011r Catlzoli& Heritage in Texas
ments and reliable sources in the office of the secretary of the vice- royalty, from all of which it appears that these Indians live separately and widely scattered. 60 "The solicitude of the French in asking that missionaries be sent to these Indians may well be the result of their desire for closer friendship with the soldiers who may be sent as an escort, in order that through these closer relations the introduction of their merchandise may be facili- tated. This assumption is founded first, on the fact that St. Denis, or one of his companions, married the niece of the leader of the Texas expe- dition; the other, that St. Denis went to Mobile to bring back to Texas 18,000 pesos worth of merchandise which he had there." 61 St. Denis' Expedition to tlze Rio Grande. But how did St. Denis come to undertake this expedition to the Rio Grande in 1713? To understand the circumstances surrounding this most significant venture, it is neces- sary to go back a year in the narrative. On September 12, I 7 I 2, Lou is XIV granted an unrestricted monopoly of the trade of Louisiana for fifteen years to Antoine Crozat. "The object of M. Crozat," declares La Harpe, "was to open trade with the Spaniards in Mexico, and to estab- lish a commercial depot at Dauphin Island, with brigantines to convey merchandise to Pensacola, Tampico, Veracruz, Tuspan, and the coast of Campeche." 6 z It is not strange, therefore, to find the new Governor of Louisiana, M. Lamothe Cadillac, instructed to establish posts in the direction of the country of the Illinois, to search diligently for mines, to ·cultivate friendly relations with the Indians to the west, and to establish trade relations with Mexico. Agreeable to his instructions, just as soon as he arrived, he dispatched the vessel that brought him from France to 60 The subsequent events of the occupation of East Texas bear out this statement. The Texas Indians could not be made to congregate and it was for this reason that Rivera advised the abandonment of the missions in 1728. 61 Resumen General de Noticias . . . in San Fra11cisco el Grande Archive, VIII, I 50-153. It is of interest to note the statement concerning the marriage of Diego Ramon's granddaughter. Heretofore there has been no question of her marriage to St. Denis at the Presidio of San Juan Bautista upon his return from Mexico City. But it is no less a person than Father Olivares who casts the doubt. Speaking of her marriage, he says: "Either Medar Jalot or St. Denis married at the Presidio of Rio Grande a granddaughter of Diego Ramon, captain of the presidio, who is a niece of the actual commander of the twenty-five men of the expedition, and although I do not doubt that one of the two married the granddaughter of Captain Ramon, I have not been able to determine with any certainty which of the two did." San Francisco el Grande Arcltive, VIII, I 48. 6ZFrench, Historical Collections of Louisiana, III, 39-41.
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