Our Catholic Heritage, Volume I

Our Catlrolic He,·itage in Texas

not excepting- those found along the seashore, for a distance of six leagues. He stopped that night at a site which was called Ojito. The next day he \\"ent ten leagues, still in a general northern direction, somewhat inclined to the east and camped at La Canada, from where he could sec the hills of El Paso in the distance. Finally on May Ir, after traveling two more leagues he arrived at the Presidio del Norte. Let him describe in his own words the appearance of the settlement forty-one years after its re-organization by Governor Cruzate and Father Lopez. "I arrived in the Presidio de Nuestra Senora del Pilar y Senor San Jose del Paso de! Norte," he says, "which is located on the south bank of the said river. Next to it there is a moderate town of Spaniards, i'viestizos, and Mulatos, with two pueblos or wards inhabited by the Indians of the two nations of Mansos and Piros. These are administered by the religious of Saint Francis. "On the east bank, opposite the town, at a. distance of four leagues, a.re located the towns of El Socorro, La Isleta, Senecu, and San Lorenzo, small settlements similar to those of El Paso. In this same direction there is a spacious valley [dotted] with farms where they plant wheat, corn, beans, and all kinds of vegetables, as well as a quantity of vineyards which yield fruit of superior quality to that of Parras. The natural fertility of the land is improved by the number of irrigation ditches which carry water from the said Rio de! Norte. making the farms inde- pendent of drouths. "The said pueblos of Socorro, lsleta, Senecu. and San Lorenzo are inhabited by Indians of the following nations: Tiguas, Zumas, and Piros, and they are under the care of the religious of the said Order [of Saint Francis].' ' 59 This description, the first we have by a dependable eye- witness, whose mania for detail is evident in all his voluminous reports of his inspection, gives an excellent idea of the distribution of the various pueblos and definitely places Isleta, Socorro, Senecu and San Lorenzo on the east side of the river in r726. Forty years later, in 1766, another distinguished official made a. tour of inspection of all the presidios of New Spain from the Pacific coast to distant Texas. This was no other than the stern but brilliant states- man, the lWarquis of Rubi , in whose company went the capable engineer Don Nicolas de Lafora. It is to the latter that we a re indebted for many S9Rivera, Diorio :Y Derrotero de lo Cami11ado . .. Entries for J\fay 6-May I I . This rare document was printed in Guatemala. The copy used was obtained from the British J\fuseum. It is now in the University of Texas Library.

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