Evening star., 1914-12-13
LA SALES COLONY IN TEXAS
Recent Discoveries of DR.. Bolton Re.
lating Thereto.

From the San Antonio Light.
| Again Texas has stepped into the
| spotlight of international affairs, po-
sition it has occupied many times. In
| terest in DR.. Herbert E. Bottoms dis
covery of the site of La Sales second
colony can be scarcely less than world
wide. The discovery emphasized the
wealth of romance that characterizes
the history of the state. and he who is
not fascinated by this revolution of truth
concerning the past must be singularly
devoted to the present.
The value of the discovery is not linn
tied, however, to the charm it holds for
| those who find pleasure in reading hu-
| man annals. 1t will not, of course.
change the map of the world or inf1u-
ence the trend of future happenings:
Its only direct effect upon the affairs of
today may be no more than that which
will be visible in the rewritten accounts
Of La Sales activities in the new
world. But aside from it's power to
charm lovers OF the romantic and its
intrinsic worth to chroniclers of hu-
man events, the discovery is significant
Of rapid progress in science which has
come to characterize some of the best
of the educational institutions of Amer
ica.
Formerly the accepted function of an
instructor in history was merely to
teach whatever books. already writ
ten, might contain. A history profess
sors knowledge of his subject was linn
tied largely to his gleanings from
books by historians and from the writ
ings of commentators thereon. Some
research work was done. to be sdre.
but principally among old documents.
Generally the authenticity of those "old
documents was accepted without ques-
ton: the more ancient the documents
appeared the more certain their au-
thenticity. Actual research work is a
compa ratively new enterprise for
American instructors.
Dr. Bottoms activities disclose a love
for truth and an independence of
thought that characterize the real his
| torian. 1t is the function of the his
torian not only to chronicle events in
attractive style, but more especially to
make a corrective study of those ac-
counts from which he derives his mi
tial knowledge of his subjects. DR..
Bolton has covered the broader field.
so far as the southwest is concerned,
probably more thoroughly than may be
claimed by any of his predecessors or
contemporaries He has become an ach-
eologist as we'll a historian Discov-
I Iering some documents descriptive of an
unknown Spanish expedition to Mata-
gorda bay. he explored the gulf region
| in an attempt to establish either the
correctness or the incorrectness of the
accounts. Making both topogra phi ca
and archaeological surveys, he found re-
mains of the French colony against
which the documents said the Spanish
crown had directed the expedition.
That La Sales colony was located on
the Garcitas river, and not on the La
vaca river, as held by the noted Park
man and other historians. and that the
great French explorer met death near
the site of the present town of Naya-
sofa, on the Brazos river and not near
the. site of the present city of Dallas
on the Trinity river. formed the sub
stance of DIR. Bottoms discovery Some
half dozen geographical puzzles are
thus solved for the historians. The dis
covery cannot but bring additional
merited renown to this comparatively
young historian. And Texas may ex-
perience a pride in the knowledge that
the researches which led to the dis
covery were begun while he was a mem
ber on the faculty of the state university.