01" Catleolic Heritage in Texas
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This seems to have been no other than the same Tampa Bay, where Narvaez and his ill-fated expedition disembarked before. It is not our purpose to follow him and his men step by step in their endless wanderings, covering a period of over three years, nor to relate in detail the great hardships, privations and sufferings endured, nor to tell of the innumerable encounters with hostile tribes. We will endeavor merely to trace as accurately as possible the trail followed after the expedition reached the Mississippi, and to analyze for this purpose more particularly that portion of the narratives now extant dealing with the march of Moscoso and his men west in search of Panuco. From all indi- cations their wanderings carried them as far as East Texas to the basin of Red River and perhaps the Trinity and Neches Rivers. Tire religious i11 De Soto's expedition. Before taking up the narrative of their travels in the area indicated, a word concerning the religious who accompanied De Soto should be given. Unfortunately the details of the spiritual phases of the expedition are extremely meager; so much so, that not even all the names of the missionaries have been preserved. "In the armada there went twelve priests ( sacerdotes) ," declares Garcilaso, our only source on this subject, "eight clerics and four friars" he adds by way of explanation, meaning that eight of them were secular priests and four only were religious. "The names of the secular priests ( clerigos) which memory has preserved are Father Rodrigo de Gallegos, a native of Seville and relative of Captain Baltasar de Gallegos; Fathers Diego de Banuelos, Francisco de! Pozo of Cordova, and Dionisio, a Frenchman, native of Paris. The names of the other four secular priests have been forgotten." The four friars were Fray Luis de Soto, a Dominican, rela- tive of Governor De Soto, and like him, a native of Barcarrota; Fray Juan de Gallegos, also a Dominican, native of Seville and brother of Captain Baltasar de Gallegos; Fray Juan de Torres, a Franciscan, likewise from Seville; and Fray Francisco de la Rocha, of the Order of the Holy Trin- ity, a native of Badajoz. "All of them," declares Garcilaso, "were men of After leaving Tampa Bay, the expedition followed the western coast of Florida, passed through the central part of Georgia, circled through the westernmost portions of the two Carolinas, crossed into Tennessee and followed the river of that name into Alabama, traversing at least half of Alabama from north to south, exemplary character and much learning." 5 Wanderings until the death of De Soto.
5 Garcilaso, La Florida del Inca, 9.
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