USA > Arizona > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 32
USA > New Mexico > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 32
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24
LAST YEARS OF SPANISH RULE.
For this, as for earlier periods, I do not deem it necessary to consider here the complications of mili- tary and civil government in the Provincias Internas of northern Mexico, a subject that is as fully treated as the meagre records permit in another work of this series.1 There was always a governor or acting gov- ernor in New Mexico, subordinate to the comandante general of the Provincias, a state of things which has led modern writers into some confusion, causing them to include some of the southern officials in their list; of governors, just as they brought sever 1 viceroys of New Spain to rule the province in earlier times. Governor Chacon ruled until the spring of 1805, when he was succeeded by Colonel Joaquin del Real Alen- caster.2 The latter's name does not appear after 1808, and Alberto Mainez is named as acting governor in 1807-8, and next in the list is Lieutenant-colonel José Manrique, ruling in 1810-14, perhaps ad interim for part of that period. Mainez ruled again in 1815-17,3 Pedro María de Allande in 1816-18, and Facundo Melgares-who as a lieutenant serving in Chihuahua had visited New Mexico before-in 1818-22. Mel- gares was the last governor under Spain, and was succeeded on July 5, 1822, by Francisco Javier Chavez as jefe político, ruling in 1822-3, though Antonio Viz- carra also held the office for a time in 1822.4
1 Hist. North Mex. Stites, i., ii.
2 I find in the Arch. Sta Fé, MS., an order of Chacon in March, and of Alencaster in May 1805. The latter name is a for n of the English Lancas- ter, more often written, except in N. Mex., Alencastre, as in the case of the viceroy of that name. Pino, Erpos., 40, seems to say that A. was gov. from 1805 to 1812, and this may indicate that his successor in 1808-12 was only acting gov.
3 Also in '14, acc. to Davis, El Gringo, 83, who says that in that year a conspiracy was formed by Corp. Antonio Armijo and Dionisio Valdés, who were exile l for 10 years to Chihuahua.
" In the Gacett de Mex. of March 7, '19, the governorship of N. Mex. is declared vacant, and aspirants are notified to send in their petitions. Mel- gares, in the documents of '19-20, is called gov. ad interimn. I regret that I am not able in this period, as I have been in earlier ones, to correct from original sources the list of governors, and a'n obliged to follow Davis, Meline, Ritch, Prince, etc., though there is evidently a little confusion of dates. They take their information from land-grants, etc., in the archives, and in the U. S. Land Reports, and my original notes add nothing of importance.
285
INDIAN AFFAIRS.
Troubles with the Indians were much less serious and constant than in former years, the combined efforts of the frontier garrisons, with a consistent sys- tem of treaties and gifts, producing apparently excel- lent results. The Comanches, in particular, were friendly, being zealous in bringing information and rumors respecting the movements of Americans in the north-east, and even eager to aid Spain in crush- ing the insurgents under Hidalgo; and the other tribes were often in the same mood.5 The Navajos were hostile, however, in 1803-5, having intrenched themselves in the cañon de Chelly -- since famous for its ruined pueblos-where they deemed their position impregnable. Governor Chacon led several expedi- tions against them, as did Lieutenant Antonio Nar- bona after Alencaster's accession, and in 1805 they were reduced to submission and friendship.6 In 1806 Lieutenant Melgares was sent up from Chihuahua with 100 dragoons to join a force of 500 militia in an
5 Pino, Expos., 42-4. This author says the Ind., by gifts, etc., had been kept friendly for the most part since Anza's time down to 1811.
6 Jan. 25, 1805, Narbona to gov. reports from Zuñi a fight in Chelly canon, where he killed 90 bucks, with 25 women and children, besides capturing 36, with 30 women and children; also 30 horses and 350 sheep. He had only one Ind. chief killed and 64 wounded. Chelly is a very strong position, and a larger force will be required for further movements. Arch. Sti Fé, MS. In 1804 the com. gen. refuses to grant a request of the Navajos to settle at Cebo- lleta. MS. of Piuart col. March 25, 1805, Gov. C. announces the terms to be granted the Navajos. They shall have no claim to Cebolleta or to live- stock in possession of the Span .; for their 2 captives 4 women might be re- leased; they must not go with their live-stock beyond the canon de Juan Tafoya, Rio del Oso, and S. Mateo; whenever they commit any robbery or aggression they are to be punished by force of arms, unless they return stolen property and surrender the aggressors; when visiting Sta Fé they must ex- pect no gifts except sustenance; and they must give up 4,000 sheep, 150 cat- tle, and 60 horses which they have stolen. Arch. Sta Fé, MS. Pino, Expos., 40-1, Not., 85-6, narrates in general terms the final efforts and success, the fall of Chelly, and the treaty of 1805. It seems that Lieut. Narbona was sent up from Chih. to join Gutierrez, Vaca, and others. Lieut. Vicente Lopez also defeated the foe at Chacá, but was suspended for some intrigue in 1808. April 1806 the Navajo chief complains that he receives no gifts fromn the king, as do other friendly tribes; but is informed by Gen. Salcedo that they must depend on their own industries for sustenance, though later, when they shall have shown their good faith by abstaining fro:n petty robberies, etc., they may obtain so'ne gifts. Arch. Str Fe, MS. I think that Prince, Hist. Sk., 232, exaggerates the magnitude and constancy of Navajo troubles in this and later periods, though they doubtless gave more trouble than other tribes.
286
LAST YEARS OF SPANISH RULE.
expedition out into the north-eastern plains. This was not a campaign against the Indians, but a tour of ex- ploration, undertaken with a view to conciliate the natives and to look out for American explorers and filibusters; for the intention of the United States to ex- plore their newly acquired Louisiana territory had been announced, and there were also reports of Burr's con- spiracy as likely to affect the Spanish frontier. Mel- gares went down the Red River, held a council with the Comanches, crossed northward to the Arkansas, made a visit to the Pawnee nation on the Kansas, distributing medals and flags, and thence perhaps went up the Arkansas to the mountains, returning to Santa Fé in October. He did not find any Ameri- cans, of whose doings in that region I shall have some- thing to say presently.7
Pino, in his report of 1812, declares the system of treaties and gifts as a feature of the new Indian policy to have been a grand success in every way. He also relates that in 1811 José Rafael Sarracino made an expedition to the Yuta country to investigate the truth of their reports respecting a Spanish people dwelling in the far north-west. In three months he reached a region where the natives had knives and other implements of European manufacture, obtained, as they said, from a people living beyond a great river, which Sarracino could not or did not cross.8 In 1818 -19 the Navajos renewed their hostilities. It was
" Pike's Acct. of Exped., 142-3, 206; Prince's Hist. Sk., 231, and other works. I have fonnd no information of this exped. except that originating from Pike's book. A treaty with the Mescalero and Gileno Apaches is noted in 1810, no rations being granted, and their hunting-grounds being clearly designated. MS. of '32 in Pinart col.
8 Pino, Expos., 41-4; Not., 84 8. P. notes that the Comanche chief at this time was a son of the old chief Maya, educated at Sta Fé, and a firm friend of the Span. He also says the Americans had established gun factories (?) among the Jnmanas and Cahiguas, and muskets and powder from this source were obtained for N. Mex. (This is in a note, which may possibly be of later date.) In connection with Sarracino's exped., respecting the date of which Pino may be in error, it is well to note that in Aug. 1808 an Ind. from the Tulares arrived at S. Fernando, Cal., with a flag that had been sent through a cordillera of 10 tribes by a captain who wished to know if it were trne that there were padres and gente de razon west of the sierra. Hist. Cal., ii. 85. 1 may notice also that in 1801 a project for opening commun. bet. Cal. and N. Mex. by land was discussed and dismissed in Mex. Id., 3-4.
287
NAVAJOS AND MOQUIS.
reported in Mexico in January 1819, that Governor Melgares had in December forced them to sue for peace; but it appears that they had to be defeated twice more in February and March, and that the treaty was finally signed on August 21st.9 A notable feature of this affair is the fact that the Navajos, being hard pressed, settled near the Moqui towns, and the Moquis sent five of their number to ask aid from the Spaniards. This was deemed a most fortunate occur- rence, opening the way to the submission of this nation after an apostasy of 139 years. It was resolved to take advantage of the opportunity, but of the practical result nothing is known, since this is the only mention of this remnant of a valiant and independent people that I have been able to find in the records of the period.
Under the decree of the 'junta central de las Es- pañas,' dated February 14, 1810, New Mexico was entitled to a diputado in the Spanish córtes. Ac- cordingly, on the 11th of August the alcaldes and leading men of the province-there being no ayunta- mientos-assembled at Santa Fé, Governor Manrique presiding, to select a delegate.10 From the three can-
9 Gaceta de Mex., x. (xxxix .- xl.) 186, 559-62, 1127-30; Noticioso Gen., June 14, Oct. 29, '19. In the 2d exped. 33 were killed and 14 captured, with 460 sheep and 24 horses. The treaty is given in 18 articles, being signed by 5 Navajo chiefs. A native general was to be appointed and to live as near Jemes as possible, being held responsible for his nation; 4 youths or one chief were to be held as hostages; the N. were granted all their old territory to canon Largo, boca del canon de Chaca, and Agua Azul; and they bound themselves to respect the rights of the Moquis. Notwithstanding this treaty, we are told by Davis and Prince, Hist. Sk., 232, El Gringo, 83-4, that in 1820 a party of Navajos coming into Jemes to make a treaty were foully murdered by the inhab., under their alcalde, Juan Ant. Vaca. The ringleaders were arrested, but the proceedings dragged along till '24, when they were released, only to be killed by the Navajos 10 years later. I am disposed to question the accuracy of this statement.
13 These representative men were José Pino, capt. of militia and ex-alcalde of Alburquerque; Ant. Ortiz, alférez real; Diego Montoya Ist alc. of Sta Fé; José García de Mora, retired lieut., representing Sta Cruz de la Cañada; José Mignel Tafoya, 21 alc. of Sta Fé, for 29 years corp. in the compañia veterana; José Ant. Chavez, Ist alc. of Alburquerque; Manuel Garcia, for 24 years alc. of La Cañada and partido; Mig. Ant. Vaca, 21 alc. of Alburquerque; Cleto Miera y Pacheco, alc. of S. Carlos de la Alameda; and Tomás Ortiz, ale. of Taos.
288
LAST YEARS OF SPANISH RULE.
didates receiving the highest number of votes the delegate was chosen by lot, and the honor fell to Pe- dro Bautista Pino, an old and influential resident. Provided with instructions, not only from the junta that elected him, but from several prominent men, Don Pedro started on his mission in October 1811, being, as he believed, the first native-born New Mexi- can to visit Spain. He had to pay the expenses of his journey; but the patriotic people contributed $9,000 as a donativo to the cause of Fernando VII.11
Of Pino's labors in Spain we have no other record than his report of November 1812 to the cortes, pub- lished at Cádiz the same year, and 37 years later at Mexico. This report is by far the best source of in- formation respecting New Mexico for the period covered by this chapter, being a very complete de- scription of the province, with its institutions, condi- tion, and needs. Of course, much of its contents is only confirmatory of what appears from other original sources in earlier chapters, but the rest is utilized in different parts of this chapter. The author was an enthusiastic admirer of his country and its people, praising in high terms their purity of blood,12 their loyalty to Spain, and their bravery in defending their homes against the savage tribes. He exaggerated- and perhaps intentionally, as the best means of arous- ing the attention of the government-the danger of aggression from the Americans in union with the In- dian tribes of the plains. 13 The military defence of the
11 The other two candidates were Antonio and Juan Rafael Ortiz. Pino took with him his grandson Jnan de los Reyes Vaca y Pino, aged 11, Bartolo- mé Fernandez as clerk, who died on the voyage, and the retired soldier Sal- vador Leiva y Chavez. Padre Fran. Osio (Hocio), for 26 years chaplain at Sta Fé, furnished a Prospecto ó plan sobre diferentes solicitudes; also written suggestions from Mariano de la Peña, Ignacio Sanchez Vergara, alc. of Jemes, José Gutierrez, Capt. Bart. Vaca, and Juan José Silva. To raise the $9,000 some of the citizens are said to have 'sacrificed the liberty of their sons.'
12 He says there were absolutely no negro castas in N. Mex., only Span. and Ind. blood. This, I think, is not strictly true, as in earlier times there had been complaints of mixed-bree I colonists and a vicious mulatto element in the population.
"3 Pino states that the Amer., noting how N. Mex is neglected by Spain, have tried in various ways, by offers of liberal and protecting laws, advan-
289
PINO IN THE CORTES.
country was naturally held out as the great object to be kept in view, and accordingly Pino demanded, not only a reorganization of the military service, including the payment of citizens doing duty as soldiers, but the founding of five new presidios, or rather the transfer to the north of frontier presidios no longer needed in the Provincias Internas. Other demands were for a separate bishopric, with a college and system of schools to be supported by the tithes; and for a civil and criminal audiencia at Chihuahua, that of Guadalajara being too distant for any practical benefit to New Mexico.14 Except that the establishment of a bishop- ric was ordered the next year, no special attention was paid to the delegate's demands. Don Pedro Bautista came home and was reelected for 1820-1. The sum of $6,000 was sent to Mexico to pay his expenses, but on reaching Vera Cruz he could only obtain of this sum enough to pay for his journey to that point; and as his arrival in Spain would be late in any event, he
tageous commerce, etc., to attract the people, with a view of joining N. Mex. to their Louisiana purchase; they have also tried with much success to con- vince the Ind. that the Span. are by no means invincible, but that with Amer. weapons, etc., they may hope to conquer the province; yet the people of N. Mex. have never yielded to the temptation.
14 Pino (Pedro Bautista), Ecposicion sucinta y sencilla de la provincia del N. Mex .; hecha por su diputado en córtes ... con arreglo á sus instrucciones. Cádiz, 1812, Svo, 48 p., 2 1. Also republished with various additions by José Agus- tin de Escudero, at Mex., 1849, as Noticias históricas y estadísticas de la antigua provincia del Nuevo-Mexico, presentadas por su diputado en cortes D. Pedro Bau- tista Pino en Cádiz el año de 1812. Adicionadas por el Lic. D. Antonio Barreiro en 1839; y ultimamente anotadas por el Lic. Don José Agustin de Escudero, para la comision estadística militar de la República Mexicana. Mex., 1849, 8vo, 98 p., 2 1. The work of Barreiro alluded to I have not seen, but have his Ojeada sobre Nuevo-Mexico, of 1832, in which there is no allusion to Pino, though his work may have been used as a base. Juan Lopez Cancelada is said to have been the writer of the Exposicion, using information supplied by Pino; and it is to be noticed that in the paragraph entitled Regalos que se hacen á los gen- tiles (Noticias, p. 87-8), the initial capitals of the sentences spell C.'s name.
The five presidios asked for were to be at El Paso, Rio de Pecos, Socorro, Taos, and (as a depot of supplies, etc.) at S. Cristóbal. The term of service for settlers should be reduced. Through Pino the people also asked that. the province should be divided into 3, each with a gov. These positions should be of 3 grades, in respect of salary and rank, and each gov. should begin with the lowest grade, being promoted for good conduct and experience. The salaries should be $25,000, $35,000, and $45,000, respectively, which in the aggregate would not be much more than the govt now costs, and besides much larger savings might be effected by suppressing useless positions in Mexico, such as that of viceroy! Clearly Don Pedro was a man of some cheek.
HIST. ARIZ. AND N. MEX. 19
290
LAST YEARS OF SPANISH RULE.
decided to return home, 'no obstante sus descos de servir á la patria.' 15
All of the old Louisiana territory west of the Mis- sissippi, ceded by France to Spain in 1762-3 and re- turned to France in 1800, was finally ceded to the United States in 1803. From this date to 1819 the question of boundary between United States territory and Spanish possessions was an open one. Negotiations on the subject belong properly to the history of Texas, and are treated in another work of this series.16 Near the coast the line between Louisiana and Texas had by long occupation been practically settled for many years to the satisfaction of all but partisan theorists; but in the interior no boundary had ever been fixed or needed, and indeed, little was known geographically of that region. An equitable line would have been one from a point on Red River above the settlements extending north-westward to the Rocky Mountains at a long distance from the New Mexican outposts. By way of bluster, the Americans, without a shadow of right, sometimes claimed all to the Rio Grande, and the Spaniards, with but slightly better reasons, all to the Missouri; but the real ideas of the two nations did not differ materially. The Americans thought that Red River might rise in the mountains and flow south- eastward, so as to constitute in itself the proper boun- dary;17 the Spaniards of New Mexico in a sense regarded the Arkansas, or Napestle, as the practical limit of the territory explored by them in their Indian campaigns ; and thus the territory that might plausibly
15 Diario de Cortes Estraordinarias, Oct. 21, 1821, vol. ii., MS., 10; Arizpe, Idea general, 50. In Pino's letter to the Cortes explaining his non-attendance, he complains that the decrees of that body in response to his Erposicion, though confirmed by royal order of May 9, '13 (probably on the bishopic, etc.), had not been carried into effect.
16 See Hist. North Mex. States, ii., with references to the original correspond- ence.
17 Pike's narrative, to be noted presently, shows this general idea; yet some earlier maps-see, for instance, that of Le Page du Pratz, 1757, in Hist. N. W. Coast, i. 601-represent, not only the Red River, but the Arkansas, as too far south in the interior to serve the purpose, having their sources south of Santa Fé.
29]
UNITED STATES BOUNDARY.
be the subject of dispute was of slight extent and value, and would disappear when on exploration Red River should be found not to have its source in the moun- tains, but far south of the legitimate Spanish boun- dary. And indeed, in the final settlement of 1819, the Spanish proposition was accepted, and the Arkan- sas from the mountains down to longitude 23° became, and most equitably, the permanent dividing line.
Between Louisiana and New Mexico there had been no trade or habitual communication before 1800, though some slight efforts had been made to open such intercourse. From both directions, however, a flourishing trade with the Indians had grown up. In 1804 William Morrison of Kaskaskia, despatching the creole trader Baptiste Lalande up the Platte, instructed him to carry his goods to Santa Fé, with a view to test the commercial prospects in that direction. Obeying his instructions, Lalande succeeded in being arrested by the Spaniards and carried to the capital. The New Mexicans liked the goods, and Baptiste liked the country so well that he resolved to settle there, and even omitted the formality of accounting to Mor- rison for the consignment.18 In 1805 James Pursley, a Kentuckian who left St Louis three years before, after many adventures among the Indians, was. sent by the latter to negotiate for Spanish trade, and after succeeding in this mission he also settled at Santa Fé, working as a carpenter.19
Zebulon M. Pike, a lieutenant of the sixth United States infantry, after an exploration of the Upper Mississippi while Lewis and Clarke were engaged in their famous expedition to the far west, was sent with twenty-two men in 1806 to explore the country of the Red and Arkansas rivers, and to establish a good
18 Pike's Acct. of Exped., 195, 210. P. found L. at Sta Fé in reduced circumstances in 1807. "Escudero, in Pino, Not., 74, says L. died in N. Mex., leaving a large family and great wealth.
19 Pike's Acct. Exped., app. iii. 16-17. Pike seems to be the source of all that is known of Pursley and Lalande, being followed by Gregg, Prince, and others who have written on the Sta Fé trade. Prince, however, has a few elaborations of petty items that may possibly come from other sources.
292
LAST YEARS OF SPANISH RULE.
understanding with the Indians, especially with the Comanches. His mission was in many respects simi- lar to that of Melgares from the opposite direction, though his force was much less imposing. His pre- liminary and successful negotiations with the Osages, Pawnees, and other nations, from the start in July from the Missouri River at Belle Fontaine, have no special connection with the annals of New Mexico. In October he was on the Arkansas, where, as before reaching that stream, he found frequent traces of the Spaniards' recent visit. At the end of the month Lieutenant Wilkinson, with a part of themen, embarked in boats on the river to follow it down to the Missouri junction ; while Pike, with the rest of the party, started up the river for the mountains, intending, according to his instructions, to return by the Red River to Natchi- toches.20
Pike had no serious troubles with the Indians; neither did he accomplish anything in his mission of conciliating their good-will. Late in November lie was at the base of the lofty peak which has since borne his name. Then followed two months of winter wanderings in the snows and mountains and parks of what is now Colorado,21 marked by the most terrible sufferings from cold and hunger. The only wonder is that all did not perish. Crossing the range in the vicinity of the modern Leadville, Pike thought himself on the Red River; but after a perilous descent though the cañon, found himself back at his old camp on the Arkansas. Again he struggled on, over another series of ranges, and at the end of January 1807 succeeded with part of his companious-the rest being left behind with frozen feet-on reaching another large river,
20 The company after the separation consisted of Capt. Z. M. Pike, Dr John H. Robinson, Sergt. Wm E. Meek,* Corp. Jeremiah Jackson, * private Henry Kennerman, John Brown, Jacob Carter,* Thos Dougherty,* Wm Gorden, Theodore Miller, * Hugh Menaugh, Jacob Mountjoy, Alex. Roy, John Sparks,* Fat. Smith,* Freegift Stoute, and Baroney Vasquez* as interpreter. Those marked with a star did not reach Sta Fé and Chihuahua with Pike, as explained later.
21 See Hist. Colorado, this series.
293
PIKE'S EXPEDITION.
which must, he thought, be the Red at last. His plan was to descend the stream in boats or rafts to Natchi- toches; therefore he sought a suitable spot for a for- tified camp, where the necessary preparations might be made, and to which the rest of the party might be brought, as a few of them soon were.22 I give a copy of the western portion of Pike's map, showing his route in Colorado and New Mexico.
The lieutenant's instructions required him to be very cautious as he approached the Spanish frontier.23 His idea of the boundary, however, seems to have been peculiar, for he built his fort, not on the eastern or American side of his Red River, but five miles up a western branch! Here he raised the stars and stripes. He desired to extend his exploration into Spanish territory, or at least to learn the geographic relation of his fort to Santa Fé; and he had a pretext ready, for he had brought William Morrison's bill against Lalande, and with this document Dr Robinson started alone on February 7th for the city of Holy Faith. Ten days later a Spanish dragoon and an Indian made their appearance, regarded by Pike as spies, who said they had come from Santa Fé in four days, and that Robinson had arrived in safety ; learned the location of the fort, and Pike's intention to de- scend the river to Natchitoches; and departed. An- other ten days passed, and then came a force of 50 dragoons and 50 militia under lieutenants called in the narrative Ignacio Saltelo and Bartolomé Fernan- dez. Now Pike was informed that he was not on
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