The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, July 1923 - April, 1924 Page: 211
344 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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St. Denis's Second Expedition to the Rio Grande 211
stressed his desire to become a Spanish subject, and the service
which he already had rendered to the Spanish cause in Texas.
After another month of investigation and examination of wit-
nesses, Olivin, on November 4, submitted his report to the viceroy.
It was wholly favorable to St. Denis. He reviewed the whole
episode of French intervention in Texas, beginning with La Salle,
and the measures which the Spaniards had taken to forestall it.
Later, the friendly intercourse between Mobile and Pensacola had,
he said, caused Governor Cadillac of Louisiana to believe that an
expedition to the Rio Grande would prove successful, and in 1713
St. Denis was sent out. The latter's service to the Spaniards and
the second expedition, resulting in his imprisonment and the con-
fiscation of his goods, followed. With reference to Governor
Alarc6n's investigations, Olivkn stated that the governor had found
only thirteen bundles and a box, which had been taken from St.
Denis, and had found no evidence of other goods having been
brought in, all of which agreed with St. Denis's own statements.
Moreover, Olivan stated that other depositions which he himself
had taken, had confirmed this, in that none of the deponents knew
of such importations of goods."6
Thus did Don Juan de Olivan reply to the charges made by
Father Olivares and Governor Alarc6n, which, he said, gave "exag-
gerated reports" of the whole country being full of contraband
French merchandise. Other charges made against St. Denis were
dismissed by Olivkn in the same summary manner. On the other
hand, Olivan waxed enthusiastic in the enumeration of the merits
of Captain St. Denis: He had abandoned his native country to
become a Spanish subject, having married a Spanish woman; he
gave up the captaincy of the presidio on the Rio de la Palazada,
sold his possessions, and bought merchandise with which to buy
and cultivate lands in New Spain, in order to serve the king in
every way, especially in the conquest of the Indians, with whose
languages and customs he was very familiar; he fulfilled his com-
mission as guide to the expedition to Texas in the most loyal and
efficient manner, and afterwards aided the missionaries greatly.
"ODeclarations of Tomas Flores, Joseph del Rio, Lorenzo Garcfa, Joseph
Antonio Barrera, Manuel Flores, and Captain Don Francisco de Ugarte,
M~exico, October 3-November 19, 1717, in Testimonio de Diligencias, folios
130-143.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, July 1923 - April, 1924, periodical, 1924; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101086/m1/217/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.