in 1719 st. denis was at natchitoches, which was one of the outposts of the french in louisiana and close to the texas border. he had traveled back and forth through texas more than once since his first trip to the presidio on the rio grande; and he had spent much of his time in mexican dungeons. but for that he bore the spaniards no great ill-will. he had escaped from prison and brought his beautiful mexican wife away with him; and when he made his flying journeys he turned aside, no doubt, to see his spanish friend, captain domingo ramon—who, by the way, was his wife’s uncle—and to admire the missions which were going up in every direction under that captain’s vigorous management. but now things were changed. a few months before, france and spain, never on good terms with each other, had declared open war.
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st. denis, if the truth were told, was glad of a chance to fight somebody besides indians. he was right weary of the skulking ways of the red warrior with his tomahawk, his paint and feathers, and his savage desire to carry scalps at his belt. he longed for a good honest brush with white men, who fought openly with gun and sword—men, for example, like his good friend captain ramon and his troop of jolly soldiers!
he leaped lightly into the saddle one morning and galloped out of natchitoches at the head of a hundred and fifty men. bernard de la harpe, in joint command of the expedition, rode by his side.
they crossed the sabine river and attacked the garrisons at the missions of nacogdoches, aes, and orquizacas, all of whom, surprised by the sudden onslaught, retreated before them. it was a lively chase across the vast territory, with a good deal of skirmishing; and it ended only when the spaniards were safe inside the town of san antonio.
st. denis, drawing rein on the brow of the hill and gazing down once more into the lovely valley, saw a sort of orderly confusion on an open plaza in the heart of the town; horsemen were gathering, men were moving hurriedly about, and from the midst of the bustle the clear tones of a bell suddenly fell upon the air. it was the call to arms!
st. denis smiled and turned to la harpe: “it is high time we were riding homeward,” he said gaily, with a glance at their small band of wayworn troopers; and turning their horses’ heads they galloped away.
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none too soon! for shortly afterwards the marquis de aguayo, governor of the province, came out of the town with a fresh troop of five hundred spaniards, tried soldiers and eager recruits, and galloped in pursuit of the flying frenchmen. it was another lively chase across the vast territory; but this time it was france who retreated, with spain at her heels. captain ramon, quite as anxious for a tilt with civilized soldiers as his friendly enemy and nephew-in-law st. denis, left the work of mission-building in the hands of his friars, and, as second in command, joined the governor-general in this pursuit.
aguayo, following the example of st. denis, did not pause until the intruders were safe in their own citadel at natchitoches; then he replaced at the missions of orquizacas and aes the men whom he had brought back with him, and he left for their protection a stout garrison at the mission of nuestra se?ora del pilar (our lady of the font), about twenty miles west of natchitoches.
he was as keenly alive as st. denis himself to the natural beauty of the valley watered by the san pedro and san antonio rivers; and on his return to san antonio he set on foot many improvements, including the widening and deepening of the irrigating ditches.
these irrigating ditches were called acequias (a-sā′-kee-a). they are still in use, and many of them are very beautiful. one known as the acequia madre, or mother ditch, is as deep and wide as a small rivulet; the living waters, pure and cool, rush along a bed lined and parapeted with stone, and overhung with pomegranates and rustling banana leaves.
the water from the ditches is turned, by means of gates, into the fields and gardens which lie along its course. each landowner is entitled to so much water a day, or at a stated period. this inflow of the crystal flood is called the saca de agua (taking the water), and is hailed with delight as it comes singing its way through corn-row, garden-patch, and rose-bower.
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in the early days the completing of a water-ditch was celebrated as a feast. rows of cactus were planted on its banks to keep off cattle, and shade-trees were set out along its course. a priest, attended by acolytes, blessed the water. the following day a drum was beaten at morning mass, and all those who had contributed in money or labor to the making of the ditch were summoned to the church to take part in the suerte (soo-air′-ta),—a lottery for the drawing of the land watered by the new sluice. tickets were placed in an urn and were drawn out by two children. the lucky holders of the highest numbers got the best lands. at night, by way of winding up the feast, there would be a procession and a fandango[9] on the plaza.
the good marquis de aguayo further recommended to the spanish government at madrid to send colonists to the province. “one family,” he said, “is better than a hundred soldiers.”
then, having done all he could for the new philippines, he went back to his official residence at monclova, attended as far as st. john the baptist by captain ramon.
