Occupation of tlie T,·inity River, I 746-1772
47
the coast, he was soon forced to abandon his plan because of high water. He now conceived the idea of constructing a number of large canoes and undertaking the expedition by water. Lieutenant Miguel Olivares, who was commissioned to investigate the matter and report, soon informed him that the river was obstructed and that boats capable of sailing along the Gulf coast could not be built. He was forced, therefore, to change his plans and arrange to go overland to the crossing on the Trinity, some one hundred miles above its mouth, in order to follow the stream from there to the coast. But before starting, he had to secure reinforce- ments from San Antonio and San Juan Bautista in order not to leave La Bahia unprotected. On December 20, he finally set out with a company of twenty-one men. Making his way to the Trinity crossing, he arrived there on January 9, 1746. Here he made diligent inquiry among the Indians, but failed to obtain satisfactory information. He decided therefore to go to San Pedro de los Nabedaches, near the Neches River. There the rumors about the presence of the French on the coast were confirmed, but he was told that the only way to reach the mouth of the Trinity was to go on to Nacogdoches, where he could take the Bidai Trail, a path cut by these Indians in going to and from their country. He was impressed with the abundant signs of French influence in San Pedro de los Nabedachcs, but he was told that the French firearms, clothing, and trinkets did not come from the coast but from Natchitoches. When he arrived in Nacogdoches a few days later, he learned from Father Fray Jose Calahorra y Saenz, the veteran missionary of Guadalupe, that fifteen shipwrecked Frenchmen had recently passed by on their way from the coast to Natchitoches. Struck by the coincidence, Orobio decided to go to Los Adaes and consult with Governor Garcia Larios. By February 4, he was back in Nacogdoches, where he secured an Indian guide to take him over the Bidai Trail. Having completed his arrange- ments, he left Nacogdoches on February 7, and arrived on March 6 at a place which he called Santa Rosa de Viterbo, where he found a settle- ment of Bidai Indians near the Trinity. The presence of Spaniards, Orobio remarks, aroused great interest, being the first time they had been seen in this region. After a few days rest and a long interview with the chief of these Indians he again set out, accompanied by a Bidai guide, crossed the Trinity River, and went thirty leagues west-southwest from Santa Rosa de Viterbo to a place which he called San Rafael, and which appears to have been on
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