However, the relationship between the Church and the implementation of the Bourbon reforms in Spanish America should not be treated as if it were monolithic and singular. While the above-mentioned trends can be seen when looking at the core areas of Spanish America, even at the height of the Bourbon reforms, missionaries still played an active part in the Spanish-American colonial empire. Missionaries often were sent with presidial soldiers into the wilderness of the moving frontier as an arguably more human and, to the crown, less expensive method of converting, subjugating, and incorporating new indigenous peoples. Although the prevalence of missionary groups might have declined in most areas, there still existed a rhythmic and constantly fluctuating relationship in which missions, the military, and civil settlement in frontier society.