Exploration of tlte Big Bend and Pecos Country
163
Cabeza de Vaca. "We asked them," says Gallegos, "if any men like us had passed that way, and they replied that long ago four Christians had passed through there. By the description they gave us we saw plainly and clearly that it must have been Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (and his companions], because according to his relation he had come by way of these people. However, we now had additional information of very fine things and of great importance which Cabeza de Vaca did not have. Therefore we considered it an event directed by the hand of the Lord that such a few men [as we were] had dared to go among such a mul- titude of barbarous and idolatrous people. For there was not a day that we marched up the said Concepcion River [ the Rio Grande] that we did not have with us upwards of three hundred souls day and night." 15 From Santa Barbara to the point where they reached the Rio Grande, Fray Agustin and his companions had traveled approximately seventy leagues. It had taken them a month to cover the distance, having arrived on July 6, 1581. After spending a day in one of the rancl1cr1as of the J umanos in the valley they called Concepcion, where they learned of the pueblo Indians and the visit of Cabeza de Vaca, the little party resumed its march up the river. It is not our purpose to follow them throughout their wanderings in the course of which Father Fray Santa Maria was to find martyrdom. A brief summary of their exploration with the details of that portion of their route located within the present limits of Texas will suffice. Explorations in New Mexico. Marching up the western bank of the Rio Grande for a distance of forty-five leagues, they came to the last settlement of the Jumano nation which they called Magdalena, situated about two miles south of Fort Quitman. From here on they met fewer and fewer Indians. Three days later, they reached the marshlands that extend from the Guadalupe to the vicinity of El Paso, and still con- tinued along the east bank for fifteen days longer without meeting any natives. Just as they were about to despair for lack of supplies, they unexpectedly arrived in the most southerly P iro pueblo of New Mexico, which they named San Felipe, in the neighborhood of present Fort Craig. They found the pueblo deserted but well stocked with supplies. There they camped for four days, and by scrupulously respecting the property of the absent Indians, convinced them of their friendly intentions. 16
15 /bid. , 258-259. 16 The summary given here is based chiefly on the excellent study of this expcdi-
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