Aguayo· Expedition and Sa,z Jose iltfission, 1719-1722
143
began to arrive. They told a pitiful tale, how the French had driven them from their lands because of their friendship for the Spaniards, and how they had taken their women and children as slaves. It was because of the cruel treatment to which they had been subjected by the French that they had been obliged to abandon their homes and take refuge in the more inaccessible country higher up. 71 Fre11ch protest against establislmzent of Los Adaes. But it was not the Indians alone who had heard of the arrival of the Spaniards. The same day the natives began to as~emble, there came a messenger with a letter from M. Rerenor, the French commandant at Natchitoches. He informed Aguayo that St. Denis had departed for Mobile immediately upon his return from his interview with the Spaniards. As in the mean- time M. Rerenor had received no instructions to permit the Spaniards to settle, he asked the Marquis to abstain from acting until St. Denis returned. To this Aguayo replied that he was determined to carry out the orders he had received from the viceroy and that he was going to erect a presidio wherever he thought it best to the interests of His Majesty. He decided to send his reply with Lieutenant Governor Almazan and Captain Costales in order that they might observe closely the con- dition and location of the French fort. The two officers reported on their return that the fortification con- sisted merely of a square stockade, about forty varas on each side, without any redoubts; that the garrison consisted of fifty soldiers and five civilian settlers. On another island in the river, near the one on which the fort was located, a number of Indians armed with rifles and skilled in the use of firearms, was kept, but the French relied for their defence mainly on the river itself, which formed a moat around the two islands. When they explained to M. Rerenor the instructions which the Marquis of Aguayo had received to reoccupy the entire province of Tejas and made clear his determination to carry them out, he replied that he had no orders either to oppose or consent to the settlement or occupation of Los Adaes and consequently would take no action. He wrote a letter to Aguayo, which he sent with his two messengers, in which he now offered him his full cooperation and placed his person and his goods at 71The narrative is based mainly on the official diary of tht Agu:\yo expedition written hy Peiia. The location of the rnis"ion .i:-in•n herein is th;:, determined L>v Dolton after a careful study of the $Ource,;. all of which Wt're re~·hccked by 1h 0 c au1hor.
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