Читать книгу The History of Texas - Robert A. Calvert - Страница 40

Presidios functioned as agents for defense by extending the velvet glove to hostile Indian tribes, such as the Apaches, or serving as trading centers and camps where friendly tribes might take refuge among their new Spanish allies. The frontier garrisons also assisted with missionization. Presidio troops tracked down runaway mission subjects, such as the Karankawas in La Bahía, and even undertook expeditions to replace runaways by kidnapping Indians to work in the missions’ households and fields. In such a role, the presidial staffs helped discipline the Indians and keep them in submission, thereby helping the missions maintain a sufficient labor force.

The presidio also served as the scene of much economic and social development. The presidial payroll influenced local economies. Moreover, the forts provided work for common laborers; purchased produce and finished goods from farmers, ranchers, and merchants; and hired the services of artisans. Furthermore, they helped entice people to the frontier by holding out prospects for steady employment and upward social mobility, especially for the poverty stricken or the lower castes. Many of the important Tejano families in the early nineteenth century were descendants of presidial servicemen. Those presidios built in territories far remote from civilian settlements attracted pioneers seeking refuge from an isolated or dangerous life. Sometimes extralegal (unofficial, or unauthorized) settlements sprang up near the more remote forts.