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Ottr Catl,olic Heritage in Texas
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time he asserted he had been among the Tejas Indians ten years before. According to his statement made under oath, he went at that time ( 1705) from Mobile to the Choctaws, a populous tribe which he affirmed num- bered about 18,000 members. After a visit with them, he went to the Natchez, a nation that lay thirty leagues west quarter northwest from the Choctaws and consisted of eleven pueblos, all of whom had sworn allegiance to his Most Christian Majesty the King of France. From the Natchez he traveled forty leagues in a southwesterly direction to the Nachitos. This nation had also traded with the French since 1701, the chief article of exchange being salt. According to St. Denis, the salt secured from these Indians was whiter and purer than the salt that came from France. The Nachitos were neighbors of the Asinai, commonly called the Tejas, with whom they traded also. It was thus through the Nachitos that the French traders introduced their merchandise among the Tejas in the early years. After a short stay with the Nachitos, St. Denis went on to visit the Tejas Indians and from there--mark this statement-he proceeded over the same route as in 1714, to the Presidio of San Juan Bautista on the Rio Grande.u He not only declared he had visited the presidio ten years before but he goes further and explains that the distance by land from Mobile to the Rio Grande is two hundred eighty leagues. In his own words: "There are from Mobile to the said presidia two hundred eighty leagues over good and passable ground and the routes so run that they come together at the Nachitos. No mines have been discovered over the entire land route, but there are numerous groves of shade and fruit trees to be found along the road." 44 The two courses referred to here are the all-land and the water and land routes from Mobile to San Juan Bautista on the Rio Grande. It was the latter of these two that was followed by St. Denis and his companions in 1713-15, at which time he traveled by water in canoes from Mobile to the Asinai, and from the Asinai to the Rio Grande over land. It is worth noting that at the time he made his declaration he also gave the viceroy a map which he made of the country over which he traveled. If this map is ever found, it will be of great interest not only in helping to locate the first route from the Mississippi to the Rio Grande but also 4l"La quarta desde aqui hasta Asinay, y de alli el Presidio Espanol del Capitan Ramon en la Rivera de! Rio Grande del Norte 160 leguas que es el mismo camino que expreso arriva." Ibid., VIII, 32. "Ibid., VIII, 32.
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