History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 3/Chapter 18

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

 

CHAPTER XVIII.

PROGRESS IN NUEVO LEON, AND CONQUEST OF SIERRA GORDA AND TAMAULIPAS.

1601-1803.

Governors Agustin de Zavala, Juan Ruiz, and Martin de Zavala — Congregas — Uprising of Natives — And Final Subjection — Political Division — Secularization of Missions — And Consequent General Insurrection — Governor Barbadillo — His Prudent Measures — More Difficulties — Population of Province — Sierra Gorda — Death of Zaraza — Governor José de Escandon — His Pacification and Conquest of Sierra Gorda — Condition of Tamaulipas — Escandon is Appointed Governor — He Founds Nuevo Santander — Numerous Towns and Missions are Founded — Statistics for 1757 — General Progress of the Colonies.

At the close of the sixteenth century Nuevo Leon, as will be remembered, was ruled by the lieutenant-governor, Diego de Montemayor. The records tell us little or nothing about the progress of the country during his term of office, and after 1611 his name disappears. It is uncertain whether he left the province or died there, and only the names of his two sons, Diego and Miguel, are mentioned. Meanwhile, the Spanish settlers seem to have increased in number, spreading toward the adjoining province of Coahuila, where an active trade was carried on with the aborigines. From this time also until 1628,^[1] when Martin de Zavala was appointed to office, nothing worthy of note is recorded concerning the province. This ruler made himself conspicuous by his harsh treatment of the natives, forcing them as soon as converted, or even before, into the congregas, or congregations, established by Montemayor. The laws regarding the formation of encomiendas were now so stringently enforced that of necessity some means had to be devised to elude them in order to retain the benefits derived from compulsory Indian labor. The difference between the congrega and encomienda existed only in name, but under the former system the law was evaded, while an attempt was thus made to delude the natives by the abolition of the obnoxious appellation formerly in use.

The immediate result of Zavala's policy was a general uprising of the natives, which it required more than eight years to master. A decisive battle in 1637 restored peace to the country for a time; but a great number of natives had taken refuge in the sierras of Tamaulipas whence at intervals they continued to harass the Spanish settlers. During two centuries Nuevo Leon was seldom free from alarm. The missionaries in vain exerted themselves to restore peace; in vain did the viceroys send troops, settlers, and money; in vain did the venerable Margil de Jesus labor to check the outrages of the Spaniards and to bring the Indians into subjection. The strife continued; and though the natives were the greatest sufferers, in course of time, especially during the second half of the seventeenth and the early part of the eighteenth century, many of the Spanish settlements were destroyed by the natives or abandoned by the colonists.^[2] In 1700 there were in Nuevo Leon five ayuntamientos, fourteen alcaldias mayores, and the same number of capitanías. After a season of comparative quiet, affairs were brought to a climax in 1712 by the secularization of the missions and curacies by order of Bishop Diego Camacho y Ávila. In consequence of this impolitic measure the natives rose, and the insurrection assumed such a general character that it spread not only over Nuevo Leon, but over all the neighboring provinces, carrying devastation even far into Querétaro. From 1709 to 1715 the Indians in those regions are said to have killed over a thousand Spanish settlers.^[3] It was conceded by this time that the whole system of colonization in Nuevo Leon was a failure.

In 1715 Francisco Barbadillo was appointed governor of the province by Viceroy Linares, and commissioned to investigate the causes of the disturbance. On his arrival at Monterey this officer, who is highly commended by the chroniclers of his time, proceeded to organize a company of mounted militia, for the protection of the settlers.^[4] His next step was to strike at the root of the evil by abolishing the congregas, though he was bitterly opposed in this measure by the Spanish settlers; at the same time he founded with some five thousand Indian families from the western sierra of Tamaulipas—to-day known by the name of San Cárlos—independent native settlements and missions.^[5] The settlers were provided with cattle, farming implements, and everything needed to establish them on their farms, and salaried protectors were appointed to guard their interests. Barbadillo enforced a strict compliance with his orders, and his plan, for the time being, proved a complete success.

The services of such men as Barbadillo, however, were also required in Mexico, and scarcely had order and peace been restored in Nuevo Leon, when he was recalled. This was the signal for the colonists, who had suffered by his policy, to revenge themselves on the natives. Contributions were refused to maintain the militia, which was soon disbanded; the defenseless natives in the settlements were again subjected to extortions and maletreatment of every kind, which abuses the protectors were powerless to check, and thousands of them again sought refuge in their mountain homes. Linares had died in the mean time, and his successor, the Marquis Valero, ordered Barbadillo to undertake the task of restoring older in the province. He at once set forth for Monterey, and we are told that at his mere presence the colonists ceased from their iniquities, and the natives, mindful of past favors received at his hands, returned in flocks to their abandoned settlements. Barbadillo remained in Nuevo Leon for four years, when he was recalled to Mexico by Viceroy Casafuerte, and the government of the province was bestowed on Pedro de Zaravia Cortés. The incapacity of this ruler soon produced the same disorders which had occurred twice before in that region, and on this occasion they spread to the Sierra Gorda as far as to Huasteca. Revolts and insurrections became more frequent, and more disastrous than ever in their effects, and the governors and officials of several provinces with their combined forces were unable to restore quiet.

It now became evident to the government of New Spain that more decisive measures must be inaugurated. In the Sierra Gorda districts and in Tamaulipas the bands of marauding savages always found a safe retreat. Moreover, those regions were suspected to possess rich mines and other wealth; and for these reasons the definite conquest of the

Map of Sierra Gorda.

coast region from the river Pánuco to the borders of Texas was decided upon.^[6] Ever since the close of the sixteenth century, after Viceroy Velasco had colonized the regions about San Luis Potosí, Cololotlan, and San Miguel Mezquitic with Tlascaltec and Chichimec families, missionaries had begun to enter the wild districts of the Sierra Gorda^[7] and Tamaulipas, to convert the numerous tribes, which were supposed to have taken up their abode in this part of the country after the conquest. These efforts seem to have been attended with very little success. Toward the end of the seventeenth century six Dominican missions had been established in Sierra Gorda territory. The friars were soon driven away, however; the churches were burned, the missions destroyed, and the Spaniards who had settled in the vicinity were compelled to abandon the country.

In 1704 Francisco Zaraza was made lieutenant captain-general, and commissioned to bring the revolted aborigines under subjection; hitherto all the efforts to that effect of the alcaldes and captains of militia had been unavailing. Zaraza opened a campaign against the natives, but was killed during an attack, without having accomplished anything decisive. In his place was appointed Gabriel Guerrero de Ardila, who with a force of eight hundred cavalry defeated the natives and compelled them to enter into a treaty of peace. This occurred in 1715, and the conditions of the treaty were most favorable to the Indians, who were to retain their liberty and be absolute masters of the sierra. Nevertheless we find that outrages and disturbances soon afterward became the order of the day. For many years the towns in the jurisdictions of Querétaro, San Miguel el Grande, Celaya, Chamacuero, San Juan del Rio, Cadereita and elsewhere remained in the same condition. The native tribes of Sierra Gorda were under neither military, civil, nor religious control, and their raids extended at times into the very streets of Spanish settlements.

If we can believe Arlegui, one or more of the governors of Nuevo Leon were induced to persecute the natives by private persons who claimed to have lost lands through the appropriation of tracts for the Tamaulipas tribes in 1715, and many Indians were subsequently hanged for trivial offences. Nor would this suffice; the settlers themselves constantly sought to drag the Indians into revolt in order to have a pretence to make them slaves. Under such circumstances the efforts of a few friars were of no avail.

Such was the state of affairs when in 1734 José de Escandon, an officer of the Querétaro militia, was commissioned to pacify the Sierra Gorda. At last the proper person had been found to carry out this difficult task. During his first expedition four hundred prisoners were taken; the ringleaders were summarily punished, while the others, in place of being enslaved, were treated with great consideration. This policy had the desired effect, and in the course of a few years several other expeditions under the same leader completed the work of pacification. All these campaigns were carried on by Escandon with little expense to the crown, without burdening too much the Spanish settlers, and without enslaving the natives. He was a wealthy man, and expended the greater part of his own fortune in maintaining his troops, who were kept under strict discipline, and not allowed to commit any excesses. His conduct gained for him the esteem of the government, the respect of the colonists, and the love of the pacified tribes, who under similar circumstances had hitherto been treated like brutes. It was also remarked that although he divided lands among Spaniards and Indians, none were reserved for himself.

Thus the wild regions of Sierra Gorda were finally brought under Spanish rule, without much bloodshed, and without any of the revolting incidents usually attending the conquest of new territory. In consideration of his services Escandon was made count of Sierra Gorda, and his achievements paved the way for the conquest of Tamaulipas, where still greater laurels were in store for him.^[8]

The same causes which led to the final pacification of Sierra Gorda and the subjugation of the Nayarits, ultimately led to the conquest of the gulf region stretching from Pánuco north to the Rio Bravo del Norte. Here, as elsewhere, the Indians were driven to revolt by a series of outrages committed on them by squatters, robbers, kidnappers, and slave-traders.^[9] During and subsequent to the operations of Escandon, various proposals were made to the central government at Mexico, and to the crown,^[10] for the extension of Spanish settlements in Tamaulipas. No decision was arrived at, however, till 1746, under the rule of Revilla Gigedo, when a council of war held for the purpose intrusted the enterprise to Escandon, who was now universally recognized as a man of consummate ability; nor could a better selection have been made.^[11] The whole northern coast from Darien to Florida had gradually succumbed with the exception of this portion, which now, after a successful resistance of over two

Tamaulipas

hundred years, was to be the last to submit to Spanish domination. Escandon was authorized to extend his operations over a distance of more than a hundred leagues from south to north, and sixty or eighty from east to west, the boundaries being designated on the east by the gulf; south by the jurisdictions of Pánuco and Tampico, Villa de Valles, Sierra Gorda, and Huasteca; west by Guadalcázar, Venado, Charcas, Nuevo Leon, and part of Coahuila, and north by this latter province and the boundary of Texas. The territory comprised within these limits received the appellation of Nuevo Santander. Most extensive preparations for the expedition were made in the city of Querétaro; and the prestige of Escandon was so great that from all parts of the country Spanish families hastened to join his fortunes, and many an adventurous soldier enlisted under his banner. Enthusiasm ran high, till finally the expeditionary forces numbered seven hundred and fifty, while the number of prospective settlers, consisting of Spaniards and converted Indians, exceeded two thousand five hundred families. That these numbers are not exaggerated is shown by the settlements founded by Escandon, and by subsequent official statistics.

The expedition set forth from Querétaro early in December 1748, passing through the towns of Pozos, San Luis de la Paz, Santa Maria del Rio, San Luis Potosi, and thence to Tula,^[12] where it was joined by a number of Spanish families. Various attempts seem to have been made since 1714 to form new settlements in this vicinity, attended apparently with little success. At one of these, Palmillas, Escandon appointed a military governor, and continuing his march in a north-easterly direction, founded on December 25th the town of Llera with sixty-seven families. Turning northward on January 1, 1749, Güemes was established with fifty-eight families, and a mission some few leagues distant on the banks of the Purificacion. On January 6th forty-four families settled at Padilla, and a mission was established in that neighborhood. It may be mentioned here that for each newly settled place a military governor was appointed with the rank of captain, and a small garrison was left for police duty, and to protect the settlers against the hostilities of the natives. Other towns were located in rapid succession, and at first the colonists had to be content with primitive huts, hastily constructed of branches and leaves, until better accommodations could be secured. During the first years they suffered great hardships, for in many instances the sites selected were unfavorable, either on account of their liability to floods, their sickly climate, or for other reasons. The settlers of the town of Escandon are said to have been driven from their second site by clouds of mosquitoes and other obnoxious insects.

From Padilla, Escandon continued his march some twenty leagues in a north-easterly direction, with a view to establish a general camp from which exploring expeditions might be despatched, particularly to discover the harbor of Santander, at the mouth of the river then called Purificacion, and to-day La Marina. On this march from Padilla the first savages made their appearance, descending in great numbers from the eastern sierras of Tamaulipas, but being overawed by the vast caravan of Spaniards, abstained from attack. About the same time Escandon was joined by another party of settlers from Linares, consisting of sixty families under the conduct of Ladron de Guevara, and efforts were now made to reach the seaboard. After various attempts, on February 17th, the mouth of the Purificacion was discovered; the town of Santander was established with forty-five families, and designated as the capital of the province.^[13] From the new capital Escandon proceeded north in quest of the valley of Flores. Crossing the Rio Conchas, and passing along the banks towards its mouth at Salinas bar, he came upon a friendly Indian chief who had formed a settlement of Pintos. Leaving several Franciscan friars with the natives, he pushed forward to the Rio Bravo del Norte, expecting to meet with some families coming from Linares and other places, with whom to form a settlement. He soon arrived at Camargo, which had been provisionally founded by one Barrero from Nuevo Leon, and formally established the town on March 5th, leaving Captain Falcon in command. A little to the south a mission was erected with the Franciscan, Juan García, in charge; this friar was also the first curate of Camargo. Thence proceeding west, the town of Reinosa and a mission were established, with families from Nuevo Leon under Captain Cantun. After despatching Captain Basterra to form a settlement on the Nueces River, Escandon returned to Salinas, where, with families brought by Captain Merino, he founded San Fernando. On this return march the natives showed signs of hostility, and an inclination to dispute the passage. They were appeased, however, by Escandon's kind words and by presents.

About April 27th Altamira was located near the coast, and on May 9th the city of Horcasitas was founded with more than ordinary pomp. Ten days after this, Santa Barbara and the mission Soledad^[14] were established, after which Escandon returned by way of Tula to Querétaro, to report on the progress of his enterprise. Remaining there during the whole of the following year, he prepared a second expedition. At no time during the colonial history of New Spain had so many settlements been founded in such a comparatively short period, and with so little bloodshed. True, here and there the natives were obstinate and unwilling to submit to the strangers, and in several instances Spanish settlements were attacked by the nomad tribes still scattered in the recesses of their mountain retreats. Thus it became necessary at times to send a force against them. This, however, seems never to have been done unless the Indians first gave sufficient provocation by their hostile attitude. Indeed, as a rule Escandon managed the aborigines with great skill and judgment, never resorting to hostile measures when with inducements and promises he could attract them to the missions, after which they would generally become good settlers. It is evident that this leader pursued a wise policy in making the lot of the subjugated natives as comfortable as possible. We find no signs of encomiendas or congregas, the same policy being observed as in Sierra Gorda. It is indeed refreshing to record a circumstance of this nature—so much at variance with the general conduct observed by nearly all the conquerors and pacificators of earlier times—and even at the present day the name of Escandon is esteemed and honored in Tamaulipas.

Many other settlements and missions were founded during the second expedition, the details of which are similar to those of the first, and of little interest to the general reader. All these new settlements, as I have mentioned, were placed in charge of a military commander, while one or more Franciscan friars took charge of each mission. Thus the government of the new colonies was at first purely military; yet it cannot be denied that, for the time being, and under a man like Escandon, this was the best fitted to keep the Indians under subjection, and to prevent civil dissensions among the colonists themselves. At all events we do not hear of any abuses committed by the commanders appointed by Escandon, and the progress of the colonies evidenced the success of the system. Nevertheless even in 1757 Indian hostilities had not entirely ceased;^[15] and for this reason it was recommended by Inspector-general Tienda de Cuervo, who made an official visit to the province in that year, to take final measures to complete the pacification of the territory. Though Spanish dominion was permanently established, he was aware that to ensure the peaceful and steady development of the country, another campaign must be inaugurated; the natives who remained obstinate must be pursued to their last haunts; they must either be obliged to settle in the missions or be exterminated. The recommendation was approved by Viceroy Amarillas, and it is claimed that the campaign was a success, and that soon after the establishment of San Cárlos all hostilities and depredations by the Indian tribes of the neighborhood ceased. Many of them, seeing they were pursued even to their most secret haunts, had preferred to join the missions; but others, more warlike, receded beyond the boundaries of Coahuila and to the Rio Bravo. They were gradually surrounded, and confined by the encroaching Spanish settlements to the most remote parts of the province; and being obliged to withdraw, they joined the wild tribes of Coahuila, Sonora, and New Mexico, who long afterward continued to harass the settlers on the borders of Mexico and the United States. In 1792 a last raid was made by the savages on Laredo, but they were soon repulsed and driven beyond the frontier.

At the time of Cuervo's arrival at Soto la Marina he found a schooner belonging to Escandon anchored in the harbor. This is the first craft known to have traded between Vera Cruz and Nuevo Santander. The master, Bernardo Vidal Buzcarrones, informed Cuervo as to the general condition of the coast, anchorage, and the different sand-bars he had examined at the mouths of various rivers. According to his opinion prospects for shipping were not at all encouraging, as during the greater part of the year only small craft were able to cross the bars and find a safe harbor. Then Cuervo made a tour of inspection with the schooner himself, during which he came to the same unfavorable conclusion.

More improvements were made in 1763. The sites of Escandon, Búrgos, and Reinosa were changed; new settlements were founded, and the settlers received assistance from the government. For fifteen years the lands in the vicinity of the colonies had been used in common, but in 1764, by order of Viceroy Cruíllas, they began to be segregated. The following year the town Cruíllas was founded, and in 1766 San Cárlos was established. From this time until the end of the century the colonists were enabled to breathe more freely; all the settlements rapidly improved; several mines were discovered and worked; stock-raising increased; and merchants and dealers from Mexico, Huasteca, Sierra Gorda, San Luis Potosí, and other parts of the country began to frequent the flourishing towns of Nuevo Santander.^[16]

 

 

1. In 1613 Agustin de Zavala appears upon the scene as governor, appointed by Viceroy Guadalcázar. He is said to have been a wise ruler, his prudent measures serving to check the occasional aggressions of the natives. He was succeeded in 1625 by lieutenant-governor and captain-general Juan Ruiz, attorney of the audiencia of Mexico.
2. Such was the fate of Tanguanchin, Laxa, Jaumave, Palmillas, Monte Alverne, Santa Clara, Buenaventura, Bernardino, and others. Prieto, Hist. Tumaul., 84-5. Some friars who subsequently investigated the matter found that all this ruin had been caused by the iniquities of the Spaniards. Among the settlements which had sprung up before the middle of the 18th century were Pesqueira, Santo Catarina, Salinas, Boca de Leones, the presidio of Cerralvo, Sabinas, the Tablas, and Agualeguas missions, Cadereita, Huajuco, Pilon, the Mota mission, Linares, San Antonio de los Llanos, the presidios of Santa Engracia and Lampazos, Labradores, and others.
3. In April 1713 Governor Francisco Mier y Torre commissioned the ex-governor, Treviño, to enter into negotiations for peace with the Indians, but while thus engaged his whole party was massacred. More stringent measures were then dictated by a council of war, but they were also ineffectual. Gonzalez, Col. Doc. N. Leon, 38-40.
4. This was a light cavalry troop recruited from among the settlers, and maintained by pro rata contributions of the colonists. This was the first instance in which the settlers were required to pay any tax for the expenses of government. See Prieto, Hist. Tamaul, 85-6.
5. Among them Guadalupe, near Monterey, with 1,000 families; Concepcion and Purificacion on the margins of the Pilon. with 600 families each. A great number of families was also apportioned to the different settlements already established. Gonzalez, Col. Doc. N. Leon, 46-7; Prieto, Hist. Tamaul., 86-7.
6. In 1810 the province of Nuevo Leon comprised 2,621 square leagues of territory, consisting of one partido; there were 13 curacies, 1 mission, 2 cities, 4 villas, 16 pueblos, 4 mining districts, and 23 haciendas. The population consisted of 27,412 Spaniards, 2,431 Indians, and 13,838 of mixed blood, making a total of 43,681 inhabitants. Navarro, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da ep., i. 291. Gonzalez, Col. Doc. N. Leon, 137-45, Humboldt, Essai Pol., 155, gives the population in 1803 as low as 29,000. In 1828 the population had increased to 88,793, said to have been due to a large immigration; in 1850 there were 137,070 inhabitants. Dicc. Univ., x. 38. For more details concerning Nuevo Leon for the period under consideration see Ordenes de la Corona, MS., v. 11, 99, 104; Revilla-Gigedo, in Mayer MSS., no. 11, 49-51; Villena ál Regente Romá, MS.; Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 181; Mier-Vida, Aventuras, 3; Alaman, Mej., ii. 96; Not. N. Esp., in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, ii. 19; Gonzalez, in Id., 3da ep., i. 238, 266; Zamacois, Hist. Méj. v 718; vii. 194.
7. The mountainous region so called extends from near Rio Verde in San Luis Potosí to the vicinity of Querétaro, and forms the partido of Cadereita, to-day belonging to the province of Querétaro. Gonzalez, Col. Doc. N, Leon, 335.
8. In 1767 there were nine Indian towns in Sierra Gorda, with an average of over 1,700 families. Soreaino, Prologo, 2. Most of these were founded by Escandon at the time of the pacification. For further details concerning Sierra Gorda affairs see Ordenes de la Corona, MS., iv. 67-70; N. Mex., Cédulas, MS., 250-8, 268-81; Arlegui, Cron. Zac., 122-3; Frejes, Hist. Brev., 238-40; Tamaul., Conversiones, in Maltrat. Ind., no. 20, 1-5; Guijo, Diar., Doc. Hist. Mex., la ser., i. 330, 362; Prieto, Hist. Tamaul., 60-1, 71-8, 101-2; Zamacois, Hist. Méj., v. 373-4,570, 575.
9. A royal cédula for the protection of the Tamaulipas Indians was issued May 25, 1689. Ordenes de la Corona, MS., iv. 67-70. See also Tamaul., Conversiones, in Maltrat. Ind., no. 20, 1-5.
10. Notably by Ladron de Guevara, whose conditions were very extravagant, and excited suspicion concerning his ultimate object in regard to the natives. N. Mex., Cédulas, MS., 250-8.
11. Escandon was appointed September 3, 1746. For the transport of the settlers, soldiers, and other expenses, 115,000 pesos were needed; after that the sum of 29,000 pesos a year was to be paid from the royal treasury. The audiencia at Mexico in 1748 granted the funds, and in 1749 the king ordered an additional sum to be paid to complete the enterprise. Revilla Gigedo, in Instruc. Vireyes, 37-8.
12. This place, then in the jurisdiction of Charcas, was at the time quite a flourishing colony.
13. The site was subsequently changed and the town flourished, counting nearly 600 inhabitants in 1757.
14. The mission Santa María de la Soledad a quarter league east of Santa Bárbara, was given lands by Escandon in the king's name, the same as all the other missions. Pinort, Col. Doc. Mex., 361.
15. According to a statistical report made by the inspector-general José Tienda de Cuervo in 1757, Escandon had founded 24 cities, towns, and villages, with nearly the same number of missions; there were 8,993 inhabitants; 20 missionaries; 3,473 Indians settled in the missions. The stock of the colony consisted of 58,392 horses; 1,874 mules; 24,747 horned cattle, and 288,303 sheep and hogs. The cost of the political and religious administration was 45,095 pesos annually. Hist. Arch. Genl. Mex., liv. Navarro, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da ép., i. 291, gives the area of Nuevo Santander in 1810 as 5,193 square leagues, one partido, 26 curacies, 8 missions, 18 villas, and 11 pueblos; and a population of 56,715, consisting of 14,639 Spaniards, 13,251 Indians, and 28,825 of mixed blood. In Certifn de Ios Mercedes, MS., Pinart, Col. Doc. Mex., 39, the cost of the presidio at Camargo in 1758 is given at 3,225pesos; that of Santander at 32,927 pesos. See also Humboldt, Tab. Estad., MS., 7-40; N. Mex. Cédulas, MS., 303-22; Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, ii. 19. The prospects for agricultural development were very poor, according to a report of Bishop Candamo in 1791. Gonzalez, Col. Doc. N. Leon, 123-25.
16. In 1779 Manuel de Medina was governor of the province, and in 1787 Melclior Vidal de Lorza was appointed. In 1791 and 1799-1800 the conde de Sierra Gorda, probably a son of José de Escandon, is again mentioned as governor, and at the outbreak of Hidalgo's revolution we find Manuel de Iturbe é Irreta at the head of affairs in the province. See Medina, al Regenle Romá, MS.; Gomez, Diar., in Doc. Hist. Mex., 2d ser., vii. 278; Alaman, Mej., ii. 94; Gonzalez, Col. Doc. N. Leon, 153; Dicc. Univ., v. 458; Zamacois, Hist. Mej. vii. 191. In the latter part of the eighteenth century the missions of the custodia of Rio Verde and San Pablo de Michoacan, Tula, Palmillas, Pantano, Jaumave, Llera, Croix, and Güemes belonged politically to the colony of Nuevo Santander, and spiritually to the diocese of Nuevo Leon. Arias, Informe, MS., in Pinart, Col. Doc. Mex., 342. See also Estad. Hist. Ant, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da ep., i. .570.
    The Historia, Geografia y Estadistica del Estado de Tamaulipas por el C. Ingeniero Alejandro Prieto, Mexico, 1873, 4to, pp. 5, 361, map, gives an outline of the history of Tamaulipas from the time of the conquest; the author makes an effort to prove an ancient civilization in that state, based upon some personal researches and a number of relics discovered, with a brief narrative of aboriginal traditions, habits, customs, and religion, touching also in a general way on the historical events of Texas, Nuevo Leon, and Sierra Gorda. Then follows a description of geographical conditions and political divisions, giving, based on statistics, information on the material standing of the country in regard to agriculture, commerce, industries, and general resources. This portion of the work is by far more useful than the historical division; indeed the author does not claim any credit in that direction, and we find but a confused compilation of historical data, scattered about promiscuously with an utter disregard to logical sequence, and clogged by eternal repetitions. Notwithstanding these defects, the author has undoubtedly been painstaking in his researches, both among the ancient ruins of his country, and among authorities which it might be difficult for others to obtain.