Early Exploration of Big Bend Country, r683-r7p
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Greeted bj, Sabeata and friends. Resuming their march on January 15, they followed the Pecos River downstream for a distance of about nine leagues during the next two days. On January 17, they came upon the Jediondo (ill-smelling) Indians. "Their chiefs and the rest of the people came out to welcome us with much joy," declares Mendoza. "Most of them came on foot, others on horseback. They brought a very well made cross, which seemed to measure about two and a half varas. It had been fashioned out of heavy timber, was painted red and yellow, and it had a large nail [to hold the two arms]. It was evident that they had made the cross some time before. They also brought a white taffeta flag, a little less than a vara in length. In the center of the flag, there were two crosses of blue taffeta, very well made. As they met us, Juan Sabeata fired several salutes with the barrel of an arquebus without locks, which he set off with a fuse. On our part we replied with two volleys. I ordered the men to assemble and gave instructions that no one dismount. The only ones who dismounted were the Reverend Fathers Fray Nicolas Lopez, the Custodio, and Fray Juan de Zavaleta, Commissary of the Inquisition. \,Vith great devotion, they knelt and kissed the cross. I, as well as the rest of the soldiers, did the same, without dismounting from our horses. The Indians kissed the habits of the missionaries, and together we proceeded to the ra11cher1a. On the way we crossed the said Rio Salado (Pecos River). When we arrived and all the women and children saw us, they shouted with joy at the sight and all kissed the habits of the Padres." 14 The Indians were expecting the Spaniards, for they had prepared huts made out of rushes in the rancl,erta for their lodging. But suspicious or cautious, Mendoza thanked the chiefs and the Indians for their thoughtfulness and, without giving offence to them, explained that he would rather establish his camp for the night on a hill, which was a short distance from the village, and which protected the raucleer,a from the attacks of the Apaches. Find a Frencle ftag. Significant as the cross borne by the Indians was, the possession of a French flag, for it was no other, was even more so. It is incontrovertible proof that French traders had been as far as the Pecos by 1684, or that the Indians of this region traded with the French to the east either directly or through other tribes. This fact has not been fully appreciated by the early historians of Texas. La Salle's ill-starred settlement on Matagorda Bay was not, then, the first formal incursion into Texas by the French. A year before La Salle landed on the coast, the
14 / bid. Entry for January 17, 1 684.
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