Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/360

340 of the pacified tribes, who under similar circumstances had hitherto been treated like brutes. It was also remarked that although he divided lands among Spaniards and Indians, none were reserved for himself.

Thus the wild regions of Sierra Gorda were finally brought under Spanish rule, without much bloodshed, and without any of the revolting incidents usually attending the conquest of new territory. In consideration of his services Escandon was made count of Sierra Gorda, and his achievements paved the way for the conquest of Tamaulipas, where still greater laurels were in store for him.

The same causes which led to the final pacification of Sierra Gorda and the subjugation of the Nayarits, ultimately led to the conquest of the gulf region stretching from Pánuco north to the Rio Bravo del Norte. Here, as elsewhere, the Indians were driven to revolt by a series of outrages committed on them by squatters, robbers, kidnappers, and slave-traders. During and subsequent to the operations of Escandon, various proposals were made to the central government at Mexico, and to the crown, for the extension of Spanish settlements in Tamaulipas. No decision was arrived at, however, till 1746, under the rule of Revilla Gigedo, when a council of war held for the purpose intrusted the enterprise to Escandon, who was now universally recognized as a man of consummate