Our Catliolic Heritage in Texas
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Jediondo Indians on the Pecos had a white taffeta flag which could have come from no other source than French traders or explorers. Mendoza and his men stayed in the village of the Jediondos for seven days, at the request of the Jumanos and other chiefs, who on January 19, held a council and asked Mendoza for a formal interview. Mendoza ordered all his officers to assemble and notified Juan Sabeata and the Indian chiefs he was ready to receive them. After they had all come before him, he asked them what they wanted, and they all declared that the Apaches were their mortal enemies and the enemies of the Spaniards. They begged Mendoza, therefore, in God's name, to wage war against this nation. The Spanish commander assured tl'tem that he would help them in their war against the Apaches and all the chiefs were glad .to hear the good news. The next day, Juan Sabeata brought seventeen tanned deerskins for the soldiers and promised to bring more as soon as they were ready. These were distributed to Miguel Lujan, Melchor de Arsuleta, Felipe Montoya, Felipe Romero, Ignacio Vaca, Antonio Solis, Baltazar Dominguez, Juan Dominguez, Jr., and Antonio Gomez. While in camp Mass was said every day. On Saturday, a High Mass was celebrated in honor of the Holy Virgin, in addition to the ordinary low Mass. On Sunday two Masses were also said. The hunters of the expedition killed twenty-seven buffaloes during their stay here and a good supply of meat was prepared for the remainder of the journey. Route from tlze Pecos to the Conchos River. From January 24 to February 2, the expedition traveled about thirty leagues, or approximately ninety miles, in a general northeastern direction and were joined while on the way by a tribe of Indians called Arcos Fuertes (Strong Bows). 15 They now reached the source of a river which they called the Nueces. l\Iendoza declared there were several springs at this place which joined to form the rh·er, where there were many fish. He remarked that it was a beautiful spot with many trees and that the river flowed almost due east. If from the point where the expedition crossed the Pecos in the neigh- borhood of either Sheffield or ::\1cCamey, we measure the distance traveled to the headwaters of the river, which Mendoza believed was the Nueces, it wi!l b;! seen that they were now in the vicinity of the headwaters of th•.:: p:-c:sent day middle Conchas. In order to reach this spot, already sug- l•Jn the Bolton translation Fuertes has been read as Tuertos. This is a pardon- able error as in the manuscript used for the translation it is difficult to distinguish between a capital T and a capital F. Bolton, op. cit., 333.
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