Note 47 — Chapter III · FIRST EXPEDITIONS FROM NEW SPAIN

Two manuscripts recently discovered prove beyond question that the Father had been put to death by the Indians of the Sierra Morena or Sandía mountains before the soldiers returned to Mexico. The viceroy, we now know, had incorporated this information in his report to the Spanish King. Bolton was the first person to make use of this material. It was further elaborated by J. Lloyd Mecham in a thesis for the Master’s degree at the University of California. See also the article by Mecham on the “Death of Fray Santa María” in Catholic Historical Review, October, 1920.