Palaces of the Desert 265 



Indio to Yuma, about which General Butler was 

 sarcastic, then to El Paso and on to the Gulf at 

 Corpus Christi; four days of heat in August, 

 which I did not regret, as it enabled me to 

 realize what' stuff the Spanish missionary fathers 

 were made of, when they marched up the coast 

 from the City of Mexico over a virtual desert. 



The early history of Spain in America is of 

 dramatic interest, and cannot be read even cas- 

 ually, without arousing admiration. What more 

 unpromising region than Texas in 1532 could 

 be imagined? Filled with hostile Indians, its 

 possibilities absolutely unknown, its coast for- 

 bidding, few would have essayed it. But this 

 vast region, with its extremes from torrid deserts 

 to cold northers, was crossed and recrossed by 

 many adventurers, Spanish and French, who 

 left as their only monuments some of the most 

 interesting ruins in America. 



One of the first Spanish governors of Texas, 

 as early as 1692, was Domingo Teran de los 

 Rios, and one of the first friars to enter Texas, 

 Antonio Olivares, who, after a march as far 

 as the River Frio, reported to Bishop Galmido 

 and was sent to Mexico for aid, hoping to ex- 

 tend the chain of missions across the Rio Grande. 

 Texas at that time was unknown; it had no 

 name, and was a part of Florida in a general 

 sense; and what bravery and tenacity of pur- 

 pose was required to penetrate such a country 



