Domingo Ramon's 1716 expedition into Texas

Abstract

The 1716 Domingo Ramn̤ expedition resulted in the temporary occupation of East Texas from 1716 to 1719 with six missions and a presidio. This expedition represented Spain's commitment to the permanent occupation of the Province of the Tejas Indians. In addition to the original diary kept by Ramn̤, which details the occurrences of the expedition party, there are two extant copies of this diary. One translation of Ramn̤'s diary Foik (1933; 1999 reprint) exists. The current project provides for the first time a critical edition of Ramn̤'s diary. This thesis includes: an introduction (review of the literature, summary of extant manuscripts, narrative summary of the expedition, and discussion); a transcription of the base manuscript; a compilation of variants which occur between the two copies of the manuscript and the original; and an annotated commentary of linguistic features of interest found therein, as well as terms or concepts not of common usage, and important historical figures and locations. The transcription of the base manuscript was compared to the two remaining copies of the diary, and the variants between the documents were compiled systematically. This project serves linguists interested in philology, as well as historians, anthropologist, and other scholars interested in the history of Spanish Texas. Areas for future research are also discussed.