Our Catliolic Heritage in Texas
On the frame of the principal door of the fort was inscribed the date of the settlement, which was 16~." 56 Capture of L'Arclieveque and Grollet. There was little left for Alonso de Leon to do. After remaining two days among the ruins of the French settlement, he decided to explore the Gulf coast. Taking thirty men and the Frenchman Jean Gery as guide, who appears now to have given signs of returning memory, they went to the bay, which was five miles below the fort. To this De Leon gave the name of Espiritu Santo, although the actual bay on which he stood is present Lavaca Bay. After a brief examination of the coast , he returned to his camp, where he found a reply to the letter sent to the survivors among the Tejas. The curious document was written with red ochre and was signed "Jean de l'archeveque de Bayonne," which made Father Garcia think that perhaps he was an archbishop. The letter declared that two of the men were tired of living among savages and wished to join the Spaniards. 57 Without waiting for the two Frenchmen, De Leon broke camp on April 26 and going three leagues to the northeast, came to a large river which he explored and called the San Marcos. This was no doubt the Lavaca and not the Colorado as has been affirmed by some writers, since the latter is more than fifty miles beyond. From here the main body of the expe- dition was crdered back to the Guadalupe, while De Leon, accompanied by thirty soldiers, went on to the north to meet the two Frenchmen. Twenty-five leagues beyond, they came upon the two survivors, who were living in the camp of the head chief of the Tejas tribe. The two men proved to be Jean L'Archeveque and Jacques Grollet. The whole party now returned to the Guadalupe, accompanied by the Tejas chief. On May I, the two Frenchmen were formally examined. They informed the 56 West, op. cil., 399. For further details see H isloria de N11evo Leon, 327-33, where there is a drawing of the fort and of the inscription; Alonso de Leon to the Viceroy, May 16, 1689 ; Auto of De Leon, April 22, both in Auttos y Diligencias q se han Executado .. . A . G . /., Audiencia de "1erico, 61-6-20 (Dunn Transcripts, 1685-1689) . For the best secondary account, see Dunn, Spanisl, a11d Fre11ch RivalrJ, 102-105. The sight moved one of the soldiers of De Leon to compose an elegy, lamenting the fate of the unfortunate intruders into the dominions of the king of Spain. This being the first elegy written on Texas soil, we translate roughly the first four lines: Sad and fateful site Where only solitude doth reign Reduced to this sorry plight Thy settlers efforts all proved vain s1u.:stflri 11 de Nuevfl Leon, 334.
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