llfaria de Agreda, tl,e ]mna110, and tlze Tejas
211
the river was the Santander. 28 A look at the map of the area shows clearly that even today, the road leading from Cadereyta to Tampico does not follow the Santander River at any point and that the old route was from Cadereyta to the San Juan and hence to the mouth of this river which emptied into the Rio Grande, then down this river to its mouth and hence along the coast, which was exactly the route followed by De Leon, if we are to judge from the meager information aYailable at present. Juan de la Garza enters t/1e country of the Cacaxtles. The Indians from the north and beyond the Rio Grande increased their hostilit:es after 1660 to such an extent that they successfully raided the frontier outposts of Saltillo, Monterrey, and Cerralvo, carrying their depredations as far inland as Chihuahua and Casas Grandes. These outrages, coupled with the desire of securing Indian captives to work in the mines, naturally aroused the people of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, who decided to organize an expedition to chastise the Indians by carrying the war into their own lands. Over one hundred men from Saltillo and Monterrey gathered in the latter outpost in October, 1663. Having secured sufficient supplies and having equipped themselves with the necessary arms and ammunition, they set out to the north. The party took eight hundred horses, more than eighty cargas of flour, a good supply of hard-tack, and many other provisions as security against want in traversing the barren and hostile country they were planning to visit. Sergeant Major Juan de la Garza, an experienced and well tried leader of the frontier, was placed in com- mand of the expedition. Following a general northern direction for a distance of seventy leagues, or approximately two hundred miles from Monterrey, they came upon the enemy, who were the Cacaxtles. These Indians seem to have been the chief offenders in the raids against the Spanish outposts. Judging from the general direction traveled by the Spaniards and the distance, the natives must have been at this time in the vicinity of present Eagle Pass. The Cacaxtles were expecting the Spaniards, no doubt, for they were well entrenched in a large rancheria. De la Garza and his men sur- rounded the rancherf.a and proceeded to attack the Indians. A hard fight ensued in which several soldiers were wounded and about one hundred natives were killed. The Spaniards captured one hundred and twenty-five prisoners, including men, women, and children. Satisfied with their
2 RDolton, "The Spanish Occupation of Texas," in np. cit., 13.
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