The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 1, July 1897 - April, 1898 Page: 180
334 p. : ill., ports., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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180 Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
where near Sabine lake, east or west, which flows directly into the
Gulf. We are, therefore, forced to the conclusion that the Span-
iards were never in the vicinity of Sabine lake.
But in proceeding with the discussion, conclusions are not so
safely drawn. There is only one other point to which we feel we
can safely assign any definite location. This is the southern portion
of New Mexico or the western portion of Texas. This opinion is
based on the following facts, taken from the Relation. Cabeza
thus refers to a tree, the nut of which was used by the Indians for
food. "There are in that country small pines, and the cones of
these are like little eggs; moreover, the seeds are better than those
of Castile, for they have very thin shells."18 Elsewhere, the trees
are thus described by the Spaniards: "And they gave them a great
number of pine nuts as good and better than those of Castile, for
they have shells of such nature that they eat them with the rest of
the nut; the cones of these are very small, and the trees thick in
those mountain ridges in quantities."19 Compare with these de-
scriptions the botanical description of the pinus edulis: "A
low, round-topped tree, six to nine metres high; cones subglobose,
five centimetres long; seeds brown, wingless, and edible. In moun-
tains of western Texas and westward."20 The shell of this nut is
so thin that it may be easily eaten "con lo demas."
These three descriptions coincide so nearly that there can scarce-
ly exist a doubt that the piiiion of Cabeza is the pinus edulis of New
Mexico and Western Texas.21 The region in which this pine grows
18"Hay por aquella tierra piiios chicos, y las piiias de ellas son como
huevos pequefios, mas los pifiones son mejores que los de Castilla, por-
que tienen las cascaras muy delgadas. "-Cabeza de Vaca, Naufragios,
p. 540.
19 "E dieronles alli mucha cantidad de pifiones tan buenos y mejores
que los de Castilla, porque tienen las cascaras de manera que las comen
con lo demas; las pifias dellos son muy chiquitas, 6 los arboles llenos en
aquellas serranias en cantidad. "-Oviedo, Historia General, p. 606,
quoted in Bandelier's Contributions, p. 57, note.
2oJohn M. Coulter, Botany of Western Texas, p. 554.
s1 Bandelier denies this, and says the tree must have been a North
Texas cedar. Dr. V. Harvard, of the U. S. Army, in a letter on this
subject, states that no juniper (cedar) in Texas bears "a fruit larger
than a large berry. Bald cypress (Taxodium disticum), or Sabino of
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 1, July 1897 - April, 1898, periodical, 1897/1898; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101009/m1/202/: accessed May 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.