The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-11-18

his guards, and told st. Denis that If
he would instantly surrender all
claims to the hand of Donna Maria
that he would release him and give
him letters that would assist him In
the prosecution of his plans in the City
OF Mexico. st. Denis, with flashing
eyes, scorned the offer, and his reply
was worthy of one of the old knights
of chivalry.
'Tyrant, you may load me with
chains. but so long as Donna Maria
honors me with her love and conf
dence, SO long shall that love and con-
fidence be guarded as my most sacred
treasures. You may take from me my
life, senior, but you can not take from
me my honor"
The tyrant ordered ST. Denis to be
treated as common criminal, but
when months had passed and the brave
young Frenchnan showed no signs OF
bearing this cruel message to Donna
Maria:
Marry me. and St Denis shall be
released; refuse, and your lover shall
surely die
The fearless young girl declined the
tyrant's offer in emphatic terms, and
at once applied to the viceroy in the
City of Mexico, telling him the story
of her love. The viceroy was moved by
the piteous appeals. of the beautiful
girl. and he released st. Denis AS
soon as St. Denis was liberated he
married Donna Maria and resumed his
journey to the City of Mexico. Here
his pleasing address won all hearts
The viceroy offered him position under
the Spanish government. and gave him
full authority to punish his enemy. st.
Denis showed that magnanimity was
numbered with his many other fine
traits of character, for he refused TO
make any trouble for the man who had
so cruelty wronged him. After a short
stay in the capital he returned to his
government in northern Texas.
1t is not known as TO what kind of
authority was granted to him by the
Spanish officials in Mexico. He built
fort at Nacogdoches and laid off city
He ordered the lands surveyed and
granted titles to the settlers. He es-
tablished trading posts at various
points in the interior and rapidly ac-
cumulated a large fortune. He pos
sessed the happy faculty of making
friends Of every man who came IN
contact with him. He was called the
lust chief by the Indians. and his
fame for fair dealing was we'll estab-
lished with all the tribes within reach
of his capital. While in the height of
his power two Indians enc day came to
his house and told them that they
had seen a white man with tribe of
coast Indians who held him as pris-
oner. st. Denis at once offered them
a large sum of money if they would
go and rescue the white man and
bring him to Nacogdoches. The In
dams went away, and in a few weeks
they appeared at St. Dennis house
with a naked, half-starved human be-
ing. who was besmeaTed with dirt and
painted like an Indian. st. Denis Or
dered a bath for the poor shivering
creature, and sent q suit of his own
clothes to the bathroom. When the
man had been washed and clothed he
appeared before his benefactOr. 81
Denis no sooner looked at him than
he was struck dumb with amaZement.
The man was Belisle, whom St. Tenis
thought he killed with his sword in
Paris. Belisle was equally as much
astonished. They were Frenchmen and
they instantly embraced each other
and buried all past differences Be
isles story was short one, but full of
sufferings. He had recovered from the
wounds inflicted by the sword of st.
Denis, and not long afterward he
Joined a colony of Adventures who
sailed TO join the Louisiana company
at the mouth of the Mississippi. Like
La Sale they lost their way and sailed
too far west. Belisle, with two COM
Texas to enjoy a hunt. They got los--
and the ship sailed away and lef.
them. After wandering through thu
forests for many days BeliSle'S two
comrades persisted from hunger. Be
Isle fell in with some coast Indians,
who treated him very cruelty. They
stripped him Of his clothing and would
have tortured him to death with fire
had not an old sGuaw interfered in his
favor He had been a prisoner with
the Indians for long time. St. Denis
gave Belisle an office in his govern
ment and put him in the way of max
ing money.
St. Denis was slain in a battle with
the Indians on the frontier of his coun-
try, and after his death the affairs of
the colony fell into disorder At the
time of st. Denis death there were
about 300 white people who claimed
the protection of his government, and
they were nearly all in prosperous cir
cumstances. Many of them had accu-
mulated fortunes trading with the In
dams. and St. Denis himself was said
to have had in his possession more
than 800 600 in gold. Had he lived a
few years longer he would have antici-
pated the work OF Austin and Houston.
and firmly established a government in
Texas that Mexico could not have over
thrown 100 years before the battle Of
San Jacinto was fought. He was
well-balanced man, and one born TO
command. No man ever thought of
disobeying his orders. Enough is
known of his extraordinary career to
force us to the conclusion that he was
the greatest man that ever attempted
to establish a government in Texas.
There was no man in the government
capable of succeeding him. and the
colonists soon returned to the Louis
lana possessions. The Natchez Indians
furnished Donna Maria with guard
of honor that escorted her and her
treasures to her fathers home at the
Preside San Juan on the shores Of
the Rio Grande. Thus ended the first
dream of empire in northern Mexico.
It was 100 years before this dream
entered the brain OF other ambitious
spirits. 1t was a fatal dream that
ruined Burr, and ended in the death
OF Nolan, Long. Edwards. Austin.
Travis. Magee, Fannin and thousands
of others who trod the pathway of
glory which led to the battlefield ana
Mexican prisons. BRAZOS.
Took This Order Quickly.
Ligonier, Ind. Nov. 1.-THE record for
rapid wooing is claimed by W. L. Dale
man, a Pittsburg travelling salesman, who
was united in marriage today to Miss