Tlee Beginnings of Present Nacogdoches
333
the road; of the painful abandonment of their homes and worldly goods, and the loss of all they had worked so hard for in the new settlement." 63 In the haste of leaving to search for safety among the friendly Tejas, one of the fleeing families forgot to put out the fire that burned brightly in the hearth. Shortly afterwards the wind whipped the flames into a roaring conflagration which soon devoured o,·er half of the abandoned log cabins.6' Only Ibarbo and his twenty men, with two or three families remained in the deserted and smouldering ruins of the once prosperous but short- lh·ed settlement at Paso Tomas on the Trinity to await the pleasure of Spanish officials. But fate drove them away. On February 14, a devastating flood forced the water beyond the banks of the river for miles. Such cattle and horses as had remained scattered in the woods and fields were all drowned except thirty-eight. The water rose half-way to the top in the houses that had escaped the fire, and the few remaining women and children and Ibarbo and his men barely escaped with their lives on boards and doors which floated them to safety. It took several days to gather the survivors. But their troubles were not over. Just as they were beginning to recover from the flood and were making preparations to join the others at Nacog- doches, a band of Comanches swooped down upon them early one morning at about six o'clock and like hungry vultures carried away the remaining thirty-eight head of cattle, killing six friendly Indians. Ibarbo and his men obtained canoes and crossed the families to the east bank, preparatory to leaving the now flooded and burnt settlement. Late that eYening, as the last boat had started across, a volley was fired from ambush by the lurking Comanches, which fortunately did no harm. Truly does Ibarbo obserYe that had not the majority of the families departed on January 25, many women and children would haYe been drowned. 65 From the sequence of e,·ents narrated it is evident that it was the fear of the Comanches that in reality droYe the settlers from Bucareli to seek refuge among the Tejas on the Neches and the Angelina. But as an eminent historian has pointed out the withdrawal has been attributed by Spanish officials to the flood of 1779, which did not take place until almost a month after the bulk of the settlers had departed. 66 It was Gon·rnor 63 /bid., pp. 521-522. MGovernor Cabello to Croix, February 11 1 1779. A. C. ,I/., II istoria, Vol. s 1. 65 Ibarbo to Croix, May 13, 1779. A. C. ill., Historia, \'ol. 51, pp. Sli•S21. 66 Bolton, "Spanish Abandonment and Re-occupation of East Texas,'" Tiu Qu,1r• lerly, Vol. 9, p. I 3 J.
Powered by FlippingBook