19
Frenclt Settlement and Spain's Renewed Interest
as one of the earliest maps of Texas drawn by a European from actual observation.~ 5 Although in his declaration he was careful not to state that he had visited the Tejas Indians on other occasions, it seems he was in the habit of frequently spending as much as six months at a time among them. One of the dispatch carriers of Diego Ramon on being asked to give tes- timony on what he had observed and learned from the Indians said that "St. Denis knew their language because he had lived among them on various occasions."· 16 This statement is further borne out by the declara- tions made by Father Olivares who said: "Don Luis de St. Denis was the one whom the Indians respected most because he knew their language, having lived among them four months on one occasion and for shorter periods at other times."· 17 In a letter written by Domingo Ramon on July 26, 1716, he states that St. Denis had been very helpful to him because of his knowledge of the habits and customs of the Tejas and of their language, a knowledge which he had acquired while living among them. He affirms that St. Denis spent "six months in the province on two dif- ferent occasions."" 8 When the Ramon expedition arrived in the country of the Tejas it was noted that the Indians had cloth of good grade, beads, firearms, and trinkets of various kinds. Upon being asked where they secured all these things they said the French from Natchitoches brought them in square boats on the river and gave them to the Indians for horses and skins of animals. 49 All evidences seem to point clearly to the fact that this trade had been going on for years. Ramon himself admits that he noticed while among the Tejas as many as eighteen or twenty long French arquebuses, many beads, numerous trinkets, large knives, pocket knives, pieces of cloth 45This map is referred to not only in the declaration of St. Denis already cited, but in various documents contained in the same volume of the San Francisco el Grande Archive. See Vol. VIII, 32, 34, 39, and 41. 46 Resumen de los autos sobre noticias, informes, y escritos desde 1 688 a 171 6 sobre la necesidad de poblar la region, entre Tejas y la 1fobila, sobre los Asinai y su conversion, y sobre lo recomendado por el fiscal sol:>re cada punto. Mexico, Noviembre 30, 1716, in San Fra11ciso el Gra11de Archive, VIII, 126-163. 41/bid., VIII, 148. 43 Probably in 1705, before proceeding to the Rio Grande, and again in 171 3-1 4, while on the way to the Rio Grande for the second time. "Acuerdos de la Junta de Guerra y Hacienda que el Capitan Ramon aprehenda los 4 franceses. Diciembre 2, 1716." In San Fra11cisco el Grande Archive, VIII, 170. 49 Resumen General de Noticias ... in San Fra11cisco el Grande Archive, VIII, 141 ad ,Passim.
Powered by FlippingBook