Bernardo Castro.”
He had the real spirit of the Argonauts, this crippled old soldier, to whom poverty and danger and 2,000-mile walks were trifles when they stood between him and his Peak of Gold.
The Viceroy evidently gave the desired permission—without which, under the strict Spanish laws, no such venture was to be thought of—and there were one or more expeditions, but unfortunately we have left no account of them. It is clear that the Viceroy ordered Governor Chacon, of New Mexico, to assist Castro in his undertaking, and that the matter aroused a good deal of interest throughout the provinces of New Spain. Don Nemecio Salcedo, military commandant at Chihuahua, seems to have interested himself in the matter, for the next document in this fragmentary series is a draft of a reply to him from Governor Chacon, as follows:
“According to that which Your Lordship advises me in communication of the 16th of September of the current year, I repeat that as to the expedition of Bernardo Castro to the discovery of the Peak of Gold, I will help him and the others who accompany him, that they may have no difficulty with the General of the Cumanches, whom, however, I have not yet seen, since he has not yet returned with the ransom he offered me when he was last in this capital.
“God, etc. Santa Fee, 25th of Fber, 1803.
“To Señor Don Nemo. Salcedo.”
There was other correspondence between these two on the same matter, for now we come to an original letter from Commandant Salcedo to Governor Chacon, replying to a late one of his. It says:
“The communication of Your Lordship, No. 36, of the 18th of last November, leaves me informed of all the assistances you gave Bernardo Castro, that he might undertake the second journey [so he had already made one] from that city, with the object to discover the Peak of Gold, which he has described in the territory of that province. And of the results I hope Your Lordship will give me account.
“God guard Your Lordship many years.
“Chihuahua, January 5, 1804.