The Teran de los Rios-Massanet Expedition of 1691: a scholarly edition and comparative study

This thesis edits and compares two diaries written during one of the earliest Spanish expeditions into Texas during 1691-1692. The first governor of the Province of the Tejas Indians, Domingo Ter??n de los R??os, steered the military and exploratory aspects of this significant expedition during 1691 and 1692, while Father Dami??n Massanet investigated the anticipated establishment of missions in the frontier borderland of New Spain. Both men kept individual accounts of the expedition at the behest of the Crown. Textual evidence for these diaries consists of the original manuscript of Ter??n??s diary with three extant copies, and Massanet??s original manuscript with two copies. Until now, unedited transcriptions and an English-language translation have served as the source for historical studies of this expedition, but to date none of these manuscripts has been edited critically. Having compared systematically the most reliable manuscript of Ter??n??s diary, as well as the original Massanet diary, this thesis presents findings that pertain to the shared and divergent content and language found in the diaries. The findings include new historical information and clarification of discrepancies in daily events, distances traveled, assignment of names to specific places, and interactions with the indigenous population. The differences manifested in each diary highlight the disparity in purpose and perspective between a military expedition and a spiritual mission. Likewise, the findings underscore the challenges and differences of opinion faced by two leaders of a consolidated expedition. This thesis includes an introductory chapter with the following segments: background of the two expeditions of 1689 and 1690 that preceded and laid the foundation for the third, more ambitious expedition of Ter??n and Massanet; an overview of the third expedition; and a review of the literature concerning the expedition. The second chapter concerns the transcriptions of the diaries of Ter??n and Massanet, and contains the following divisions: methodology; descriptions of both manuscripts; the norms of transcription; the transcription of Massanet??s manuscript; and the transcription of Ter??n??s manuscript that corresponds to the dates of the Massanet diary. After the transcriptions is an analysis of the first month of the expedition, from May 16 to June 16. This analysis deals with the content and language of the diaries. The final chapter presents conclusions and areas for future research. This work is relevant for historians, linguists, philologists, anthropologists, archeologists and other scholars interested in the history of the Spanish Southwest.