Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-03
THE STANDARD OF SPAIN.
Planted ON the Shores of the Potomac In
the Sixteenth Century.

THE STANDARD OF SPAIN.
Planted on the Shores of the Potomac In
the Sixteenth Century.
To-the Englishman Capt John Smith. writes
Mr.. Hugh 7. Taggart, il popularity ascribed the
honor OF having been the first man of Euro
pean race to explore the Potomac river and to
contemplate in the region which includes the
site Of Georgetown, the wealth of forest, flowers,
| animal life and other glories DISPLAYED BY
nature before she had felt the whitening touch
| OF civilization. There is nothing in the writ
ings Of Smith to indicate that his exploration
OF the river had been continued to the vicinity
Of the first or Little Falls. He makes no mem
ton of this absolute barrier to further naviga-
ton; it il. in fact. apparent from his map that
this portion OF the river was laid down upon il
from narration and not from actual explors-
ton.
1t seems also to be historically demonstrate
that he had been preceded many wears before
By the Spaniards. who had sailed up the river
| at least as far as what we now know az Occodusn
and thst to the river they had given the name
OF Espiritu Santo 1t is an interesting story
as Cleaned from the Spanish archives by Buck-
inghsm Smith aud narrated by Shea, the
Catholic historian. tall, wen-formed brave.
the brother of . native chieftan. who WAS the
ruler OF Axacan, upon the occasion Of a visit
| to the river by Spanish vessel was persuaded
by the Spaniards to accompany them upon
their return to Mexico. which at that time had
been conquered and was under the governr ent
of the viceroy. Don Luis de yeiasco The
Indian from the shores of the Potomac upon
his arrival at the City of Mexico was taken
under the viceroy's patronage aud was
| soiemnly and with great pomp baptized in the
cathedral He took the name of his patron,
was educated in the Spanish language and in
structed in the Christian religion and in course
Of time was sent to Spain, where he spent
several years.
EARLY MISSIONARY EFFORTS.
In 1866 the famous Spanish admiral, Pedro
Melendez, dispatched vessel bearing thirty
soldiers and two Dominican fathers to establish
station at Axacan. This party having no
taste for q laborious mission and becoming
alarmed over anticipated dangers forced the
captain to return to Spain. Then the Jesuits
resolved to embark In the enterprise which had
been abandoned by the Doninicans and four
years later Father Segura, vice provincial. &C.
companied by some younger members of the
society, set sail for Axacan, at which thew ar
rived September 10, 1870. The Indian. Luis de
Velasco. at this time well advanced in wears and
man grave and intelligent. thoroughly con-
versant with Spanish. affairs and to all appear
ances a sincere Christian and friend Of the
Spaniards. had volunteered to accompany the
missionaries and made every promise as to the
security OF their persons.
~ Weo eoouSHp tIos Will tEe pftS6Hce, 6CtlNS
interest and support OF Luis no guards would
be needed. and as soldiers would be o detri-
ment to the mission the missionaries deter
mined to trust themselves entirely in the hands
of the Indians. For time after their arrival
Luis remained with them but being once moro
upon his native heath his original nature reas-
serted itself; his old nomadic instincts and
habits returned; the veneer of his Christian
civilization proved to be but thin and easily
effaced; he became Indian with the Indians,
rather than Spanish with the Spanards,' and
he fnailv abandoned the missionaries alto
gether. The latter being reduced to great
straits for food during the winter three OF their
number were sent to make last appeal to
Luis for assistance. He made many excuses
for his absence and sought to beguile them
with promises. As they were departing sadly
from the Indian village, convinced Of his in
sincerity, they were attacked and slain and
their bodies horribly mutilated by the sayages
Four days after this Luis, arrayed in the gown
of one Of the murdered priests and attended
by his brother and war party. armed with
of the survivors, who knelt before their rude
altar and calmly awaited their fate. At sig
nal from Luis they were massacred.
In the spring vessel bearing supplies for the
missionaries anchored off Azacan. The Indians
sought to lure on shore those on board BY
pointing to men arrayed in the garb of the
missionaries standing a short distance away,
but treachery was suspected from the fact that
these did not approach nearer and Join in the
demonstrations OF welcome. The Spaniards
weighed anchor and sailed away, taking with
them two of the Indians whom they had seized,
aud from whom the fate OF the missionaries
was learned.
THE spAN1ARp's VENGEANCE.
Melendez. having heard the report, sailed at
once for the Bay o; st. Marys, as the Chesa-
peake was called by his countrymen, for the
purpose of chasfising the murderers. He ran
up the Espir1tu Santo or Potomac and landed
with band of armed men, unfuried the flag of
Spain and pursued and captured many OF the
Indians. To them he announced that he would
not harm the innocent, and demanded that
Luis be delivered up, but that fiend had fed to
the mountains. Eight others who had been
concerned in the killing were sent by Melendez
On board his vessel and hung at the yard arm.
After this summary piece Of justice" saws
Shea, 1.-THE founder Of st. Augustine, with his
maii-clad force. embarked, and the Spanish
flag hOated for tine last time over the land of
Axaean." He adds: $50 ends the history OF
the first settlement Of white men on the soil Of
Virginia. The walls of the Capitol at Washing
ton might well be adorned with painting of
scene which occurred almost in sight Of its
dome-the founder of st. Augustine, the
butcher Of Ribault, the chosen commander Of
the Invincible Armada, as he stood surrounded
by his grim warriors. planting the standard Of
Spain on the banks Of the Potomac"
SUPPOSED TO BE occoQUAN.
Mr.. Shea states that no map or document ex-
lists by which the precise location of Axacan is
shown, but he advances several reasons in favor
of the theory that 1t was at Oceoquan. the prin-
cipai.one Of which is the resemblance of the
latter name to the Spanish Axacan. In addition
to the reasons given by him there are others
which tend to establish almost conclusively the
correctness of his theory to the location.
The grammarians inform us that the letter
''j' in the Spanish has always CULTURAL sound.
like the English ''h," strongly aspirated, and
like the cultural sound Of ''ch' in the German
words ''nacht" and 'nicht;" and that the letter
*" in the old Spanish had two very different
sounds: the one exactly the same as the Spanish
S." and the other that of the English *" in
''tax." Thus. though in Spanish '.Mejico" is
the common spelling of s'Mexico" and ''Tejas''
that of ''Texas," the pronunciation would be
the same if the words were spelled either way
II We apply the rula to Axacan We have
"Ajacan," which makes such a close approach
to Occoquan as to be almost identical in sound
Furthermore, Occoquan appears to be a cor
ruption in a slight degree Of Achaquin in which
Inter name we easily recognize the Snanish