The spring of 1828 was a particularly wet one on the northern Mexican frontier. Old Spanish roads that traversed the land from San Antonio de Béxar to Nacogdoches were washed out in places and soggy, sticky clay in others. Only a fool would travel this way except through utter necessity, and the only travel that made any sense was by mule or on horseback. And yet, to the astonishment of the Tejanos, the Mexicans of the gulf plain of Texas, during April, May, and June of that year a large caravan of soldiers, who did not appear quite like typical Mexican soldiers, sloshed, splatted, and cursed their way along the caminos of Texas. What was unusual about this group of soldiers was their stated aim and commensurate behavior, seeking knowledge rather than booty; their wagons, loaded with strange-looking equipment. and their members, at least one of whom was not armed, nor dressed in a uniform. This latter member of the troop was constantly straying from the caravan, disappearing into woods and over hills into meadows; he carried a satchel into which he put plants, roots, leaves, and flowers. He frequently halted to write something in a journal he carried, and sometimes he seemed to be sketching something he spied in the distance.

The man was young, and he spoke with a strange accent. His English was very poor and his Spanish little better; when he spoke with confidence it was in French. This traveler. was a native Frenchman, a Swiss scientist, a newcomer to the northern Mexican and southern Texas frontiers: Berlandier."-from the Introduction Book jacket.