Our Catlzolic Heritage in Texas
244
four days without water ... we joyfully viewed in the distance the long sought waters of the Rio del Norte. "The gaunt horses approached the rolling stream and plunged head- long into it. Two of them drank so much that they burst their sides and died. Two others, blinded by their raving thirst, plunged so far into the stream that they were caught in its swift current and drowned. "Our men, consumed by the burning thirst, their tongues swollen and their throats parched, threw themselves into the water and drank as though the entire river did not carry enough to quench their thirst. Then satisfied, they threw themselves upon the cool sands, like foul wretches stretched upon some tavern floor in a drunken orgy, deformed and swollen more like toads than men." 1 It was on April 20, 1598, that the main body of the expedition arrived on the Rio Grande, at a point some twenty miles below El Paso. In the diary it is noted that the river was larger than the Conchos and even the Nasas, that its water was muddy, and that along its banks there were willows and large mesquites. "It comes down from the north," says the chronicler, "from whence it derives its name and makes a turn to the east until it joins the Conchos and other streams below which it is called Rio Bravo."% Continuing up the stream in search of a suitable pass for the seven thousand head of cattle and stock and the carts, the expedi- tion moved on after they rested six days. On April 30, while still on the south side of the river, on the day of the Ascension of our Lord, Ofiate took official possession of New Mexico and all the adjacent terri- tories in the name of the king. For the first time that portion of Texas adjoining the El Paso region which had been visited on various occasions was officially claimed for Spain. First play presented. This act was the occasion for a most elaborate ceremony. The governor ordered a chapel built under a grove of shady trees; the soldiers and settlers were instructed to don their finest clothes; and the missionaries marched in procession. A Solemn High Mass was celebrated, after which the learned Commissary Fray Alonso Martinez preached an eloquent sermon before the governor took formal possession of the land. When the official ceremony was over "the entire army began celebrating with great joy and mirth. The horsemen gathered in their I Espinosa, Tr., History of New Mexico by Gaspar Perez de Villagra, 125-126. %"Ytinerario de las minas de! Caxco . .." in Pacheco y Cardenas, Documen/()S, XVI, 240-24 I.
Powered by FlippingBook