Our Catholic Heritage, Volume II

Our Catholic Heritage in Tezas

be sent to Texas who was serving out a sentence, or who was of ill repute; because "the good or bad habits and customs of our people are transmitted imperceptibly to those of the land.'' 57 Founding Mission San Miguel de Linares. Pursuant to his instruc- tions, Ramon reported, soon after his arrival, what he had been able to learn concerning the presence and activity of the French in the region. After affirming emphatically that St. Denis had been obedient and loyal in the performance of his duties and of great .help to him because of his knowledge of the language and customs of the Tejas, he stated that he had noticed eighteen or twenty French guns, beads of various colors, knives, cloth, coats, and hatchets among the Indians, all of which had been introduced by the French and exchanged for horses and cattle on the various occasions they had entered the province. Not a single French- man had been seen in the neighborhood up to this time but some Natchi- toches who came to his camp on July 23 told him there were four living among them in a large house. These Indians were friends of the Tejas and appeared to be gentle and friendly. Their land, declared Ramon, was about sixty or seventy leagues away on the road to Mobile and it was his intention to visit the Natchitoches the following month in order to report his personal observations. "Of one thing I am certain," he said, "and that is that this conquest and conversion will be memorable and [may prove] a second New Spain, if the proper measures are adopted." 51 Just when he undertook the visit to the Natchitoches is not clear, but by October he had gone to inspect the rumored establishment of the French and found it to be only too true. On a small island in the center of the river, he discovered a well-built house with a stockade. Here two Frenchmen informed him that ten men were expected to reenforce them shortly from Mobile. Captain Ramon, who was accompanied on the expe- dition by Father Margil and the missionaries of the College of Zacatecas, ordered the French to erect a large cross and, in the presence of numerous Indians, Mass was celebrated. Observing that the French had already acquired considerable influence over the Indians in the neighborhood, Ramon and the missionaries decided to stop on the way back among the Adaes nation, who lived about eight or nine leagues from the Natchi- toches. The Adaes received the party with marked signs of welcome and 57Espinosa to the Viceroy, July 22, 1716. Provincias lnlernas, Vol. 181, pp. 122-24. saoomingo Ramon to the Viceroy, July 26, 1716. Provincias /nternas, Vol. 181, pp. 52-53. Copy found also in San Francisco el Grande Arcl,ive, VIII, 62-63.