Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T15:08:17.332Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Community and the Law in Northern New Spain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Charles R. Cutter
Charles R. Cutter*
Affiliation:
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Despite its fundamental importance, Spanish colonial law, derecho indiano, has remained something of a mystery to modern scholars. Perhaps the great chronological and ideological distance between us and the antiguo régimen plays a role. We often listen more sympathetically to those who espouse political ideas similar to our own, and we make assumptions based on the institutions with which we are familiar. As a result, modern historians often have joined with nineteenth-century patriots and foreign observers in denouncing the colonial legal system. Judicial administration is still depicted as ponderous, tyrannical, arbitrary, and corrupt. Clearly, many scholars have failed to appreciate the essential qualities of derecho indiano. A more careful scrutiny of the historical record reveals an intricate legal system that proved to be adaptable to the peculiar needs of the diverse regions of empire. Local modification of Hispanic law–derecho vulgar–was an important element of this flexibility and constituted a legitimate expression of local self-governance.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 50 , Issue 4 , April 1994 , pp. 467 - 480
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Keen, Benjamin, A History of Latin America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992), pp. 101–102 Google Scholar; Gibson, Charles, Spain in America (New York: Harper, 1966), p. 109 Google Scholar; Stein, Stanley J. and Stein, Barbara H., The Colonial Heritage of Latin America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1970), p. 81.Google Scholar Some examples of nineteenth-century comments are found in Levaggi, Abelardo, Manual de Historia del Derecho Argentino (Buenos Aires: Depalma, 1991), t. 1, p. 203.Google Scholar Meyer, Michael C. and Sherman, William L., The Course of Mexican History (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 314.Google Scholar Commenting on New Mexico, Gregg, Josiah, Commerce of the Prairies (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1954),Google Scholar asserted that “there is scarcely one alcalde in a dozen who knows what a law is” (pp. 164–165). An almost identical assessment was offered by Davis, W.W.H., El Gringo: New Mexico and Her People (New York: Harper, 1857 Google Scholar; reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982), who believed that “none of [the alcaldes] were ever accused of knowing any thing about law” (p. 105), and that “the decision of the alcalde was seldom made up according to the merits of the case” (p. 106). See also Langum, David J., Law and Community on the Mexican California Frontier: Anglo-American Expatriates and the Clash of Legal Traditions, 1821–1846 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987), especially pp. 131–152.Google Scholar

2 In A New Pronouncing Dictionary of The Spanish and English Languages (New York and London: D. Appleton and Company, 1900), Velázquez defines “derecho” as “right, justice, law, equity.”

3 See Gallo, Alfonso García, Manual de Historia del Derecho Español (9th ed.; Madrid: AGESA, 1982), v. 1, pp. 161–164 and v. 2, pp. 40–48.Google Scholar

4 Though laws formulated specifically for the Indies always took precedence over Castilian law, the crown usually sought compatibility between the two systems. See, for example, Recopilación de Indias 2.2.13; in a similar vein, 2.1.2. For a closer scrutiny of this issue see Lira, Bernardino Bravo, “El Derecho Indiano y sus Raíces Europeas: Derecho Común y Propio de Castilla,” Anuario de Historia del Derecho Español, 58 (1988), especially pp. 5–35 Google Scholar; Tomás, Francisco y Valiente, , Manual de Historia del Derecho Español, (4th ed.; Madrid: Tecnos, 1983), pp. 337–341.Google Scholar

5 Quote in Spanish Archives of New Mexico (SANM) 11:160, María Martín v. Luis López, 30 April–30 May 1710.

6 The idea of balance in approaching the art of jurisprudence appears as early as the Partidas and extends well into the nineteenth century. Partidas, 3.3.3, for example, states that judges must be “de buena fama. E sin mala cobdicia. E que ayan sabiduria, para judgar los pleytos, derechamẽte, por su saber, o por vso de luengo tiēpo. E que sean mãsos. E de buena palabra, a los que vinierẽ, ante ellos, a juyzio, E sobre todo, que teman a Dios.”

7 Equidad should not be confused with the more narrowly defined “equity” of Anglo legal tradition. Especially important works in identifying the components of derecho indiano are Anzoátegui, Víctor Tau, “La Noción de Ley en América Hispana durante los Siglos XVI a XVIII,” Anuario de Filosofía Jurídica y Social, 6 (1986):193–232 Google Scholar; and Levaggi, Abelardo, “El Concepto del Derecho según los Fiscales de la Segunda Audiencia de Buenos Aires (1784–1810),” Actas del VIII Congreso del Instituto Internacional de Historia del Derecho Indiano (Santiago: Revista Chilena de la Historia del Derecho, 1987), pp. 245–259.Google Scholar

8 For a fuller treatment of the range and types of “laws,” see Gallo, Alfonso García, “La Ley como Fuente del Derecho en Indias en el siglo XVI,” Estudios de Historia del Derecho Indiano (Madrid: Instituto Nacional de Estudios Jurídicos, 1972), pp. 169–285.Google Scholar

9 See Anzoátegui, Víctor Tau, “La Doctrina de los Autores como Fuente del Derecho Castellano-Indiano,” Revista de Historia del Derecho, 17 (1989):351–408.Google Scholar

10 Important work has been done in this respect by Víctor Tau Anzoátegui and, earlier, Rafael Altamira. For the American Southwest under Spanish rule, Malcolm Ebright argues strongly for the importance of custom in Hispanic law. See, for example, Ebright, Malcolm, “Introduction: Spanish and Mexican Land Grants and the Law,” in Ebright, Malcolm, ed., Spanish and Mexican Land Grants and the Law (Manhattan: Sunflower University Press, 1991), pp. 3–11 Google Scholar; Ebright, Malcolm, “New Mexican Land Grants: The Legal Background,” in Briggs, Charles L. and Van Ness, John R., eds., Land, Water, and Culture: New Perspectives on Hispanic Land Grants (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1987), pp. 15–64.Google Scholar

11 The notion that the prime goal of justice was “dar a cada uno lo suyo” appears, even on the northern frontier of New Spain, repeatedly throughout the Hispanic world of the antiguo régimen. SANM 11:316, Martín Hurtado v. Jacinto Sánchez, 23 April-26 April 1722. Partidas 3.1.3, “E los mandamientos de la Iustitia, e del derecho son tres. El primero, que orne biua honestamente, quanto en si. El segundo, que non faga mal, nin daño a otro. El tercero, que de su derecho a cada vno.” Juan, José y Colón, , Instrucción Jurídica de Escribanos, Abogados, y Jueces Ordinarios de Juzgados Inferiores (Madrid: Imprenta de la Viuda e Hijo de Marín, 1795), p. 1,Google Scholar “La justicia es una constante y perpetua voluntad de dar a cada uno lo que es suyo.” Alvarez, José María, Instituciones de Derecho Real de Castilla y de Indias (New York: Casa de Lanuza, Mendia, y C., 1827 Google Scholar; fascimile reprint, México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1982), p. 21, “La justicia, tomada en general, podemos decir que es: la observancia de todas las leyes que previenen no dañar a otro, dar a cada uno lo que es suyo y vivir honestamente.”

12 See Levaggi, , “El Concepto del Derecho,” pp. 245–259.Google Scholar

13 The trend in Latin American and Spanish law during the nineteenth century was toward codification that sought in large measure to eliminate the discretionary powers of the judiciary. See Lira, Bravo, “El Derecho Indiano y sus Raíces Europeas,” pp. 67–79 Google Scholar; on the codification process in Spain, Tomás, y Valiente, , Manual de Historia del Derecho Español (Madrid: Tecnos, 1983), pp. 465–557.Google Scholar

14 Recopilación de Indias 2.1.24 States that all royal provisions must be obeyed, “salvo siendo el negocio de calidad, que de su cumplimiento se seguiria escandalo conocido, ó daño irreparable, que en tal caso permitimos, que ha viendo lugar de derecho, suplicacion, é interponiendo por quien, y como deba, pueda sobreseer en el cumplimiento.” See also Recopilación de Indias 2.1.22; Nueva Recopilación 4.14.2; Novísima Recopilación 3.4.4; Partidas 3.18.29–31. On other mechanisms for altering legislation, see Anzoátegui, Víctor Tau, “La Ley ‘Se Obedece pero no se Cumple.’ En Torno a la Suplicación de las Leyes en el Derecho Indiano,” Anuario Histórico Jurídico Ecuatoriano, 6 (1980): 55–110.Google Scholar On the idea that laws must be reasonable, Levaggi, , “El Concepto del Derecho,” passim.Google Scholar Various texts that affirm this right can be found in Gallo, Garcia, Manual de Historia del Derecho Español, vol. 2, pp. 105–106.Google Scholar

15 In this respect, a most valuable collection of arguments of a prosecuting attorney (fiscal) for the Audiencia de Buenos Aires in the late-eighteenth century is Levaggi, Abelardo, El Virreinato Rioplatense en la Vistas Fiscales de José Márquez de la Plata, 3 vols. (Buenos Aires: Universidad del Museo Social Argentino, 1988).Google Scholar See also Levaggi, , “El Concepto del Derecho,” passim.Google Scholar Other valuable sources include the Colección Mata Linares housed at the Real Academia de Historia, Madrid; and the writings of a colonial Mexican jurist, Juan de Torquemada, found in the Biblioteca Nacional (Madrid), ms. 20311, “Varias Alegaciones Jurídicas que el Lic.doD. Juan Antonio de Torquemada, Abogado de la R.l Avdien.cia de esta Nueva España, Dixo En sus Reales Estrados, en los de su Real Sala de el Crimen, y en los de el Jusgado, y Avdiencia Ecclesiastica,” 1724–1725.

16 Alonso Romero, María Paz, El Proceso Penal en Castilla (Siglos XIII-XVIII) (Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 1982), p. 260;Google Scholar Bernal, José Sánchez-Arcilla, Las Ordenanzas de las Audiencias de Indias (1511–1821) (Madrid: Dykinson, S.L., 1992), p. 315,Google Scholar Ordenanzas de Palafox, “Ordenanzas para la R1. Audiencia desta Nueua España, Ministros y officiales della,” tít. 1, n. 24. On the problems that this prohibition poses, see Tomás, Francisco y Valiente, , El Derecho Penal de la Monarquía Absoluta (Siglos XVI-XVII-XVIII) (Madrid: Tecnos, 1969), p. 182.Google Scholar Still, we can gain a fairly good idea of judicial reasoning by examining the arguments of the fiscales (state prosecutors) of the audiencia. Steeped in a common intellectual tradition, these officials no doubt shared with the oidores the underlying juridical assumptions that might decide a particular case.

17 Besides the above mentioned items by Abelardo Levaggi, see Anzoátegui, Víctor Tau, “La Costumbre como Fuente del Derecho Indiano en los Siglos XVI y XVII: Estudio a Través de los Cabildos del Río de la Plata, Cuyo y Tucumán,” III Congreso del Instituto Internacional de Historia del Derecho Indiano (Madrid: Instituto Nacional de Estudios Jurídicos, 1970), pp. 115–192 Google Scholar; Anzoátegui, Tau, “La Noción de Ley en América Hispana,” pp. 193–232 Google Scholar; especially Anzoátegui, Tau, “La Doctrina de los Autores Como Fuente del Derecho Castellano-Indiano,” pp. 351–408.Google Scholar See also Levaggi, Abelardo, “El Derecho Romano en la Formación de los Abogados Argentinos del Ochocientos,” Derecho 40 (1986): 17–33 Google Scholar; Lira, Bravo, “El Derecho Indiano,” pp. 5–80.Google Scholar

18 Explored more fully in Cutter, Charles R., “La Magistratura Local en el Norte de la Nueva España: El Caso de Nuevo México,” Anuario Mexicano de Historia del Derecho, 4 (1992): 29–39.Google Scholar

19 McKnight, Joseph, “Law Books on the Hispanic Frontier,” Journal of the West, 27 (July 1988): 75.Google Scholar Becú, Ricardo Zorraquín, Organización Judicial Argentina en el Período Hispánico (Buenos Aires: Editorial Perrot, 1981), pp. 82–83.Google Scholar Although the prominence of the asesor letrado rose in the eighteenth century, some gobernaciones had such a figure at an earlier date. See Recopilación de Indias, 5.2.37, 5.2.39.

20 Even on the peninsula, magistrates at the local level had little formal training in law. For contem-porary comments on this state of affairs, see Bemí, José y Catalá, , Instrucción de Alcaldes Ordinarios, Que Comprehende las Obligaciones de Estos, y del Amotacén (Valencia: Agustín Laborda, 1757), p. 1 Google Scholar; Pérez, Vicente Vizcaíno, Tratado de la Jurisdicción Ordinaria Para la Dirección y Guía de los Alcaldes de los Pueblos de España, (4th ed.; Madrid: 1802 Google Scholar; reprint, Madrid: Instituto de Estudios de Administración Local, 1979), pp. 33–34.

21 In addition to allusions noted in footnote #1, see Simmons, Marc, Spanish Government in New Mexico (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1968), p. 176 Google Scholar; and more recently Langum, David J., Law and Community on the Mexican California Frontier, p. 33, who cites Simmons.Google Scholar

22 McKnight, , “Law Books on the Hispanic Frontier,” pp. 75–78.Google Scholar For an extended essay on colonial juridical bibliography, see Barceló, Javier Malagón, La Literatura Jurídica Española del Siglo de Oro en la Nueva España (México: Biblioteca Nacional de México, Instituto Bibliográfico Mexicano, 1959).Google Scholar Useful discussions of the evolution in styles of Hispanic juridical writing are found in Lira, Bravo, “El Derecho Indiano y sus Raíces Europeas,” pp. 36–77,Google Scholar and in Tomás, y Valiente, , El Derecho Penal, pp. 85–151.Google Scholar

23 Juan, José y Colón, , Instrucción Jurídica de Escribanos, Abogados, y Jueces Ordinarios de Juzgados Inferiores (Madrid: Imprenta de la Viuda e Hijo de Marín, 1795).Google Scholar McKnight, , “Law Books,” p. 78,Google Scholar finds a 1787 edition of this work in San Antonio, Texas; for New Mexico, SANML252 Settlement of estate of Manuel Delgado, “Inventario,” 29 September 1815, lists this as “Colón de escrivanos.” Governor Joaquín del Real Alencaster made a rather cryptic allusion to the “formulario de Colón” in ARAG Criminal 45-13-1023, Joaquín del Real Alencaster to Señores de la Real Audiencia [de Guadalajara]. Santa Fé, 1 July 1805. This may well be a reference not to the work of José Juan y Colón, however, but to the manual composed by de Larriátegui, Félix Colón, Juzgados Militares de España y sus Indias (Madrid: Repulles, 1797).Google Scholar

24 An example of some rather sophisticated notions of what constituted derecho appear in SANMI: 464, Petition of Diego Torres, Bartolomé Truxillo, Antonio de Salazar, Manuel Valerio, and Manuel Martin, n.d. (but probably early to mid-eighteenth century). These men argue that their position is supported by “Ley, Authoridad, Doctrina, e opinion, assi en el [derecho] Civil comun, o canonico.” They also cite Juan Solórzano Pereira’s De Indiarum Iure by book, chapter, and number.

25 Rothrock List, “Books in Colonial New Mexico,” Ms. in University of New Mexico General Library, Special Collections. McKnight, , “Law Books on the Hispanic Frontier,” passim Google Scholar. See also, Adams, Eleanor B. and Scholes, France V., “Books in New Mexico, 1598–1680,” New Mexico Historical Review 17 (July 1942):226–270 Google Scholar; and by the same authors, “Two Colonial New Mexico Libraries, 1704, 1706,” New Mexico Historical Review 19 (April 1944):135–67. Basic texts such as these seem to have been readily available in all parts of the Spanish colonies. See, for example, Muñoz, Jorge Luján, “Acerca de la Llegada y Aplicación de la Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias en el Reino de Guatemala, 1681–1699,” in Memoria del Simposio Hispanoamericano Sobre las Leyes de Indias (San José, Costa Rica: Imprenta Nacional, 1984).Google Scholar

26 For example, SANM II:508, “Año de 1749. Demanda puesta p.r Manuel Sanz de Garuizu, En nom.re de d.n Antonio de tapia vez.o de la Ziudad de Méx.co de la Cantt.d que en ella se expresa, Conttra Jph Romo de Vera vez.o de estta villa.” 3 November 1749–14 July 1751; SANM II:360, “Caussa Criminal Contra Ant.o Yuba yndio natural del Pu.o de tezuque y Asensio Povio Yndio natural del Pueblo de Nambé de la naz.n teguas.” 25 June-2 August 1731; Archivo General de la Nación (México) (AGNM) Provincias Internas 32, exp. 10, “Año de 1730. Caussa Criminal hecha p.r muertte de Nicolas Pasqual conttra Philipe de Abila actor y reo en el.” 12 April-18 May 1731. An allusion to Article 283 of the Constitution of 1812 in SANM I:216, Ursula Chaves v. Joaquín Pino, 1821.

27 See Escriche, Joaquín, Diccionario Razonado de Legislación y Jurisprudencia (Paris: Librería de Gamier Hermanos, 1869), pp. 528–529.Google Scholar

28 The term consensual hegemony is an adaptation of Antonio Gramsci’s social theory of cultural hegemony, in which he posited that dominant cultures or ideologies allowed sufficient input from below to afford to all a sense of belonging to the whole. On Gramsci’s ideas that have been most useful for scholars, see Adamson, Walter L., Hegemony and Revolution: A Study of Antonio Gramsci’s Political and Cultural Theory (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980).Google Scholar Elaborations of the idea of cultural hegemony include Lears, T.J. Jackson, “The Concept of Cultural Hegemony: Problems and Possibilities,” American Historical Review 90 (June 1985):567–93CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Williams, Raymond, “Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory,” New Left Review 82 (November–December 1973):3–16.Google Scholar

29 On the regional variations, see Orozco, Wistano Luis, Los Ejidos de los Pueblos (1914; reprint, México: Ediciones “El Caballito,” 1975), pp. 59–72.Google Scholar

30 Discussed more fully in Cutter, Charles R., “El Indio Fronterizo ante la Justicia Española: La Creación de una Hegemonía Consensual,” IX Congreso del Instituto Internacional de Historia del Derecho Indiano: Actas y Estudios 2 (Madrid: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1991) pp. 19–28.Google Scholar

31 SANM I:78, “Pleyto de Xp.al Xaramillo con los Yndios de S Ph.e,” 26 February 1704. The petition was denied by Governor Diego de Vargas.

32 SANM I:1351, “Autos Seguidos por los Yndios del Pueblo de S.n Yldefonso contra los Erederos de Juana Luján y de fran.co Gómez deel Castillo,” 4 February 1763. SANM I:1354, Las Repúblicas de Santa Clara y San Yldefonso to Governor Juan Bautista de Anza, Santa Fe, 6 May 1786. See also, Jenkins, Myra Ellen, “Spanish Land Grants in the Tewa Area,” New Mexico Historical Review 47 (April 1972), 113–134.Google Scholar

33 Among the numerous other examples of recognition of the Pueblo league are Archivo de la Real Audiencia de Guadalajara, Biblioteca del Estado de Jalisco, Ramo Civil 267–17–3654, “El Común y Pueblo de Cochití diciendo de nulidad a la venta de un Rancho cituado en su fundo legal, y reclamando la usurpación de otro…” 6 September 1816; SANM I:703, Felipe Sandoval to governor. 17 August 1814; SANM I:1339, “Petizion a fauor de los Yndios teguas contra Ynacio de Roybal,” 16 September 1704.

34 Jones, Oakah L. Jr., Los Paisanos: Spanish Settlers on the Northern Frontier of New Spain (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979), pp. 136–139 and 55–57,Google Scholar points out the absolute lack of primary schools in New Mexico until the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries. Texas also faced a shortage. Neither province boasted institutions of higher learning.

35 Chavez, Angelico, Origins of New Mexico Families (Santa Fe: The Historical Society of New Mexico, 1954), p. 291.Google Scholar As “notario nombrado” for juez eclesiástico Vicario Santiago Roibal, SANM II:531a, “Año de 1755. Una pettiz. on presentada antte el S.r Vicario y Juez eclesiástico p.r Domingo Luxan de este real Presidio contra christobal xaramillo hasi mismo soldado y Probidenzia que se dio.”; activity as procurador, SANM I:571, “Año de 1766. Autos seguidos a petición de Miguel y Santiago Montoya Contra Juan Pablo Martín sobre vn sitio de tierras;” and SANM I:1351, “Autos Seguidos por los Yndios del Pueblo de S.n Yldefonso contra los Erederos de Juana Luján y de fran.co Gómez deel Castillo.” 4 February 1763; activity as alcalde mayor, SANM I:44, “Año de 1769. Merced de tierra hecha a Antonio Armijo.”

36 For Sandoval’s activities as protector de indios, see Cutter, Charles R., The Protector de Indios in Colonial New Mexico, 1659–1821 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1986), pp. 83–89.Google Scholar

37 Quote from Archivo de la Real Audiencia de Guadalajara (ARAG) 261–15–3564, “El Común del Pueblo de Cochití…,” f. 95. Archival holdings in Mexico City and in Guadalajara indicate that the crown routinely permitted this simplified form throughout New Spain. See, Cutter, “La Magistratura Local.” For central Mexico, see González, María del Refugio and Lozano, Teresa, “La Administración de Justicia,” in Borah, Woodrow, coordinador, El Gobierno Provincial en la Nueva España, 1570–1787 (México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1985), pp. 77, 78, 83.Google Scholar

38 On the juicio sumario or extraordinario, Sala, Juan, Ilustración del Derecho Real de España (Valencia: Joseph de Orga, 1803), t. 2, lib. 3, tít. 2Google Scholar; Sánchez, Pedro Carrillo, Prontuario Alfabético de Legislación y Práctica (Madrid: Boix Editor, 1840), p. 158;Google Scholar Alvarez, José María, Instituciones de Derecho Real de Castilla y de Indias (New York: Casa de Lanuza, Mendia, and Co., 1827 Google Scholar; reprint, México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1982), lib. 4, p. 212.

39 SANM II:369, “Pleyto y demanda q.e puso Antonio de Cárdenas contra los herederos de Juan Luxan sobre los salarios q se le deuian,” 5 June-11 September 1732.

40 SANM II:465, “Queja que dio Antonio Baca Alce may.r y cap.n a Guerra del Pueblo de Xemes y su Juridicion, contra Hernando chabez ambos Vecinos de la V.a de S.n Phelipe de Alburquerque sobre hauerle probocado con palabras indecorosas en la forma que adentro se percive,” 12-25 June 1745.

41 SANM II:465c, “Causa criminal, a pedimento de Juan Antonio Salazar, contra Manuel Valerio, ambos vecinos de la Villa de Santa Cruz de la Cañada, sobre una herida que le hizo, y malos tratamientos de palabras, en la forma que adentro se contiene.” 31 July–6 September 1745.

42 Illuminating the peninsular viewpoint is Berní, José y Catalá, , Práctica Criminal (Valencia: Simón Faure, 1749), pp. 7–8, 16.Google Scholar

43 Béxar Archives, Austin (BA), r. 14, fr. 921, Proceedings against Juan José Vergare. 4 February–30 June 1782.

44 BA r. 14, fr. 800. José Miguel Sales Games, Francisco Sales Games, Pedro Hernández, and Carlos Hernández v. Urbano Ynojosa and Ana María Trinidad Games. 4 June-29 November 1781.

45 SANM II:458a, “Causa Criminal Por Querella de Juana Martín Contra Joseph de Armijo, en razón de el amanseuamien.to Con Gertrudis de Segura, mulata Soltera,” 20 July 1744.

46 Faulk, Odie B., The Last Years of Spanish Texas, 1778–1821 (The Hague: Mouton and Co., 1964), p. 108.Google Scholar