The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 17, July 1913 - April, 1914 Page: 263

Pennsylvania and the Independence of Texas

as a colonist in what was then a portion of "Upper Louisiana," or
else in all probability have returned to the scene of his former
enterprises. "Mine-a-Burton" would have been remembered only
for the same reason as are remembered the stories of those hidden
treasures which in more fantastic guise, had centuries before lured
the Spaniard across the trackless wastes of arid plains, only to
melt away at his approach. But disappointment and disaster only
served to bring out in fuller measure the zeal and fortitude of the
man. Nothing daunted by the difficulties which beset him, and
sustained ever by the devotion of his faithful wife, Austin now
conceived the idea of planting a colony in Texas. Far to the
southwest lay the land of the Tejas,-a land of historic memories.
The region watered by the Brazos, the Colorado, and the Guad-
alupe, had been traversed by some of the greatest explorers that
ever set foot upon the western continent. Across the plains that
stretched between the Sabine and the Rio Grande del Norte wan-
dered Cabeza de Vaca and his companions on one of the most
marvelous expeditions that history has ever recorded. In his quest
of the Seven Cities of Cibola, Coronado penetrated the northern
portion of the province, braving the dangers of famine, of wild
beasts, and of hostile Indians on his fruitless errand. The group
of ruins of the missions established in and near San Antonio and
at San Saba are a silent though none the less impressive tribute to
the courage and devotion of the missionaries of the cross. Among
the wild Indian tribes of the east and the west labored the gray
friars, teaching, preaching, and catechising, striving to win from
the powers of darkness the rude denizens of the wilderness. The
hearts of these devoted monks must often have sunk within them
as they realized the scant success which attended their efforts to
instil the, holy mysteries of the Catholic faith into the minds of
the fierce Apaches and Comanches. Yet they would have been
recreant to their trust and unworthy of the best traditions of their
order had their spirits quailed at the dark prospects which con-
fronted them. Had not disciples of the true faith planted the
cross among the savage tribes which roamed over the frozen re-
gions of the north? Members of their own great order had cele-
brated mass and chanted the Te Deum on the shores of Lake Huron
in the presence of the astonished savages and of the greatest of

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