Adventure Stories with Thunderstorms: The Forgotten Expedition

An adventure story featuring thunderstorms in the background.

The Forgotten Expedition

by Hank Wilson tells the story of a group of Spanish explorers who disappeared

from the official records. They were a product of their time. Their story

actually begins in 1598, when one of the most brutal of all of the Spanish

governors in what is now New Mexico came into power. Juan de Oñate brought in

approximately 400 settlers and built a settlement named San Juan de los

Caballeros. His real purpose was not to establish a new colony but to locate the

legendary treasure of Quivira. He started searching for the treasure in 1601,

he never did locate it and his missions to find gold and treasure were

fruitless. His legacy does, however, include perhaps the most inhumane

treatment of the Pueblo peoples in the area, and he left office in 1607 in

disgrace. He was found guilty of cruelty, immorality, and false reporting, and

he was exiled from the colony, fined, and deprived of his titles.

This story takes place

approximately 4 years after Onate’s departure. New Mexico has a new governor, Governor

Don Pedro de Peralta. He has authorized an expedition to explore more of what

is now the Trans-Pecos region of the American Southwest. While the story is

fictional, the people’s involved all either could have or did exist during this

period. This story is built around excerpts from the journal of Fray Miguel De

La Garza as he recorded the events that took place during the group’s

exploration of an unknown territory.

Those who found the

journal noted the closing entry “I recorded this for the benefit of those who

are to come. I have tried to be faithful to what we saw and did. May God have

mercy on our souls. Fray Miguel De La Garza. December 1611”