58The notes of of Theodore H. Lewis reconstructing Moscoso's route
according to his hypothesis will be found appended to "The Narrative of the
Expedition of Hernando de Soto, by the Gentleman of Elvas in Spanish
Explorers
in
the
Southern
United
States,
1528-1542.
His notes are quoted,
and my comments are set off in italics. He located Aguacay on the
west bank of the Ouachita River, two miles south of Arkadelphia, in
Clark County, Arkansas. The attack by the chiefs of Naguatex, Hacanac
and Amaye occurred "probably on the Prairie de Roane, near Hope. The
small river upon which they camped the next day (incidentally
the
small
river
existed
only
in
Lewis'
misreading
of
Buckingham
Smiths
faulty
translation)
was "Little River in Hempstead County." The place where
they crossed Red River was "about three miles east of the line between
Texas and Arkansas, in the latter state, and is known as White Oak
Shoals." At that point, Lewis thought he saw just such an island as the
one upon which Pato is shown on the De Soto map. But
Pato
was
on
the
thither
bank
of
Red
River,
not
on
this
side.
This is "in the elbow or
'great bend' of Red River, and is about forty miles long, and from two to
thirteen miles wide. At the upper end of the island and just south of the
ford, is an overflowed piece of land known as the Bench Farm, which is
the property of Mrs. Edna L. Orr. It was here that Moscoso and his fol-
lowers camped for several days. This is the only large island above Fulton
on Red River, and the next ford, forty miles above by land, is too far up."
Lewis
has
Moscoso
camping
on
the
wrong
side
of
the
river.
Lewis
dis
-
regards
Nisione,
Lacane,
and
Nondacao
completely,
but locates Aays
(Hais) "to the southward of Gainesville, Texas, the town being located
just west of the 'Lower Cross Timbers,' on the prairie." (He
fails
to
state
his
reasons
for
placing
Aays
just
there.)
Soacatino, he asserts, was in the
Upper Cross Timbers in the vicinity of Wichita Falls. Guasco he places in
Palo Pinto or Young County and identifies with the name Waco, linguisti
-
cally
an
almost
impossible
equation.
He thinks the Naquiscoca was the
tribe known to the Spaniards as the Naquis and to the French as the
Haquis. He
does
not
mention
the
Nacacahoz.
Now comes the return to
Guasco and the trip to the river Daycao, which he identifies as the Double
Mountain Fork of the Brazos. The Indians captured on the other side of
the river were Comanches. The
southward
migration
of
the
Comanche
probably
had
not
reached
Texas
in
1542.
"The point at which they prob-
ably stopped was at the south angle of the river, in the northwestern part
of Fisher County, distant about 100 miles from the fort." There, of course,
they turned back to Naguatex. This hypothesis overlooks the logic of time
and distance entirely; from the White Oak Shoals to Wichita Falls, thence
to Young County, to Naquiscoca (not
definitely
located
by
Lewis),
and
then out to the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos is roughly four hundred
and twenty-five miles air line. This distance had to be covered in forty-three
or forty-five days, since it is fairly evident that Moscoso left Naguatex
August 23 and reached Daycao at the beginning of October (say October
6). Such a rate of march was not impossible, granted that the invaders
were constantly on the move, which they were not. The Fidalgo states
that the distance from Naguatex to Daycao, whatever route was followed,
was approximately two hundred and sixty-five miles, i.
e.,
three hundred and
ten from Aguacay to Daycao, less about forty-five miles. Finally, we can-
not, except by the most radical dislocation of Indian groups, conceive of
the Nasoni, Anadarko, Eye-ish and other Hasinai confederates living in
the upper Red River-Brazos region in 1542.
Dr. Robert T. Hill's reconstruction of the Moscoso route may be found
in the Dallas
Morning
News,
September 1, 1935, March 29 and October 4,
1936. Substantially he outlined the itinerary as follows: from Bowie
County westward up Red River as far as Spanish Fort in Montague County,
where he placed Soacatino. Thence twenty days southward to Guasco,
identified as modern Waco, then to Navasota (his Naquiscoca), thence
back to Guasco and from there out to the juncture of the Concho and
Colorado in the vicinity of Paint Rock. One needs only to say that the
distances covered by such a march would have been impossible within
the time limits set by the Fidalgo.
