Our Catl,olic Heritage in Texas
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the first week in November; that he had made arrangements with Captain Joseph de ldoyaga, of San Bartolome, who would meet him at La Junta; and that he had sent orders to the captain of Sacramento to be ready to march on November 8, with thirty men, and to the captain of San Juan Bautista to join him at Valle de Santa Rosa with fifteen men. His plan was to take twenty soldiers from Presidio San Francisco de Coahuila ( Monclova) and, joining the other two captains, to march with them to La Junta along the Rio Grande. 19 Rain and adverse weather delayed the departure of the governor until November 10. On that day he set out from Monclova with twenty soldiers, forty cargas of supplies, ten mission Indians, several muleteers, and one hundred and ninety horses. With him went Father Fray Manuel Maria Neri, 0. F. M., as chaplain. Taking the usual route to the northeast he marched by way of Nadadores River, Berroteran, and Sierra de Santa Rosa to Presidio del Sacramento, where he arrived on November 15, 1747. The captain of San Juan Bautista del Rio Grande was already there with his fifteen men. These and thirty from Sacramento swelled his force to sixty-five. The following day he resumed the march with the combined forces, taking along three hundred and thirty horses, besides numerous mules and some stock. Instead of going due north or inclining to the northeast to strike the Rio Grande, he went northwest, since the area from Sacramento to the vicinity of San Felipe River (San Felipe Springs at Del Rio) had been previously explored. Expedition of Pedro Rabago y Teran, 1747-1748. The route followed took him across Sabinas River (Mexico) to the Rio Escondido and from there to San Vicente crossing on the Rio Grande, perhaps a few miles above Del Rio, where he arrived on November 19. Without crossing, he changed his course to the west and marched in this general direction until November 25, when he inclined more to the north, after having traveled about fifty leagues from Sacramento on the San Diego River. He continued in this direction until November 29, when he again came upon the Rio Grande, fifteen leagues beyond his camp of the 25th. He had gone sixty-five leagues, approximately one hundred and eighty miles, to the northwest of San Diego River. At the point where he came upon the Rio Grande, this stream flowed through a very deep gorge and Rabago y Teran was unable to reach its waters even on foot. Allowing for detours on account of the roughness of the country, they
l9Rabago y Teran to the Viceroy, October 26, 1747. In Ibid., 1 4 1 - 1 4 2 •
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