USA > Arizona > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 12
USA > New Mexico > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 12
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
9 Espejo, Relacion del Viage que yo Antonio Espejo, ciudadano de la ciudad de México, natural de la ciudad de Córdoba, hize con catorce soldados y un religioso de la orden de San Francisco, a las provincias y poblaciones de la Nueva México, á quien puse por nombre la Nueva Andalucia, a contemplacion de mi patria, en fin del año 1583, in N. Mex. Testim., 101-26; repeated with a few verbal variations on pp. 163 et seq. of the same vol. Pacheco, Doc., xv. This is of course the best authority for the expedition, being written at S. Bartolomé in Oct. 1583, just after the author's return. There are also some items of infor- mation in Espejo's letters and other doc., in the N. Mex. Testim., and Espejo, Expediente, in the same vol.
The best known authority, and indeed in substance the only one consulted by modern writers, is that in Hakluyt's Voy., iii. 383-96, in Spanish and Eng- lish, under the following title: El Viaie que hizo Antonio de Espeio en el anno de ochenta y tres; el qual con sus companneros desubrieron vna tierra en que hallaron quinze Provincias todas llenas de pueblos, y de casas de quatro y cinco altos, ¿ quien pusieron por nombre El nuevo Mexico, por parecerse en muchas cosas al viejo, etc., taken from Gonzalez Mendoza's Hist. China, as mentioned in note 7 of this chap. This narrative, written in the third person, is in parts identical with the Relacion, but in other parts differs widely; and it does not appear on what the variations rest. The original Relacion clears up some of the difficul- ties found in connection with the Viaje, but also creates some new ones. I shall follow the former, but indicate the principal variations in my notes.
Salmeron, Relaciones, 11, Niel, Apuntaciones, 88, and Villagrá, Hist. N. Mex., 35, barely mention Espejo's entrada; Davis, Span. Conq., 240-61, fol- lows mainly Hakluyt's translation, introducing a few verbal and other changes from a source not mentioned, some of them being evidently errors; and noth- ing is added to the Hakluyt version by any of the following: Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., iii. 359; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., 400-1; Descrip. de America, 113-16; Morelli, Fast. Nov. Orbis, 28; Purchas his Pilgrimes, iv. 1561-2; Ale- gre, Hist. Comp. J., i. 327; Calle, Noticias, 102; Aparicio, Conventos, 281-2; Mota Padilla, Conq. N. Gal., 167-9; Laet, Nov. Orbis, 309-14; Montanus, N. Weereld, 243-6; Gottfriedt, N. Welt, 561-5; Otermin, in N. Mex. Doc., ii. 1135- 43; Prince's Hist. Sk., 153-60; Whipple, in Pac. R. R. Repts, iii. 113-15; Brackenridge's Early Discov., 17-21; Ariz. Hist. (Elliott), 43: Hinton's Hand- book, 387-8.
HIST. ARIZ, AND N. MEX. 6
82
ENTRADAS OF RODRIGUEZ AND ESPEJO.
silver prospects, and passed through the country of the Conchos, Pazaguates, and Tobosos successively, all being friendly, though the Tobosos-in later years rivalling the Apaches in their savage raids-at first fled, because, as they said, they had formerly been ill treated by a party of Spaniards.
About the junction of the rivers, and extending twelve days' journey up the Rio Grande, were the Jumanas-the name being written also Jumanos and Humanos-or Patarabueyes, who like the Tobosos were hostile at first, attacking the camp at night, kill- ing a few horses, and fleeing to the mountains; but like the rest they finally listened to explanations, gave and took gifts, furnished guides and escorts, and be- came altogether friendly. These Jumanas in several respects were superior to the southern tribes, and especially in their buildings, many of which were flat- roofed, and probably built of stone or adobes,10 being doubtless Cabeza de Vaca's "fixed dwellings of civili- zation ;" for indeed, these natives had a smattering of christianity, obtained, as they explained, from "three christians and a negro" who had passed that way in former years.11
From the Jumana province, which must have ter- minated I think some distance below the modern boundary of New Mexico, the Spaniards went on up the river, but nothing definite is recorded of time or distance. Two populous provinces of inferior but friendly natives were traversed, eight days' journey apart, about which little could be learned for want of an interpreter, not even the names of these nations. In the first the people had some cotton cloth and feather- work, which they were understood to have obtained by bartering buffalo and deer skins with a western
10 ' Casas de Azotea, bajas y con buena traza de pueblos.' The Hakluyt ver- sion has it de calicanto, that is, of masonry, but this is not in the original. Many of the dwellings, however, were mere straw huts. There were 5 towns and 10,000 inhabitants.
11 See p. 18 of this vol This is almost positive proof that Cabeza de Vaca did not enter N. Mex.
83
UP THE RIO GRANDE.
people; and they also on being shown samples of silver indicated that plenty of that metal could be found five days westward. In the second province, where the rancherías were near lagoons on both sides of the Rio del Norte-so called here probably for the first time- was found a Concho who told of a large lake fifteen days westward, on the borders of which were many towns of houses several stories high.12 He offered to guide the Spaniards thither, but their duty called them to the north.
Still up the valley of the Rio Grande, through for- ests of mezquite, pine, cottonwood, and other trees, journeyed Espejo's company for fifteen days, or 80 leagues, without meeting any inhabitants; and then, twelve leagues beyond a ranchería of straw huts, they reached the first group, or province, of the pueblos, where the houses were from two to four stories high, and where ten towns were visited on both banks of the river in two days' journey, and apparently others were seen in the distance, all containing a population of some 12,000 friendly natives, whose manners and customs are described with tolerable accuracy. This southernmost group must be identified with those visited by Coronado and Rodriguez, beginning appar- ently in the region of latitude 34°, and certainly be- tween Fra Cristóbal and the mouth of the Puerco. 13
Half a league beyond the limits of this first district they entered another, that of the Tiguas, or Coro- nado's Tiguex, and soon came to the pueblo of Puara- also written Puala, Pualas, and Poala-near the site of the modern Bernalillo, as we have seen, and one of 16 towns constituting the province. It was at Puara, as
12 It is idle to speculate on the possible meaning of these reports. There was no such lake with its towns, unless possibly the reference was to Laguna and its adjoining group in the N. W .- which group almost certainly was not in existence at that time.
13 Davis and Prince think it was in the region of Isleta; and indeed, the two days' journey from Socorro might well include Isleta, or Coronado's Tutahaco. In the N. Mex., Traslado de Pos, 116, the southernmost pueblo is named Tre- naquil. The 4 days spent in this prov. may or may not have included the two days mentioned as the extent of the prov.
84
ENTRADAS OF RODRIGUEZ AND ESPEJO.
was now definitely ascertained, that padres Rodriguez and Lopez with their attendants had been killed;14 and the natives, fearing that vengeance was Espejo's object, fled to the mountains, and nothing could induce them to return; but fortunately they left in the towns-or pos- sibly the town, for it is not quite clear that any but Puara was abandoned-a plentiful store of food.15 Not only was information here obtained about the friars, but, writes Espejo, "we found very truthful statements that Francisco Vasquez Coronado was in this province, and that they killed here nine of his soldiers and forty horses, and that for that reason he had destroyed a pueblo of the province ; and of this the natives of these pueblos gave us an account." This clear statement, omitted in the Hakluyt version of the narrative hith- erto followed, would have saved Gallatin, Davis, and others from the error of locating Coronado's Tiguex on the Rio Puerco.
The main object of the entrada had now been ac- complished, and the return was talked of; but it seemed to the leader that as there were reports of other friendly provinces farther on, especially in the east and not far off, the opportunity was good to do his Majesty good service at comparatively slight cost by additional exploration; and this view, being dis- cussed in council at Puara, was approved by Padre Beltran and the rest. Accordingly, with two com- panions, the captain went in two days eastward to a province of the Maguas, or Magrias, on the borders of the buffalo plains, where he found eleven pueblos of some 40,000 inhabitants, and where, as he learned, Padre Santa María had been killed. It was a country of pine woods, without running streams, and with good indications of metals in the mountains on the
14 There is nothing to show that the remains were found as Davis states.
15 Salmeron, Rel., 11, says the town was sacked by Espejo in vengeance; Niel, Apunt., 88, that the guilty ones were brought to justice; and Arlegui, Cron. Zac., 221, that several thousand Ind. were killed; but nothing of this is in the original, and it is improbable, considering E.'s small force and his am- bitious views for the future. Yet it is stated by Zaldivar, in N. Mex. Memorial, that E. on his return burned Puara and garroted 16 Ind.
85
PROVINCE OF THE QUIRES.
1
way.16 Thence he returned to Puara on the Rio del Norte.
The next move, and of the whole company, was one day's journey of about six leagues up the river to the province of the Quires, or Coronado's Quirix, with
108
107
10b
105
3
36
36
Fmexes / Ubate
sia
Tamos & Ciquique
Quires
Maguas
Puaray
Ti-guas
35
coma
R.de las Vacas Mpam
R.del Norte
109
108
(El Paso)
10
105
164
ESPEJO IN NEW MEXICO.
its five pueblos, and 15,000 people, where the stran- gers were given a most friendly reception, and where observations showed a latitude of 37° 30', at least two degrees too far north. Then they went two days, or
16 In Espejo, Exped., 156, the prov. of Magrias is said to adjoin that of the Tiguas on the N. E. Thus it would seem to have been in the Galisteo region though I know of no ruins to indicate so large a prov., and some other difficul- ties will appear in connection with later wanderings. Davis and Prince, mis- led probably by the word cíbola ('esta provincia confina con las vacas que llaman de Civola') or ' buffalo,' represent this exped, as having been directed to the west.
1st Pueblos)
86
ENTRADAS OF RODRIGUEZ AND ESPEJO.
some 14 leagues, to a province of the Punames-also written Pumames and Cunames-with five towns, the capital being Sia, or Siay, of eight plazas, and houses plastered and painted. This pueblo was on a small tributary of the Rio Grande flowing from the north; but clearly the distance is much exaggerated if it is to be in any way identified with the Cia of modern times.17 The next province, six leagues to the north-west, and doubtless up the branch river, was that of the Emexes-Emeges or Amejes-clearly that of Jemes, with seven pueblos and some 30,000 souls, one of the towns, a large one in the mountains, not being visited. From Jemes Espejo gives his course as to the west for 15 leagues-really over 20 leagues south-west-to Acoma, on a peñol 50 yards high, accessible only by steps cut in the solid rock. Its population was estimated at over 6,000.18 The next stage of the journey was four days, or 24 leagues, westward to Zuñi, or Cíbola,19 with its six pueblos, and over 20,000 people.
At Zuñi the Spaniards found, not only crosses standing near the towns, but three christian Indians still living, who had come with Coronado 40 years before. These were Andrés, Gaspar, and Anton, natives of Culiacan, Mexico, and Guadalajara, respect-
17 There were over 20,000 inhab. in the province; mines were reported in the sierra, and even rich ores were shown. In the Hakluyt version the pueblo is called Cia. There can be no doubt of the general identity of this region with the valley of Cia and Jemes, though besides Espejo's careless distances, both pueblo sites have probably been changed in later times.
18 Acc. to N. Mex., Memorial, 206-7, crosses were found here as at other points in the west. Espejo tells us that the Acomans had their cultivated and irrigated fields 2 1. from the peñol, where the stream was dammed. The mountain tribes are numerous and warlike; they are called Querechos (the name, it will be noted, that Coronado applies to a nation on the eastern plains), and work for the pueblo, besides bringing salt, game, and skins to trade for cotton and other articles. It is noticeable that Espejo elsewhere, Expediente, 157, puts Acoma N. w. of Quires. Here, as in other earlier narratives, it would be more convenient to locate Acoma farther north than the peuol pueblo of later years.
19 The Hakluyt version has it, 'que se nombra en lengua de los naturales Zuny, y la llaman los Espannoles Cibola;' but the original reads, 'que la pro- vincia llaman Zuni, y por otro nombre Cibola,' or in the other copy, 'y le llaman Amé (or Ami) y por otro nombre Cibola.' One of the 6 pueblos is called Aquico, p. 118.
87
AT ZUNI AND MOQUI.
ively; and they told of the explorations in the west made by Coronado's captains, Don Pedro de Tobar being named. What was still more interesting, they asserted that 60 days' journey in the west, far beyond where Coronado's men had been forced to turn back for want of water, there was a great lake with many settlements on its banks, where the people had gold in abundance, wearing that metal in the form of bracelets and ear-rings. This fabulous lake, as we have seen, was destined to play an important rôle in annals of the Northern Mystery. Here at Zuñi, Padre Beltran and four or five of the soldiers an- nounced their desire to return to Nueva Vizcaya, believing it useless to search for gold and silver where Coronado had failed to find them, and also that their force was too small for a further advance. These men were accordingly left at Zuñi with permission to return; but the leader resolved to visit another prov- ince reported to be not far distant.
With nine soldiers, the three Mexican Indians, and 150 friendly Cíbolans, Espejo marched westward from Zuñi, and in a journey of four days, or 28 leagues, reached the province of Mohoce, or Mohace, with five large pueblos and over 50,000 inhabitants. One of the towns was Aguato, or Zaguato.20 There can be little doubt that the Mohoce province was identical with the Moqui towns. The people, though they sent messengers to warn the strangers not to approach on pain of death, were easily convinced of the visitor's friendly intentions, and gave them a most enthusias- tic welcome, loading them with cotton mantas and food, besides delighting their ears with confirmation of the tales respecting wealth in the far west. The horses inspired more fear than the men, and Espejo humored the terror of the natives by admitting the animals' ferocity, thus inducing the chief to build a
20 The name Mohoce, suggestive of Moqui, is not given in the Hakluyt version, only the pueblo Zagnato being named. In the later N. Mex., Memo- rial, 206-7, the following pueblos, in connection with E.'s trip, are named as being apparently in the western region: Deziaquabos, Gaspé, Comupaví, Majananí, and Olalla.
88
ENTRADAS OF RODRIGUEZ AND ESPEJO.
kind of stone fort to hold the monsters-a fort which, in case of trouble, might be useful to the small Span- ish force. Hakluyt notes this as "a witty policie to be used by the English in like cases." Here they remained six days, visiting all the pueblos, and be- coming so firmly convinced of the natives' friendship that the leader left in the province five of his men to return to Zuñi with the luggage.
With four of his soldiers and some Moqui guides, Espejo set out to find rich mines reported in the west ; and after a journey of 45 leagues over a mountainous country he found the mines, and with his own hands obtained rich samples of silver ore. On the streams he found large quantities of wild grapes, walnut-trees, flax, magueyes, and Indian figs. Several settlements of mountain tribes were visited, where the people raised maize and were uniformly friendly. These natives also told of a great river beyond the moun- tains-clearly the Colorado; and drew liberally on their imagination for the additional information that the river was eight leagues wide, with great towns on its banks, in comparison with which towns all the other provinces were nothing. The river flowed into the north sca, and the natives used canoes to cross it. From the mines the explorers returned by a more direct route of 60 leagues to Zuñi. It will be remem- bered that Coronado had reached the Colorado by a westerly or north-westwardly course from Moqui; and it is probable that Espejo's route was rather to the south-west, as he only heard of the great river beyond the mountains. Taking his distances of 45 leagues from Moqui and 60 leagues from Zuñi, we might locate his mine in the region of Bill Williams Moun- tain 40 or 50 miles north of Prescott. The record hardly justifies any more definite location.21
21 The Hakluyt version speaks more definitely of 'dos rios razonables,' on the banks of which was found flax, etc. One of these streams was doubtless the Colorado Chiquito, sometimes called Rio de Lino from the flax. Davis on his map locates the mines in about lat. 36°, long. 112°, or considerably far- ther north than the site I have indicated; but between the two I venture no positive opinion, the data being too meagre. The origin of Davis' name Tubirans, applied to the western tribes, I do not know.
89
AMONG THE QUIRES AND TANOS.
Back at Zuñi Espejo found not only the five men he had left at Moqui, but Padre Beltran and his com- panions, who had not yet started on their return, but soon did so, by the same route, perhaps, that they had come, or more likely crossing directly from Acoma south-eastward to the Rio Grande, and thence down the river.22 The commander with his eight remaining companions, with a view of making further explora- tions up the Rio del Norte, marched in ten days, or about 60 leagues, to the Quires province,23 and thence eastward in two days, or 12 leagues, to the province of the Ubates, or Hubates, with some 20,000 people in five pueblos. From this province, having spent two days in visiting some mines, they went in one day to the province of Tamos with its three large pueblos and 40,000 inhabitants. One of these pueblos was Cicuique, that is, Pecos, situated half a league from the Rio de las Vacas. I think it most likely that Espejo on quitting the Quires went up the river as he had intended-north-east instead of east, as his relation has it-and that the Ubates were the Tehua pueblos north of Santa Fé. The name Tamos, or Tanos, as applied to pueblos in the Galisteo region, was well known in later years; and Pecos is clearly indicated by Espejo as one of the three towns, though we are left in doubt as to the other two, as we were before respecting the province of Maguas between this group and the Tiguas.24
22 In the statement of Escalante and Barrundo in N. Mex. Testim., 148-9, made before Espejo's return, but at a date not given, allusion is made to the return of Beltran, leaving E. in the north. B.'s report, if he made any, I have not found. The returning party at first consisted of Miguel Sanchez and his two sons, Greg. Hernandez, Cris. Sanchez, and Frias, or 6 in all, leaving Es- pejo 9 for the Moqui trip; later, on E.'s return, the alférez Gregorio Hernan- dez, or Fernandez, is said to have joined Beltran's party, leaving E. 8 men. There is some confusion in these names and numbers.
23 Not 'towards' the Quires, as in the Hakluyt version.
24 Bandelier, Hist. Introd., 116, thinks there can be no doubt that Pecos was one of the Ubates towns; but he seems not to have noticed Espejo's direct statement, or the name Cicuique, not occurring in the Hakluyt ver- sion. In the N. Mex. Ytinerario, 258, it is positively stated that Pecos was identical with Espejo's Tamos. There can be no foundation for Davis' iden- tification of Tamos and Taos on his map.
90
ENTRADAS OF RODRIGUEZ AND ESPEJO.
The Tanos, unlike the other nations visited, were not friendly to the Spaniards, refusing admission to their towns and furnishing no food. It was therefore deemed unwise to remain longer in the country with so small a company, some of the soldiers being also ill. It was now July 1583. A Pecos Indian was employed to show a shorter route for departure than that by which they had entered the country. In half a league they reached the Rio de las Vacas, or Cow River, later known as the Pecos; and down this river, seeing many buffaloes in the first part of the journey, they travelled 120 leagues, eastward as the narrative has it-but Espejo's directions are often inaccurate-until they found three natives of the Jumana nation, who directed them across to the Rio Concho in 12 days, or some 40 leagues. Thence Espejo went to San Bartolomé, where he arrived on the 20th of September, and where he dated his report at the end of October. Padre Beltran and his party. had arrived long before, and had gone to Durango. A map accompanied Espejo's report, but is not known to be extant.
Thus Espejo, a private citizen, accompanied by only a friar and fourteen soldiers, peacefully wandering from province to province, had accomplished substan- tially as great results as had Coronado with his grand army, his winter's warfare on the Rio Grande, and his barbarous oppression of the unoffending natives. Espejo visited 74 pueblos, the population of which, exclusive of the Tiguas, he estimated at 253,000 souls, doubtless a gross exaggeration. It is evident also that he overrated, from motives that will presently appear, the general resources and advantages of the country as a field for Spanish enterprise. Yet there is no reason to question the truthfulness of his nar- rative, nor is there much difficulty in satisfactorily tracing his route or identifying most of the pueblo groups visited. The expeditions of Rodriguez and Espejo must be regarded as most remarkable ones,
91
THE NAME NEW MEXICO.
modestly and accurately recorded, and in their prac- tical results vastly more important than the earlier efforts which gave such fame to Niza and Coronado.
At the end of the last chapter I have shown how the name Nuevo Mexico-in the early times as often Nueva Mexico, in the feminine-had been in a sense invented and held in readiness for future grand discoveries. The application of the name to the country that was to bear it permanently has been attributed by good authorities, early and modern, both to Rodriguez and to Espejo, though the former really called it San Felipe and the latter Nueva Andalucía. The truth would seem to be, that the name was applied in Mexico, under circumstances not fully recorded, after Chamuscado's return, and during Espejo's absence. Its first occurrence, as far as I know, is in Rio de Losa's essay written about this time. San Felipe de Nuevo Mexico appears occasionally in early docu- ments. It was obviously natural that such a name should have suggested itself as appropriate for any newly discovered province whose people and buildings resembled in a general way-that is, in comparison with the wild tribes and their huts-those of the val- ley of Mexico. 25
25 Espejo, Rel., 101, 164; N. Mex. Testimonio, 83, 90, 137, 142; M. Mex., Memorial, 204. Name applied by the early Span. to all their possessions along the N. w. coast (!), but later referred to the intendency on the Rio Grande. Cutts' Conq. Cal., 28; name prob. derived from the resemblance of its inhab. to those of the city of Mex. and its environs. Greyg's Com. of the Prairies, i. 116. Because of the great number of inhab. Arlegui, 229. At first called Nueva Granada (!). Barreiro, Ojeada, 7; Davis' El Gringo, 74. Bartlett, Pers. Narr., i. 184, incorrectly says there was a mission at El Paso before 1600. Davis, El Gringo, 79-1, speaks of a P. Marcos de Niza, not the original, but perhaps his son (!), who penetrated to Zuñi before 1598. Hosta, native governor of Jemes, related to Simpson, Journal, 22, the tradition of a priest who mysteriously appeared before the conquest. His custom of tak- ing anything he wanted at last enraged the Ind., who planned to kill him; but he disappeared as mysteriously as he had come.
CHAPTER V. FRUITLESS PROJECTS CASTANO AND HUMAÑA. 1583-1596.
VIEWS OF RIO DE LOSA-ROYAL CEDULA-REPORTS OF BELTRAN AND ES- PEJO-ATTRACTIONS IN THE NORTH-FOREIGN ENCROACHMENTS-PRO- JECT OF CRISTÓBAL MARTIN-THE EMPRESARIO'S DEMANDS-PROPOSED CONQUEST AND SETTLEMENT BY ANTONIO ESPEJO FRANCISCO DIAZ DE VAR- GAS WILLING TO SERVE THE KING AS CONQUEROR-NO RESULTS-THE VICEROY'S CONTRACT WITH JUAN BAUTISTA DE LOMAS-FRANCISCO DE URDIÑOLA-GASPAR CASTAÑO DE SOSA AND HIS ILLEGAL ENTRADA- UP THE RIO PECOS-A WINTER TOUR AMONG THE PUEBLOS- THIRTY-THREE TOWNS VISITED-THE LEADER'S RETURN IN CHAINS-CAPTAIN JUAN MORLETE-BONILLA AND HUMAÑA-FATE OF THE GOLD-SEEKERS IN QUIVIRA.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.