The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905 Page: 28
xiii, 358 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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28 exas Historical Association Quarterly.
VIII.
[Fifth Entrada, by the Sergeant-Major of Militia, Don Martin de
Alarcon.]
The conversion of the heathen of the North would have been com-
pletely accomplished had not Don Luis de San Denis fallen into
misfortune. This man, worthy of eternal remembrance, facilitated
the entrada of the Spanish into Texas; his kindly manner rendered
the Indians docile, and he gave the most consistent proofs of his
fidelity.
He had married a niece of the Commandant Domingo Ramon,
cepcion, the fourth mission, called San Jos6, was founded." The Historia
further states (Secs. 17-22) that in 1717 Father Margil came to Texas and
founded the Mission of Nuestra Seffora de los Dolores among the Ais, and
the Mission of San Miguel, in the Adaes country, fifty leagues east of los
Dolores, both under the charge of Zacatecan religious. San Miguel is
spoken of as being only ten leagues from the French fort at Natchitoches
-"nearer the French than any of the other Spanish settlements." In
1718, Father Fray Antonio de Buenaventura y Olivares, in pursuance of
the viceroy's orders, removed "the Xomanes Indians and everything be-
longing to the Mission of San Francisco Solano," on the Rio Grande, to the
San Antonio River, where he founded the Mission of San Antonio de
Valero.
According to P6nicaut (Relation in Margry, V 499) Saint-Denis built
two houses on an island between two forks of the Red River, and left twelve
soldiers in charge of his goods, while he went on to the Texas country.
When he returned to Mobile [August 25, 1716 (Margry, VI 146)], Cadil-
lac determined, in view of his report, to establish a post among the Natch-
itoches, to prevent the Spanish from encroaching upon French territory.
Accordingly, twenty-five soldiers, a sergeant, and M. de Tissenet, their
commander, were sent with three canoes of goods and supplies to estab-
lish a fort (Margry, V 535-537). These were the troops whom Ram6n
found there, according to the Testimonio account. Pdnicaut mentions a
visit of four Franciscans (Cordeliers), who had been sent by the Spanish
captain with six cavalrymen to say mass among the Natchitoches, and
who informed Tissenet that sixty cavalrymen and a captain had come to
the Asinais [Texas]. Tissenet treated the religious kindly, gave them
presents, and invited them to come back to say mass. He wrote to
Cadillac of the Spanish arrival, and was reinforced by twenty-five men
and a sergeant, with four canoes of provisions. Saint-Denis was made
commander of this fort in 1721 (Margry, VI 224). His commission calls
it "the fort of the Nassitos;" later documents usually refer to it as Saint-
Jean, or Saint-Jean Bautiste aux Nachitoches.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905, periodical, 1905; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101033/m1/30/?rotate=270: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.