A Pawnee Visit to San Antonio in 1795

Abstract

In the closing decade of the 18th century the frontier provinces of New Spain saw themselves in increasing danger both from within and without. Indian depredations were growing in number and extent of damage, while new Indian groups were pressing into the area. The Americans were on the very borders of Spanish territory and were infiltrating both Louisiana and Texas. The two situations were not unrelated, as Spanish officials were clearly aware. American traders were supplying arms and ammunition to the Indians, thus emboldening them in their hostility to the Spanish. Also, the westward movement of American settlement had disrupted many Indian tribes and forced them across the Mississippi, where they often came into contact with the native Indian groups. The effects of this latter development were being felt far beyond the fortified limits of the Spanish settlements as well; particularly in the Plains the process of tribal disruption, begun much earlier, accelerated during this period. It was against this background that an unusual event, scarcely noticed by historians,l occurred early in 1795. A document in the Archivo General de la Nacion, Mexico,z records a visit to San Antonio, then the seat of government for the Spanish province of Texas, by a group of Pawnees, in company with some Wichitas and Taovayas, in February of that year. The Pawnees