Almazán to the viceroy, March 12, 1724, in Autos sre diferentes puntos, 2; declaration of Minchaca, Ibid., 3-5; testimony of Flores, Ibid., 5-7.
González was a courier bearing dispatches from the viceroy to La Bahía, having been sent to Mexico in January preceding to give notice of the revolt of the Indians at Bahía. Minchaca served as his escort. They had left the presidio of Rio Grande on March 6, and, proceeding at a moderate pace, had reached a place called Charco de la Pita, about fifteen leagues from San Antonio, on the 9th, at three p. m. (On a map in the Austin Papers a creek by this name is shown just west of the Medina river—B. MS. Notes.) After a short rest here, they pushed on, wishing to cover a stretch of bad road before darkness should overtake them. They had gone only about a league, however, when they were attacked by six nude Indians on horseback. González was wounded by two arrows and fell from his horse, but Minchaca managed to get away by threatening his pursuers with his gun, and, keeping them at a distance, he reached a ravine half a league away from Arroyo de los Payayas. Here he unsaddled his horse and rode in to San Antonio to give the alarm (Declaration of Minchaca before Governor Almazán, in Autos sre diferentes puntos, 3-5). In Flores's party sent out to investigate were ten soldiers, an Indian guide, and Minchaca himself. They reached Pita at 9 o'clock the next morning, and found the body. It had been stripped of all clothing and the Indians had followed their usual custom of mutilation. There were arrows in the stomach and back, a wound had been made by a spear, the flesh was torn away from the calf of one leg, and the scalp was gone. The courier's hat, shoes, and shield were found a short distance from the road. Flores took up the trail of the Indians and followed it until night closed in upon him, when, seeing that there was small chance of overtaking the fugitives, he decided to return to San Antonio. The identity of the Indians could not be definitely settled, but the most prevalent opinion was that they were Apaches, because they had fled in the direction of the Apache country, and the arrows found were declared by various of the mission Indians to be of Apache make. It was argued, however, on somewhat flimsy grounds, that the arrows were new and might have been imitated by some other tribe which wished to throw suspicion upon the Apaches, and which had fled in the direction of the Apacheria to strengthen this impression. Other arguments in defence of the Apaches were that the attacking Indians were nude, whereas the former were accustomed to clothe themselves in buckskin; that the Apaches used saddles, had darts and spears made of buffalo skin, and tipped their arrows with iron, while the tips of the ones found were of flint. In addition, it was asserted that if the Indians had been Apaches, they would never have allowed Minchaca to escape, but would have followed him even into the settlement and killed him there (Testimony of Flores, Ibid., 5-7). In spite of these doubts, it is probable that the offenders were Apaches, and such was later conceded, for Governor Almazán, in a letter written to the viceroy on May 1, stated that about this same time some Apaches had raided the presidio of the Rio Grande, and that, since they were in the neighborhood, it might be inferred that they were the culprits in both instances (Almazán to the viceroy, May 1, 1724, in Autos fechos en la Bahía, 35-36).
