La Salle's Colony in Texas, I684-1689
mouth of the great river recently explored. He was there to gather the natives and organize them during the winter, in order that in the fol- lowing spring, the fifteen thousand warriors he said he could secure should march on Nueva Vizcaya to join the forces of Penalosa and together they could then lay siege and perhaps conquer Mexico City, emulating the triumph of Hernando Cortes. "The enterprise of the Count of Penalosa," says the informant, "and that of La Salle support each other mutually. The latter will begin to plant fear in the northern portion of Nueva Vizcaya during the winter, this section lying near the river which he has discovered. The Count of Penalosa, arriving in Panuco with his group of filibusters will then penetrate more easily in accord with his plans as far as the south sea. The two leaders will thus help each other in carrying out the desires of Your Majesty." 9 Whether the terms demanded for his services by the loquacious and scheming Penalosa were unacceptable to the king, or whether he distrusted the Spanish traitor, is not known. For some reason not stated in the documents available, the proposals of La Salle were accepted in April and the plans of Penalosa were in part combined in the projected colony without requiring the services of the ex-governor of New Mexico. "Louis, by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre, Greetings," reads the commission which on April 14, 1684, was extended to La Salle. It then continues, "having ordered several enterprises to be undertaken in North America to subject to our dominion many savage nations in order that the light of our faith and the Holy Gospel be carried to them, we have thought that we could make no better choice than to appoint Sieur de La Salle to command in our name all the Frenchmen and the Indians that may be enlisted for the execution of the orders with which we have charged him . . . We order by the present, signed by our hand ... that he command in our name all the Frenchmen and Indians employed in the enterprise with which we have charged him, both in [ that portion of] the country that will be again brought under subjection in North America below Fort Saint Louis on the banks of the Illinois and in the [territory] as far as New Biscay." It is evident that Louis XIV granted to La Salle jurisdiction over territory beyond his control and clearly commanded him to enlist Frenchmen and Indians to carry out the secret instructions that had been given him. Join to this the fact that La Salle in his proposals 9 "Memorial proponiendo el enlace de la empresa del Conde de Penalosa con la del Sr. Cavelier de La Salle, " in Fernandez Duro, op. cit., 105-109. The French text is found in Margry, Decouvertes ... Vol. III, 63.
Powered by FlippingBook