Escandon and Settlement of Lower Rio Grande, r738-r779
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Llanos, another to start from Villa de Linares to the southeast, and the third from Cerralvo to the Rio Grande and down this river to its mouth. This last detachment should determine if the river was navigable and if it could be used as a means of communication with San Juan Bautista (a post near present Eagle Pass). He instructed the Governor of Coahuila to raise ten men, which added to the garrison of the presidio at Monclova and the men stationed at the Presidio of Sacramento (near the site of present Del Rio) should cross the Rio Grande at San Juan Bautista and carefully explore the country along the east or north bank for a distance of fifteen or twenty leagues, all the way down to the point where Escandon was to pitch his camp. This detachment was asked to join one from Bahia del Espiritu Santo on the Nueces and from there proceed together to the point of rendezvous. In view, however, of the limited number of men that could be mustered, it was decided that the detachment from Coahuila should cross the Rio Grande at San Juan Bautista and follow along the northern bank without losing sight of the stream. The troop was instructed to observe carefully the country and the barbarous nations that lived there and to note the salines. To prevent a surprise by the natives, the detachment from Cerralvo was ordered to time its march so as to continue down the Rio Grande to its mouth simultaneously along the southern bank with fifty men. In this way the two detachments exploring this heretofore untrodden area of the lower Rio Grande Valley could give each other mutual aid. The captain of the Presidio of La Bahia del Espiritu Santo was instructed to leave his post on January 22, with twenty-five men from his own garrison and twenty-five from Los Adaes who were to join him. He was given orders to march south, as close to the coast as possible so that he could make a careful exploration and survey of the character of the land from the presidio to the mouth of the Rio Grande. The Captain of Presidio de la Bahia was requested to arrange with the captain of the troops from Coahuila the most convenient meeting place, where they could unite their forces before proceeding to Escandon's camp. 12 The plan as outlined had many advantages, Escandon pointed out. It would make it possible to explore and map the entire area from all directions at one time; it would take less time than if one party had to march and countermarch over the entire area; it would bring forcefully to the attention of all the Indians living in the different sections of this tierra incognita, the realization that the Spaniards knew the routes to
ll/bid., pp. 5·9·
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