Permanent Occwpation of Tezas, 1715-r;16
45
head of goats and sheep crossed this day, with the loss of only twelve by drowning. By dusk that evening, "I set up my camp, on the opposite side of the river with a strange feeling of joy," declares Ramon. He was now on the east side of the Rio Grande, ready to start on the great adventure and determined to bring to a realization the long cherished dream of Father Hidalgo who, after twenty-three years, was soon to have the pleasure of being put in charge of the reestablished mission of the Tejas, his beloved neophytes. This was a fitting tribute to his unwavering faith, his ardent missionary zeal, and his incomparable perseverance. Detained for one reason or another, Ramon stayed in camp here for seven days. A soldier named Jose Galindo married the daughter of one of the settlers, who was accompanying the expedition, and the festivities celebrating the event consumed two days. The food supply for the mis- sionaries, the equipment for the four missions, and the livestock all had to be crossed, and everything had to be made ready for what may be rightly called the real start of the expedition. On the last day all the missionaries came into camp and early in the morning, on March 27, the members of the entrada began to file past Captain Ramon in a long, winding line. "As they marched out," says Ramon, "I made the following list of all the persons that went on the expedition." At the head of the party, as was befitting an expedition designed for the purpose of establishing four missions among the Tejas Indians and their allies, marched the dignified and resolute Father Fray Isidro Felix de Espinosa, President of the Franciscans from the College of La Santa Cruz of Queretaro. Following him, or perhaps by his side, came the now white-haired Father Fray Francisco Hidalgo, who in his prime had spent almost three years among the Tejas, but who notwithstanding his age, still walked erect, while his countenance glowed with spiritual delight. Then came Fray Mathias Saenz de San Antonio, Fray Benito Sanchez, Fray Manuel Castellanos. Fray Pedro de Santa Maria y Mendoza, Fray Gabriel Vergara, Fray Javier Cubillos, a lay brother, and Fray Domingo de Urioste, with the habit of Donado. "And the reason," declares Ramon, "why our Very Reverend Father Fray Antonio Margil de Jesus did not enter at this time, was that his illness became more serious, and with the deepest sorrow and regret on the part of every one, he was obliged to remain at the presidio, while we all lament our misfortune.''%! Had it not Z 1 He was so ill, that on April 2 5, all the missionaries at the Presidio accom- panied Father Espinosa, who went to administer the Viaticum to the dying Margil. On the eve of the expedition, Father Agustin Patron, Procurador, and Fray Fran-
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