Our Catholic Heritage in Texas
of savages, which separated them from the service of God and from all good reason. And with this good resolution, like men of good caste and determination, they went; and thus Jesus Christ, in His infinite mercy, guided and worked with them, and opened the roads, in a land without roads; and the hearts of the savages and untamed men, God moved to humble themselves to them and obey them.".z Quietly they stole away with a band of Indians, the Anagoados, and began their remarkable trek across the continent which was to take them over a large portion of Texas before they reached the Pacific coast and civilization again. The 111arcli to tlze Rio Grande. From the Anagoados the four went on without knowing exactly where they were traveling until they came, after two or three days, to a new tribe of Indians who spoke a different lan- guage and were called Avavares. Just who they were and where they lived has been a question of much discussion, but it seems they belonged to a higher culture than those of the. coast with whom the Spaniards had been for almost seven years. The fame of the Christians as healers had preceded them and they were now well received. These Indians appear to have been in the habit of bringing bows and arrows to trade with the coastal tribes and they carried their houses, which were made of mats, with them. The place, where they were met by Cabeza de Vaca and his companions, seems to have been in the Washington Prairie area, just east of the Balcones Escarpment.n Hardly had they arrived when some of the Indians came to Castillo and complained of severe headaches and wished him to cure them. Unable to refuse their request, he made the sign of the cross over their heads and prayed to God to make them well. To the surprise of all present, the Indians declared they were well. They immediately went to their lodges and brought many prickly pears and a piece of venison, "a thing we had almost forgotten," says Cabeza de Vaca. As the ne,~s spread others came to be treated and brought with them pieces of venison "and they were so plentiful we knew not where to put the meat. We gave many thanks 72 Davenport, Quarterly, Vol. 27, p. 284. 73 R. T. Hill, "Did Cabeza de Vaca Cross the Colorado," Dallas News, October IS, 1933. The theory so elaborately worked out by Davenport and Wells as to the route followed after Cabeza de Vaca left the coast is questionable in view of more recent studies on the geology, topography, flora, and fauna of Texas. Cf. Daven- port and Wells, Quarterly, Vol. 22.
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