_How the Governor went from Autiamque to Nilco, and thence to
Guachoya._
On Monday, the sixth day of March, of the year 1542 of the Christian
era, the Governor set out from Autiamque to seek Nilco, which the
Indians said was nigh the River Grande, with the purpose, by going
to the sea, to recruit his forces. He had not over three hundred
efficient men, nor more than forty horses. Some of the beasts were
lame, and useful only in making out the show of a troop of cavalry;
and, from the lack of iron, they had all gone a year without shoes,
though, from the circumstance of travelling in a smooth country, they
had little need of them.
Juan Ortiz died in Autiamque, a loss the Governor greatly regretted;
for, without an interpreter, not knowing whither he was travelling,
Soto feared to enter the country, lest he might get lost. Thenceforth
a lad, taken in Cutifachiqui, who had learned somewhat of the
language of the Christians, served as the interpreter. The death was
so great a hindrance to our going, whether on discovery or out of the
country, that to learn of the Indians what would have been rendered
in four words, it became necessary now to have the whole day: and
oftener than otherwise the very opposite was understood of what was
asked; so that many times it happened the road that we travelled one
day, or sometimes two or three days, would have to be returned over,
wandering up and down, lost in thickets.
The Governor went to a province called Ayays,[300] arriving at a town
near the river that passed by Cayas, and by Autiamque, from which
he had been ten days in coming. He ordered a piragua to be built,
in which he crossed;[301] and, having arrived on the other shore,
there set in such weather that marching was impossible for four days,
because of snow. When that ceased to fall, he travelled three days
through desert, a region so low, so full of lakes and bad passages,
that at one time, for the whole day, the travel lay through water up
to the knees at places, in others to the stirrups; and occasionally,
for the distance of a few paces, there was swimming. And he came
to Tutelpinco,[302] a town untenanted, and found to be without
maize, seated near a lake that flowed copiously into the river with
a violent current. Five Christians, in charge of a captain, in
attempting to cross, by order of the Governor, were upset; when some
seized hold of the canoe they had employed, others of trees that grew
in the water, while one, a worthy man, Francisco Bastian, a native of
Villanueva de Barcarota, became drowned. The Governor travelled all
one day along the margin of the lake, seeking for a ford, but could
discover none, nor any way to get over.
[300] This province should not be confounded with the province of
Aays, which was located to the southward of Red River, in Texas.
[301] This crossing-place was to the northward of Pine Bluff, and
probably in Jefferson County.
[302] This place was on Big Bayou Meto, near the southeast corner
of town 6, range 5, east, in Jefferson County.
Returning to Tutelpinco at night, the Governor found two friendly
natives, who were willing to show him the crossing, and the road
he was to take. From the reeds and timber of the houses, rafts and
causeways were made, on which the river was crossed. After three
days' marching, at Tianto, in the territory of Nilco, thirty Indians
were taken, among whom were two chiefs of the town. A captain,
with infantry and cavalry, was directly despatched to Nilco, that
the inhabitants might not have time to carry off their provisions.
In going through three or four large towns, at the one where the
cacique resided, two leagues from where the Governor stayed, many
Indians were found to be in readiness, with bows and arrows, who,
surrounding the place, appeared to invite an onset; but so soon as
they saw the Christians drawing nigh to them without faltering, they
approached the dwelling of the cacique, setting fire to it, and, by a
pond near the town, through which the horses could not go, they fled.
The following day, Wednesday, the twenty-ninth of March, the Governor
arrived at Nilco,[303] making his quarters, and those of his people,
in the town of the cacique, which was in an open field, that for a
quarter of a league over was all inhabited; and at the distance of
from half a league to a league off were many other large towns, in
which was a good quantity of maize, beans, walnuts, and dried plums
(persimmons). This was the most populous of any country that was
seen in Florida, and the most abundant in maize, excepting Coça and
Apalache. An Indian, attended by a party, arrived at the camp, and,
presenting the Governor with a cloak of marten-skins and a string of
pearls, he received some margaridetas (a kind of bead much esteemed
in Peru) and other trinkets, with which he was well pleased. At
leaving, he promised to be back in two days, but did not return. In
the night-time, however, the Indians came in canoes, and carrying
away all the maize they could take, set up their huts on the other
side of the river, among the thickest bushes. The Governor, finding
that the Indians did not arrive within the time promised, ordered an
ambuscade to be placed at some cribs, near the lake, to which the
Indians came for maize. Two of them were taken, who told him that
the person who had come to visit him was not the cacique, but one
sent by him, pretending to be he, in order to observe what might be
the vigilance of the Christians, and whether it was their purpose to
remain in that country, or to go farther. Directly a captain, with
men on horseback and foot, were sent over to the other shore; but, as
their crossing was observed, only ten or a dozen Indians, of both
sexes, could be taken; and with these the Christians returned to camp.
[303] Nilco was located a few miles southeast of Arkansas Post,
on section 30, town 8, south, range 2, west, in Desha County,
where there is a large mound.
This river, passing by Anilco, is the same that flows by Cayas and
Autiamque, and falls into the River Grande, which flows by Pacaha and
Aquixo, near the province of Guachoya, the lord of which ascended in
canoes to carry war upon him of Nilco. In his behalf a messenger came
to the Governor, saying that the cacique was his servant, desiring to
be so considered, and that in two days from that time he would come
to make his salutation. He arrived in season, accompanied by some of
his principal men, and with great proffers and courtesy, he presented
many shawls and deer-skins. The Governor gave him some articles of
barter, showing him much attention, and inquired what towns there
might be on the river below. He replied that he knew of none other
than his own; that opposite was the province of a cacique called
Quigaltam; then, taking his leave, returned to his town.
The Governor determined to go to Guachoya within a few days, to
learn if the sea were near, or if there were any inhabited territory
nigh it, where he might find subsistence whilst those brigantines
were building, that he desired to send to a country of Christians.
As he crossed the River of Nilco, there came up Indians in canoes
from Guachoya, who, when they saw him, thinking that he was in their
pursuit, to do them harm, they returned down the river, and informed
the cacique, when he took away from the town whatsoever his people
could carry, and passed over with them, all that night, to the other
bank of the River Grande. The Governor sent a captain with fifty men,
in six canoes, down the river to Guachoya;[304] while he, with the
rest, marched by land, arriving there on Sunday, the seventeenth day
of April.[305] He took up his quarters in the town of the cacique,
which was palisaded, seated a crossbow-shot from the stream, that is
there called the River Tamaliseu, Tapatu at Nilco, Mico at Coça, and
at its entrance is known as The River.
[304] Guachoya was in the vicinity of Arkansas City, in Desha
County, and possibly at or near the large mound one mile to the
northward.
[305] Sunday was the sixteenth of April.