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

V470 FATE OF THE TEXAN COLONY. [1689.turbablesavages, who, wrapped to the throat in theirbuffalo-robes, stood gazing on the scene with looks ofwooden immobility. Two strangers, however, atlength arrived. 1 Their faces were smeared withpaint, and they were wrapped in buffalo-robes like therest; yet these seeming Indians were L'ArchevSque,the tool of La Salle's murderer Duhaut, and Grollet,the companion of the white savage Ruter. TheSpanish commander, learning that these two menwere in the district of the tribe called Texas, 2 hadsent to invite them to his camp under a pledge ofgood treatment; and they had resolved to tru«tSpanish clemency rather than endure longer a lifethat had become intolerable. From them theSpaniards learned nearly all that is known of thefate of Barbier, Zenobe Membre\ and their companions.Three months before, a large band of Indianshad approached the fort, the inmates of which hadsuffered severely from the ravages of the small-pox.From fear of treachery, they refused to admit theirvisitors, but received them at a cabin without thepalisades. Here the French began a trade withthem; when suddenly a band of warriors, yelling1 May 1st. The Spaniards reached the fort April 22.2This is the first instance in which the name occurs. In a letterwritten by a member of De Leon's party, the Texan Indians arementioned several times. (See Coleccion de Varios Documentos, 25.)They are described as an agricultural tribe, and were, to all appearance,identical with the Cenis. The name Tejas, or Texas, was firstapplied as a local designation to a spot on the river Neches, in theCenis territory, whence it extended to the whole country. (SeeYoakum, History of Texas, 52.)