In this translation it has been attempted to keep in view not only the faithful rendering into English of the Spanish original, but also, as far as was practicable, the preserving of the naive and simple style of the Spanish letter.
In order to obtain this double result, as well as to secure a fairly smooth English version, it has been necessary to break the unpunctuated Spanish original into sentences and periods, at times to vary connectives, and, in a very few instances to interpret ambiguous or obscure passages. However, an earnest effort has been made not to take any undue liberties with the original text. Reference to the original will show that the paragraphing is the translator's almost throughout.
Proper names of persons have been retained unchanged, with the single exception that the antiquated spelling with ç has been, for popular convenience, changed to the modern z; thus, Siguença has been written Siguenza.
A few notes have been appended where they seemed absolutely necessary. Particularly, attention has been called to the digressions which often seem to break the narration with more or less abruptness; they are a characteristic feature of the original.
Although I assume personal responsibility for the accuracy of the rendering into English, yet the finished translation is to such a degree the result of the joint work of Dr. Garrison and myself that it must be essentially considered as due to our united efforts.—Lilia M. Casis.
LETTER OF DON DAMIAN MANZANET TO DON CARLOS DE SIGUENZA RELATIVE TO THE DISCOVERY OF THE BAY OF ESPIRITU SANTO.
My dear Don Carlos de Siguenza y Góngora:—
The following is the narrative for which you ask me, of the discovery of the bay of Espiritu Santo and the Rio de los Tejas:—
In the year 1685-'86, His Excellency the Viceroy, who, at that time, was Conde de Paredes, Marqués de la Laguna, gave orders to the Marqués de S. Miguel de Aguayo, who was then governor of the New Kingdom of Leon, to send out a company of cavalry along the sea-coast lying north beyond Tampico, towards the Rio Bravo and the Magdalena. And the said governor sent out fifty men, headed by Capt. Alonso de Leon. With his soldiers, the above-mentioned commander went to the sea, and following along the coast, they passed the Rio Bravo with considerable difficulty. This river is the same found at the passage into New Mexico, and the Indians give it various names, for it is called by different persons Rio Bravo, Rio Grande, Rio Turbio. In New Mexico it was never known whence this river originated; all that was ever found out was that it issued from the Gran Quivira. Thus said the Indians who came to New Mexico from the interior.
But let us turn our attention again to the route taken by Capt. Alonso de Leon and his soldiers. After crossing the Rio Bravo, they reached another river, to which they gave the name of Rio Solo. This river, it seems, forms at its mouth a lake which they were unable to pass, and they returned to the New Kingdom of Leon without having had any news of the bay of Espiritu Santo, and still less of the French who were settled about this bay.
By order of His Excellency, the afore-mentioned governor sent a second time an expedition to discover the bay, and he sent two companies of cavalry led by Capt. Alonso de Leon, and they arrived the second time at the Rio Solo, when, not able to proceed any further, they returned without bringing any information. Now, since they had twice gone down to the sea-coast, and on both occasions failed to learn anything, they considered the whole report as being unfounded. So it came about that they paid no more attention to the matter, and took no further steps concerning it.
At that time I was living at the Mission Caldera, in the province of Coahuila, whither I had gone with the intention of seeing whether I could make investigations and obtain information about the interior of the country to the north and north-east, on account of facts gathered from a letter now in my possession, which had been given in Madrid to the Father Fray Antonio Binaz. This letter treats of what the blessed Mother Maria de Jesus de Agreda made known in her convent to the Father Custodian of New Mexico, Fray Alonso de Benavides. And the blessed Mother tells of having been frequently to New Mexico and to the Gran Quivira, adding that eastward from the Gran Quivira are situated the kingdoms of Ticlas, Theas, and Caburcol. She also says that these names are not exactly the ones belonging to those kingdoms, but come close to the real names. Because of this information, brought by me from Spain, together with the fact of my call to the ministry for the conversion of the heathen, I had come over and dwelt in the missions of Coahuila. Now, knowing that His Excellency was taking steps to open up the interior, to lead to the discovery of the bay of Espiritu Santo, and to find out whether any Frenchmen were there, I endeavored to learn from the Indians coming from the interior whether they knew where there dwelt men white like the Spaniards. Thus in time I learned that there were indeed some, and he who told me was an Indian whom I had with me, a man whom I had converted a little before, and in whom, though he had been a pagan, I had recognised a high degree of truthfulness. Thereupon I charged him very earnestly to ascertain in detail where and how far distant these settlers might be, and what manner of people they were, likewise whether the country to be traversed were passable.
Just at this time there arrived another Indian, of the Quems nation, who related to me that he had been even in the very houses of the French; there were many of them, he said, including women; they were well armed, and had some very large fire-arms (referring to the artillery). On my asking whether he were well acquainted with the country, he replied that, if I wished, he would take me to the place without any risk, that there we should also find priests like myself, and that already the people were sowing maize and other crops.
At this time Capt. Alonso de Leon, the same who had gone out as commander of the companies from the New Kingdom of Leon, became captain of the presidio of Coahuila. Now, before going out to his presidio, he came to the Mission Caldera, where I was living, and I made known to him what had passed between the Indians and me concerning the discovery of the bay of Espiritu Santo, endeavoring to persuade him that we should set out thither. He asked whether I had some unmistakable sign which might be made known to His Excellency, and which would make it evident to him that the report was true, so that he might undertake the expedition.
Then I called the Indian known by the name of Juan, captain of the Pacpul nation, and bade him say what he would dare undertake in order to ascertain and prove that there were in the interior men white like the Spaniards. He then said that in a “rancherÍa” of heathen Indians, which must be some sixty leagues distant, there was a white man, one of those referred to as dwelling in the interior, and that, if I so wished, he would go and bring the other out of the “rancherÍa.” Thereupon I despatched him, and that he might the more readily execute his commission, I gave him the articles of clothing and the horses which I had with me, for him to give to the chiefs of the place where was the man of whom he spoke (whom, from the description given, I inferred to be French).
This captain of the Pacpul nation, known as Juan, set out, and having come close to the mountain-range of Sacatsol (which means “stone nostrils,” and in the language of the Indians of that place is also called Axatscan, with the same meaning) he found an assembly of many Indian nations composed of the following: Mescates, Yoricas, Chomenes, Machomenes, Sampanales, Paquachiams, Tilpayay, Apis. This mountain-range of Sacatsol is twenty leagues beyond the Rio Grande, which is the stream coming from the north, and is called also Rio del Norte; the distance from the Mission San Salvador to the said range is sixty leagues, and from Coahuila the same.
Now, the Indian mentioned above, Juanillo, found the Frenchman referred to, told him that I was asking for him, and took him out to another “rancherÍa,” leaving word with the Indians that they should not be afraid, and that I desired to visit them. Returning, he told me how he had left the Frenchman, and that we might without fear go after him. I notified Capt. Alonso de Leon, who, with twelve men, went quite undisturbed, and they brought the Frenchman, painted like the Indians, old and naked. His name was Juan Francisco So-and-so, and, by his own acount, he was a native of Cheblie in New France. This Frenchman Capt. Alonzo de Leon placed in the hands of His Excellency the Conde de la Moncloba, and in all his testimony the said Frenchman always proved himself untruthful.
After the Conde de la Moncloba had determined on the expedition to discover the bay of Espiritu Santo, there arrived as viceroy in this kingdom His Excellency the Conde de Galbe, who put his whole heart into the cause as soon as he came into power. His Excellency ordered Capt. Alonso de Leon to pursue the journey to the bay of Espiritu Santo, as his predecessor had ordained, and for this expedition forty men went out from the presidios of Vizcaya, and from the New Kingdom of Leon forty others. From all the men three companies were formed, having Capt. Alonso de Leon as commander-in-chief and Nicolás de Medina as Sergeant-Major; the leader of one company was Tomás de la Garza, of the second, Lorenzo de la Garza, and of the third 1Capt. Francisco Martinez, who was a discharged sergeant, having just finished his term of service in Flanders.
We left Coahuila on the twenty-sixth of March in the year 1689, and went as far as the RÍo del Norte, which, in the said province of Coahuila is called the RÍo Grande, our guide still being the Indian Juanillo, and when we reached that river, I sent for the Indian who knew the country and had been among the Frenchmen, whom I call Quems, because he belonged to the Indian nation of that name. We traveled on towards the northeast and at times east-north-east, until we reached the river of Our Lady of Guadalupe. And here I asked this Indian whether the dwellings of the French were still a long way off, thinking that when we should be distant from them a day and night's journey, some of us might push forward in order, unnoticed, to take a survey of the village. The Indian replied that the village was about fifteen leagues distant from that river.
On the morning of the next day Capt. Alonso de Leon asked me what we should do in order to ascertain the number of Frenchmen and the condition of things in their village. With regard to this there were various opinions, mine being that, since we had with us the Quems Indian who was well acquainted with the country, we should all have a mass sung in honor of the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe that very morning, at the very place in which we were; also, that when we should succeed in reaching the dwellings of the Frenchmen, we should have another mass celebrated, in honor of Saint Anthony of Padua. All consented very readily to this, and, soon, at about nine o'clock in the morning, the mass to the Virgin was sung.
After that it was arranged that, the two Indians, Juanillo the Papul and the Quems Indian, serving as guides, twenty-five men should travel on with us until we should come upon the French village in the early morning, while the remaining soldiers with the beasts of burden should come behind us and camp when they reached a suitable spot. This spot they should then not leave until we returned, unless by the express command of Capt. Alonso de Leon. When we started out, the rear-guard received orders to proceed slowly, watching cautiously lest any Indian should appear; in case any did, they were to seize him without doing him the least harm, and notify us of the capture.
After traveling some four leagues, the rear-guard saw an Indian come out of a dense wood, and called to him, whereupon he went towards them without any show of resistance. They sent us word of the occurrence, and we halted. On the arrival of the Indian the two we had along asked him whether there were, thereabouts, any of the white people who dwelt further on. He said that, as to those living further, they used to inhabit houses which now no longer existed, for, two moons previous, the Indians of the coast had killed all but a few boys whom they had carried off; that he himself lived in the “rancherÍa” of the Emet and Lavas Indians, which was about two leagues out of the route which we were following towards the bay of Espiritu Santo. We went with this Indian to the “rancherÍa” of which he spoke, and reached it at about three in the afternoon. As soon as the Indians became aware of our presence, they made for the wood, leaving to us the “rancherÍa,” together with the laden dogs, which they had not been able to drive fast enough when they fled. The Indian who served as our guide himself entered the wood, and called to the others, declaring that we were friends, and that they should have no fear. Some of them—and among these was their captain—came out and embraced us, saying: “thechas! techas!” which means “friends! friends!” One of those who came out first was a big young fellow about twenty years old, who wore a monk's cloak, and when we saw that it was the habit of a frair, we gave him a blanket, and I took the robe from him.
These Indians told how, two days previous, two Frenchmen had passed by with the Tejas Indians. That very afternoon we started in pursuit of those Frenchmen, and at sunset, we reached the “rancherÍa” of the Toxo and Toaa Indians, who told us that the Frenchmen had passed by with the Tejas, and had been unwilling to remain there with them. That night we slept in the neighborhood of the “rancherÍa,” and at eight in the evening some Indians came to the place where we were, one of them dressed after the fashion of the French. And they brought some French books, and a Holy Bible. The next morning we set out in quest of the said Frenchmen, passing through some very dense woods; and at about two o'clock in the afternoon we came to some “ranchitos” of Emet Indians. On our inquiring concerning the Frenchmen these Indians pointed out to us an Indian who had just arrived and who had conducted them (the Frenchmen) as far as the San Marcos river, and seeing us pass they told us that we would not be able to cross the said river. We told the Indian who had led the Frenchmen that if he would take them a paper and bring an answer we would give him a horse, and that he should take the answer to the houses where the Frenchmen lived. Capt. Francisco Martinez wrote the letter in the French language because he was master of it.
Then we returned where the camp was, five leagues beyond the Guadalupe river, and we learned that three days previous the horses had stampeded, and a number having been recovered, fifty were still missing, and in pursuit a soldier had lost his way. 2 This man remained missing four days, and in the meantime he met with some Indians who were skinning a buffalo, who took him home with them at nightfall to their “rancherÍa,” giving him to eat of the buffalo meat, and whatever else they themselves had. On the day after this, an Indian belonging to the same “rancherÍa” came there with a small bundle of tobacco. This Indian was the one who had been with us, and he made a long harangue to all the Indians who were in the “rancherÍa.” As to the soldier who was lost, when he met with the Indians who had the buffalo, they spoke to him by signs, and he understood them to tell him to make a fire. This he must have inferred from seeing the meat they had, and very likely he was frightened at seeing himself lost among barbarian Indians, at any rate, he spilled 3 on his cloak the powder he was carrying in a flask, and on striking the light he dropped a spark on the powder, so that he burned his whole side from head to foot. When the Indians learned that we were in their territory, they must have come to the conclusion that, since that man was lost, his comrades would be sure to look for him. The next day they brought him his horse, and, since he was so badly burnt that he could not help himself, the Indians themselves saddled it for him, and assisted him to mount, telling him by signs to follow them. They brought him very near to the place where we were, just a couple of shots away. These Indians who brought him, not wishing to approach us, signified to him that he should go on, using signs to indicate to him where we were, at the foot of a hill which he saw there. At the foot of that hill, on the other side, they left him, and he reached us at nine in the morning, which was for all a source of great satisfaction. We felt very sorry when we saw how badly burnt he was. 4
On the following day we left for the French settlement, and when we were about three leagues from it there came out some twenty-five Indians. Now the old Frenchman who accompanied us took occasion to say that the French settlement was not in the place to which the Indian guides were taking us. On the way this Frenchman tried several times, by means of an Indian of the Cavas nation whom he had with him, to make our two Indians desert us, or say that it was very far, and that we should not be able to cross the rivers which were on the way. I was so sorry that the Frenchman should be given occasion to speak that I grew annoyed, and Capt. Alonso de Leon said to me: “Father, we are going where I wish to go.” We continued following the two guides quite three leagues; we arrived at a stream of very good drinking-water, and the two Indians said to me: “Lower down on the bank of this stream are the houses of the French, which must be about three leagues off.” Then the old Frenchman saw that there was no help, and that we were certain to come upon the village. He then said: 5“Sir, now I knew very well, yea, very well, that the houses are on this little river.”
We started the next morning, and three leagues off we found the village of the Frenchmen on the bank of the stream, as I had been told by the two Indians, the Quems and Juanillo the Papul. We arrived at about eleven in the forenoon, and found six houses, not very large, built with poles plastered with mud, and roofed over with buffalo hides, another large house where pigs were kept, and a wooden fort made from the hulk of a wrecked vessel. The fort had one lower room which was used as a chapel for saying mass, and three other rooms below; above the three rooms was an upper story serving for a store-house, wherein we found some six loads of iron, not counting scattered pieces and some steel, also eight small guns and three swivels made of iron, the largest pieces being for a charge of about six pounds of shot. The pieces and one swivel were buried, and Capt. Alonso de Leon carried off two of the swivels. There was a great lot of shattered weapons, broken by the Indians—firelocks, carabines, cutlasses—but they had not left the cannon, only one being found. We found two unburied bodies, which I interred, setting up a cross over the grave. There were also many torn-up books, and a number of dead pigs.
These Frenchmen had a piece of land fenced in with stakes, where they sowed just a little corn, and had an asparagus bed; here we found also very good endive. This place affords no advantages as to situation, for good drinking-water is very far off, and timber still further. The water of the stream is very brackish, so much so that in five days during which the camp was pitched there, all the horses sickened from the brackish water.
The next day we went down to explore the bay of Espiritu Santo, and coasted it until we succeeded in finding the mouth; in the middle of this there is a flat rock, and all along the shore of the bay there are many lagoons which it is very difficult to cross. Blackberries are abundant, large, and fine, and there are a number of stocks which seem to be those of vines, but no trees, and no fresh water. The Indians dig wells for drinking water.
After exploring the bay we returned to the main body of our party, whom we had left in the village; we arrived there at noon, 6and remained there that afternoon, and the next day they bent the large iron bars, making them up into bundles, 7 in order to carry them with ease. We found the Indians with the reply to the letter which we had written to the Frenchmen; they said that we should wait for them, that they would soon come, that another Frenchman was further on, and that they were waiting for him in order that they might come all together. The Indian received the horse, as we had ordered. As to the fort, Capt. Alonso de Leon would not have it burnt down, and it remained as it was.
The next day we set out on our return trip to the Guadalupe river, and when we got halfway, since we saw that the Frenchmen did not come, Capt. Alonso de Leon, with twenty-five men, went to the “rancherÍa” where they were, and the main party went on as far as the Guadalupe river, where it remained waiting three days. The Frenchmen were in the “rancherÍa” of the Toaa Indians, with the Tejas; they came to the Guadalupe with Capt. Alonso de Leon, and arrived there on the 2nd of May, '89. Two Frenchmen came, naked except for an antelope's skin, and with their faces, breasts, and arms painted like the Indians, and with them came the governor of the Tejas and eight of his Indians. Through that day and night I tried my utmost to show all possible consideration to the governor, giving him two horses, and the blanket in which I slept, for I had nothing else which I could give him. 8Speaking Spanish, and using as an interpreter one of the Frenchmen whom we had with us, I exhorted the governor that his people should become Christians, and bring into their lands priests who should baptize them, since otherwise they could not save their souls, adding that if he wished, I would go to his lands. Soon the aforementioned governor said he would very willingly take me there, and I promised him to go, and to take with me other priests like myself, repeating to him that I would be there in the following year, at the time of sowing corn. The governor seemed well pleased, and I was still more so, seeing the harvest to be reaped among the many souls in those lands who know not God.
The next day was the day of the Holy Cross—the 3rd of May; after mass the governor of the Tejas left for his home and we for this place. We arrived at Coahuila, and Capt. Alonso de Leon sent the two Frenchmen—the one named Juan Archebepe, 9 of Bayonne, the other Santiago Grollette— 10 from Coahuila to Mexico, with Capt. Francisco Martinez, and his excellency the Conde de Galbe had the Frenchmen provided with suitable clothes and dispatched to Spain on shipboard in the same year, '89.
All this news did not fail to create excitement and to give satisfaction not only to His Excellency but also to other men of note in Mexico, and there were several meetings held in order to consider measures not only for keeping the French from gaining control of those regions and colonizing them, but also for the introduction of religious ministers.
At this time His Excellency deigned to send for me, asking the Rev. Father Luzuriaga to give orders for my coming. I was living at the Mission of San Salvador, in the valley of Santiago, in the province of Coahuila. I went to Querétaro, arriving at my college of the Holy Cross on the 24th of October, in the year '89, and left for Mexico on All Soul's Day. On the 5th of November I came to the convent of San Cosme, and the next day there entered Mexico the Very Rev. Father Fray Juan Capistrano, who came from Spain as commissary general of this province of New Spain.
It seems that Our Lord had ordained that it should not be Father Luzuriaga's good fortune that in his time priests of the order of our Father Saint Francis should go among the Tejas, for he always objected to the idea that the brethren of that holy order should undertake missions to the heathen, their chief office being that of Apostolic Missionaries among communities of both the faithful and infidels. 11 For after the Rev. Fathers, Fray Juan Bautista Lazaro and the Predicador Fray Francisco Esteves came to Guasteza, and founded at Tamaulipas a mission for unbaptized Indians, when already the mission included more than three hundred families, without counting a large number who were in process of joining, and the Indians were very much pleased and very attentive to the Christian doctrine, the Rev. Luzuriaga ordered the fathers to depart, and to leave their mission and the Indians, no ground or motive being alleged other than the fact that those regions belonged to the district of Tampico, and that the priests belonging to that district could look after that settlement of Indians. The reverend fathers obeyed the Rev. Luzuriaga's orders with heavy hearts, seeing that, after the arduous labors by which they had gained that post, those poor heathens would be lost. After those priests had departed and left the Indians, the district fathers never again gave them a thought. When the fathers took leave of the Indians, there was a pitiful scene, the latter weeping and lamenting that the former, though priest and ministers of God, had deceived them, since they had pledged their word to minister to them, to teach them and baptize them, and now, if the unsettled life they led, without rule or law, were an evil one, whereby they should lose salvation, the fathers would be to blame, for these were leaving them and had deceived them. With these and many other expressions they parted, the fathers in tears over the fold which was now without a shepherd, yet on the other hand, feeling compelled to obey. On another occasion, when the superior of our holy order begged for permission to enter New Mexico, the Very Rev. Luzuriaga refused and would not allow it. In short he ever remained adverse to the introduction of priests among the heathen. However when there came out of the land of the Tejas tidings of discoveries which were noised abroad, he thought of many possible measures, and of sending priests out of the provinces, but our Lord God ordained that when I reached Mexico, another commissary general, as I have already said, was ruling.
I reached the city and saw the very reverend father and we spoke of the Tejas. I told him how I had been called by His Excellency and by the Very Rev. Luzuriaga, and he said to me: “See His Excellency, and then come again to me.” I had an interview with His Excellency, and spoke at great length of the bay of Espiritu Santo and of the Tejas, and immediately he replied that he would foster the cause with might and main.
Besides the news which we had brought with us on returning from the bay of Espiritu Santo, Capt. Alonso de Leon had brought the information that an Indian who had come from there at a more recent date than ourselves said that among the Tejas there were eighteen Frenchmen, and that houses had been built; that they had flocks of goats and sheep, and that some of the Frenchmen had gone to their country for women and for more settlers. I do not know what Capt. Alonso de Leon had in view in giving this account to His Excellency, for I had seen the Indian and spoken to him before he saw Captain Leon, and he told me that he came from the interior, and had been told that six Frenchmen, who seemed to have lost their way, were wandering among the Tejas. He had also heard of the coming of 12 some Tejas Indians, and that on their advancing further on this side of the Rio Hondo, other Indians had come out to attack them, that they had killed two of them, and that the rest had returned to their homes. It seems to me that word of this must have come to the old Frenchman who lived in Coahuila, because in tracing the report to its source they said: “Juan says so”; and since Juan's accounts have always been untrue, he certainly lied that time also, for the Indians themselves were ignorant of such an occurrence, and when we went among the Tejas they knew nothing about the reported deaths.
But, to return to our subject. When I was in Mexico and had spoken to His Excellency at different times concerning a second expedition to the bay of Espiritu Santo and a visit to the Tejas His Excellency resolved to call a general meeting in order to decide what should be done. Taking for granted the information given by Capt. Alonso de Leon about a settlement of Frenchmen among the Tejas, and concerning the death of those who had settled on the bay of Espiritu Santo it was uncertain whether some French vessel might have come afterwards with settlers for the bay; besides, there were other grounds for action in the fact that the Tejas were asking for priests for their country. All these grounds being taken into account in the general assembly, there were various opinions, and finally His Excellency decided that a second expedition should be undertaken to the bay of Espiritu Santo. Previously Capt. Alonso de Leon had already made known to His Excellency all that was necessary for that journey, and what he should do in the case. His Excellency ordained that Capt. Alonso de Leon should go as commander, taking with him a hundred and ten soldiers,—twenty from the garrison of Vizcaya, in the neighborhood of Coahuila, forty who enlisted in Sombrerete and Zacatecas, the rest from Saltillo and the new Kingdom of Leon—one hundred and fifty long guns, twelve hundred weight of powder, and three hundred weight of shot. They were to inspect the bay of Espiritu Santo and to ascertain whether there were any Frenchmen left of those who used to live there, or whether others had recently arrived; the wooden fort built by the French was to be burnt down, and Capt. Alonso de Leon was to communicate with the Governor of the Tejas from the bay of Espiritu Santo as to whether he would be willing to have the ministers of the gospel enter into his territory, as he had promised Father Fray Damian Manzanet a year previous. If the governor consented, then they should escort the priests, proceeding with every precaution, and should dispatch an order requesting and charging the Very Rev. Father Commissary General to send with Father Fray Damian Manzanet those of the brethren of the Holy College of the Cross who should prove suitable, the father himself to decide how many priests would be needed at first. At the same time he was to be provided with all the necessaries for the journey. And I, being present at this general assembly, remarked that I would take along three priests for the Tejas, myself being the fourth, besides two for the mission of San Salvador, which is on the way, making a total of six priests to be sent immediately by the college; and in the event of the Tejas receiving the faith, then the college should send whatever other priests would be required. This was accepted by the general assembly.
Afterwards His Excellency bade me make a note of what I needed to take along, whereupon I replied that for the moment I only wanted wine for the masses, a wafer-box and wax; as to other necessaries, such as vestments and other things, I should procure them myself. It was determined that the journey should take place after Christmas, so when the Christmas feast was over His Excellency dispatched Capt. Francisco Martinez with twenty mules laden with wine, wax and so on, also clothing for distribution among the Indians, and six loads of tobacco; and at the College of the Holy Cross at Queretaro, with the priests who were to accompany me, I awaited him. These priests were the Father Predicador Fray Miguel Fontecuberta, the Father Predicador Fray Francisco de Jesus MarÍa, the Father Predicador Fray Antonio Perea, the Father Predicador Fray Francisco Hidalgo, the Father Predicador Fray Antonio Bordoy. Those who remained in the Mission San Salvador were the fathers Fray Antonio Perea and Fray Francisco Hidalgo.
We left Coahuila for the Tejas on the third day of the Easter feast, March 28, '90. When we left, the twenty soldiers from Vizcaya had not yet arrived. The forty from Zacatecas were for the most part tailors, carpenters, masons, miners—in short, none of them could catch the horses on which were they to ride that day, for when they had once let them go they could manage them no longer. Besides, we had saddles that could not have been worse.
Thus we went on traveling by the route described in the journal which was kept of this expedition. What I noticed was that on our first trip we had found many Indians along the rivers and everywhere else, while this time we went to inspect the bay of Espiritu Santo and returned to the Guadalupe river without having found a single Indian in the country. Twenty of us reached the fort built by the Frenchmen, the rest remained with the horses by the Guadalupe river. We saw no trace of Frenchmen having been there during our absence, all being as we had left it the year before, except that, certainly, there were signs that the Indians had dwelt there. I myself set fire to the fort, and as there was a high wind 13—the wood, by the way, was from the sloop brought by the Frenchmen, which had sunk on entering the bay—in half an hour the fort was in ashes. This was at the hour of noon; afterwards we went down to the coast of the bay, all along the banks and the rivulet by which the Frenchmen passed in and out of the bay with their barges and canoes. And after we had arrived, some of the soldiers of the kingdom of Leon said that they wished to bathe, in order to be able to tell that they had bathed in the sea, this being esteemed so remarkable a thing that they carried away flasks of sea-water which later, in their own country of Monterey, it was held a great favor to try and to taste, because it was sea-water.
14On our first journey there was a soldier in Coahuila who was a Creole from Pablillo. His father's name was So-and-So de Escobedo, and when he learned that an expedition to the bay of Espiritu Santo was being planned, he wrote a letter to Capt. Alonso de Leon, which letter ran as follows:—“Friend, I entreat you to do me the favor of taking my son Antonio among your troops, that when he is old, he may have a tale to tell.”
15While the soldiers were bathing, we saw in the bay two dark and bulky objects, looking like buoys, and though there was some discussion as to whether they might be buoys, no special investigation was made, such as Capt. Alonso de Leon and Capt. D. Gregorio Salinas made later on in order to give information to His Excellency. These buoys must have been distant from the land about two gunshots, and they were not in the mouth of the San Marcos river, as they reported, nor is the mouth of the San Marcos river half a league wide, as they said, for whoever said so did not see it, and I, who saw it on the feast of San Marcos (that is why it is called the San Marcos river), I say that the mouth of the river is about a gunshot wide.
We returned to the main body of the army, which awaited us by the Guadalupe river; arriving there we found nothing new. The next morning we left for the country of the Tejas, and journeyed some six leagues. On the next day there was no traveling done. Some soldiers went out to reconnoitre, and to see whether there appeared any Indians from whom they might gather information. They found none, and no smoke was seen, nor was there ever any answer to that which daily we allowed to rise. The next morning while I was saying mass two gunshots were heard far away on the hill 16 towards the Guadalupe river. Some one went to see who it was, and it proved to be three of the soldiers who belonged to the garrisons of Vizcaya. They came up, and we asked them about their journey, and they told us of hardships as follows:
17On the second day of the Easter feast they had arrived at Saltillo, namely, twenty soldiers of the two garrisons of Vizcaya which are nearest Coahuila, i. e., Cuencame and El Gallo. And the sergeant-major of Vizcaya, Juan Bautista Escorza, appointed a mulatto named Martincho So-and-So leader of the ten men he sent. The captain of the garrison El Gallo, a native of Vizcaya whose name was Ogalde, sent as leader of his ten soldiers Joseph de Salcedo, a Spaniard. While they were in Saltillo, a town inhabited by Spaniards, one of Martincho's men had words with Captain Anchiondo, and the Alcalde Mayor, D. Alonso Ramos, nephew to the president of Guadalajara, tried to seize him, but could not, because the soldier and his companion decamped and went off where their company was stationed on the property of Capt. Nicolás de Guajardo. Thither the said Alcalde Mayor followed them. He arrived close behind them, and spoke very politely to the leader, Martincho, who agreed to take along the soldier next day in order that he might make it up with Captain Anchiondo. They went next day, and on the arrival of the said leader with the soldier at the government houses, it happened that the Alcalde Mayor received word concerning a christening to which he was invited. He said to the soldiers: “Wait for me a while, I shall soon be back;” and so on his return the difference existing between the two men was settled, and they made friends. But next day a tale-bearer—they are numerous in the town of Saltillo—did not fail to tell Martincho that the Alcalde Mayor said that he would find means to punish the Vizcayan soldiers, and that when he was away at the christening he had left them as prisoners in the government houses. At this Martincho took offense, questioning whether the Alcalde Mayor had jurisdiction over military cases, and he made a complaint. He called four of his soldiers, whom he took with him, saying to them that if they were not men, and intended to flee, they should not accompany him. Finally they went to the government houses, and Martincho left the four soldiers at the door, and, without giving warning, he entered the hall, and gained access to the room where the Alcalde Mayor was with a priest from Coahuila. On entering he drew his sword and dealt the Alcalde Mayor a stroke, taking off a considerable piece from his head, and cutting off one of his arms so as to leave him crippled, and to a mulatto who sought to help his master he gave a back-handed blow which split his head. The priest took away Martincho's sword, and just then the inhabitants of the place came crowding up to the door to assist the Alcalde Mayor. The soldiers who were keeping guard would not allow them to enter, but the crowd afterwards came in through the yard. It was then about ten o'clock in the morning. Martincho departed, he and his companions getting upon their horses and returning to the camp which he had established at the house of Guajardo. The whole population of the town followed with weapons in pursuit, and after much dispute, Martincho having offered resistance in the house, he allowed himself to be seized because the holder of the warrant, Gerónimo Montés de Oca by name, assured him that his life was safe. This occurred on the Thursday after Easter; that night the Alcalde Mayor himself passed sentence on him, and he received the notification in bed. The sentence was that he should be shot according to military usage, and on the next day, Friday March 21st, in the year '90, Martincho was shot on the plaza at Saltillo. 18
This news the Vizcayan soldiers brought us as their excuse for not having arrived in time to set out from Coahuila with us.
These soldiers of whom I have spoken as arriving on that day were three that came on together while the others were following slowly, driving their horses, which gave great trouble. So six soldiers were sent with a load of flour to meet them, and Capt. Alonso de Leon and myself with fifteen men set out in a northerly direction for the San Marcos river, in order to try to find some Indians, burning fires day and night to see whether they would be answered by others. We spent six days in this sea-region without being able to find a single Indian. We crossed the San Marcos river on the Feast of the Cross, May 3rd. The next day, as we were still traveling north, it being already late, about five o'clock in the afternoon, all of us weary now with the seven days' journey, we saw some buffaloes, and the soldiers went out to kill something for supper that evening. I remained with a son of Captain Leon, and as we were walking directly forward, at the report of a gun an Indian woman came out of a thicket, and looking by chance to the right, I saw an object in the distance, concerning which it was impossible to tell whether it was an Indian or a tree, but on watching closely to see whether it was moving I saw another and a smaller object issue forth, from which it was evident that they were both Indians. Leon's son and I set out towards them, and when we had come closer I waved my hat to them, whereupon they fled, making for the thicket. Just then Captain Leon arrived with some soldiers, and we went up to the thicket and could not find any Indian; we did find some buffalo hides fastened to a tree so as to make a shade, also a great quantity of buffalo meat, dried as well as fresh, three wild fowls that were roasting, and buffalo tongues and udders, very fine, like hams. Nothing was taken away from them, nay, more, we left them a bunch of tobacco, some small knives and some ribbons, and went away. We and the soldiers slept that night on a little hill a couple of gunshots away from that place. By careful watching, at about nine that night, I noticed that the fire of the Indians grew brighter, and then I said to Captain Alonso de Leon: “Either these Indians are numerous, and therefore they fear us not, or those that are here, seeing that we have taken nothing from them, but, rather, left them more, are of a friendly disposition and willing to be at peace.”
In the morning before sunrise I called the Quems Indian, and told him that we would try to ascertain whether those Indians were few or many, whether they were willing or not to be friendly, and to what nation they belonged. The Quems replied, as usual:—“Father, what you desire me to do shall be done.” Then I gave a soldier the order to take off the armor he had on, bidding the Quems Indian wear it, and I had a good horse given to the Indian, and said to him:—“See here! if the soldiers go to visit the Indians, perchance these will be afraid, and flee; it will be better for you alone to go to reconnoitre. If one of them comes out peaceably to meet you, tell him to come forward, for we are not here to take away from them what they possess, or to hurt them; on the contrary, we wish to be their friends, and help them to our utmost.” As the Indians came forth Captain Leon and his soldiers mounted their horses to be ready to assist our Indian in case the others should be numerous and should try to kill him. The Quems Indian came near the place where we had seen the Indians, and soon one of them came out towards him. The Quems waited for him, and they spoke at great length. And our Indian told him by signs—this being the most usual language—not to be afraid, and that he might safely come to us, for we were good people, and the Indian, seeing the Quems painted like himself, believed all that he told him, and the two came on together. After we had talked by signs a long time to the aforesaid Indian, he led us to his “ranchito” and we found his wife and a boy about ten, and no one else. These people were of the Tejas nation, and had come to hunt buffaloes and carry the meat to their village. Soon we arranged for the transportation of the meat they had, and charged the man to take word to their governor, telling him that we were waiting for him at the very spot where we had found them. At noon we sent them forward, and returned for the night to the spot already referred to, where we had found these Indians. This place is at a distance of thirty leagues, rather more than less, from the village of the Tejas.
The next morning four soldiers were sent out to the main body of the army to take a message, giving them the order to come and join us, as we were waiting for them at that place. By this time the provisions were consumed, and we were living simply on roasted meat. The next day at about five in the afternoon the Indian whom we had sent out appeared with wife and child, in the same place, and on our asking him how it was that he had not gone on to his settlement he told us that his horse had run away from him that night, that he had left the meat hanging on a tree, and that he had come near to us to try to catch the horse. They slept with us that night, and the next morning we held a consultation as to whether it might not be that other Indians had come with him, and he was acting as a spy; with this in view it was resolved that four soldiers should examine the country around for about three leagues and see whether there were Indians or tracks of any kind. About three leagues away they found an Indian, a very tall youth, on an excellent bay horse; the Indian was hunting buffalo, and though he was by himself he began to raise a hue and cry as soon as he saw the four soldiers, riding around as if he had no fear. The soldiers drew near him without exposing their guns or making any show of fight, and they made signs to him that he should come with them. And they brought him, and we gave him some presents, and told him that if he would go with a message to the governor of the Tejas, we would give him a horse. As soon as the other Indian whom we had first sent saw that another man was going with the message, he asked for a good horse, and said he would go, and leave his wife and boy for us to take care of until he returned with the governor. So we sent him, telling him to light fires along the road by which they should come, and that we would answer by the same signal.
After four days, our company reached the San Marcos River, and came upon the Indians of the “rancherÍa” Emat, Too, Toaa, and others, and these Indians said that further along there were other Indians, and with them two persons of French nationality. Leon, remaining with a few soldiers, sent for them, and they came. The one was named Pedro Muni, a Creole, from the city of Paris, the other, Pedro Talo, a Creole, was from New France; these had their firearms, a sack of powder, and shot; more than twenty reales of the lowest value, 19 in silver, Spanish money, and eighty gold eight-dollar doubloons, French money. The doubloons were then passed from hand to hand, and when they had made the round, there were only thirty-nine left. One of the two individuals mentioned, P. Muni, must have been about twenty years old; the other, Pedro Talo, was eleven or twelve.
The main body of the soldiers soon reached the place where we were, and the day after they came Captain Leon arrived with the two French boys. There came also into that region an Indian who was thoroughly acquainted with the road into the country of the Tejas, and he showed us the way until we met with the governor of the Tejas, together with fourteen or fifteen of his Indians, and the Indian whom we had sent to him with our message. It was about ten o'clock in the morning when we came upon them by a brook in which they were bathing, and, on account of the thick woods, they did not see us until we were very close to them. As soon as the governor saw me, he came forward to embrace me; we sat down to talk by signs—this being the most usual mode of communication in those regions; and he produced a small sack of powdered tobacco, of the kind which they grow, and another small sack of pinole, 20 white, and of very good quality. After talking we left the place, and went to rest a while. That night it was arranged to provide the governor with garments, in order that he might enter his village clothed, so that his people might see how highly we thought of him.
Three days later, on Monday, May 22, 1690, we entered the village. It was raining heavily on our arrival. That year it had, up to that time, rained but little, and already the corn was suffering from the drought, but every day of the eleven that we spent in the village it rained very hard.
At evening on the day of our arrival, the governor being in the tent with us, an old Indian woman brought him for his meal a large earthenware vessel full of frijoles, with ground nuts and tamales. That evening the governor said that he would spend the night with us in the tent, and take us to his house next day, but afterwards, it being already late, Captain Leon insisted that they should go at once, as he had some skirts and other articles of clothing which he wanted to take to the governor's wife. The governor replied that he did not want to go then, but would go next day; however, in spite of all, he was obliged against his will to take Leon to his house.
On the next day the governor expressed a desire to take us home with him, and said that we might live in his house, in which, he said, there was room for all. After dinner we, the priests, discussed what should be our conduct on visiting at the governor's, and whether it would be advisable to stay there. My opinion was that we four priests should go on foot, carrying our staffs, which bore a holy crucifix, and singing the Litany of Our Lady, and that a lay-brother who was with us should carry in front a picture on linen of the Blessed Virgin, bearing it high on his lance, after the fashion of a banner.
We set out in this manner for the governor's house from the place where we had stopped, and this pious conduct proved so blessed in its results that, although it had rained heavily, and the water stood high all along the road where we had to pass, so high, indeed, that for the greater part of the way it came nearly to our knees, yet our fervor was such that we paid no attention to the water. Following the example given, some of the soldiers who were walking through the water became animated with such zeal and ardor that they could not keep back tears of joy and gladness. Among those who thus especially distinguished themselves, giving no heed to the water or to the mud, were Capt. Francisco Martinez, D. Gregorio Salinas, and others. The rest, some twenty soldiers, were on horseback, and Capt. Alonso de Leon was with them; we who walked were in their midst.
We came to the governor's house, where we found a number of Indians—men, women, and children. Kneeling, we concluded the Litany, and we blessed the house. Soon the governor and the other Indians came up to kiss my robe, and the former bade us enter, in order to look at his house. The house is built of stakes thatched over with grass, it is about twenty varas high, is round, and has no windows, daylight entering through the door only; this door is like a room-door such as we have here. In the middle of the house is the fire, which is never extinguished by day or by night, and over the door on the inner side there is a little mound of pebbles very prettily arranged. Ranged around one half of the house, inside, are ten beds, which consist of a rug made of reeds, laid on four forked sticks. Over the rug they spread buffalo skins, on which they sleep. At the head and foot of the bed is attached another carpet forming a sort of arch, which, lined with a very brilliantly colored piece of reed matting, makes what bears some resemblance to a very pretty alcove. In the other half of the house, where there are no beds, there are some shelves about two varas high, and on them are ranged large round baskets made of reeds, (in which they keep their corn, nuts, acorns, beans, etc.), a row of very large earthen pots like our earthen jars, these pots being used only to make the atole 21 when there is a large crowd on the occasion of some ceremony, and six wooden mortars for pounding the corn in rainy weather, (for, when it is fair, they grind it in the courtyard).
After a little while they brought out to each of us in the courtyard a small wooden bench very skilfully fashioned, and after we had been through the house we sat down there, for the yard was bright and cool. Then they brought us a lunch consisting of the tamales they make, with nuts, pinole very well prepared, a large crock full of corn stewed with frijoles, and ground nuts. Soon I noticed, outside the yard, opposite the door of the governor's house, another long building in which no inmates could be seen. I asked who dwelt therein or what purpose it served, and was told that the captains were lodged in that house when the governor called them to a meeting. On the other side I saw yet another and smaller vacant house, and upon my inquiring about this one they answered that in the smaller house the pages of the captains were lodged, for there is a law providing that each captain shall bring his page when the governor assembles the captains, and they observe this custom. As soon as they arrive they are lodged in that house, and for each one is laid a large, brightly colored reed mat, on which they sleep, with a bolster made of painted reeds at the head; and when they return home, each one carries with him his mat and pillow. While they attend the meeting the governor provides them with food, until he sends them home.
The following are the domestic arrangements in the governor's house: each week ten Indian women undertake the house-work; each day at sunrise these women come laden with firewood, sweep out the courtyard and the house, carry water from a brook at some distance—(for this water is very good, and though the river is close by, its water is not as good as that of the brook)—and grind corn for the atole, tamales, and pinole. Each one of the women goes home for the night, returning to the governor's house next morning. I saw a little wooden bench in front of the fire, and the Indians admonished me not to sit upon it, lest I should die. Of course I was curious to learn what mystery there was connected with it, and they told me that no one but their lord the governor, might sit upon that stool.
As to whether the priests should live in the governor's house, it seemed to me unadvisable that they should do so, on account of the number of Indians, men and women, who went in and out at all times. Using the Frenchman as an interpreter I told the governor with many kind expressions that his house was very fine, and that I heartily appreciated his desire to have the priests in his household, but that since we had to build a house for the celebration of masses, it might be well to build likewise a dwelling for the priests, because they must needs live near the church. Thereupon the governor said that we could build the house I asked for in the most suitable place, that he would show us the village and that I might choose the spot. We agreed to visit the village on the following day in order to look for a favorable location for the church and the priests' dwelling; accordingly next day we went with the governor, who took us to the place the French had selected for their settlement, pleasantly and favorably situated on the riverbanks. We did not locate the convent there because it was so far out of the way of the Indians. Just at that spot they showed us two dead bodies of Frenchmen who had shot each other with carabines. All this day we were unable to find a place which suited me.
The next morning I went out with Capt. Alonso de Leon a little way, and found a delightful spot close to the brook, fine woods, with plum trees like those in Spain. And soon afterwards, on the same day, they began to fell trees and cart the wood, and within three days we had a roomy dwelling and a church wherein to say mass. Very reverently we set in front of the church a very high cross of carved wood.
On the feast of Corpus Christi mass was sung, and before mass we had a procession with the holy sacrament exposed, a large concourse of Indians being assembled; for we had notified them the day before. The soldiers had been given leave to fire as many salutes as they could during the procession, at the elevation, and at the close of mass, and it was the will of the Divine Majesty that in that solitude we should celebrate a memorable feast, which was rendered a source of great consolation by our being able to carry the blessed sacrament exposed and to walk in procession as Christian Catholics are wont to do. After mass we hoisted in the name of His Majesty the royal standard bearing on one side the picture of Christ crucified, and on the other that of the Virgin of Guadalupe. A royal salute was fired, and we sang the Te Deum Laudamus in thanksgiving.
These Tejas Indians have always had among them an old Indian who was their minister, and presented their offerings to God. They observed the custom never to taste any eatable without first taking a portion of it to their minister for sacrifice; they did this with the produce of their lands—as corn, beans, watermelons, and squashes —as well as with the buffalo meat they obtained by hunting. Their minister had a house reserved for the sacrifices, and when they entered therein they behaved very reverentially, particularly during a sacrifice. They never sacrificed to idols, but only to him of whom they said that he has all power and that from him come all things, which is recognising a first cause.
The captains as well as the governor himself, all treat this minister with much consideration, and in order to induce him to visit us, as well as to avoid hurting his feelings, the governor sent out the captains with orders to do honor to the Indian priest and bring him with them. They went, and during three days and nights they entertained him with songs and dances, as is their custom, and when they returned home, he accompanied them. They arrived at noon, just as we were about to have dinner. Since I was eager to see the ceremonies of these people, I suggested that we should wait for that priest of theirs and ask him to eat at our table. He came advancing slowly, and bearing himself with much dignity, and with him was a crowd of Indians, men, women, and children. He appeared extremely serious and reserved, and, as soon as he reached the place where we were the governor bade him kiss our robe. This he did, and when we sat down to dinner I asked the governor to let our visitor sit by his side.
When this Indian priest took his first mouthful, instead of asking a blessing, he made with the food, as he took it out of the dish, a sign like that of the cross, pointing, as it were, to the four winds, or cardinal points. After dinner we gave him clothing for himself and his wife, and he was quite pleased.
Later we were told by an Indian who was then with the Tejas but came from the country beyond — from Coahuila — and who spoke Mexican, that the abovementioned priest of the Tejas had told all the captains and other Tejas:—“Now you will no longer heed me, for these priests who have come to you are the true priests of Ayimat Caddi”—which last name signifies, in their language, “The Great Captain.” This was the name he gave to God, for since the only rank or title they know is that of captain, they call “Great Captain” him whom they consider as great above all things. Similarly, in order to give the governor a distinguishing name they call him “desza,” which means “Great Lord and superior to all.”
When the church and the dwelling intended for the priests had been finished they carried into these buildings all that was to be left for the priests, and on the morning of the first of June, a week from the feast of Corpus Christi, we consecrated the church and celebrated mass, after which the Te Deum Laudamus was sung in thanksgiving, the soldiers firing a royal salute. The church and village were dedicated to our Holy Father St. Francis.
After dinner on that same day our company left the place, to return hither, but I remained until the next day, when I went to join the others on the way. The night before I left the place I called the governor, bidding him remember that he must take care of the fathers who remained there and try to cause his people to respect them and to receive the Christian doctrine. I told him the the fathers would not take anything away from them, nor ask them for anything, but rather help them whenever they were able. And the governor said: “I shall take care of the fathers, so that, when you return, they will have no complaint to bring against me; they are perfectly safe, and may remain.” I then told him that I should be gratified if his brother and some other one of his relatives would come with me to visit our possessions and bring back numerous presents for those who remained at home, and that our great captain the Viceroy was anxious to see them, and entertained very kindly feelings towards them. The governor then replied that his brother with two other relatives and a nephew of his would accompany me, and he thus admonished me:—“Do not permit anyone to demand service from these men whom you take with you, nor to make them work.” From these words of his it is evident that they have among them the idea of rank, and that they distinguish their nobles from the mass of the people.
From the time of our arrival at the Tejas village until we left I took note of many things and learned something about certain men whose conduct proved so different from what it had seemed to be when we were on the road, that I hardly knew them for the same persons after we were in the village. Evidently some of them thought that they were to be made rulers of the Tejas, and forgot His Excellency's express orders concerning the journey, which orders provided that Capt. Alonso de Leon should go as commander of the expedition that was to find out whether there were any Frenchmen in that region, and that Leon and his men should escort thither the priests who accompanied Fray Damian Mazanet. If the Tejas asked for priests and desired baptism, the priests were to remain there. And if the Tejas proved quite friendly and no danger was to be expected at their hands, no large garrison was to be left behind; if, on the other hand, they proved troublesome, as many soldiers should remain as seemed needful, according to the advice and with the consent of Father Fray Damian Mazanet. It was not in the least necessary for the safety of the priests to leave soldiers among the Tejas, for from the very first they welcomed us with so much affection and good will, that they could hardly do enough to please us. Yet, in the face of all this, Capt. Alonso de Leon made arrangements to leave fifty men, under the command of Capt. Nicolás Prietto, an incapable and undeserving old man.
When the time came, the captain told me of his purpose in a private interview, and I replied:—“You are under orders from His Excellency, and if you mean to consult with me, the consultation must not take place in private; call your captains and the priests, and in their presence state what you wish to offer for consideration.” This reply deeply wounded Leon, for his passions had blinded him. He called the captains, and I called the priests, and Capt. Alonso de Leon told us that he had planned to leave for the protection of the priests forty or fifty soldiers under a leader, and that he was holding this consultation because His Excellency had ordered that, if soldiers were to be left, it should be with my consent. To this I replied that it was not necessary to leave a military force in the district, since the people were so peaceable and so friendly. In case the priests should need assistance, I requested that three soldiers whom I thought fit for the position should stay there. If he chose to leave a greater number, well and good; but with no consent of mine, for I did not wish more than three to remain. Leon was annoyed by my proposition, so was his friend Capt. Nicolás Prietto, who was to remain as leader of the forty or fifty soldiers. However, in the end, it was arranged that the three soldiers recommended by me should remain there. They were willing to do so, and were quite content. They belonged to the Zacatecas company. Leon left for the soldiers nine of the king's horses, some firelocks, a barrel of powder and some shot, and for the priests he left twenty-six loads of flour, twenty cows, two yoke of oxen, ploughs with ploughshares, axes, spades, and other little things.
On the 2nd of June we took our departure, and the priests walked with us a little way out of the village. Then we took leave of one another with many tears of joy, and gladness, for these men did not sorrow at being left behind, nay, rather, they gave thanks to God for having merited such a grace as to be called to save the souls of the heathen. We arrived at the Trinity on the 3rd of June, and found this river very high. On this account we were kept for a week from crossing. Meanwhile the governor's brother was taken ill and went home. After a week they made a raft of logs, on which the packs, the clothing and all other baggage were taken across, while the horses were driven through swimming, some few getting drowned.
We followed the road by which we had come, until we reached the “rancherÍa” of the Emat, Toaa, Too, Cavas, and other Indians, and in this “rancherÍa” we heard that the Indians on the coast had captured some young Frenchmen. The captain of the “rancherÍa” told us that although they themselves were at feud with the Indians on the coast, yet there was among them an Indian who held intercourse with those others, and if some of us desired to go and find them, this Indian would take those who wished to go. Captain Leon decided to go with twenty men for the purpose of trying to rescue the French boys. They reached the coast of the bay and found the Indians whom they sought. These had just arrived from some other portion of the same coast, armed with lances, and soon our people began to treat with them, about delivering up the French boys. The Indians were promised horses and clothing if they would consent to give up the boys, and their reply was that they would do so promptly, without causing any trouble. The soldiers then began to enter the “ranchitos” of the Indians, peering with too much curiosity into their belongings, and committing other acts which incensed the Indians when they found out who was guilty. Later, after the French boys had been delivered over to our men, the Indians, having grown suspicious, commenced to shoot arrows among the soldiers. Two arrows struck Captain Leon in the side, but as he wore mail, they did not penetrate; also, the horses were shot down under two other soldiers. There were four Indians killed and two wounded, and our men took the French boys and returned to the main body of the army, which was waiting by the Guadalupe river.
We returned by the way we had come, and, arriving at the Rio del Norte, found it so high that we were kept from crossing for 18 days, and when we did get across it was by swimming, at great peril to our lives. The river current carried off many articles of clothing as well as horses, and one soldier, who bore among his comrades the ill name of Judas, was drowned. This man had the reputation of being likely to appropriate what belonged to other people, and on the morning of the day he died he returned to one of the mule drivers a boiler he had stolen, saying:—Forgive me, friend, for I stole this boiler from you.” And when he entered the river to cross, he said:—“Let us hurry in, for this is the last time.” When he was in the middle of the river he disappeared, he, the horse, and all he was carrying, and he was never again seen. Just at the time when he disappeared there arose a high wind which terrified us, and the waters of the river grew so angry that they seemed about to leave their bed.
There were some points of which I took special note on this journey. First, in the preceding year we had everywhere found Indians, while in the year '90 we saw not a single one, until we inspected the bay of Espiritu Santo and entered the land of the Tejas.
Secondly, in the year before the soldiers all behaved in a peaceable, orderly manner, performing their duties faithfully, so that there was no disorder on the march, and no loss of horses. But in this year '90 there hardly passed a day without some one fighting, or else some officer stabbing a soldier, so that a lay-brother who had come with me was generally kept busy tending the wounded. He treated them with tepid wine, which is, they say, an excellent cure for stabs in the head.
Thirdly, I noted that there were so many horses and mules that the laden mules were not missed until some article contained in their pack was needed. As to the number of horses, it was never known to the officers.
Fourthly, Captain Leon had a chum along, Captain So-and-So, so honorable that he never failed to play the tale bearer and excite quarrels; so kind-hearted that only his friend Leon drank chocolate, and the others luke-warm water; so considerate of others that he got up early in the morning to drink chocolate, and would after-wards drink again with the rest; so vigilant that he would keep awake and go at midnight to steal the chocolate out of the boxes; perhaps this vigilance was the reason why, while, by order of His Excellency, Captain Leon should have left for the priests twelve hundredweight of chocolate and the same quantity of sugar, he left only six hundred weight of each.
This same fellow is so smooth-tongued that he told me once:— “In truth, in truth, since the time of Cortes there has not been in the Indies another man who can be compared with my protector Gen. Alonso de Leon.” This fellow of whom I have been speaking is so compassionate towards the Indians that because he saw how poor they were, and that their only clothing was the skins of antelopes and buffaloes he endeavored to provide them in secret with the articles which His Excellency had sent for them—e. g. blankets, flannel, cloth and knives—but that fellow so arranged his almsgiving, by first robbing the Indians of what they had, that his gifts were equal to about one-fourth of his robberies.
Fifthly, when the Indians brought certain complaints against the soldiers for entering their houses, Captain Leon never attempted to remedy things at all. In one particular case, when the brother of the governor of the Tejas came to us, complaining that a rape had been attempted on his wife, I remonstrated with Captain Leon, about his letting such misdeeds go unpunished. I urged that conduct like this would not be tolerated even among Moors or heretics, and should be the more severely reproved in this case because we had come among these heathen people in order to give an example of right living. But Leon did not say a word—perhaps because he feared exposure.
For lack of more time I shall now only add what is the most noteworthy thing of all, namely this: While we were at the Tejas village, after we had distributed clothing to the Indians and to the governor of the Tejas, that governor asked me one evening for a piece of blue baize to make a shroud in which to bury his mother when she died; I told him that cloth would be more suitable, and he answered that he did not want any color other than blue. I then asked him what mysterious reason he had for preferring the blue color, and in reply he said that they were very fond of that color, particularly for burial clothes, because in times past they had been visited frequently by a very beautiful woman, who used to come down from the hills, dressed in blue garments, and that they wished to do as that woman had done. On my asking whether that had been long since, the governor said it had been before his time, but his mother, who was aged, had seen that woman, as had also the other old people. From this it is easily to be seen that they referred to the Madre MarÍa de Jesus de Agreda, who was very frequently in those regions, as she herself acknowledged to the Father Custodian of New Mexico, her last visit having been made in 1631, this last fact being evident from her own statement, made to the said Father Custodian of New Mexico.
On the 30th of September in the year 1709 there was an earthquake in the port of Vera Cruz, and as a result of the adverse winds eleven vessels sank and were destroyed, and several houses fell. It is said that this catastrophe caused a loss of more than three hundred thousand dollars.
2. The narrative proper is interrupted here, rather awkwardly, by an account of what befell the soldier in question during the four days he was missing.
3. The Spanish construction at this place can not be rendered literally. The above is evidently what is meant. Word for word, we have, “either he inferred this from seeing the meat they had, or on account of the fear he felt at seeing himself lost among barbarian Indians, he spilled, etc.” See original.
4. Here the thread of the narrative is resumed.
5. Here the Frenchman's words are given in what seems to be a conscious reproduction of his broken Spanish. Cf. original.
6. This passage might also be read, “and remained there. That afternoon and the next day they bent, etc.” The absence of punctuation causes some difficulty in this and similar passages. Cf. original.
7. The “tercio” (cf. original) is technically the half of a regular load.
8. This passage is difficult to handle, partly because one word in the MS. is not easily read (cf. original), partly because there seems to be an error of the scribe. While the translation attempts to render what appears to be the meaning, it is not entirely satisfactory; it assumes the defaced word to be “tenia,” and “en Castilla” to represent “en Castillano.” It has been suggested, plausibly enough, although I did not quite see my way to adopt the view, that the defaced word should be “serbia” or “bibia,” and hence the meaning: “By one of the Frenchmen who used to serve (or live) in Castile, I told, etc.” Suggestions are invited.
9. This is the writer's rendering of the French name “Jean L'Archevêque.” It may be either merely an incorrect Hispanized rendering of the name, or a translation into the obsolete form for the word “archbishop.”
10. In the Spanish, “y” seems here misplaced. Cf. original. The translation here given follows what is evidently the sense.
11. With his characteristic fondness for digression, the writer here goes back in point of time, recounting anterior events.
12. The Spanish has “un Indios Tejas,” which seems to be an error of the scribe. Cf. original.
13. In the Spanish the parenthetical remark is not cut off from the context, but I believe the translation gives the meaning accurately. Cf. original.
14. Another digression; this time the writer introduces a reminiscence in order to illustrate his statement concerning the current thirst for adventure.
15. Here the narrative is abruptly resumed.
16. The expression here used, “en el monte” (cf. original), admits also of the translation “in the thicket.”
17. The writer here begins with a direct narration, in the first person; he very soon, however, though very naturally and almost unconsciously lapses into what is rather indirect narration. For convenience the latter plan has been adopted throughout this episode in the translation. Cf. original.
18. As is intimated in the next sentence, the account given by the newly-arrived soldiers, which is inserted so as to break into the narrative, closes here.
19. The “real sencillo,” or “real of least value” (for this name is given to coins differing in value), is worth about 12½ cents in our money.
20. The “pinole” is parched corn, ground or crushed. It is, I have heard, used to prepare drinks.
21. This is a kind of gruel, of varying consistency, made by cooking pounded maize or rice, in water or milk. Probably maize is the grain meant here.
How to cite:
Casis, Lilia M., "TRANSLATION ", Volume 002, Number 4, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 281 - 312. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v002/n4/article_2.html
[Accessed Tue Dec 2 20:57:31 CST 2008]
