cl,j d,o,n Juan Maria de Ripperdd, Baron de Ripperdd, Colonel of the Cavalry division, Governor and Commandrer,-general of the Province of Texas, New Philippines, its converslons, conquests and frontiers, etc. In the villa of S,a,n Fernando and R,oya,l Pres,idfi,o of S,a,n Antonio de Bexar, on the seventeenth day of the month of October of the year of seventeen hundred and seventy-one^acting before my attesting witnesses in the absence of a notary public or royal for there is none in this province, and writing, on this common paper because there is no stamped paper available, having summoned the Municipal Council of this Villa to meet at the City Hall on the.fifteenth of the present month and year, I read to them the carta-or^de^ from H,is, M,ost, Ex,cellent, s.en=or Viceroy governor and Captain general of this kingdom, as ordered therein. They all stated that they would lv obey 3.t',and they requested a testimony of it// for it to, be used as it would suit their rights best. Immediately, I.agreed toi.ss.ue a testimony o which is as follows: "Let the Municipal.Council be notified about my' order so they will be prepared to contribute to the transportation of materials for the construction of
the barr-acks of the flying cavalry division that garrisons this vxlla, according to the terms proposed in your letter of the 12th of February last. At the same time I disapprove of your behavior and I admonish Y,our, L,ordship, not to provoque the issuance of a serious and regrettable order. May God g,uid^e Yro ur, I,rordship, m.an,y y^ear,s. Mexico,. July 17, 1771. Marques de Croix. :. To setor Baron.de Ripperdd.tt This is a true and legal copy of the original letter which has been filed in the Archives under.my cyiarge..presen,t to.see it transcribed were the wit-: nesses Pedro Flores and Pedro Duran. In witness thereof, I ceitify. S,a,n Ant,oni,o d+exar and Royal Villa of Sea,n Fernando. October seventeenth of the year seventeen hundred and seventy-one. Baron de Ripperdd (Rubri c )
Attesting Witness Joseph Yg=naci,o ONeale tattesting Witness, Antonio de las Barzenas CCC l-lv in E. 1C-17-1771,
8 Headquarters. In view of the testimony presented to me by the Cabildo, Justice ayz d Regiment of this Villa on the seventh day of the present month, and dated on the third day of the said cmonth,, concerning the summons I issued to them on the twenty-ninth of the same, they met at the doors of this City Ha1l' preceding the beat of drums after mass, on a woekday, as customary. I notified them of that cordered, by the Mcos,t Px,eellent, S.enor, Viceroy-governor and Captain-general of this kingdom on the fourteenth day of August last, -which.i hereby repeat. It is of the following tenor; "Having learned about this matter, and foreseeing that the conclusion of the cited public work is important, necessary and of considerable use, I find it justified for the residents to endure this toil. Y,our, Lcordship, shall notify this to them, and shall issue the orders conducive to the proper fulfillment of this order. ": Immediately thereafter,.i ordered for the residents to be notified about this ordinance which consists of.three parts, so the work which has to be done will be distributed equitably among each one that will contribute with their personal work7 cand,
oxen and wagons, those who have them. Only those who do not have them may apply for the flew jobs of master masons and carpenters needed. Because it is of constancy in the said testimonio that the Cabildo met in session outside City Hall thus violating the law--for they cannot allegue ignora'nce since I admonished them about it when I received their proceedings--as well as of congregating the residents-- as it is also of record they did, without preceding the said customary formalities--who should only obey superior orders, as it is only to the Cabildo, Justice and Regiment to enforee them so they will be fulfilled, an d although my order, was not a superior order, for 2 it was issued by virtue of// that which was ordered by His l:cost, Ex,cellent, Viceroy gobgern,or, who disregarded those orders that may have been issued in opposition to it, they may reply to the said superiority. after they have obeyed that which His Exccellenc,y has deemed command. But since they have not.fulf:llled,that which was ordered,, for the extended term has expired, 14 through this my second order,..:command the Ca, Justice and.regiment, that within.:three;.days without failure, they shall enforce and fulfill my first order of the twenty-eighth of last month. They should report to me primarily' the number of, capable
10 residents who do not have oxen and wagons, for the fulfillment of the few jobs of master mason and carpenter that there may be availabl.e, and the number of, those who have oxen or wagons who will apply, for the transportation of materials. rthese materials, as I hereby order, should be drawn out and cut by the soldiers who will be there to work personally as laborers on the reconstruction of the barracks and jail during the s'hort interva.ls their hard work may allow them, and they shall be given to the residents to transport them,. The transportation of the said materials shall 0 begin at the end of the third day. I also, order the said Cabildo, Justice and Regiment to abstain themselves from meeting in session outside this City Hall, because not being lawful^.for me to overlook it, I shall use:my authority to enforce the law, as I would without omitting the present.negligence. I shall neither allow secret meetings of_the residents,. nor for. the Cabildo., to adrnit : complaints which could not`be solidly proven and which lack validity,as some which were signed with their names' including the signature of, those members of, the Cabildo, Justice and Regiment, whom I hold.responsible for everything. I request a testimon:^ of this my second order.
11 0 S,a,n AntGoni,o de Bexar. hundred and seventy-two. October ninth of seventeen Between lines - valid - no. Baron de Ripperdd,DS2-2vinE. 10-17-17?1,
12 Villa of San Fernando, October twelfth of seventeen hundred and. seventy-two..in view of the preceding second, order -which Y6our, I,,ordship, has remitted to us, in which you are 3.ntinidating us for a.second time, to force us to work involuntarily on the construction of, the barracks and jail of this Presidio of.san Antonio, disregarding the replies of the said residents td the decrees Y,our, Lcordship, has remitted to us on the sixth of August and on the twenty-eighth of September last, through which replies these residents are soliciting justice. 0 And notwithstanding the reply to the preceding decree, we state that concerning the order which Yrour, y,ordship, made us publish in the City Hall for it to be of notice of all the residents so they would volunteer, for the jobs, the main residents did not show up, and to those who did not learn about it, we had to take the order and notify it to all, as it was ordered therein, so we could take their names down to make the lists Y6our, Lcordship, has requested from us. After they had understood its content, they stated that they could not volunteer for the job= because it was not a public work as it has been stated in the superior order along with the opinion of the senor judge and of the fiscal judge advocate who have
13 0 stated it so. Since we do not have anything more to reply about this matter, we are remitting to.y,,our, L,ordship, the copies of the said esuperior order, and of the replies of the said cjudge and fiscal, for Y,our, Lcordship, to present them to the Captaincy-general, so they would issue an action to nullify the said superior order.,. Enclosed, we are remitting a copy, in fulfillment of that which Y,our, LGordship, is ordering us, for Ycour, L,ordship, to enfo'ce it on the residents since we cannot, for we know it is not a public work: (as it has been stated by HGis, Exrcellency,), As pioneers of this land, we know that from the beginning of this Presidio and up to the present, it has been customary for the soldiers to do this type 3v of work as part of their duties// as it has been done by the Captain of the Presidio with his troop, who woul.d not h.ave decided to carry on this type of work, if he had had to recourse to the work of the needy. We,also find it unjust for you, to requ.est a copy af everything in order to go to the Captaincygeneral. In regard to that which was stated by Y,our, I,cordship, concerning our meeting outside City Hall, we are replying that we will have our sessions there
14 as soon as Ycour, L,ordship, moves out because it would be against the law, as long as Your, Lordship, is living there, as it is also against the law for.ytour, L,ordsh3.p, to live there permanently. We give this as our reply, on the said day, month. and year, We affixed our.signatures for its validity. Corrected - advocate judge - not valid - between linesoutside of - valid Marc:os de Castro Biz,en,te Alvarez Travieso Franci.s,co Xavier Rgdriguez Ynasio Lorenso Jces,us Jcose,ph Padron Basilio de Armas J,ose,,ph Antttoni,o Curvelo Ignasio Calvillo,DS 3-3v in.b. 10-17-1771,