CHAPTER V
THE DOMINICAN MARTYRS OF TEXAS, 1553-1554 In vain did the ambitious and zealous Viceroy Mendoza try to induce the worn-out survivors of the De Soto expedition to return to Florida at his own expense. The scarred veterans enjoyed his liberality and accepted his gifts with good grace, dispersing after a short while, some to return to Spain, others to seek new fields in Peru, and still others to remain in Mexico. 1 The sad experiences of Narvaez and De Soto in the distant lands effectively cooled all interest in such enterprises for the time being. Ten years were to elapse before Europeans once more trod the soil of Texas. The year 1553 opened auspiciously for the inhabitants of New Spain. Amidst great pomp and appropriate ceremonies, on January 25, the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, the first institution of higher learn- ing in America was officially inaugurated. That spring, in the port of Veracruz, one of the largest and richest fleets to leave for Spain was made ready. Many of the old conquistadors and successful settlers were returning home with the wealth they had accumulated in the new land, some with the intention of spending their last years in ease and comfort among their kin, others to bring back their friends to America. Not all the passengers were laymen, however. A number of distinguished Domini- !=an missionaries and Padres were likewise going back to Spain, some on business of their order, others to a well earned rest from their long and fruitful labors among the natives. Optimism and joy filled the hearts of the carefree crews. When the bulky baggage and ample provisions had been placed on board, when the bars of gold and silver and other valuable merchandise had been safely stored in the holds of the ships, about a thousand passengers/ men, women, and children, boarded the vessels_and the fleet, properly escorted by the cumbersome and heavy galleons, weighed anchor and majestically sailed out of the port while the crowd of friends and officials on shore cheered and wished them bon voyagc. 2 Padre Fray Juan Ferrer, of the Order of Saint Dominic, a holy and learned missionary, who sailed in this fleet, however, had dismal fore- lBarcia, Ensayo Cronologico, 24. 2Cavo, Tres Siglos de Mexico, I, 160-161; Orazco y Berra, Manuel, Historia de la Dominacion espa,iola in Mexico, 498. [ 140]
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