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011r Catholic Heritage in Texas
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told that the strangers were coming to stay permanently among them. 37 Some of the Indians now accompanied the expedition as guides, and on the 20th, they came to a small Indian village where a number of Tejas were found. They all evinced the same demonstration of joy and gave the newcomers green ears of com and watermelons. Taking up their march again, on June 22, they reached the present Trinity River, which they called Rio de San Juan Bautista, and about a league beyond, they came upon a creek so deep that a bridge had to be built across it. Here they camped on_the 24th to celebrate the Feast of St. John. Six low Masses and one High Mass were said; some persons received Communion; and that evening the soldiers amused themselves by holding horse races, during which each one bet on his particular horse. 38 The expedition waited here another day for the return of the son of Captain Ramon, who had been sent out with St. Denis a few days before to inform the Tejas of the gradual approach of the party. He did not arrive until late in the afternoon, when he showed up with a Tejas Indian, and brought news that all the Asinai were assembling to greet the Spaniards. It should be noted that St. Denis did not return at this time but stayed among the Tejas. 39 The next day, June 26, 40 in the after- noon "there came to my presence Captain Louis de St. Denis," says Ramon, "who is liked by these people because he has some knowledge of their language. He was accompanied by more than twenty-five Indians, most of them chiefs. I ordered some blankets to be spread on the ground for them to sit down. Before arriving in our camp, at about a gun's shot distance, those who came on horseback dismounted and all formed in 11 Father Espinosa, relative to this meeting, says: "Here on the way we met three Tejas Indians who were out hunting for bison, and about noon two women also came and more Indians, about a dozen. They made peculiar demonstrations of pleasure." Tous, o,P. cu., 18. 31 As far as the writer knows, this is the first reference to horse racing and bet- ting in Texas. 39 Neither Ramon nor Father Espinosa give the date when St. Denis and Ramon's son set out for the Asinai. The fact that St. Denis did not return at this time is significant for two reasons. It shows the great power he had over these Indians, his presence being necessary to assemble them to welcome the Spaniards; and it gave him time to communicate secretly with his friends at Natchitoches and indi- rectly through them with the Governor of Louisiana, all in anticipation of the arrival of the expedition in East Texas. •oFather Espinosa says the 27th. The two dates can be reconciled by the fact that Ramon had now gone ahead of the main expedition and probably met St. Denis, as he says, on the afternoon of the 26th, while the Padres did not see him until the next morning. Provincias lnternas, Vol. 181; Tous, o,P. cit., 20 •
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