to her, and
corresponds in the plan to number eighty-eight, with twenty-five rods in front and fifty in depth, and the
President, taking him by the hand, took him through the indicated land as a sign of possession; with which
the proceeding was concluded which the President and the Recording Procurer signed and, for the
interested one, D. José María Boeta did it.. I attest. - Juan de Villatoro. - Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. -
For the interested one, José María Boeta.- Before me Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

In the expressed manner, possession was given to all the individuals who presented themselves
afterwards, requesting lots which were still vacant according to the plan of this settlement. With which
this dispatch was concluded, cautioning the interested ones that the predetermined term of one year, for
the old settlers to build their houses, will be counted from the first of September of the present year,
including among them, those added until the completion of the list which is evident on pages seven and the
posterior ones with the term of six months from the cited date, in the concept that the one, who does not
verify it, makes it understood with this deed that he cedes his right in favor of the first one who presents
himself to request it.

And I, the President, gave an accounting of that acted upon to the Illustrious Corporation, who
agreed, in session of this day, that the original be elevated to the Most Excellent Provisional Gubernatorial
Junta of this Province for its inspection and approbation, whose resolution was extended and it was signed.
Chapter House of the Municipal Government of Altamira, August eighteenth of eighteen hundred twenty
three. - Third and Second. - Juan de Villatoro, President. - José María Boeta, Vice-president. - Juan
Ruiseñor. - Ignacio S�nchez. - Félix Polanco. - Pablo Maya. - Antonio Mariño. - Néstor Gallegos. -
Felipe de Lagos, Recorder. - Juan de Escobar, Interim Secretary.

It agrees with its original which rests in the Archive of this Secretariat of the Most Excellent
Committee that is of my charge, from where it was taken on an order of H. E. to send to the Illustrious
Municipal Government of Altamira which requested it. It is loyally corrected and adjusted on forty-eight
utile pages, paper of the fourth seal and one which contains the map of the settlement. Aguayo, sixth of
May of eighteen hundred twenty-four. - José Ignacio Gil.

It is a copy taken from the testimony, which exists in the Archives of the town of Altamira, by
disposition of the R. Municipal Government of Tampico so that it work in its archives, due to the original,
to which said testimony refers and the one which I certify in the same city on the fifteenth of June of
eighteen hundred seventy-four, having been misplaced. - P. S. García, Secretary. - (rubric)

-------------------------
TESTIMONIAL COPY TAKEN FROM THE DISPATCH RELATIVE TO THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JURISDICTIONAL LIMITS BETWEEN
THE CITY OF TAMPICO AND THE TOWN OF ALTAMIRA.

Number 23. - The Constitutional Congress of the Free State of las Tamaulipas has decreed the
following:

1st Art. The Government will give land to Tampico de Tamaulipas and to other towns which do
not have it and request it for their commons, public woods and pastures, contracting for it in that provided
in the Constitution and the laws and according to the circumstances of each place.

2nd The jurisdiction of Tampico de Tamaulipas will be extended up to the middle of the distances
of the neighboring places. This determination will be made by the Government with citation and audience
of the municipal limiting authorities.

3rd It is the charge of the Government to see that signs or landmarks in the demarcation of borders
which shall be from the account of the those of the interested towns. The Government of the State will
have it understood and will order its compliment, having it printed, published, and circulated.

C. Victoria, September 23rd of 1826. - 3rd of the installation of the Congress of this State. - Felipe
de Lagos, President. - Felipe de Jesús Cepeda, Deputy Secretary. - José Miguel de la Garza García,
Deputy Secretary.

It is a copy of the original which is archived in the Secretariat of this Honorable Congress. -
Victoria, September 29th of 1826. - Felipe de Lagos. - Valentín S�nchez, First Archiver.

-------------------------

GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE OF TAMAULIPAS
Already declared by this Government that, while the limits of this jurisdiction are established in
the direction of Villería, it be recognized as an established point up to the middle of the road of both towns,
it is incontestable that, if that of Tancol is found within the middle immediate to this city, as Y.H. reports
it in the office of the 2nd of the current, it should be subject to its respective jurisdiction and not to that of
Villería, as it seems to have been cited against the expressed tenor of that order. Which I tell Y. H. in
answer to his cited office, assuring him of my distinguished esteem.

God and Liberty. - C. Victoria, September 9th of 1836. - José G. de Serrano. - Francisco
Villaseñor, Secretary. - I. Municipal Government of Santa Ana de Tamaulipas.

It is a copy of its original which rests in the "legajo" of business of the year of 1836 under the
number 70. - Tampico, Tamaulipas, September 7th of 1840. - Juan R. de Maraboto, Secretary. - (rubric)

Fourth seal. - A "quartilla." - For the years of eighteen hundred thirty-six and eighteen hundred
thirty-seven.

Don Manuel Zea Gómez, General Land Surveyor of this District in the judicature of my charge,
having appeared in virtue of the order of Y. H. loyal in the solicitude of the natives of the Congregación
de Tancol which I passed to this prefecture, relative to requesting the distribution of its lands, as the
Superior Government of the province has ordered, said gentleman has manifested to me, that before
proceeding to the distribution of the lands, he believed it very suitable to clarify the borders between this
city and Villerías, the ones with enough certainty [sic] (according to the opinion of the aforesaid honorable
Land Surveyor); the base-line point, from which said boundaries should begin, is from the Lake of la
Puerta, eastern limit of the jurisdiction of Tancol, following to the north from the direction of the road of
this city and the lands of San Lorenzo. In virtue of this and it belonging to Y. H. to determine what is
suitable in the particular, I have the honor of placing in his superior inspection that manifested by said
honorable Land Surveyor, assuring him of my fine esteem, respect, and consideration.

God and Liberty. - Santa Ana de Tamaulilpas, October 14th of 1837. - Manuel Leonardo
Fern�ndez, President. - Juan R. de Maraboto, Secretary. - Honorable Prefect of this District.

It is a copy which I certify. - Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, October 17th of 1837. - Juan de Escobar,
Public Scribe. - (rubric)

A black seal which states: "Prefecture of the South of the Province of Tamaulipas."

To mark the boundaries of this city, of which you speak to me in your business, date the 14th of
the present, in order to proceed with the needed effect, I believe it suitable to form a Junta of individuals
of some of the settlements so that, with view of the decrees granted to this city, the commons, and
jurisdiction, the respective borders be marked, forming, for the purpose, the corresponding dispatch that,
completed, will be sent to this Prefecture to inform the Government of the Province with it for its superior
approbation.

For the purpose, the indicated junta will be presided by the honorable 3rd Mayor of this city and
the individuals of it will be the gentlemen Don Ignacio S�nchez, Don Felipe de Lagos, and Don Ramón
Arango, as individuals who are well informed of this affair, naming as Land Surveyor Don Manuel Zea
Gómez and as scribe, for the actions which may need performing, will be performed by the one who might
be there for the week.

After you have made known to these gentlemen the objective for which they should assemble, youe
will inform me so that I can prepare the Municipal Government of Villerías, name three individuals of their
trust, and that they be present at it so that, united with those of this place, that suitable be agreed upon in
the assigning of the borders of the city.

The Prefecture awaits upon the action from you who will view this affair with the merited
consideration and will activate its dispositions for the purpose that it be concluded with the most possible
brevity.

I have the satisfaction of reiterating the testimonies of my distinguished esteem and consideration.

God and Liberty. - Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, October 16th of 1837. - Villatoro. - Francisco
Cordero, Secretary. - (Two rubrics.) - C. 1st Constitutional Mayor of this Capital.

Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, October 17th of 1837. - That which is disposed by the Prefect of this
Povince in the preceding affair be done, placing ay the beginning of this course of business a certified copy
of my official note which he promised. The honorable 1st Mayor ordered and signed it. I attest. - Manuel
Leonardo Fern�ndez. - Juan de Escobar, Public Scribe. - (Two rubrics.)

Immediately the ordered accumulation in the previous document was made and official letters were
directed to the honorable 3rd Mayor, to Don Ignacio S�nchez Mora, Don Ramón Arango, Don Felipe
Lagos, and the Land Surveyor Don Manuel Zea Gómez informing them of their appointment. I attest. -
Escobar. - (rubric)

On the eighteenth of the same, answers were received from Don Felipe de Lagos, Ignacio
S�nchez Mora, and Don Ramón Arango to the businesses that were sent to them yesterday, which were
attached. - Escobar. - (rubric.)

On the nineteenth of the same a report was sent to the honorable Prefect of that practiced until now.
- Escobar, (rubric)

On the tenth of November business of the Prefecture was received in which he communicated the
assignment made by the Municipal Government of Villerías to the citizens Antonio Mariño, Ramón
Gonz�lez, and Pablo Maya as individuals who compose the Commission of that city, a business which is
attached. - Escobar. (rubric)

I am advised of the assignment which the honorable Prefect of the District has made of my person
in union with other citizens to compose the Junta which should determine the division of jurisdiction of the
city of Villerías with those of this city, as well as that of arranging the commons which corresponds to it,
in which commission and in that of my short and useless capacity I shall perform and I will fulfill the
desires of the honorable Prefect as soon as I am advised of the meeting of said Junta, with which I am
satisfied responding to his respectable business of the 17th of the current.

This occasion furnishes me the pleasure of offering myself to its mandate with esteem.

God and Law. - Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, October 18th of 1837. - Ignacio S�nchez Mora. - To
the "C." Manuel Leonardo Fern�ndez, 1st Constitutional Mayor.

I have in my power your estimable business by which I am honored with associating myself with
the gentlemen who compose the Junta which should determine the limits corresponding to this city; all of
which flatters me exceedingly, although, on another side I have had to conciliate the goodwill of Mr. Gaj�,
which happily I have obtained, because of being in charge of one of the classes of his establishment.
Regarding the rest, I am extremely satisfied and do not doubt making the Prefect aware that my
laboriousness and careful attention in the charge that is conferred to me will be performed in the manner
that my intelligence reaches in the matter.

I have, on this occasion, the honor of assuring you of my consideration and respect.

Santa Anna de Tamaulipas, October 18th of 1837. - Ramón C. Arango. - Honorable Don Manuel
Leonardo Fern�ndez, 1st Mayor of this city.

For your attentive work, yesterday's date, to which I reply, I am informed of having been named
as one, of the individuals who are supposed to compose the Commission to assign the dividing lines of the
jurisdiction between this city and that of Villerías, those of the Congregation of Tancol, and to establish
the commons of this settlement, having been assigned by the honorable Prefect of this District. In spite
of my little knowledge for performing such a delicate commission with certainty, the honor which is
dispensed to me by that elevated functionary, and the contributing by me of a part (as I have always done
it) to everything that be for the good of this recent settlement, makes me happily accept the nomination;
in which virtue I only await your orders to obey them.

This occasion gives me the honor of reiterating to you the particular esteem that you deserve of
me.

God and Liberty. - Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, 18th of October of 1837. - Felipe de Lagos. - (rubric)
- Honorable 1st Mayor D. Manuel Leonardo Fern�ndez.

A seal which states: "Prefecture of the South of the District of Tamaulipas."

Having sent an order to the Municipal Government of Villerías so that the individuals of their
confidence be named who, in union with those names in this one, occupy themselves in assigning the
jurisdiction of this city as the aforementioned Municipal Government is prepared by superior order with
the date of 31st of last October, it tells me the following:

"In completion of that ordered by his S.S. in the business dated the 24th of the current, this
Corporation has found it good to name the citizens Antonio Mariño, Ramón Gonz�lez, and Pablo Maya
as individuals of confidence and the most intelligent in the lands of this settlement, who come to this city
so that, according to what S.S. disposes, they proceed in agreement with those who might be named there
according to both jurisdictions of that area.

"S.S. be served to accept of this Corporation the reiterated assurances of their consideration and
respect."

And I communicate it to you so that, sending the respective dispatch to the 3rd Mayor, the Junta
occupy itself in what is ordered.

God and Liberty. - Santa Anna de Tamaulipas, November 10th of 1837. - Villatoro. - Francisco
Cordero, Secretary. - (two rubrics) - Honorable 1st Mayor of this capital.

Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, November 10th of 1837. - That to its antecedents and, in view of their
being in this city, the individuals named by that of Villerías be added, both commissions and the Land
Surveyor for the Junta which will take place at ten of the day of tomorrow in the Consistorial houses be
cited and, that done, the dispatchbe sent to the 3rd Mayor who will return it to me once said Junta has been
verified. The honorable 1st Mayor ordered and signed it. I attest. - M. Fern�ndez. - Juan de Escobar.
-(two rubrics)

On the same day, the Scribe, D. Felipe Lagos, being present in his residence, I summoned him
with the preceding document for the meeting which is prepared in it; he stated being duly summoned. I
attest. - Escobar. - (rubric)

I made a citation equal to the previous one to D. Ignacio S�nchez Mora and to D. Ramón Arango
in their respective residences; they stated being duly summoned. I attest. - Escobar. - (rubric)

I also cited, on the same day and in their respective lodgings, D. Pablo Maya, D. Ramón
Gonz�lez, and D. Antonio Mariño and they stated being duly summoned. I attest. - Escobar. - (rubric)

In Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, on eleven days of November of eighteen hundred thirty-seven, the
commissions appointed by the Prefecture of this District, the gentlemen D. Ignacio S�nchez, D. Felipe
Lagos, and D. Ramón Arango, gathered in the Hall of sessions of the Municipal Government as
individuals of it with the Land Surveyor D. Manuel Zea Gómez, and by the Municipal Government of
ciudad Villerías, the gentlemen D. Pablo Maya, D. Ramón Gonz�lez, and D. Antonio Mariño, they built
themselves in a Junta which was presided by the honorable 3rd Mayor of this city, D. Mariano Andrade,
to treat about the establishment of jurisdictional limits between both cities, and, having before them the law
of the 23rd of September of 1826, promulgated by the Legislature of Tamaulipas when it was a State of the
Federation, regarding the empowering of the government so that it give land for commons to Tampico de
Tamaulipas and other towns which do not have them and whatever else is suitable; after a long and
continued discussion in which the interests of both towns were taken into consideration to avoid disputes
and dissensions in the future, they agreed definitively and of unanimous conformity that a straight line be
drawn from the Large Dune to the cross of the two roads or be it called the entry of el Limonal. From this
point until arriving at the old cross of the entry of Tancol, where the Lake of la Puerta begins, the camino
real would be the dividing line. From this point a straight light will be drawn to el Esterillo de las
Pesquerías, from whose mouth until coming out at the Lake of el Chairel will serve as a line to Río
T�mesis, all the Grand Isle of the Cross of the rivers remaining, as a consequence, in the jurisdiction of
Villerías, and of Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, the little isle which is situated in front of la Congregación de
Tancol and the Islands of los P�jaros, Pitaya, etc., etc., with which the act was concluded; that agreed upon
being approved by the honorable Presiding Judge who ordered the present act be drawn up which was
signed, by those agreeing, before me, the Scribe, all to which I attest. -Mariano Andrade. - Felipe de
Lagos. - Ignacio S�nchez Mora. - Manuel Zea Gómez. - Ramón C. Arango. - Pablo Maya. - Antonio
Mariño. - Ramón Gonz�lez. - Before me Juan de Escobar. -(nine rubrics)

Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, January 5th of 1838. - This dispatch to be returned to the honorable 1st
Mayor, the honorable 3rd Mayor ordered and signed it. I attest. - M. Andrade. - Juan de Escobar. - (two
rubrics)

On the same day I, the Scribe, made it known to the honorable 1st Mayor with this dispatch in
completion of the preceding document. - Escobar. (rubric)

Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, January 5th of 1838. - This expedient being concluded, it be sent to the
honorable Prefect of the South so that, through the mediation of S.S. the approval of the Superior
Government of the Capital be obtained. The 1st Mayor ordered and signed it. I attest. - M. Fern�ndez. -
Juan de Escobar. - (two rubrics)

On the thirteenth of the same, an official letter was sent to the honorable Prefect remitting this
expedient as it was ordered in the previous document. Escobar. - (rubric)

Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, January 15th of 1838. - Send to the Secretary of the Government so that
the most Excellent Honorable Governor be served, if he think it good, to approve the limits assigned.
Villatoro. - Francisco Cordero, Secretary. - (two rubrics)

With attentive duty this expedient, on the same day, month, and year, is remitted in 10 utile pages
to the honorable Secretariat of the Government of the Capital. - Francisco Cordero, Secretary. - (rubric)

C. Victoria, February 5th of 1838. - In conformity with the consultation of the E. Provincial Junta,
that will be introduced to the Honorable Prefect, the Government approves the marking of the jurisdictional
limits between the city of Santa Ana de Tamaulipas and Millerías in which consequence this expedient will
be returned for its custody in the Archives of that Municipal Government. - Quintero. - José Antonio
Fern�ndez, Secretary. - (two rubrics)

Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, February 14th of 1838. - This expedient be sent to the Municipal
Government of this city for its custody in the Archives, inserting in separate letter the consultation which
devolved from the Most Excellent Provincial Junta and the approval of the Government, making the same
insertion to the Justice of the Peace of the interior of Millerías for his knowledge. - Villatoro. - Francisco
Cordero. - (two rubrics)

On another day they complied with that ordered, remitting this expedient in eleven utile pages. -
Francisco Cordero, Secretary. - (rubric)

I, the undersigned Secretary of the I. Municipal Government of this city,

I certify that, the I. Corporation, having been informed with this expedient, it agreed in conformity
with that which the Prefecture orders, that said expedient be put in custody of the Archives of this
Secretariat.

Santa Ana de Tamaulipas, February 14th of 1838. - Juan R. de Maraboto, Secretary. - (rubric)
-------------- end of Part 2 of Volume 2 --------------

Volume 2 - Names Index