Our Catliolic Heritage in Texas
autos or miracle plays designed specially for the benefit of the large number of Indians who gathered on this occasion for the celebration. 78 Ret11rn to San Antonio. With winter almost upon him, Aguayo was anxious to start back to San Antonio, but lack of supplies made it impos- sible for him to leave. On October 20, a portion of the flour and corn which had been brought by a vessel from Veracruz to La Bahia, arrived at Los Adaes. At the same time the first two droves of sheep and cattle ever to be driven across Texas from the Rio Grande to the Red River came into camp. One consisted of four hundred sheep and the other of three hundred head of cattle. They had been directed over a distance of about three hundred forty leagues, from the frontiers of the kingdom of Nuevo Leon to the Red River. No expedition before had brought so large a flock or herd. These were the forerunners of the cattle droves that were to play so important a role in the later history of the State. 79 With the arrival of these supplies, the Marquis definitely set the date of departure for November 12, but a severe sleet and hailstorm on the day before, followed by unusually cold weather, made him postpone the start until the 17th. The bitter cold caused many horses, and not a few mules, to die, so that with much difficulty the expedition started back on its long march to San Antonio. By the time it reached Mission Dolores, many of the soldiers had to travel on foot. The horses and mules continued to die and part of the provisions had to be left on the road with a guard of twenty soldiers. Messengers were dispatched to San Antonio to hurry the provisions, and even the Marquis was obliged to walk at times after the expedition left the Presidio de los Tejas. The weather became more severe as the army proceeded on its way, but the men, Aguayo remarks, seemed to grow healthier and hardier with the hardships of the journey. He did not lose a single person during the march. The expedition at last reached San Antonio on January 22, 1722. Out of four thousand horses, 80 only fifty returned, and of eight hundred mules only one hundred remained. Aguayo immediately busied himself with the founding of the promised mission to Chief Juan Rodriguez of Rancheria Grande, the removal of the old presidio founded by Alarcon, and the gen- eral improvement of the irrigation ditches of the Mission and Presidio of
78 /bid. 79Peiia, Derrotero, 22.
aopefia says that the number was almost five thousand but this is an exaggera- tion. Aguayo, in his letter to the king, declares it was 4000. Pena, Derrotero, 23; Aguayo to the King, June 13, 1722 (Bolton Transcripts, 1716-1749).
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