La Salle and the discovery of the great West - North Central ...

1689.] A SCENE OF HAVOC. 469caused the Viceroy, Galve, to order a strong force,under Alonzo de Leon, to march from Coahuila, andcross the Rio Grande. Guided by a French prisoner,probably one of the deserters from La Salle, theypushed their way across wild and arid plains, rivers,prairies, and forests, till at length they approachedthe Bay of St. Louis, and descried, far off, theharboring-place of the French. 1 As they drew near,no banner was displayed, no sentry challenged ; andthe silence of death reigned over the shattered palisadesand neglected dwellings. The Spaniardsspurred their reluctant horses through the gateway,and a scene of desolation met their sight. No ' livingthing was stirring. Doors were torn from theirhinges; broken boxes, staved barrels, and rustykettles, mingled with a great number of stocks ofarquebuses and muskets, were scattered about inconfusion. Here, too, trampled in mud and soakedwith rain, they saw more than two hundred books,many of which still retained the traces of costlybindings. On the adjacent prairie lay three deadbodies, one of which, from fragments of dress stillclinging to the wasted remains, they saw to be thatof a woman. It was in vain to question the imperiAfter crossing the Del Norte, they crossed in turn the UpperNueces, the Hondo (Rio Frio), the De Leon (San Antonio), and theGuadalupe, and then, turning southward, descended to the Bay ofSt. Bernard. . . . Manuscript map of "Route que flrent !*• Eapagnols,pour venir enlever les Francais rester a la Baye 8tBernard ou St. Louis, apres la perte du vaisseau de M' de la «*lleen 1689."(Margry'a collection.)