the troops; and the mode of choosing habilitados and rendering them effective.
It will be unnecessary to dwell here on the presidios of the country north of Durango, as they will be fully treated of in other volumes.[1] The presidios of Monterey and Nayarit were suppressed, placing in lieu of the former two salvaguardias in each of the eight missions of Nuevo Leon, and seven salvagfuardias in lieu of the latter.[2]
It was Rubí's report on the secure condition of Nuevo Leon that induced the suppression of the presidio of Monterey. It was ill-founded, for in 1774 the country was overrun by natives. The comandante of the presidios, Hugo O'Connor, came to the rescue, and a detachment was stationed at Punta de Lampazos,[3] which place was made stronger. Subsequently, in 1783, an attempt was made to increase the force in Nuevo Leon, but Colonel Juan de Ugalde, late governor of Coahuila, strenuously opposed it, as expensive, burdensome in every way, and useless, for Nuevo Leon being in the rear of Coahuila could be of no assistance to other provinces if assailed.[4] The people of Nuevo Leon, however, were all armed. In 1795 there were twenty-two companies of militia well equipped.[5] The total military force in 1786 in the
- ↑ Hist. North Mex. States, i.; Hist. Cal., i.-v.; Hist. New Mex. and Arizona, passim, this series.
- ↑ The reglamento was carried out in Nayarit in 1773, a detachment of the Catalan volunteers placed there, and Pedro Alberni, then a subaltern, made a captain and comandante. A subaltern officer, sergeant, and fourteen privates were also stationed at the mesa de Tonati. Regl. é Instruc. Presid., 127-9; Laba, Informe, in Pinart, Col. Doc. Mex., 208; Nayarit, Informe de la Aud. de Guadal., in Id., 75. In 1792-3 Jalisco and Nayarit were defended by nine companies of dragoons. The governor at San Luis Colotlan was ex officio their commander, and resided at Real de Bolaños. There were two adjutants, one with the governor, and the other at the mesa de Tonati as lieutenant-governor of the province of Nayarit. Revilla Gigedo, Bandos, no. 80.
- ↑ Humboldt, Essai Polit., ii. 812.
- ↑ Ugalde, Doc., MS., 19-24. In 1786, Ugalde, as governor and comandante of Coahuila, Texas, Nuevo Leon, and Santander, materially reduced their force and offered to protect Saltillo and Parras. Instruc., Ugarte, 39-40.
- ↑ The people knew of the king and viceroy only by hearsay. Governors were sent out from Mexico every four or five years, who at the expiration of their terms remained in the country. It was not uncommon to see an ex-governor acting as alcalde or regidor. Gonzalez, Apuntes, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 3a ép., i. 238.
