The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940 Page: 47
576 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Liotot and Jalot, Two French Surgeons of Early Texas 47
and Spain being at war, Governor Cadillac of Louisiana sent St.
Denis and a mere handful of followers to explore the land of
Texas with a view to establishing trade with the Indians or for
some other purpose not clearly understood. A year later this swash-
buckler appeared at the presidio of San Juan Bautista on the Rio
Grande, much to the dismay of the Spanish commander, Captain
Diego Ram6n. In rapid sequence,-rare outside the novelist's
story,-he won the heart of Doiia Maria, the captain's grand-
daughter, was sent to prison in Mexico City, escaped, married the
girl, led a Spanish expedition across Texas and wound up with his
Spanish wife as commander of the French fort at Natchitoches,
Louisiana.
Such a soldier demands a fit companion and he found him in
"his friend Jalot, the eccentric surgeon." History does not record
much of surgeon Jalot except that where St. Denis went, there
went Jalot also. Gayarre, through whose History of Louisiana
there runs a thick thread of romance, pictures the surgical enthu-
siasm of Dr. Jalot in a way that would do credit to our modern-
day radio apostles of rejuvenation. He is quoted in extenso because
his account, more than any other, portrays for us some of the
characteristics of this far from modest yet very human man.
On these occasions, St. Denis, protected against the arrows
of the enemy by a full suit of armor, which he had brought
from Europe, and mounted on a small black jennet, as strong
as an ox and as fleet as the wind, would rush upon the aston-
ished Indians, and perform such feats with his battle-axe,
as those poor savages had never dreamed of. These encoun-
ters gave infinite satisfaction to Jalot, who was a passionate
lover of his art, and who never was seen in a good humor,
except when he was tending a wound. But he had more
frequently the chance of dissecting than of curing the poor
Indians, for, in most cases, the stroke of the white man's
weapon was certain and instantaneous death. Still, he found
some compensation in the numerous wounds inflicted by the
Indians on his own companions; he had a fondness for arrow
wounds, which he declared to be the nicest and genteelest of
all wounds. One day, he was so delighted with a wound of
this kind, which he pronounced, much to the exasperation of
his patient, to be supremely beautiful, that he actually smiled
with self-gratulation and cracked a joke !-to do this, his
excitement must have been immense. Another day, when an
Indian had been struck down by the battle-axe of St. Denis,
without, however, being killed outright, he felt such a keen
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940, periodical, 1940; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101111/m1/55/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.