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Historians of the U.S. Southwest invariably rely on English-language translations of original Spanish documents for their interpretive work. However, a philological approach to the Spanish documents reveals all manner of translator shortcomings, some of which negatively impact the historical record. I document one such instance pertaining to the early history of Texas and argue that the failure to adhere to sound philological practice has produced an inaccurate historical canon. Data are taken from a Spanish expedition diary from the late 17th-century and from unpublished archival sources pertaining to it.

Historians of the U.S. Southwest invariably rely on English-language translations of original Spanish documents for their interpretive work. However, a philological approach to the Spanish documents reveals all manner of translator shortcomings, some of which negatively impact the historical record. I document one such instance pertaining to the early history of Texas and argue that the failure to adhere to sound philological practice has produced an inaccurate historical canon. Data are taken from a Spanish expedition diary from the late 17th-century and from unpublished archival sources pertaining to it.