142

Year- - - - - - - - - of - - - - - - - - - - - 1779

Proceedings relative to the establishment

of a monthly mail in this Province of Texas accor-

ding to the Superior Dispatch from the Se.or Com-

mander General. The Rcoya,l order, the Schedules,

and the Mail routes, the Instructions and the.

Schedule of Charges, have been remitted to this

government for a better management and distribu-

tion of mails. The new, schedules and mail,

routes have been in effect since the 2,Oth of May

of the said year.

•Number 41

Proceedings relative to the establishment of

a Monthly Mail, etc.,

1779

143

I, dron Teodoro de Croix, Knight of Croix of

the Teutonic Order, Brigadier of the Royal Armies,

Second Lieutenant of the Division Flamenca of the

Royal Guards.of Corps, Governor and Commander-general

of the Interior Provinces of New Spain, Superintendant-

general of the Royal Exchequer, etc.

Number 1. Because I am preparing my departure to Sonora

in order to establish my residence in Arispe, I have

become aware that the noticeable absence of a Postal

,CerVice, throughout the provinces comprehended in this

vast territory of this district of the Corr.:mander-general

will hinder the immediate attention that the many and

grave mattors, concerning the serious conditions, of

these provinces require. Keeping in mind the justified

end of the prompt attendance I should give to the ful-

fillment of my obligations, I have resolved to estab-

lish a temporary monthly mail which will r go, from the

Presidio of la Bahia del Espiritu Santo and the Town

of Our Lady of Pilar de Bucarely at the Province oflv

Texas// to the aforesaid Arispe. It shall become

effective on the first day of this coming month of

March: This Postal Service, will facilitate a sure

and prompt dispatch of my orders, and it will give a

fast expedition to the orders issued by this govern-

rrient and by the Army, Justice and Royal Treasury

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Departments. At the same time it will promote business

on the public correspondence of Htis, M,agesty's, happy

vassals, inhabitants of all these vast dominions.

2. For the establishment and accomnlishm.ent of this

highly commendable, useful and absolutely necessary

,Postal Service, the new mail route, shall follow,

(consulting the local proportions of the country for

its best security), the interior border of the Bolson

of Mapimi, going through the towns of the Taraumara

and Prima Indians located at the Sierra Madre. Post

offices or administrations will be established at the

Presidios of. la Bahia del Espiritu Santo and San2

Axitonio de Bexar// corresponding to the Province of

Texas. Post offices will be established also, at

the New Villa of San Fernando, Santa Rosa and Monclova,

corresponding to the Province of , Coahuila. .Also,

at the towns of Parras, Mapimi, Gallo and Cosiguriachic,

which will correspond to the New Viscaya. C-There will

be one, at the Presidio of San h2iguel .de Orcasitas 9..:

and ranother one at, Arispe, Capital of the Province

of Sonora. There will be in addition to all these

,post offices,, the ones already established at

Saltillo, the Valley of San Bartolome, Ch?]4uahua and

the Rea.lof San Antonio de la Huerta.

3. All the qualified military, officers at each of

the Presidios along this route will be in charge of

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the security and distribution of the mail; of the

delivery and receiving of the pouches which they should

cpersonally, open and then close once the letters have

been stamped. When dispatching the mail, these

officers, should fill out a form with, the necessary,

information in the presence of the people conducting

the mail, using as attesting witnesses the Captains,

Majors or any other officer._ The Father Priest of the

Presidio should ^act as such, in the absence of every-

one of these officers,.

^t. The administration of these newly erected Post2v

offices// will be under the charge of the people ad-

ministrating the other offices, of the R,oya,l Ex-

chequer, leaving those already established under the

charge of their actual administrators.

5. In order for the people in charge of the, admin-

istration of the new post offices, and those qualified

offieers.to act with the necessary knowledge, the

Administrator of Saltillo, d,o,n Josef Pereyra de

Castro, will immediately remit the necessary instruc-

tions to those of the Province of Texas, Coahuila and

the Town of Parras, which are being considered here as

subordinate to that Province, of Saltillo. In the

same manner, the adrninistrator, of Durango, deo,n Juan

Jose de Escobar, will instruct those administrators,

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at Idfapimi and el Gallo. The administrator of,

Chihuahua, d,o,n Josef Suares, =will instruct, those

at the Presidios of this Province and Fi.,eal of

Cosiguriachicg and the one at, Atrispe will instruct

those, at C,a,n Miguel de Orcasitas, the h .eal, of

S,a,n Antonio de la Huerta and the Presidios of that

frontier.

6. Each. Presidio should have their owm; seal or

,,stamp,, and their own pouch. The subaltern officers3

should promptly fulfill// every order received from

their respective maib administrators, as it is being

done at the other Post Offices. This procedure, will

contribute to a faster establishment of this Postal

System, to the surest delivery of it to its destination,

and to the collection of postal revenue. On these

occasions' the appointed officers of the presidios will

proceed according to the notices remitted to them by

the main administrators.

'7. The letters addressed to the Capital of the New

Kingdom of Leon or to San Luis Potosi should be sorted

out at the Villa of Saltillo, and worked into the main

relay of the mail from Cuen:came, Pasage and P.io Nazas

at the town of el Gallo. The, administrators from

these regions, should report to me whether they think

it necessary, to establish more subordinate post offices,

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•

in any other place.

^. Since on its return to Sonora, the sealed envelopes

and letters with destination to Durango will be left

at the Hacienda de la Zarca, the administrator of that

city should appoint a responsible person to receive

them, and to Ikeep this pouch of mail, and their own

pouch locked, until the ordinary mail from Coahuila

picks it up for delivery on their return.

9. The letters and sealed envelopes will be stamped3v

by the// administrator according to the tariff re-

mitted to them by their respective main administrators.

,,This tariff, has been already established.throughout

New Spain.

10. At the post office of the place of my residency

the sealed envelopes and letters coming from the Office

of the Secretary ,of State and of War of the General

Office of the Commander will be temporar:.,^ly stamped

with a postpaid stamp in order to save postage ex-

penses to those whom these are addressed to.

ll.The same franchise will be given to call letters,

received at the aforesaid departments. The letters,

concerning non-official matters among members of

these departments, should be separated, and postage

should be paid by the interested parties when re-

ceiving their, letters, with the understanding that

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in the absence of fulfillment of this circumstance,

the letters will not be delivered.

The same regulations concerning the aforementioned

franchise will be1+applied to sealed envelopes and

official letters//,, remitted or received by the In-

spector Commander to or from, his assistants or sub-

inspector ad interim, and from the provincial governor

to the Commander, Captains and the other officers of

the Presidios and of the Flying Divisions, and to the

Commanders and Military officers. This franchise will

not be extended to any other military member.

12.. Because it was reported to me that the revenue of

this establishment was not going to be enough at the

beginning to pay the salaries of hired, carriers,

these will be temporarily chosen among the soldiers

from the divisions stationed at, the border in the

following manner.

13. The soldiers of the Presidios of Texas and Coahiu.la

will carry the mail up to the iminediate post office,.

The detachment of the New Villa of San Fernando of

Austria will supply carriers to go to the Valley of

Santa Rosa. The detachment, from this valley will

go, up to the Villa of Santiago de la Monclova, and the

one stationed at this Capital will go,-to the

Capital of, Saltillo. Because there is no detachment

149

sstationed, here, four soldiers will be appointed to

carry the mail, alternatively on their way up to the

town of Parras, to carry the mail, up to the Real

de Mapimi, from where it will continue from one de-

tachment to the next until it arrives to the Villa of

Chihuahua. From herej the mail, will be dispatched

with two militiamen to the town of Cosigeriachic, and

with two others of the same rank, it should continue

to the Mission of Temaychi.

14. The transportation of the pouches by the troop

will cease there. The pouches, will be then carried

frorn.town to town by their respective Indians under

,the care, of the officers of the law, and where there

were no Indians,, the ones under the care of the

Reverend Father Missionaries should be called upon to

go up to the R,ea,l of San Antonio.dE la Ruerta and,

the Mission of Santa Rosalia with the understanding

that the carriers will be paid a salary covering their,

two-way trip. From the said Mlission of S,an^a Rosalia,

the mail will be carried by the soldiers from the5

Presidio of S,a,n Miguel// de Orcasitas to Arispe.

15. Absolutely no carrier from the Presidios as well

as from the main relay should carry letters outside

the pouches and without reporting them at the next

post office, even then they were given to them by the

0

captains or the officers of the law. But if on the

road, at the haciendas or places along their route

vihere there are no post offices, the carriers, were

to receive some Cletters,, they -vrill be allowed to

take them and carry them up to the immediate post

office where they should be delivered to its adminis-

trator.

16. Every time ,the carriers, arrive to a place where

there is a post office, they should go directly to it

without wandering into any other governmental office,

even though the governor'of the Province or some other

military or civil officer lives at that place; nor

should they.stop on the streets to deliver the mail

when any of these officers request it.

17. The appointed officers, the main postal, adminis-

trators and the subaltern postal. administrators, will

be subjected to everything ruled by the R,oya,l In-

struction of September 27, 1761, and the orders of

July 23, 1762. Opportunely, they will receive the

necessary copies, of these ord:ers along with the

respective instructions from the General Administrator

of the Post 0ffice Department of New Spain, d,o,n

Domingo Antonio Ldpez residing in Mexico.

18. In order that all these resolutions would be

punctually observed, fulfilled and executed, for they

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are of interest to the service of the King and to the

public welfare of these Provinces, let them, be pub-

lished at each one of the places which have been

selected for the establishment of Postal Offices at

the Presidios along the border, and at the Capitals6

of the Provinces, and at their respective// jurisdic-

tions, remitting copies to the governors, provisional

sub-inspect©r, captains of Presidios, and officials

of the law, so each one will apply their zeal and

efficiency by giving the proper, orders for the suc-

cess of this establishment. Finally, I strongly ad-

vise the aforesaid officers of the law, owners and or

managers of the ranches whom are to assist the carriers

with everything they should need to help them so not.

to impede the prompt expedience of the mail.

It would be very disappointing to me to have to

recourse to rigorous and justified means in order to

punish any slowness and violations, which I believe

will not occur if everyone, realizes the important

benefits this Postal iystem., will bring.

Given at Chihuahua].. February 15, 1779.

The Knight of Croix

(Rubric)

9 Antonio Bonilla

(Rubric) D5. 1-6 in F.l2- l0- l 7'71,

152

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9

oya,l Presidio of San Antonio de Bexar

April 30, 1779

Having seen the preceding Superior Dispatch from

the Seio,r Commander Gene,ral of these Interior

Provinces of New Spain concerning the establishment

of a monthly mail route, in this Province, of Texas,

7et it be published by proclamation so it will be of

knowledge to everyone concerned with its fulfillment,

,publish_i.ng, along with it, the Royal Decree from

His, M,agesty„ (may God keep Him), which establishes

the punishment that will be given to anyone who should

force open the pouches pf mail „ their locks or buckles.

After this Royal Decree has teen published,, a

copy certified by me should be given to the appointed

,admin.istrator, of this Royal Presidio because impor-

tant matters such as, these should be of knowledge to

him since he has been appointed by the se2zor Commander-

General to carry out this assignment. In the same

manner, copies should be taken of these aforementioned,

documents and of all the others which have.been.re-

mitted concerning these matters, and they should be

sent to the Commandant of the Presidio of la Bahia del

Espiritu Santo for him to pass them over to th.eir

appointed administrator,. The original of this dis-

1. 5 3

epatch will be remitted to him so he will publish it by

proclamation. A copy of it should be taken to be filed

in the archives under his charge,' following on the

.original, an acknowledgment of his fulfillment.

Immediately after having learned about the loca-

tion of the Town of, Bucarelli, j ordered, these

documents to be remitted to Captain don Antonio Gil

Ybarbo, Lieutenant of Justice and War of the afore-

said town because he has been appointed to be in charge

of the. administration of mails at the said place,.

Dom,ing,o Cabello

(Rubric )

,DS. 6v-7 in E.12-10-1771,

154

SR,oya,l Pres,idi,o of S,a,n Ant,oni,o de Bexar

May 1, 1779,

The preceding Superior dispatch has been published

at this aforesaid Royal Presidio of San Antonio de

Bexar, according to that which was ordered in the pre-

ceding decree. For its record, I am placibg this as

part of these proceedings. I,certify ite

Cabello

(Rubric)

04

,DS. 7 in E.12-10-1771,

9

155

07v

In the Royal Presidio of la Bahia del// Espiritu

Santo, on the ninth day of the month of May of the

year of, seventeen hundred and seventy-nine, in view

of that which was ordered by the sEefi,or Governor of

this Province in the preceding order, the aforesaid

Superior Dispatch was published by proclamation.

,Fulfillment was also given to, that which was ordered

by His Lordship about filing a certified copy of it

for its record and for its punctual fulfillment. It

is dated as above.

Eugenio Fernandez

(Rubric)

,DS. 7-7v in E.12-10-1771,

I

R,oya,l Pres,,idi,o of Cra,n Ant,oni,o de Eexar^

May 20, 1779

In view that the Commander Of the R,oya,l Pres,idi,o

of la Bahia del Espiritu Santo has returned to this

government the preceding, Superior Dispatch after he

had carried out all the proceedings ordered in my decree

of the thirtieth day of April last, j hereby order, to

add in succession, the seven documents of this Instruc-

tion, Schedules of routes and of charges remitted by8

the s etor Commander-General, for the// building and

the establishment of a monthly mail route, from this

Province ,of Texas, up to the city of Arispe on the

,Province, of Sonora, in order that the necessary

arrangements will be made for their fulfillment.

Domingo Cabello

(Rubric)

eDS. 7v-8 in E.12-10-1771,

157

,Portfolio, Number 2

Having the King learned through the report

from the setor, Assessor of the Postal Revenue of the

seventh day, of last month enclosed in Y,our, .Lord-

ship's, letter of the eighth day, of the same month,

that the proc.eedings approved as of today concerning

the improvement of the postal system for a better

security of the public's mail do not establish the

punishment which should be imposed on those who should

force open the mail'pouches, their locks or buckles,

he has decided that the noblemen who should commit

such a grave transgression, shall te punished with a

one thousand ducats fine and ten years in prison; and

the plebeian, with two hundred lashes and ten years

.forced labor in a mine or arsenal.

I am notifying this to Y,our, Ltordship, in ful-

fillment of His, MGagesty's, order and for Ytour,

knowledge, so Ytour, L,ordship, would order this new

Royal Decree to be added to the preceding, ordinances

from.the Postal, Revenue, in order that this will

become of knowledge to those to whom this may concern.

,May, God k:,ee,p Y6our, L.ordship, m=an,y y,ear,s.

Aranjuez, on the twenty-second day of the month of

158

May of the year of seventeen hundred and sixty-eight.

Marques de Grimaldi

9To the S^eYSo,res administrators-general of the Postal//

Revenue

c C . 8-9 in E.

12-10-17713

9

159

9

This is a copy taken from the original Royal

Order recorded on the Ledgers of the General Bursar

Office of the Postal Revenue and post officess which

H,is, MEagesty, has established, throughout Spain

and throughout, the Indies, now, under my charge.

In witness thereof, I certify.

Madrid, on the twenty-fourth day of May of the

year of seventeen hundred and sixty-eight.

Julian L6pez de Ayllon

(Rubric)

r CC . 9- 9v in E.12-10-1771,

160

0The preceding, cop;y- agree+ith its oriplinal

presented at this Secretaryship by order of the

setor Commander-General, the Postal administrator of

this Villa9 don Josd Suarez.-,

Chihuahua, February 15, 1779.

Antonio Bonilla

(Rubric)

^CC. 9v in E.12-10-1771,

161

0R,oya,1 Presidio of S,a,n Ant,oni,o de Bexar

April 30, 1779

In view of this R,oya,l order and for its proper

fulfillment, let this be published by proclamation

jor it to be of knowledge, of those to whom this may

concern so no one would allegue ignorance of the

punishments which His, Magesty,, (may God keep Him)'

is imposing on the transgressors who should tbreak

into, the mail pouches.

After this is done, let copies certified by me

be taken so they will be sent to the appointed ,ad-10

ministrators, of thzs Royal Presidio// of la Bahia

del Espiritu Santo, and to the Lieutenant of Justice

and War of the town of Hucareli,

Domingo Cabello

(Rubric)

,DS. 9v-10 in E.12-10-1771,

162

0

Rzoya,l Pres,idi,o of a,a,n Ant,on3,o de Bexar.

May 1, 1779

The preceding decree was published as of today,

according to that ordered in the preceding order. And

so it will be of record' I placed it as part of these

proceedings which I certified.

Cabello

(Rubric)

,DS. 10 in E.12-10-1771,

0

163

ejortfolio, Number 3

Instructions which should be observed by the ap-

pointed military deputies of these Presidios, concern-

ing the administration of the Postal Branch under my

charge.

l.

Immediately after the arrival of each courier, the

,mail, pouch should be opened, and the number of letters

and sealed envelopes contained therein should be counted.

A separation should be made of the single, the double,

and the triple jetters,, and of the packages. The

number of pieces, and their postage should then be

checked against the bill of lading to see if it con-

forms with that quoted the latter,q which should

be the voucher for the aforesaid accounting book.s.

where this information, should be recorded.

2.

If there were to be any discrepancies in the

charges, a notation to this effect should be made

on the bill of lading,--if an undercharge, the dif-

ference should be, claimed, or a charge should be

made, to whom the original, charge was made or

gave the credit,, on their letters of future expedi-

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tion; if there is an undercharge from the one quoted

on the bill of lading} the difference, should be

credited on their next mail. Corrections should be

avoided on the accountinga books and on the bills

of lading because these corrections, will make

doubious the honorability which should characterise

the individuals serving in all of His, M,agesty's,

agencies, especially in one such as this where indi-

viduals of the upmost integrity are required.

llvPresidio// should be promptly delivered to him, and

the required Postage should be collected. Exceptions

should be made of the postage due, on the sealed

envelopes and the official correspondence:.

3•

Immediately after the separation of the mail,

has been completed in the aforesaid man.ner, y the mail

addressed to the Captain or to the Conmander of this

-r •

In.order to better serve the public, the

appointed nastal administrator should give prompt

and careful attention to the delivery, of the letters

and sealed envelopes brought by the'post couriers,

delivering the mail at anJ hour of the day in which

it may be requested by the public,. The Captain or

16 0

ethe Commander cannot revoke this ordinance unl.ess he

has a superior order to this respect. In the event

that an iuiportant order should come through the mail,

its content should not be published Cor revealed,

until it convenes best to the Royal Service. The

Postal Administrator should be notified in writing to

this respect, in.order that he would suspend the c-Le-

livery of the letters to the public vntil receiving

a new order changing thf;se circumstances. Butf the

order is given, verbally, the postal clerk, is not

required to notify the Captain, nor the Co^,.n^ander,, .

following in this case,, the general procedure estab-

lished by His iviagesty's general ordinances for the

post office. The Postal Administrator should report

tall the above mentioned, cases directly to my superior

government sending an official copy to the Captain or

to the Comrn.ander in order to certify whether these

orders were or were not, officially given.

5.

The entries of the mail charges, should follow

the same order of the route schedules previously

remitted, not allowing the Captain or the Commander

to change the order of the affixed schedule.

Anyone desiring to insure, or what is the same,

166

to certify ,any, sealed envelooes or letters shall pay

up to one peso on duties for each single letter and

two pesos for each weighinb, one ounce, plus the

,regular, postage due according to the tariff. The

.sealed envelopes exceeding one ounce will be charged

with two esos plus the postage due in proportion to

the we.loht stated on the said tariff, cchanging in

other words„ the duties due on the postage and on the

certification.

7. o

The space where the clerk, should stamp all the

letters when ai spatching them, is on the blank space

available on the paper in order not to blur the na.me

of the addressee written on the said letter, or on the

sealed envelope. cAll the letters or sealed envelopes,

except the single ones should be weighed, and a nota-

tion should be made on the back of it in the following

manner; those weighing, 3/4 of an ounee, l_f; those

of one and one half ounce, 1 1/2 -;, etc. This nota-

tion, will facilitate the proper charge which ought to

be stamped on the face of the written envelope as soon

as the mail, is scheduled to leave. Tmmediately

thereafter,, all the letters should be counted, and the

charges should be entered in an accounting book under

167

the following heading. For example: "The Postall2v

Administrator of an Carlos// is dispatching this mail

to the North. The mail from this post office, left

for the Presidio of the North on such a date, of such

a month. An itinerary, as to the destination of the

letters and sealed en^elopes cited below is being

enclosed.

=Wi.th destination, to the North.

Silver reales

5o many single letters, their postage, 0000.00

so many reales . . . . . . . . .

Ite3n, douule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0000.00

Item, triple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0000.00

0

Item, so many sealed envelopes, their

weight in ounces, so many silver

reaLes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0000.00

Today's total postage fee of the mail with

destination to the Post Office of the North is of so

many silver reales..1'

Immediately thereafter, a bill of lading should

be issued on one taartilia or on half a sheet of

paper in the following manner:

"My dear Sir: I am re^^itting to Ycour, T,rordship,

so many sealed envelopes and letters with destination

168

to that post office. The total postage fee for them

is of so many silver reales, of which you should

acknowledge the corresponding receipt. May God keep

Y,our, L,ordship, m,an,y y,ear, s, Royal Presidio of

Sra,n Carlos. tDated, on such a day, of such amonth

and year. Ycour, M,ost, humble and devoted servitor.

Ke ar.rie of the addresser,, don so and so, t*

This bill of lading or carta de aviso, should

be placed on top of the sealed envelopes. It should

not be enclosed in an envelope but folded and addressed

in the following manner: "From San Carlos to the North."13

Immediately thereas"ter a package should be made and

it should be carefully tied. This package should be

placed inside the mail pouch, which should be locked

with a key so the people's business entrusted to the

,post office, will not be exposed to the arbitration

of the courier.

The Postal Administrator from the North will in

turn do the same concerning their mail addressed, to

San Carlos, keeping a separate record in the same

manner for each trip of the correspondence which they

should remit to the Post Office of San Carlos,.

Separately, he should make an entry on their raccount,^-_

book of the Email, which is being remitted to the Post

Office of San Carlos, and about its itinerary. The

169

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same regulations should be observed with all the mail

trips with destination to the other Presidios, making

each time a separate entry.. When dispatching the mail,

a package should be made of all the mail going, to

the North, and another one with all the mail, not,

addressed to that post office. A notati.on about this

should be made on the bill of lading.

For that post office, so rnany letters and

sealed envelopes, so many reales ... . 0000.00

Item, for the other post offices, ofthese

Provinces, so. many sealed envelopes

and l et t er s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0000 . 00

The number of pieces of mail, and the postage

due on all the mail coming in or leaving each post

offzce, should be recorded in their respective account-

ing books, in order to know at any time the exact

amount of the revenue produced by each establishment,

and in order, to see whether or not this revenue

will cover the expenses for its future support.

9.

Every four months, the official Postal Administrators

should make a report on the revenue and expenditures of

the different classes of post offices under their

charge, 9 and they should send it through the mail to

170

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dro,n Jos6 Suares at the Main Post Office in Chihuahua9

. so he will in return remit it to the General Adminis-

trator of the Revenue, don Domingo Antonio Ldpez, who

shall send me a copy of the said report, etc.

10.

The letters tipjhich the soldiers, post courier, or

any other ^courier, might receive along their route,

should be delivered at the next post offlce so that

they will be placed inside the pouch, separating,

those addressed to the residents of.that -particular

Presidio. - This package should be labeled "Letters

delivered by the courier.t° These post couriers are

strictly forbidden to deliver the letters on their

own 'authority,.

The Postal Admio^^istrators are entreated to show,

their zeal concerning this matter.

The Postal 1' .dministrators' Grants and

Franchise on their letters

11.

The official Postal Administrators will act ac-

cording to the notices or Instructions remitted to

them by the Postmaster General, d,o,n Domingo Ldpez,

and by the one of Chihuahua, don Jos6 Suares,//,con-

171

cerning, the administration of this Postal Branch.

12.

Finally, the Postal Administrators will enjoy ^

a fee, that is, the eight percent of the entire

revenue produced by the post offices under their

cha^ge9 after deducting the postage due on.rhe surplus

:rn, ail .

Chihuahua. -rebruary 15, 1779.

The Knight of Croix

(Rubric)

0

,DS. 11-14 in E.l2-zo-i771,

172

Notice which affixes the rdifferent, classes of post

couriers who will be employed in the transportation of

the mail of this New Postal Branch, established along

the Provinces of this Go-ml.andancy General of New

Spain until this office, receives a steady revenue

that will cover its corresuonding expenditures. The

places where the said couriers will stop to change

horses have been established herein in order to avoid

any delays along this route.

Mail route from the Province

of Texas to the Presidio of

Rio Grande.

Because of the great distance from the town of

Our Lady of Pilar de Bucareli and the lack of ^popu-

lation, of that new settlement due to, its deserted

areas, the monthly mail cannot be established there,

but whenever necessary it ought to be carried by its

own citizens.

The mail pouch from the Presidio of la Bahia del

Espiritu Santo will be transported by two soldiers to

the Cibolo Creek, and from 't;here, by two other soldiers

from that detachment to the Presidio of Sa,n Antonio

de Bexar.

The correspondence, from this Presidio of Bcxar^'

173

15vwill be transported to Rio Grande// under the regular

escort of one corporal and six soldiers, or under

the escort, of 25 men,, as it has been previously

done when there had been attacks from the enemy Indians.

Mail routes. of the Four Presidios of Coahuila.

After the mail arriving from the Province of Texas

has been added to the mail pouch from Rio Grande, it

should be sent with two soldiers to the first post

office located at the New Villa of S_,a,n Fernando

where this mail pouch should wait to transport the

correspondence coming from Arispe. This will be

carried, by two other soldiers from the detachment of

the said Villa.

The same should be done for the Mails, from.

Monclova and Agua Verde.

The mail from la Bahia should be sent with.two

soldiers to the Valley of Santa Rosa, and from this

detachment, two other soldiers will be assigned for

the return of their correspondence.

General jjail Eroute^in to Arispe

The mail pouch from the New Villa of Sran

Fernando will be carried up to the Valley of Santa

Rosa by two soldiers of their detac1Lment. jh6se

will not, stop to change horses because of the lack

of posts along this twenty-four league stretch.

174

e

•

,The mail pouch, from the Valley of Santa Rosa

,will be carried, by two other soldiers of their

detachment who will get a fresh set of horses at the

Ranch of La Casita or at El 1°apado. They should go

up to the Villa of Monclova.

,The corres;oondence, from this Villa of T?ionclova,

will be carried by two other soldiers from the detach-

ment of Castatos. They should go up, to Saltillo

stopping to change horses at the Ranch ccalled, Anelo

or at the, Hacienda de Mesillas.

Two soldiers from the third flying division will

be assigned for the transportation of the mail, of

Saltillo to the Town of Parras. They will have a fresh

set of horses at the Hacienda de la Peta. Two other

soldiers of their own division will transDort the

nail, to Mapimi stopping for horses at San Juan de16v

Casta.//

The mail pouch from Mapimi will be transported by,

two soldiers from this detachment to the town of El

Gallo without rgetting, fresh horses.

The ^mail, from El Gallo, ditto, up to the de-

tacr .ment of Cerro Gordo getting a fresh.set of horses

at the Hacienda la Zarca.

From Cerro Gordo to the Valley of San Bartolom69

ditto, getting a new set of horses at the estancia

175

O

of Rio Florido.

The mail, from San Hartolomd will be transported

to Chihuahua by two soldiers from that division of the

Provinsial de Dragones. They will have a fresh set of

horses at Conchos and at the Hacienda of San Lucas.

The mail, from ^hihuahua with destination, at

Cosiguriachic will be carried by two other soldiers from

the m.ilit;ia of the Prince. These will change horses

at Santa Isabel or at the Valley of Carretas.

The mai1, from Cosi.guriachic with destination,

at lem.aychic will be transported, by two other militia

men from their company.

From Temaychic to Paguerachi, the mail should be

carri ed, by two Indians.17

From Paguerachi to Tomochic//

From Tomochic to Totoaca

From Totoaca to Yepachic.Item

Ii- iFr n Y t ^^ iepaco.U c o a ocova

From Maiocova to Yecbra

From Yecora to the R,eal, o

The Holy Trinity

From the Real of the Holy Trinity to the Leal, of

San Antonio de la Huerta, the mail will be carried by

two citizens. These will change horses at Milpillas.

The mail pouch of S,a,n Antonio de la Huerta,

Qrwill be carried, by two other residents up to Santa

Rosalia Mission. They will get a fresh set of horses

at i4azatan.

At Santa Rosalla, there will be four soldiers

from the Presidio of Orcasitas, two of them changing

horses at 5,a,n Josef Garcia when transporting the

mail pouch the said Presidio.

From.0rcasitas to Arispe the mail will be trans-

ported, by two other soldier's from the same Presidio

of rflrcasitas,. They should stop at Ures and at Con-

cepci6n for a fresh set of horses..

Mail Returning_from Ariae

All the mail carriers of the going mail to Arispe,

will wait for the mail pouches of the returning cmail,l7v

from Arispe with the exception of the residents// from

the Real of the Holy Trinity and of San Antonio de la

Huerta. The Indians from the Missions will go bac^,. as

soon as they deliver their mail pouches. Of the four

soldiers from the Presidio, of Orcasitas who should

be at Santa Rosalia Mission, two will transport the

mail pouch returning to 5an Antonio de la Huerta,

stopping at Mazatan for a fresh set of horses..

^, o t e

The mail from the Presidios will be transported

by the troop as it has been done up.to date.

Schedule for the two-way route to be followed by the

new monthly mail scheduled to go, from la Bahia del

Espiritu Santo in the Province of Texas to Arispe in

Sonora.

,Portfolio, Number 5 The correspondence from la

Bahia del Espiritu aanto,

the Town of Bucareli, the Cibolo Detachment, and the

Missions of the Province of Texas should be sent on time

so it will arrive on the 19th of every month, at the

Presidio of San ,Antonio de Bexar.

After all the correspondence from this Province

has been gathered at Bexar,, the post courier, will

leave indefectibly on the 20th so the mail will arrive

on the penultianate day of each month at the Presidio

of Rio Grande. They will be aecompanied.by a large or

by a small escort, as needed, according to the latest

reports of the attacks of the enemy rTndians,. At Rio

Grande the Corporal of this - escort will receive the

letters addressed to the Province of Texas which he shall

bring on his return to Bexar,.

,All, the letters from the Presidios of Rio Grande,

Monclova and Agua Verde; Missions of the Primero de18v

Vizarron// and Peyotes; Villa of Gigedo and nearby

ranches will leave on the last day of each month, in

order to arrive on the same day to the New Villa of

179

®

0

Sca,n Fernando.

In the afternoon of the same last day of the

month,, the mail will leave the PresidNof la Bahia

in order to arrive at the Valley of Santa Rosa at dawn

on the 2nd day of the month,...

First day of the m.onth,. Every first day of the

month at noon, the courier will leave to the Villa of

San Fernando in order to arrive at the Valley of Santa

Rosa at dawn on the second day. (This is a deserted

24leagues stretch of land).

Second day,. Immediately after all the mail from

the residents of this Valley, and rall, the correspon-

dence from the Presidio of la Bahia have been introduced

in Imail pouch, the couriers, ought to leave with it,

on the second day of the month, at nine o'clock in

the morning in order to arrive at the Villa of Monclova

at dawn on the third day of the month,. (34leagues).

Third and Fourth days,. By the third day of the

month.,, all the mail from the other Villas, Towns,

Missions and Haciendas of the Province of Coahuila

ought to be gathered at this Capital of Monclova, in

order to leave this Ca;;_ital at ten o'clock in the

::"ornzng on the third Cday of the month,. Goin^through

the Haciendas of Castafios, Anelo andMesillas9. the post

couriers, ought to arrive at the Villa of Saltillo at

m

•

dawn on the fifth day of the month,. (50 leagues).

Fifth and sixth days,. The couriers, will leave

Saltillo at the noon hour of the fifth day. Going

through-the Haciendas of Patos, Castatuela and Pata

Galana, they ought^,to arrive at Parras in the evening

.of the 6th rday of the month,. (32 leagues).

,The couriers, will stop here for no more than one

hour and by going through the Hacienda de la Pef1a they

ought to arrive at the Town of the Alamo at eight

o'clock in the morning of the following day, that is,,

on the 7th. (20 leagues).

7th and 8th. Without stopping and going through

the Hacienda of Los Hornos and the Ranch of S,a,n Juan

de Casta, t the rrlail, ought to arrive at the Real de

Mapimi on the afternoon of the 8th day,. (43 leagues)

At sunset of the same day, _,the cou.riers, will

leave Mapimi in order to, arrive at the town of El

Gallo at da-vni on the 9th t day, . (lb leagues).

9th. By the 9th,, the correspondence from

Cuencame z. .P.asage, Rio Nasas, etc., ought to be already

gathered at El Gallo,. It will be placed inside the

mail pouch, and the couriers will leave at nine o'clock

in the morning on this same day. They ought to arrive

at the Hacienda de la Zarca at sunset. (14 leagues).

0

,At La Zarca, the couriers, will leave the mail

with destination to Durango or nearby points to be

picked up by the weekly mail of Chihuahua on their19v

return..// The couriers, will sto-p here for not more

time than that required for this ^purpose,. They ought

to continue their route so they, will arrive at the

Presidio Reformado of Cerro Gordo at dawn on the 10th.

(12 leagues).

10th. At eight o' clock in the morn:Lng' the

couriers,.wil1 leave this point,, and going through

the ^stancia of Rio Florido, they ought to arrive on

the llth at the Valley of San Bartolom6. (18 leagues).

11th, 1_2th and 13th. The couriers, will stop

here for one hour, and they, ought to depart in

time, to arrive at Chihuahua on the 13th in the morning.

(60 leagues).

14th. By this day, all the correspondence from

the Presidios of Sea,n Saba, San Carlos, North, Principe,

C,a,n Llezario Carrizal, Janos and Princesa; towns of

El Paso, S,a,n Ruenav&ntura9 etc.,ought to be collected

at this Villa. r.This mail, will be transported to

Chihuahua according to the respective Iroute, schedules

placed at the end of these decrees,. The mail pouch

from Chihuahua will leave on the 13th in the evejIng

so it will arrive at the Real of Cosiguriachic on the

14th in the evening. ( 28 leagues).

iVT.T".J The post couriers will leave imnediately

from Cosigt,iriachic, and going through

Cerro Prieto they ought to arrive at the Mission of

Temachic at dawn on the 15th. (10 leagues)

15th. ,The carriers, will immediately leave at

eight o'cloc-k on the same day in order to arrive at20

Paqverachic Mission on the 15th. (lQ leagues.)//

The couriers, will immediately depart from this

point, so the mail, will arrive at Tomochic Mission

on the 16th. ( 9 leagues).

16th. The couriers, will continue their trip

without stopping until they arrive to Totoaca hi-ission

on the evening of the same day. (16 leagues).

From here, they will continue to Yepachic ^Mission,,

(6 leagues) and then, to Maycora cI`Iission, where

they will arrive on the 17th at. seven o'clock.in.the

morning. ( 9 leagues).

17th. Without stopping, the couriers will con-

tinue, through Yecora Mission,,(10 leagues), in

order to arrive at the Real of la Trinidad on the

evening of the same day.. ( 6 leagues).

18th. The couriers, will stop here for half

an hour, and going through Milpilla, they, ought to

arrive at the Real of San Axitonio de la Huerta on the

183

evening of the 18th day. (28 leagues).

19th and 20th. After the couriers, have picked

up the mail at this post office, the;, ought to leave

at dawn on the 19th. They should go through Soyapa,

(6 leagues); and from Llano Colorado (7 leagues), to

Tviazatan, (8 leagues); then, to Sran,ta Rosalis. (19

,leagues,); and through, S,a,n Joseph de Garcia, (8'

jeagues,',9 they ought to arrive at the Presidio of

San Miguel de Orcasitas, (9 leagues),at dawn on the 21st.

21st. and 22nd. In the afternoon of the r2lst,21

the couriers, will depart from Orcasitas in order to//

arrive at Ures on the 22nd at dawn, (10 leagues); ^to,

la Concepcion, (20 leagues); to, }3abiacora, (3); to, Aconchi;

(3); to, Valle de Sonora, (1); to, Guepaca, (2); ^,4:to,

Banamichi, (31); to, Sinoquipe, (4); and to, Arispe,(7).

Return

1st. and 2nd. The carriers, will leave at noon

in order to arrive at Orcasitas on the 3rd in the

evening.

3rd. and 4th. Leaving Orcasitas on the third

the carriers, ought to arrive a;,a,n Antonio de la

Huerta on the 4th.

5th. They Taill arrive, at dawn at the hea.l of

la Trinidad and in the evening at Maycora.

6th. Item. At dawn in Totoaca and in the evening

at Tomochic.

e7th. Item. At dawn in Paquerachic and in the

evening at Temaichic.

8th and 9th. Item. On the 8th at dawn in Cosiguriachic,

in order to arrive at Chihuahua on the 9th in the

morning.

10th, llth and 12th. The carriers then, will

arrive at the valley of S,a,n Rartolo6e on the 12th at

dawn.

13th. Item,, at dawn in Cerro Gordo, and at21v

five o'clock in the afternoon, at La Zarca//

14th. rItem,,in , the evening at Mapimi.

15th. Item,, at dawn in the town of the Alamo.

16th. E Item, , in the eve ni.n g at Parras.

17th and 18th. ^Item,, at dawn of the 18th day

at Saltillo.

19th and 20th. rItem,, at dawn of the 20th at'the

Villa of Monclova.

21st. rItem, at dawn in the Valley of Sran,ta Rosa.

22nd. Item, at dawn in the Villa of S,a,n Fernando.

Relays of the Presidios of Vizcaya up to Chihuahua

First Division

From the Presidio of Janos, the couriers, will

leave on the 8th. Goin.g, through Casas Grandes, they

ought to arrive at the Presidio of la Princesa on the

;^th at dawn.

185

SThe couriers, will immediately leave this Pre-

sidio, and r goi.ng, through the Valley of S,a,n Buena-

ventura, they ought to arrive at the Hacienda del

Carmen de Pena Blanca on the 10th at dawn. From here

they should continue without stopping in order to

arrive at Chihuahua on the 12th in the evening.

Second Dvisl.on.^.- ^

9

0

TheThe carriers will leave the Presidio of San Saba//

in the morning of the 8th of each month in order to be

at Sra,n Carlos on the 9th at dawn.

On this day at noon the couriers, will leave

ita,n Carlos, and they ought to arrive at the Presidio

de1. ^.Torte on the 10th at dawn.

The correspondence from the Presidio del Principe

will be sent on the same day, the 9th, in order to

arrive also at the Presidio del lvorte on the 10th at

dawn.

After all the mail from the four Presidios has

been collected, the couriers, will leave at nine

o'clock in the morning of the 10th in order to arrive

at Chihuahua in the evening of thel2th.

Third Division. Province of New Mexico

The post couriers will leave the Town of El Paso

on the 8th day at noon, and they ought to arrive at

the Presidio of S,an Elezeara.o on the 9th at dawn.

186

0

Ir

The carriers will leave this Presidio, and without

stopping, they ought to arrive at the Presidio of,

Carrizal on the 10th at dawn.

They will depart immediately from this point, and

they will arrive at Chihuahua in the evening of the 12th.

Pela,ys of the Presidios of Sonora

From the Presidio of S,a,n Bernardino the post

couriers will leave on the 20th of each month in order

to arrive at Arispe at dawn, where the letters should

stay until the first day of the following month. At

Arispe,, these couriers ought to pick up the mail

that this post office has for the Post Office of San

T3ernardino Y. The mail route for the San BernardinoA

,post office, ; 'couriers go, through the Valley of

Fronteras, ( 18 leagues); to Quayarachig (2); to

Bucuachi, ( 13); to Chinipas, ( 6)9 and to Arispe, (4).

The Presidio of Sants. Cruz will dispatch. their

monthly mail the afternoon of the 24th of each month,

so the carriers will arrive at the Presidio of S,a,n

Agustin de Tugson on the 21^th at dawn.

The couriers will le^:_ve this Presidio on the 25th

in order to arrive at Tubutama Mission on the 26th at

dawn.

The couriers will leave Tubutama Mission, also

in the afternoon of the 27th, in order to arrive at

187

0

the Presidio of S,an,ta Gertrudis del Altar on the

28th at dawn.

On the same day, the 28th, the couriers, will

leave to the Real de San Antonio de.la Cieneguilla22v

where they ought to arrive on the same day.// After

they pick up the letters from the aforesaid Real; the

couriers ought to -depart in the afternoon of the 29th

in order to arrive at the Presidio of S,a,n Miguel

de Orcasitas on the 39th at noon.

The couriers ought to leave the Presidio of Buena-

vista on the 15th in order to incorporate the letters

with destination to Arispe and to carry the mail with

destination to Buenavista back to it,.

Chihuahua. February 15, 1779.

The Knight of Croix

(Rubric)

S. l8-22v in E.12-10-1771,

,

188

Tariff

Postage charges for the sealed envelopes and

letters carried by the newly established Postal Systdm

in the PrQvinces under my command.

Silver Reales

0

The jetter weighing, 1/2 ounce 3 reales

For the single letters up.to half an ounce in-

clusive, three reales charged, in the following manner:

3/4 4

1 6

1 1/2 8

2 10

2 31/2 12

3 14

For the sealed envelopes exceeding three ounces

up to eight, in the following manner:

t 1

The jetter, weighing 3 1/2 rounces, 11:^ reales

4 16

4 1/2 17

^ 18

5 1/2 19

6 2.0

6 1/2 21

7 22

7 1/2 23

8 24

All otners, from eight to

follows :.

The 1et-'ter, weighing

sixteen ouncI es: a.s

9 rounces, 2E5 reales,

10 26

11 27

12 28

13 29

14 30

15 31

16 32

023v

Rubric//

zDR. 23 in E.12-10-1771,

9

190

®Postage charges due on letters with destination to

Spain from ,any, of these post offices.

CDecree, Yvumber 7 Silver Reales

Single letters

24vRubric //

^DR. 24 in E.12-10-1'^`71,

5

in clusive . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 10

Therefore, the charges for the, sealed envelopes,

9 forweighing one and one fourth ounces., 13 real e.

the ones weighing, one and one half ounces,9., 15 reae,s;

for the ones weighing one and three fourths ounces,,

17 reales„ for the ones weighing two ounces; 20

r.eale s. Charges will be made in the same progressive

manner for those weighing over two ou..nces,.

,I,etters, weighing half an ounce . . .

rL etters, weighing three-fourths Cof

an ounce, . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sealed envelopes weighing one;ounce

0

0Instructions to the or Governor of Texas, do,n

Domingo Cabello, for the establishment of mails in

that Province.

l.

Enclosed is a copy of

0

the decree announcing the

establishment of mails, which is being included in

Portfolio. nurnber 1, so it will be published at the

Presidios of San Antonio de Dexar',I3ahia del Espiritu

Santo, and the Town of Bucareli. The corresponding

copies of it should be filed in the Archives of each

of the post offices of the three aforesaid places.

The same should be done with those copies, which

should be made of the trip Schedules,.Regulations'

Tariffs and the Royal Decree. of May 22, 1768, which

established the proper punlshrnents affixed for those

who should break, into the mail pouches, locks or

buck.les,. The latter, documents have been included.

in portfolio number 2.

2.

The said Royal Decree must be published by

proclam-ation.,

3•

The first incoming mail from Arispe will be

dispatched indefectibly on the first day of next

192

Y

May. For the fulfillment of this, J, am remitting

the only mail pouch this mail tr-ip_,.should carry

and bring back with all the correspondence from the

whole province, that is, from,the Presidio of San

Antonio de Bexar to the. San Ju.an Bautista of Rio

Grande, where I order one of the keys to be left there,-

remitti.ng another one. to the seior governor, along with

the aforesaid mail pouch and the postal seals belonging

to the three said post offices.

The official letters and s-ealed envelopes enjoying

a franchise ought.to be marked o,^posite the address

as such: ;eFrom the Roval Service," and the postal

administrator shouldthen add the word t't Enfranchi sed, "

certifying it then with his rubric.

5•

I strongly advise the senor governor to be

vigilant concerning the preceding, point, warning

the Captains and appointed postal adrninistratar,s of

the penalty of the suspension of their post, and other

rpenalties imposed, as it rnay- seer^ fit, if they were

.to suppose letters and sealed envelopes as being of

the Royal Service, when they are not legitinzately.

6.

No mail trips, other than the monthy mail, should

be disnatched at this time under any circumstances.

Exceptions should be made in the case of special news

,pertaininb to, enemy attacks and/or -other urgent

matters concerning, the Royal, Service, such as

requests for reinforcements of troops, victuals,

horses, etc., or reports which may serve to alert the

interior zposts, of an Gimmediate, attack from the

Indians.

7.

The administration of mails at the Town of Our

Lady of Pilar de Bucareli will be temporarily under

the charge of the Captain of the militia and of

.post offices,justice, don Antonio Gil Ybarbo. Those

at the presidios of la Bahia and San. Antonio de Bexar

,will be under the charge, of their respective p-e^

a-dmi.n 1 s'C r at o r s.

The aforesaid LC.aptainof, Justice should render.26v

an annual report,9of the postal revenue// and the

Postal administrator of the Presidio of la Bahia

zshould also render a re.port, every six months.

These rreports., shou-1.c3 be remitted to the -Postal

administrator of San Antonio de :cexar, 9who should

an turn remit all of them along with his owm to the

Postal administrator of Salti l_lo 9 d,o,n Joseph

OPereira de.Cs.stro. A copy of the said reports should

be remitted to. me so I will be informed about the

increment of the postal, revenue.

9.

The sefor governor should regulate his orders

according to the seven preceding instructiorzs, adding

those that he may see fit for the success of the

establishmen.t,.of the Postal System,. If there

to be any questions or difficulties, the se?or

governor, should write to me about them. so I could

clarify them.

Chihuahua., February 15, 1779.

The Knight of Croix

bubric)

tDS. 25-26v in E.12-10-1771,

0

R,oya,l Presridi,o of S,a,n Ant.oni,o de Bexar.

May 21_, 1779

!

40

27In view that the precedin.g.seven// documents have

been added to the Superior Dispatch remitted, by the

^efi,or Commander-general concerning the establishment

of the monthly mail in this Province and which, as of

yesterday^, was put into operation and progress, I have

given the postal administrators acopy certified by me

of each of the said seven,_;documents, which together

.with the said Superior Dispatch heading this proceed-

ing. makes a total of eight rdocuments,,thus forming

the body of the proceedings which are being filed in

the archives of this government to stand as future

record of the procedures carried out by me concerning

the establishment of the said monthly mail.

Let a copy be made Cfrozn them, as it has been

provided, in order to fortaard it to Captain d,on

Ant,oni,o Gil Ybarbo, Lieutenant-governor of the

Town of Bucareli, as soon as the new destination of.

the residents of the said town is known, since these

residents, abandoned it due to the reasons already

presented to the ^.epor comm.ander-general, in order

to `establi sh the aforesaid monthly mailw according to

that which has been provided ,in the Royal Decree,.

196

In witness thereof I certify.

Dom,ing,o Cabello

(Rubric)

^DS. 27 in E.12-10-17f1,

197

,I,, Theodoro de Croix, Knight of Croix of the

Teutonic Order, Field Marshal of the Royal _krmies,

First Lieutenant graduate from the Compatia Flamenc.a

of th.eRoyal Body of Guards of Corps, Governor and

Comimander-general of the Internal Provinces of this

,New Spain, Superintendant-beneral of the Royal

Exchequer, etc.

The Most ,xcellent and P.ious Era Dro,n Intonzo

Bucareli ursua, Ex-Viceroy of New Spain, deemed

expedite under date of December 10, 1771, the order

of the following tenor:t,In view of the repeated violations of the decrees

issued by the s,etore,s Vzceroys, my predecessors; for-

bidding any person whatever to dispatch t-heir own

correspondence in this kingdom without insuring the

proper license from the main post office or from their

respective lieutenants; and 'of those decrees enfor-

cing, the penalties established,,b:y the decrees, of

17249 J7347 and 17,55, since very frequently and

arbitarily special couriers are being sent from one

part of this country to another without the aforesaid,28v

established licenses.committing great abuses by which//

the Indians and the^ poor people are the most harmed,'

for these non-official carriers, on their own

,authority, take away their horses without paying them

198

•

the proper rental fees; and in viej:a that, I have

received several compalints on this matter and on

many others hard to remedy due to the lack of proof

of such extortionsl and in order to resort to the

'remedy of this rsituation, in fulfillment of Heis;

11',agesty' s, Royal,(,l) Decrees and Laws, I hereby

order that starting on the first day of the month,

of January of the immediate year of C17,72, the

following- chapters ought ^e---be kept-, fulfilled.and

executed.

.,I hereby order, that nobtany one person,

,no matter, of what, status, rank, or condition he

may be, should on his own authority dispatch his own

or any other mail by horse or by foot on pain of a

one thousand •Lesos fine wil^ich will be irremissibly

deP.anded fror: him. This fine, will be applicable by

.thirds to the Postal, Revenue,,,"the Judge, and the

denouncer.

In order to di.spatch this mail, the person in

question -s--hoi)ld go to the postal ;administrator of this

capital or to the subaltern of his respective post

office and nay for the extoaordinary trip, which

should follow the route specified by the post office,

at a rate`of sixteen ^29

esos for// every twenty leagues

the courier should travel both ways;.(2) It is

199

necessary for the postal administrators of this

capital, sea ports,,,military, plazas and frontiers

of this kingdom to report each of these extraordinary

mail trips to the governor as providea by the.ordinancds

and ^l^ostal, Laws, so they will take advantage of

Ethese extraordinary iirips, in case they may have

something concerning the Royal; Service.

.„2. Besides the fine established in the preceding

chapter, the person who endeavors to carry any,, mail

without the said licensd.=^.j,^ill r--eeeive, the penalty

of public shame and ten years in -prison on the first

offense., and life .in prison, on the second offense.

And if he were to use the emblem of the Royal Armies,

.,the transgressor would be sentenced to capital punish-

ment and confiscation of all his estate. (3)

^. That any extraordine.ry mail trips dispatched

with. the referred licenses with destination to an^^ Of

the Provinces of this Kingdom or from any of thez^l^'to

this Capital or to any other place, must absolutely

carry two horses, one for the courier, and the other

for the postboy or guide who should accompa.ny him. so29v

he coula. return the :horses, to wherever// r the cour^er,

„ rented theL' and whe-re the courier, should have paid

the dwners beforehand at a rate of one rea per

league for, each horse he rents. In addition, the

200

courier, should pay two reales to the postboy or

guide9 for every six rleagues,. It ought to be under-

stood by the courier that he should change the horses

.and the postboy at the customary stopping places or

wherever agreed,with the owners; for he will be severely

punished in case of not fulfilling in all his`con-

tract, bedides of having to pay for all the- da.Ynages

caused. (4f

4. Nothwithstanding the major expenses',the

maintenance and subsistance of the horses would cost

on a trip such as one, from this city to Veracruz,

and it-s m.ountain ranges,, that which has been stated

or+ the preceding chapter will be applicable in this

case.

In view that the established cost rrelatively,

,. does not arn-ount to a great deal, and since a harmonious

arrangement is obtained in this manner,.for the

owners are thus insured against -the loss, failure or

death of their animals as it has previously been30

the case, for the guides hired to// return the beasts,

were not able to ma_e the return trip on foot.

That beforehand, and in the specified manner,

the couriers should also pay one rea,,l per league

for eachmule or boast of burden they may hire for the

,transportation of cannons or any other permissible

201

Earti?lery, pieces. This information ought to be

recorded in the official papers they are to be given,

for without it the owners, at the stopping places

may not only refuse. to supply the c.ou.riers with

beasts, for this purpose^but coizld detain the cargo

and notify the Postal administrator of the immediate

-post office about it.

6. Following these regulations, the officers of

the law should assist the couriers by helping them.to

promptly obtain the necessary beasts of burden at the

towns, . haciendas or ranches sq that the R^oya, l

Service and the public welfare would not experience.

any delay. These officers of the law, should also

,cooperate, in the arrest of those carrying mail,

without having fulfilled, the aforesaid reauirements,

tak.ing a deposition from them as to who dispat,ched

them,, when, and where, making aiso-an inventory of

the letters and packages the couriers, are trans-30v

porting according to their addresses.// These letters

and packages, should be remitted by these officers

of the law to, the immediate post office requesting an

acknowledgment of receipt from. its postal adiriinistra-

tor who should incorporate then- into the weekly mail.

The original of these proceedings should be remitted

as soon as possible and with the corresponding security

202

S

to this Sizperior Government so that in view of them,

,,suits w ould be followed against each and all the

transgressors.(5)-

^. CI hereby order, that from places where

there is not a nost office, and consequently, the re-

quired official postal license can not. be obtained,

the couriers may leave without it ^ having the postal

aarainistrator of the net immediate town where there

is-one, to issue the corresponding license,. The

courier may thus continue his trip without fear of

being questioned or detained, at the stopping points

or at the city, vi.lla or place of destination where

he has to deliver.the letters and sealed-envelopes

,he is carrying,, in order that rthose, letters31

bearing this destznation// will be delivered through

the post office. The delivery of these letters,

sholld not be done by this special courier or by an

intermediary agent on pain of those penalties estab-

lished in Article 3, unless a post of fi ce has not

been established at any of, the aforesaid points.

This informs.tion should be recorded in the official

dispatch. (6)

8. ,rI hereby order,- that tiahen it becomes necessary

for the eour---ier--s to change horses before they arrive9,

as ordered,. at the first post office, they should

x

203

madjust and pay the total rrentalfee covering their

entire trip, up to their arrival at that first post

Loffice,,. for they do not have the right to burden the

,other; towns with the supply of rthese horses,. The

couriers, ought to pay for the entire trip,. both

ways, from the said first post office.,a:t ia rate of

the referred sixteen.,pesos per every twenty leagtjes. (7)

;'. Every time an extraordinary trip i s dis-

patched-- frotin arplace, where there i s a post office

to where there is not one already established, or

to any hacienda, Ct'rie couriers, should present the

selves to the post office ,of the departing point,

in order to obtain.their official dispatch and to31v,

enfrsr:chise// the letters not c.^. rrying duties;

settling ralso, if need be a relay of horses9 the

agreed rental fee with the owner in the manner

described in the preceding chapter, on -pain of the

penalties already described. (8 )..

- 10. GS hereby order, that° Oo one sheuld take or

,,earry ,any, letters or sealed envelopes except.those

,considered as caaas or recados, and those letters,

of irtroduction",helo-nging, to the said.courier, all

of them open,, under penalty of a one^.peso fine charged

. to the transgressors for each one of - those they may

, be carrying. This fine, will be given to the

204

Sdenoancer. In order for everyone to tca^.^:e advantage

of the futu se rtrips, of nassdagers or muleteers, I

hereby establish that these may freely carry those

,car as or recados, which have been previously pre-

sented at the post offices, where they oiaght to be

stamped after the corresponding postaae has been paid,32

observing in these cases// the same regulatlons al-

ready established concerning the dispatch of mails

from places where there may or may not be a post

office, with destination, to places'not having one

already established. The same regulations concern-

ing thzs type of courier will be applicable to

citizens or muleteers writing and carrying letters

or sealed envelopes. ^

11. In order to have the prablic, reap the benefits

of th-ese foot-posts without burdening the Postal

Revenue,.1 have ordered all the post offices to select

the necessary number of ^foot couriers,^ and to have

the private nersons going there, when i=.ishing to-

solicit the services of these messengers,, pay one

res,l. per league 'on a two-way trip`,v plus three reales

per day when the messenger, stays over waiting for

an answer. In the case of a one way.trip--that is,

when there is not a return answer, the messenger

o shoi,.ld be paid on his retur:ra.,, at a rate of half a

205

0

real per league..,he should travel,. The election of--- --32v

the foot post,// and the route for the trip is being

left up to the post deputy, dispatching the mail.

The one obligation the foot post, has in this case,

(since there is no need of any relay of horses)9 is

to arrive- at the post office of the same city or of

the im:medio:te villa or town as. it is being required

of the post rider, fo-r- --L-he obtention . of the corres-

ponding license and the payment of a tax of one fourth

of the total revenue from his commission^ according

to the regulations concerning postal wages in

relation to; leagues. (la)

12. In order to have the officers of the law,

the administrators of the other revenue offices and

their deputies in all.t.he toi.,ms watch for frauds

,committed, against the post office and to apprehend

the transgressors as this is their duty, H,is,

M,agesty,, strictly orders them to know the regular

and the special post riders and the foot posts to

whom they will be furnishing beasts of burden and

other facilities.

In view of this,, I order the post riders,

and the foot post^, since they are officially

appointed .as such,g to carry their badge, and for

the first ones and the latter ones,_ to have (clearly

206

epostaged) the letters with the Royal Coat of Arms,, for,

those who should leave or go through a toU.m where there

is a post office already established and have not ful-

filled this last prerequisite, will be taken and de-

tained as transgressors. So no one will allege ig-

norance,let this be published by proclamation at this

.C_apital and at all the other places;in this,kingdom^

ma^ing for this purpose the necessary copies.which

will be remitted by relays to all the officers of the.

law; and to the administrators of this postal, revenue

. and of all others' so they Ekrill"punctually fulfill and

eXecute this, under pain of the aforesaid penalties.(ll)

Notice

When private persons need the services of, foot

posts or post riders, they should notify the postal

administrator at least two hours before the time when

{,,the courier, should be dispatched in order to have

them ready to leave as soon as the message is taken

to the postoffice,

Second, Notice

Ang one person wishirig.,His, Mragesty' s:f reser-

vation in the dispatch of these couriers may specificly

require it at the respective post office where he has

cone to request a courier,, .stating,, the number of33v

leagues// these should travel under this specificatiohl

1207

providing the fulfillment of the conditionl^statecl at

the end of the first chapter of this decree."

•

Since this preinserted decree must be punctually

fulfilled at the provrinc,es under my charge, I order

its publication ^by proclarnation, - to be repeated,

Adding that the relays at the towns of the Indians

should.be dispatched solely by the Reverend Father

14inisters the royal judges)and/or msilitary corr^?mand_ers

only in the.most urgent cases concerning the roya,1

servicep These lndian,_.. relays, should present them-

selves at the first post office on their roixte, in

the case of not having one at the place where they

departed from in order to postage the.'letters at

those cpost offices, or at the post office, of the

tozans of destination. where the interested parties

should pay the postage due on them.

Oiven at Arispe.. October 12, 1780.

The Knight of Croix.

(p.ubric )

Antonio Bonilla

(Rubric)

,DS. 28-33v in E.12-10-1771,

208

4

J-1arginal Note,

l •

Although Our Lady the Queen .d:roha, Juana and her

sond,,o,n Carlos gave the first Postal, Law-s in 11:^I.

and suc.cessibl-y others concerning the management of

mails were yssued and ratified in parallelism, with

those of the rest of the civilized countries of ;urope,

the- Postal System, did not start in tr_i s kingdom until

the beginning of the last century; and although regu-

lar schedules had not yet been stipulated, a decree

was published by proclamation in the year of 1724 for-

bidding the dispatct of officia1_ and private couriers

without securing the license from the main post office

or from their deputies9- while this branch was being

abalianated.

2

In the case of a twenty--league trip where there

can not be any gain or loss.rof time,, ^the rate at

which the special courier shall be paid for his round

trip is sixteen.pesos for every twenty leagues he

should travel,; but in any other case, the courier

shall be paid. 20 mesos for every twenty-five leaguesi

plus t;. reales and 4^rano^s for every hour he should

be ahead of schedule, and deduct the same for ^ each

hour, he should be delayed.

a

209

3

In.order to f:ind out if the courier is traireling

with the necessary licenses, he will be requested to

show the postage stamped with the royal coat ofarms_)

stating the place of the post office from.Tsihich he was

dispatched.

Li-

Since each courier is being provided with the

amount of money necessary to pay for the relays of

horses and other expenses, th.ey. have no excuse for

not paying in advance for the horses or beasts they

may take at each stopping place, and the owners

shall demand the courier .to 'pay in. advance the rental

fee for the relay of horses according to the number of

leagues they will be traveling. In the case of a

courier cheating the owr:ers,, the latters should

notify and prove, the robbery, and the difference30.

,should be paid out of the postal revenue.//

.The tardy ??eople neglecting the'prompt supply of

horses to the post riders., will be made responsible

for the damages caused by the delay of the mail trip

and for this reason they will be punished in proportion

to the damage caused. The charges will be vindicated

210

Sa-e-eording to the.report given by the rider and his

accompanying -uide,9 because of the difficulty in making

further investigations: A testimony shall follow in

e-v-ex-y-._-c a5 ^ .

6

Letters w-%t-h-destination to places where there

is a post office can be dispatched, providing that

,the courier, sh-oul-d deliver them. first at the post

officel; before a delivery is made to the addressee.lia:.,.

order to prevent frauds.

7

The supply of the, relay of horses should not

be enforced upon the owners, ,and the rental fee,

should be worked out with them. i:'hey should volun-

tarily agree. upon the rates, which should not exceed

inany case the one already established of one r ,a,

per league for the intermediate trips from post office

to post office. The couriers from the presidios should

pay the rental fee of the relay of horses, for their

trip at the, .first post office, where they s=he-u-ld receive

a new,printed;atamp in addition to that one oiven by

the captains of their presidios. These couriers

should submit themselves to the regulation.s of this;lv

decree.//

2

If on the other hand ^there , is a rieed,to send letters

from places where there is rota post. o-ffice; with.

destination to places where there is one already estab-

lished, the courier, should present the letter or

letters at the post office, before delivering it to

the addressee. And when the latter, is ready to send

the messenger;5 back, he should go through the same

procedure.in order.to

letters he is sending

have the sealed envelopes or32

stainped. //

9

Careful attention should be given to Cnapters,32v°

^_ and 7. //

10

The trips of this class of foot posts should be

limited to fifteen leagues. ' This means that the

messen,ger, should walk the fifteen leagues in 24 hours;

and that in addition to the pay already established

for this type of foot post•s-, the one soliciting their

services should pay the taxes, of one fourth::":of the

,total, pay given to the.messenger,.

Since there wo-uld be many times in which some of-

t#e-private persons would need these couriersto run a

.greater distance, the `trip of twenty leagues which

the courier should travel in 24 hours will be added.

,The interested narty will pay two reales per league

when going and cor^^ing back as part of the same errands

and half a realif the addresser should request, his

mail to be returned on a regular day. The taxes of,

one fourth of the total pay rsh.ould also be, paid ir

,; .this type of trip.

The interested. parties will have the p6wer to

elect the messenger that should make the trip and

pay him as they see fit, with the only obligation of.

presenting him at their respective post office so that

he can get the mail stamped with the royal coa:t of

arms and to talk-e the badge he should carry pined on

his chest, (and which he should turn in at the sa?ne

post office on his return) When paying his income tax

33on his commi s sion atthe Royal Exchequer.//

11

Since all the mail couriers should have their

mail stamped on the noted space with the royal coat

of arms, and should. also carry the badge pined on

their chest, the officers of the law, the commissioners

and/or the administrators.of other stopping places

along the mail routes shouldwith great zeal demand

from their deputies the punctual fulfillment of all

contained in this rl2th, Chapter and in the preceding

,Chapter, Tv•3ith the same punctuality they should

213

fulfill that which concerns the administration of their33v

posts.//

D. 28v-33 in E.12-10-1771,

z4

,I, don Teodoro de Croix, Knight of Croix of

the Teutonic Order 9Field Marshal of the Royal Armies,

First Graduated Lieutenant of the Division Flamenca

of the Royal Guard of Corps, Governor and Coimrander

general of the Internal Provinces of New Spain, Super-

intendent general of the Royal Excheauer, etc, after

having accomplished through.privation of sleep and

hardships the unprecedent establishment of a postal

system in the provinces under my command from the

beginning of the month of March of the preceding year 9

I continued the regular publication of decrees con-

ducive to its perfect administration, and to facilitate

the circulation of mails, every fifteen days for the

improvement of the public 5,elfare and the royal ser-

vice.

Inasmuch as my referred decrees have been jointly

combined, (although the said circulation of mails

every fifteen days was started at the beginning of the

present year, to go between this Capital to the Real

of los Alamos and the Villa of Chihuahua), I have

resolved that it should also go up to the Vi1la,31+v

of G ,a,n r ernando//' in the Province of Coahuila,

accordina to the plan following this decree. The

outgoing and incoming mails of the said Villa of

;,a,n. Fernando should be orted with those of this

capital .along with the weekly mail from Durango to

Chihuahua at the Valley of Sra,n bcue,n,aven,tura; and

,the mails, from Chihuahua should be sorted with,

those from los Alamos tv^hich carry the correspondence

from Mexico, Guadalajara, and the territories under

the government of Sonora at the FEoya,l Valley of

S,a,n Antonio de la Huerta.

Since this new schedule will bring expenses

greater than those which at the present time. can be

covered by the postal revenue collected from the

provinces under my charge, I have seen the need for a

new arrangement that will facilitate the punctual

fulfillment of the following clauses.

1. Although in the first decree of February 15,

C17,79 of i.^7hich I ordered its circulation on the first

,day; of the same month of February of the present

year, I designated those individuals of this province

who should, enjoy a franchise on the postage due on35

their official letters and sealed envelopes,// I

hereby decree that all of them without exception should

pay their postage at the time they receive their letters

and sealed envelopes beginning on the 4th.day of this

coming month of Dece.mber. An affidavit should be made

by the postal administrators of the mail, 'being strietly, ,

of official business,, when it is being delivered

9

0

to those enjoying a postal franchise on the correspon-

dence of that class.

2. The said franchise will be enjoyed by those

individuals to whom my Secretary of. Charriber and Superior

R,overnment should remit letters and sealed enveloibes

.The official corres-concerning the Rsoya,l Service.

pondence, these ^individuals, should remit to me and

to their respective deputies; and that received from

them by the military and political governors, the

assistant Inspectors and/or those officially commissioned

to carry out these functions, the military Inspectors,

the commanders of the divisions of x)residios and second

class posts, and the Captains of the said presidios,

and of the flying divisions of volunteers and of pickets

of Dragoons rwill be under the said fra:nchise., The

said franchise should also be enjoyed by the officers35v

of the Royal Exchequer// of Durango and los Alamos'

and by the commissioners of the Tobacco Departments,

the administrators of taxes and other royal revenues,

the treasurer of Chihuahua, the paymaster of this

capital9 the trustees of the military excise tait,, the

political appointed judges, and the official corres-

pondence these should receive or remit concerning the

functioning of their respective offices.

3. 14'ith respect to that stated in the first.

217

clause, it is evident that the referred franchises are

not going to oppose.the increment of the postal revenue9

because.,the cost of, the postage on official letters

and sealed envelopes sent by individuals from the

branches and offices enjoying this franchise should be

comprehended in their holdings (or funds), and which

will be paid upon presentation of the raforesaid,

affidavits by the postal administrators.

4. Therefore9 the royal efzicials, the commis-

sioners of theTobacco Departments and the administrators

of taxes in these provinces should pay, from the revenue36

of their offices, the posta^7,;e of their official letters//

and sealed envelopes. The Treasurer of Chihuahua

should pay the postare of the correspondence concerning

the administration of this branch,, from the funds of

his Treasurership. The postage on the correspondence,

concerning military business of all the military

branches„ should be paid from their funds 9 and from

the same funds, the postage of the correspondece,

all their depositories.

j. The political governors and their judicial

teLlers or lesser judges will paJ-^ the postage from el

fondo de o ue;^ a gastos de 7usticia9 but since it.is

possible that because of their lack of experience these

individuals, can not manage the payment of the indicated

218

amount, the political governors should remit to me at

the beginning of each year, and through these chiefs

,of State, the lesser judges, all the vouchers of all

the bills of the postage paid that preceding year on

the official letters and sealed envelopes from the

aforesazd .fondo de que j as de Camara. Those which have

not been covered should be included, so I could arrange36v

its payment.//

6.- For the same purpose, the military governors,

the assistant inspectors and the military inspectors

should remit, at the affixed date, the bills they have

already paid at the post offices, sending also through

their deputies those bills,belonging to the =-iimanders

of divisions of presidios and second class posts; to

the captains of the presidial companies, of the flying

,divisions,, of the divisions of, volunteers and of.

Pickets of Dragoons and other, subaltern officials;

and through the 3riilitary Inspectors, the corresponding

bills from the commanders and officers of corps.

7. Having thus insured the postal revenue from

their proper funds, it is necessary to give careful

attention to the proper distribution of funds of the

other branches of the Royal Exchequer alloted for the

payment of the postage on afficial letters and sealed

envelopes so as not to be used on personal correspondence

0and/or that correspondence pertainim^:@g to, business

khere there is a personal interest between two parties, ,

even though they pertain also to the welfare of the

Royal Service.

£^. In order to anticipate these inconveniencies

(inexpediencies), my Secretary of State and Superior

government and the Office of the Treasury will deliver37

at the Post office- of this Capital,// at hand and with

prolixed separation, all the official letters and sealed

envelopes of which postage has not been paid by any

party in interest at the said post office, or at the

post office where a separation of them is usually

made, so they will be stamped with the Royal Service

stamp or seal. These then should be included or listed

(after their postage has been paid) among those stated,

in the affidavits of the postal administrators as -

ordered in clause number one of this decree. In the

. same manner, fulfillment should be given to that per-

taining to the letters or sealed envelopes strictly

of official business, which the military and political

chiefs, the officers of the veteran and military divi-

sions, the lesser judges and the officers of the Royal

Treasurer should mail to each other and to this Superior

37vgovernment.//

9. In order to prevent frauds against any branch

220

9of the Royal Exchequer and against the, funds alloted

for the reimbursement of postage on official correspon-

dence by hharging the postage of, sealed envelopes,

letters, dispatches, and proceedings involving personal

interest, I entreat the military and political chiefs

to scrupulously watch the ]^arty in interest pay the

rpostage.on their sealed envelopes at the post.office

where these are being dispatched; or to place them in

a second cover raddressed, to the agents or attorneys

they may have at the places of their destination. It

will be understood that if in a lawsuit against the

party in interest, the defendent is declared to be

backrupt, it will be demanded of the plaintiff to

enfranchise the postage due on these sealed envelopes

at the time of their remittance, if it is proved that

they are able.to do so.

Let the content of that which has been. decreed

in these nine clauses be punctually observed and ful-38

filled. I hereby order// their publication by proclama-

tion at this capital and at the cities, villas, towns

and places recognized as to be under my jurisdiction

by the office of the Cor^ snander- general.

Arispe' October 12, 1780.

D. 3z=t-38 in E.12-10-1771,

0

Schedule of mails to go every fifteen days, beginning Dacember 4th of the present yearin the provinces under my charge

Mail trips to go from Arispe to the Villa of San ^'ernando

Year Month Arispe San Antonio Item Chihuahua Villa of SanDeparture Arrival Departure Arrival- Bartol.om6Monday Sunday Tuesday Departure. Arrival-

Monday DepartureThursday

1780 December 4 10 12 18 21

1781Item

January181.st

247

269

January 115

418

Item 15 27 23 February 1 4

cI"he mai1, willcontinue

Everyother

Everyother

Everyather

Everyother

Everyother

Monday Sunday Tuesday Monday Thursday

I^1ai1 -trips - to go from Arispe to the Villa of San ernando rContinued,

SaltilloAr r i val -Dep ar tur e

Thursday

ItemDepartureFriday

San FernandoArrivale

'Ihursday

28,112511

29122612

January ^18

February 118

Every Every Everyother other otherThursday Friday Thursday

38v

A 0

Schedule of mails coming from the Villa of San Fernando to Arispe

Year Month San Fernando Saltillo Item Villa of San Item ChihuahuaDeparture Arrival Departure Bartalom6 Departure Arrival

Saturday Monday Arrival Tuesday FridayMonday

1780 December 4 9 11 18 19 22Item 18 23 25 Januarylst January 2 5

1781 January lst 6 8 15 16 19Item 15 20 22 29 30 February 2

,The mails, Fvery Every Every Every Every Everywill continue other other other other other other

Monday Saturday Mond4y Monday Tuesday Friday

a

Schedule of mails corning from the Villa of San Fernando to Arispe Continued,

San Antonio ItemArrival DepartureSunday Wednesday

31142811

ArispeArrivalTuesday

EveryotherTuesday

The Knight of Croix

(Rubric)

Antonio Bonilla

(Rubric)rDS.. 3^.^- 38v iniz

12-10-1771,

R,oya,l Pres.idi,o of San Anto,ni,o de Bexar.

January 8, 1781.

®

Having received in the monthly mail which arrived

yesterday, the two preceding decrees concerning the new

regulations to be followed in the administration of

mails s ancl^the proceedings &?'aich should be carried out,

on the postal franchise held by the persons stated

therein for official letters and sealed envelopes, I

hereby order these decrees, to be published by proc-

lamation at this presidio. They should be remitted to

the appointed Lieutenant of this company of his endow-

ment so he will make a copy of t,hem,,Fas he is the one

in charge of this post office,' for the guidance of

its administration.

After the fulfillment of this, let the originals,

be remitted to the commander of thd Presidio of la

Bahia del EsiDiritu Santo for him to fulfill step by

step that which has been previously stated. He should

keep a copy of them certified by him and he should

file it in that archive, returning the originals so

they will be filed in the archive, of this government.

Dom,inG,go Cabello

(Rubric)

0sDS 38v-39 in E.12-10-1771,

226

R=oya,1 Presidio of San Antonio de Bexar.

January 9, 1781

As of today, the preceding decrees included in

the superior dispatches have been published. For its

record I hereby place and certify this as part of these

proceedings.

Cabello

(Rubric)

. 39 in E.12-10-1771,

0Royal Presidio of la Bahia del Esp,iri,tu ;.an,to

March 11, 1781

As of today, the preceding decrees have been pub-39v

lished// and a copy has been filed in this archive.

As.,the postal deputy, in charge of this branch of the

post office, I have sent a copy of the decrees, to

the administration so upon knowledge of that which has

been stated therein, the administration, will proceed

accordingly.

Jose Santoja

(Rubric)

,DS 39-39v in E.12-10-177l,

228

•R,oya,l Pres,idi,o of S,a,n Ant,oni,o de Bexar

March 17, 1781

In viewthat all the proceedings ordereed in the

Superior Dispatch issued by, the sen,or c©rwander-

general have been carried out, let this be added to

the rest of the proceedings concerning this matter.

Cabello40.

(Rubric) //

,DS 39v in E12-10-1771,

No l

Having the King observed that the Postal Revenue,

besides assur-ning the cost of_the transportation duties

on the iron transported to Veracruz on account of the

pocket boats, ccost, which burden.s in no way the other

branches of the Royal Exchequer; and that, for the

benefit of the State and for a direct and prompt admin-

istration of public affairs, it also assumes the great

expenses caused by the increase of offices of their

endowrnent, plus the costs of, transportation and other .

me-'ans which the post office, is using daily to improve

the systems of mails and pocket boats, His Magesty

has decided that in order for that Institution to be

able to cover its own and other liabilities burdening

the said revenue, it is necessary to strive not to

decrease its funds by neglecting the collection of

that income from the postage which should be charged

in accordance with the royal decrees.

In view of all this, and after His Magesty had

also learned that in the Provinces of this Viceroyalty

of New Spain the postage due on the letters and sealed

envelopes remitted to Your, Excellency,, to your

Superior Government, to the Roya,l Audiencia and toOV

the Tribunal de Cuentas is not being paid,// he has

determined that I should inform YEour, El",xcellency, of

his royal decree; that upon receipt of the present one,

0

the postage on all letters and sealed envelopes re-

ruitted there from the provinces under your charge,9

as well as on those rletters and sealed envelopes,

sent to them., should without exception be paid from

the funds alloted for this purpose, or from those

of, the Royal Treasury through those affidavits of

the bills issued and certified by the postal adminis-

trators of their respective post offices; that this

method be carried out, in the saar^e agreeable manner

as it is being carried out in Havana and in the King-

doms of Peru and the Mainland with all the letters

and sealed envelopes of the same class, according to

the royal decrees being observed in Spain, the

,philippine, Islands and Manila.

To this effect, senor don Joseph de Galve°s haA.

issued the corresponding orders, so there will be no

exception made in the fulfillment of that which has

been stated therein.

May God keep Y,,our, Erxcellency, m,an,y y,ear,s

as it is ^my, wish.

San, Lorenso, October 25, 1777.

The Count of Floridablanca

To senor don Anton.io Bucarely

. ,c-, 40- 4Ov in E.12-10-1771,

231

This is a certified copy taken frorn the one filed

in the archives of, the Secretar== of the Cormmancer-

general under my charge. In witness thereof, T certify.

^Christoval Cor-$alan

(Rubric)

,DS. 4ov in L.12-10-1771,

^

232

No.

0

Orders to be followed, at the provinces under

the district of the Commander-general for the fulfill-

ment and observance of the royal order of October 25,

l777" and of the order issued by virtue of it by the

Most Excellent SePior Viceroy, do,n Martin de Mayorga,

on April 26, 1780, concerning the postal franchise on

official letters and sealed envelopes, granted by

Hris, 1:1ragesty, to the persons employed in the royal

service and in the administration of public affairs.

Article l. In view that not only the said sover-

eign resolution but the one of May 24 of the same year,

ordered securing the payment of the postage on those

letters and sealed envelopes which the Commander-

general of this province should receive' from the Royal

Exchequer funds, and since there are no funds in the

Penas de Carara or any other =public, funds from which

it could be paid, J hereby order, the subgeneral

administrator of mails at this Capital to continue the

practice of keeping an exact account of the official

correspondence remitted to me. This account, should

be supervised by my S.ecretary of Chamber so the total

amount of the postage be paid at the end of the year,

in the same manner as it has been done up to now.

,Article, 2:^. All sealed envelopes and letters

concerning the Royal Service which should be remitted

23 3

0

9

by ray Secretary of Chamber, the CSecretary of, the

government, the administration of this province and the4lv

office of the judge Adv©cate// to the Inspector-general

and his deputies, to the Commander of Arms of Chihuahua,

to the governors, the first ranking mayors and judges,

should be delivered completely assorted at the nearest

post office, and the erivelopes containing these letters

and sealed envelopes should be stamped with the expres-

sion R.oya,l Service. The postal, administrator should

then stamp every epiece of mail, under this class with

the franchise seal, charging the postage on the aff3-

davit of the corresponding office from. where they are

being remitted.

.Article, 3. The same manner of proceeding should

be followed by the Inspector-general and his deputies,

by the Commander of Arms of Chihuahua, the Captains of

presidios and of the flying divisions, the governors,

first ranking mayors and judges. The administrator of

the post offices where the first one present their

correspondence should remember that, eventhough this

correspondence, is.addressed to the Courts of this

Capital or fr©rn one judge to another concerning^atters

bahere there is no party in interest' the affidavits

made by the said, administrator have to be signed

by him and the addresser; and that both should swear

234

0

0

before God our Lord by making the sign of the Cross

that the statement contained therein is the truth.

The latter ones should state under penalty of the same

oath that_the sealed envelopes and letters expressed

in the aforesaid affidavits do not contain matters

between parties who should pay the aforesaid postage.

,Article, ?+. After these documents have been

authorized, the said judges should at the end .of the

year, pay in all or in part the amount due at their

respective post office. They will then be reimbursed

for this expense from the funds of the Penas de Camara

and the Gastos de Justicia when having them. In the

case of not having the said funds„ the :judges, of

Sonora will request their refund at the Royal Treasury

of Rosario and/or at the Paymaster's office at this

Capital. The tjudges, of New Viscaya and New Mexico,

at the Royal Treasury of Chihuahua and F-urango; those

of Coahuila and Texas, at the sRoyal Treasury of, San

Luis Potosi; and those from the Californias, should

secure it, from the officers appointed to administrate

the branches of the Royal Exchequer of that peninsula.

These requests should be opportunely made to the minis-

ters of the aforesaid offices so as to be able to pay

the amount stated in the affidavits presented by the42v

judges at the end of each year or at the beginning of//

235

•the next year.

,Article, ^. This franchise, granted by the royal

magnanimity of Hris, Mtagesty, for the benefit of the

State and of the direct and prompt administration of

public affairs, will be effective from the first day

of the coming year of 1784, especially for those

officers, ministers and judges, who by orders of my

predecessor, the postal administrators,, were not

k.eeping an account of the postage on their official

correspondence. Inasmuch as to the degree of their

postal expenses, until Hris, Mcagesty, specifies

otherwise, it was determined for this purpose, that

their respective postal administrators should keep

a formal account of their correspondence. All their

correspondence dutzng, from April 19, 1780, would

start enjoying this franchise, for this was the date

already affixed by the Mcost, Excellent, seYlor Viceroy

deo,n Martin de Mayorga for the fulfillment of the

E,oya,l order of OctoUer 2^, 1777.

,Article, 6. In view of this, and so the parties

in interest would get a refund of the postage, spent

on official letters and sealed envelopes remitted from43

the said date un to the end of this year// of 1783,

they should present their affidavits, certified under

oath, as directed in these Regulations. Immediately

236

`

after the fulfillment of that z:ahich has been stated

in Article 4 ^dyth regard to the prompt payment to the

Postal Revenue of the amount stated. in the affidavit„

,the parties in interest, will remit the said documents

to my Secretaryship so the Secretary of this office,

will certify these docur^sents, as belonging to those

individuals -meritorious of a reimbursement according

to those decisions made by my predecessor. ,Th.ese

documents, will then be returned to the parties in

interest, so they would request their reimbursement,

at the offices of the Royal Treasury previously assigned

to them. The ministers of these of_^ices are being

warned not to pay any late bills which do not bear the

aforesaid requirements.

,Article, 7. In view that the funds of the Penas

de Camara and Gastos de Justicia come from fines

imposed by the laws, decrees and regulations of this

kingdom issued for a better administration of these

branches, I entreat.the governors, first ranking mayors

and other judges to order the enforcement and collec-4,)v

tion of the aforesaid monetary fines// in every case

wbich in justice calls for it 9 and to de^.,©sit the

amount of the fine in the aforesaid funds. These

,fines, should be collected and accurately recorded

in order to satisfy from them the postage due on the

237

official letters and sealed envelopes, thus paying, if

not in all at least in part, the ex-oenses, which

should be covered by the Roya,l Treasury.

I also Warn all the individuals named in this

article that, under the oath taken as directed in

Article 3, they should also specify whether or not

they have already been reimbursed in all or in part

for the amount stated in the affidavits, they are

presenting, from any of the funds of the Penas de

Camara and Gastos de Justicia as stated in Article

If they have not been reimbursed in any manner

'because of the non-existence of these branches, they

should specify so in order to be credited with the

full amount stated in the affidavits.

,Article, 8. An accurate account of the revenue

collected by the .Penas de Camara and Gastos de Justicia

alloted mainly for the payment of the postage of the

official correspondence, should be individually kept

'by the first ranking mayors and other local judges,

who, after making the entries of their credits and

debits corresponding to the said branches, should

remit it at the end of each year to the governors of

the Provinces, so that after the latter ones have

added all the entries of the debits and credits,

concerning their offices, they should remit all of

them to my superior government in order to chec^^_. whether

or not the values and investments of these funds agree

with that decreed by the laws. In the case of not

having had any funds during the year9 instead of this

account, an affidavit should be remitted certifying

this fact.

,Article, 9. Jri view that, the reports made at

the post offices for the reimbursement of postage under

the specified terms should not include an account of

all the correspondence, but of the official corres-

pondence, only, providing that the governors, lesser

mayors and other judges send or receive letters and

sealed envelopes involving parties in interest, the44v

postal administrators, should make it compulsory//

for these people to pay the postage due to the postal

revenue. They should not admit any petit:ioras or

entreaties to send something through the mails un-

less the postage is paid by the individual placing,

the reg,uest, for that correspondence, will not be

accepted at this office of the commander-general if

this condition has not been fulfilled.

Therefore, the governors to whom this Instruction

is beinG communicated will mak.e. it public by proclaztia-

tion at the towns and places under their jurisdiction.

The same shall be done by the military chiefs con-

239

cerning their Presidios and the troops which garrison

these Dresidios.

Arispe, December 18, 1783.

Ph,elip,e de Neve

^C. 4Gv-44v in E.12-10-1771,

This is a copy taken from the original.

witness thereof,p I certify.

Ara.spe. December 19, 1783.

Christoval Corvalan

(Rubric)

e cc . 44 v in ^ .12-10-17713

R,oya,l F'res,idi,o of S=a,n Imt=oni,o de Bexar

Ap^ri,l 11, 1784

r

Having seen the preceding documents numbered one

and two, remitted to me by the seP,,or Com^ander-general

of these Interior t rovinces, and which have been r. e-

mi.tted along with the corresponding official letters

,addressed, to the Commander of the Presidio of la

Bahia del ECspiri,tu Sran,to and to the appointed

Lieutenant of the same presidio, for a prompt ful-

fillment of the said orders' J hereby order, to add

these to the body of the proceedings relative to the

matter of the establishment of the monthly mail from

its beginning, for that which may convene best.

Dom,inggo Cabello

(Rubric)

rDS. 44v-45 in E.12-10-17713

242

0

In view that some postal administrators and other

deputies have not followed, the general Instruction

given by ray predecessor, d,o,n Phelipe de Neve, on

December 18, 1783 ,issued, for the fulfillment at

these rrovinces of the royal order of October 21^, 1777,

which grants the franchise of the postage on the

official letters and sealed envelopes to those indi-

viduals employed in the military, service of His

Magesty and in the.administration of public affairs;

and in view that these individuals, have drifted

away from the meaning of some of the nine Articles

comprehended in the said Instruction9 for there have

been as a result misrepresentations and misusage of

,the said Instructi.on,; and since it is necessary to

stop this misusage,, and to prevent those rraisrepre-

sentations, which may succeed in the future, I have

resolved to make.the following statements.

1. In view that, Articles numbered two and three

of the Instruction, relative to the persons enjoying

this new franchise, do not name the ministers of the

Royal Exchequer nor those persons, having the a^^inin-

istration of the public funds and/or of any other funds;

and since these rofficers, should also report the

postage of their official correspondence relative to

each of the branches they are administrating, th.ey.

243

0

should continue to follow in this matter, the custo-

mary proceedings or .to en;oy, the particular grants

they were previously enjoying.

2. With the forethought of having to ful f ill 94bv

(in the case of the death of any// of the people

named in the Instrvction), the prerequisite of the

signature and oath as expressed in Article 3, the

-0o stal adz=iini strator s should write and sign as speci-

fied, at the time the ,persons, come to mail their

correspondence, a receipt expressing the date and the

number of letters and sealed envelopes that are being

franchised on that day,. lherefore„ I hereby state

that in the aTent of the death of the person enjoying

the said franchise,9 these receiDts will have the same

validity as if signed under oath by the parties in

interest. These ^papers, should accompany an az"fi-

davit-;igned under oath by the postal, 6,dministrators.

3.- Although Article 4provides that.the persons

named to enjoy this franchise may at the time they

mail the letters, or at the end of the year, pay at

their respective Dost offices the franchise dues and

postage they may have used, it should be understood

that it is up to the nostal administrator to demand

its immediate payment or to suspend it until the time

to render his accounts. But foreseeing an, accumulation

244

and a delay on the remittance of these accounts, to

the Main Post Office of Mexico, it was ordered for

each Party in interest to pay with cash at their

respective, post office9 all postages due on their

official correspondence. The parties in interest,

will then reserve the right to seek a reimbursement

or refund in the manner described in the said Instruc-

tion. There will not be another modification con-

cerning this point,, other than the one provided in47

the preceding statement.//

4. In view of this, the payment of the postage

d,fte on the letters and sealed envelopes which the postal

administrators may franchise or deliver without

charging the postage due, will be on their account and

risk, unless one of the addressers should die or should

be dismissed from his, office before having paid it,

or when the said party, leaves no estate from where

it could be paid.

The only ob j ectl.ve of the aff idavit s issued, at

the said post office is to credit each person enjoying

the said franchise with his exact expenditures, thus

they can claim a refund according to that stated in

the affidavits,.

^. For this reason, the ministers of the Royal

Exchequers should deny.th.e refund to all the heirs or

holders of those who should die or should leave without

having presented at the post office the aforesaid

receipts of the franchised mail in accordance with that

stated in entry number two of these statements; and in

general, to all those who should fail, at the time they

are requesting the said refund, to present the required

documents stated in the Instruction of December 18,

.17.,83, without having fulfilled all of the required

formalities. The said ministers, should take special

care in examining tYie said papers presented to them

before they refund any amount demanded by virtue of

them, for these ministers, will be subjected to the

same penalties imposed on the postal administrators.

Let this resolution be fulfilled in the part

corresponding to Your, Lordship,. With this same

purpose, you should remit said resulution, to the

judges and troop commanders of the district under

this government. Y,our, I,Gordship, will not be charged

with the failure of the nroznpt and effective publica-

tion of this resolution, for I have relieved you of

that duty, by special order issued, on the 4th of

May l a st .

Y,our, L,ordship, should inform the postal admin-

istrator about this, so he will keep it in mind when

he receives these general statements through the proper

chahnels.

May God keep Y,our, Lrordship, Many years.

Chihuahua, June 9, 178K,.

,ose,ph Antoni,o Rangel

(Rubric)

,D9. 46-47v in ^.12-10-i771,

Royal Pres,idio, of Sa,n Antonio de Bexar

August 18, 1785

,_ePl^or, d,o,n Domingo Ca^ello48

In view of that which has been stated in// the

preceding superior order, let this be added to the

body of^proceedin;s concerning this matter. The

official writs should be remitted as stated therein

so the postal administrators, judges and troop com-

manders of the district under this government will be

of knowled^e of those orders issued by the sretor

commander-general of these Interior Provinces.

0Cabello

(Rubric)

,DS. 47v-48 In E.12-10-17713

0-

^ ^ 8

Rcya1 Yresidio of San Antonio de Bexar

August 18, 1785

Under this date, the said orders have been remitted

to the Dostal administrators, judges and troo;;; commanders

of the district under this government, having also en-

closed the one from the setor commander-general as

ordered in the preceding decree. In witness thereof,

I am placing this as part of these proceedings. I

certify this.

Cabello

ubric)

,DS. 48 in E.12-10-1771,