Occ1vpation of tlec Trinity Rh 1 er, 1746-1772
55
surrounded by a group of Attacapa Indians who demanded the release of the prisoners. Ruiz instructed his men to shoot the prisoners if the natives attacked. Blancpain then asked to be allowed to talk to the new- comers. He spoke to them in their own tongue and apparently persuaded them to desist from their demand, because the Attacapas then took leave in a friendly way and allowed the Spaniards to continue in peace. Ruiz divided his men and proceeded with the prisoners to San Xavier, sending back to Los Adaes about half of the soldiers to take his report to the governor. Upon their arrival on October 22, Barrios y Jauregui examined publicly Cristobal de Cordova, Jose de Arias, Ignacio Her- nandez. and Jose del Rio, who reported the details of the capture. They also revealed that when questioned, Blancpain had said he was expecting fifty families who were to come from New Orleans to found a permanent settlement and who were to be accompanied by a chaplain to establish a mission for the Indians. 13 An indication of the goods required for this trade is gained from the list sent by Ruiz. Far from being complete, for many more things were in fact taken and kept by the soldiers with the consent of the governor. perhaps, it nevertheless gives a good idea of the extent of Blancpain's operations. Among the items listed were seventeen guns, four barrels of powder, four of bullets, twelve dozen knives, one case of mirrors, one case of glasses, four bolts of cotton cloth, one bushel of beads, one large bundle of vermillion, nineteen blankets, two hundred hats, twenty-two hatchets, three bolts of red flannel, twenty-four hoes, ten spades, seven shirts, two thousand flints, eight pistols, thirteen hundred powderhorns, and one barrel of butcher knives. 14 These were reported as all that had been seized, but when months later Blancpain made his official declaration in Mexico, he alleged that the inventory made by Ruiz was false, that ten times as many goods were taken from him, many of which were not listed, and that these were not distributed among the Indians, as was claimed by his captors, but were kept by the soldiers, who gave the natives only a few insignificant trinkets. The actual value of his goods he estimated at six thousand -pesos and he gave a truly remarkable list from memory. Furthermore he declared that he had twenty-three hundred deerskins at the time of his capture which were taken by the soldiers. 13 Report of Marcos Ruiz and declarations of soldiers. In Testimonio de los auttos !echo . . . A. G. I., Audiencia de Guadalajara, 103-6-23 (Dunn Transcripts, 1756), pp. 4•2I. 14 Ynventario. Memoria de los vienes que havia en la casa de Lampen (Blancpain). A. G./., A11die11cia de Guadalajara, 103-6-23 (Dunn Transcripts, 1756), pp. 7-8.
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