011,r Catl10lic fl eritage in Texas
206
the east, beyond the land of the Tejas, that he places the. coastal tribes which in reality were to the south and west of the territory of the Tejas. Expedition of Diego de Gttadalajara, 1654. Upon their return, Martin and Castillo made a report to the governor and gave him the pearls they had obtained from the Concho River. The pearls created considerable interest in the land just visited, coming as they did at a time when the pearls of California were proving to be a disappointment. Without loss of time, the governor sent them on to Mexico with Fray Antonio de Aranda, Cttstodio of New Mexico, who delivered them to the viceroy. After a hurried consultation, the viceroy, Count de Alba de Liste, issued orders to the governor to dispatch a new expedition to explore the river and bring back a full report of the country, its people, and its resources. Sergeant Major Diego de Guadalajara was appointed to take charge of the new entrada. With thirty soldiers and about two hundred friendly Christian Indians, he set out in 1654 from Santa Fe, and, following the same route as Martin and Castillo, he arrived in the Rio de las Noeces (Concho) and the country of the Jumanos without difficulty. When he tried to carry out his orders by exploring the country beyond, he was informed that the Cuitaos, Escanjaques, and Aijados were at war and that they would not receive the Spaniards in a friendly manner. In view of the circumstances, Guadalajara decided to stay among the Jumanos with his soldiers, dispatching Captain Andres Lopez with twelve men, some of the Christian allies, and a large number of friendly Jumanos to contact the warring nations and to find out their attitude towards the Spaniards. Captain Lopez and his men traveled about thirty leagues to the east and came to a rancher;a of Cuitaos. The Indians refused to permit the force to go farther. A stout battle ensued, during which the Cuitaos seem to have been aided by Escanjaques and Aijados, but in the end, the superiority of Spanish arms obtained a victory over the natives. Lopez and his men captured two hundred prisoners and obtained many bundles of deer and buffalo skins as loot. Satisfied with the outcome of the battle, they took the booty and returned to the Rio de las Noeces, where Guadalajara and his companions were waiting for them. Feeling that his force was too small to explore a country infested by hostile Indians, the leader struck camp and started back for Santa Fe carrying with him the rich spoils of peltry. 22 One of the members of this expe- dition, a young man at this time, Juan Dominguez de Mendoza, was
llPosadas, "lnforme," in Ibid., 58-59.
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