The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-10-23
''.1rprs COLONY IN TEXAS.
Their buildings May suIi
rl~ Found.

al roadenco Oh tlo "iooS eAoSia.
rxxas, September 26.--very few
/ 'S.. ,.miliar with the fact that Texas
- time called the New Philippines.
I'm y. The name applied by Spain to all
I IA ..son bordering on the Gulf Of Mex.
! A. I'ss..n the Rio Grande and RED rivers,
/ y. ranch, under no less important pei
's''. \. ,hsn La Sale, we're the discoveries
..S. .ountry, and the first people to plant
| & '.s,n, and make voyages into the In
". The ruins of old Fort st. Louis.
40 !. "a Sale at the mouth Of the La
Z. 1885, can be easily traced today.
/ s....A me rod or adobe houses have crum.
/ 10 1. mounds OF dust, and the moats and
! ',. ~ shaded BY venerable forest oaks
IA ~ pines. Strangely enough the region
d So. The voice OF the white man, the
~ a the saw and hammer and the
~ a the blunderbuss were first heard. Is
y rld and lonely today as it was two
..srIes ago. Squirrels are playing in the
h ,...cbss Of the trees, flocks OF quail fly IN
9, 4 The d.nse underground in front OF
\. Aunter, Wild turkeys frequently exhibit
6ash Of their black wings, wolves howl
J, ,,eht where the French colonist once
S.c.ea his cora, deer may be shot on the
s.,S sud the panther mak.s mis- lair under
4. rims of the governors CASTLE At
~ no;lt Just in the edge OF lb1tle glade,
vhieb was doubtless at one time cuiti-
rstd field, there are the ruins of very
s,re sone building connected by a wall
4 rough undressed stone with the main
,syt This must have been u building Of
/ saudderable dimensions. and was either q
NINA or the commanders residence. Many
= he huge rocks that are now lying on
a. ground about the great door are COW
ma with names. dates and Frsnch words,
~ ~ which can be deciphered. la Sales
ssrne. Belfort, and the date 1886 can be
IN In several places. 1t is supposed that
HeVort was the engineer or architect.
fh,re was bastion at one angle for two
esuucp. and these could have commanded
~ Md on two sides OF the fort for a long
Gstspce. There Is also Notch in the wall
vtkh was evidently port or loop hole
ior 4 large gun. Stone and lead cannon
Nils, broken swords, bayonets, guns and
pttols were frequently found here when
a. American first settled this region, but
~ field has been searched over so often
during the past century that 1t is very
ssdom that anything of any value is dis
erered.
Turning north from the ruins Of the
church or castle, it is only few steps to
&rse forest, through which for consid-
eable distance may be traced bitches and
nbankmenes.
A very wild extent OF this wild region
al titr,a bnva haan hi oh
state OF cultivation, from the fact that 200
or 800 people lived here for five or six years,
sustaining themselves by cultivatng the
coll. They never received one ounce OF
anything from France or from a single Eu-
ropean from the time they landed until the
aydges swooped down upon them and mas
sacred thtm all but two. La Sale sailed
from France with fleet of four ships,
carrying 400 colonists. one OF the vessels
VA captured OFF the coast of San Domingo.
The greet explorer was looking for the
mouth o. the Mississippi river. but he
alled too far west in thu unknown seas
and entered the Lavaca bay Having quar-
raed with the admiral in command and
fearing treaehery on the part of that Off
or. he determined to disembark and prose-
tuts his search for the great river by land.
II Is estimated that there were NJ least 300
colonists, and La Sale stayed with them
iur nearly two years, building the fort con-
nruciing the houses and clearing the fields.
before fta set olt on the exploring expedi-
tion which ended in his death. He was
rayderei on the banks of the Neches river
BY Disconnected wretch named Duhant.
Tie colonists never lizard Of his death, from
TIE fact that the people who were with La
Sale continued their journey, making one
fatslf ,Gtir a Inn
ages through the tracaess wilderness In
the history of the world. They actually
tramped through Texas and a portion OF
Arkansas without a guide, and stumbled
UPON a fort at the mouth of the Arkansas
tyer which La. Sale had ordered his friend,
We Toni, to establish in previous expedi-
ton.
The wild Indians carried the news far
across the plains to Mexico that there were
waite people building houses and cultivat-
ING the land In the country which the Span
iards called the New Philippines. De Leon,
tne Spanish governor OF Coahuila, set out
9 lhe head OF 100 horsemen 10 find Fort
o. Louis After O. long search he round
ens place, but it was in ruins. Deer were
sleeping under the shade OF the walls where
enly short time before were comfortable
FUMES, an herds OF wild buffalo were
saiiopng over the fields. Tae Spanish gov
efnor was astounded al the evidences of the
nimer prosperity OF the colony Here We're
neios already cleared and many walls were
sundlns. The country abounded In game.
! ne elimnts was the finest that he had
ever seen, and the Indians appeared to De
friendly. He determined no take advantage
q al these favorable factors and establish
!. colony thsre ait once. After returning TO
mexico he induced few families TO settle
y OLD Fort st. Louis, and at several otner
Hnce noted localities. Although the Indians
aleeted them with the exclamation
ienlas." m aiming friendship, II was not
Une Before they murdered every Spaniard
,r1Vh OF the Rio Grande. Two Of La SALES
sslenehmen were long afterwsrd found with
.ae Comanches, The Spaniards got posses
.lol OF these two unfortunate individuils
ana sent them in chains to the silver mines,
were they persisted, 1t was long time
sNer this before The Indian word "Tehgas,
soNa the Spaniards pronounced Texas.
~ applied TO the WILD region month OF
.re hlo Grande. On all the old maps ire
Wunlry was designated the New Philip,
France
:. there is nothing lacking but the HERDS
\ !, ouiialo am Wild Indians to make THIS
p'sce as much of wilderness as 1t was
~ Gay tha. the feet of the great explorer
" WY muched the soil OF Texas. Game o. all
,,1U Known to this climate is aounaant'
sse TWO young men from st. Louis VINO
4 lIanied me killed three dec ard were
'nas@d by wounded hear during the hunt