USA > Arizona > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 9
USA > New Mexico > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 9
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2 Thirty leagues acc. to Coronado, Rel. del Suceso. In the Florida Col. Doc., 65-6, is found the Relacion de lo que Hernando de Alcarado y Fray Juan de Padilla descubrieron en demanda de la mar del Sur (Norte?), of which the sub- stance is as follows: Left Granada Aug. 29, 1540, toward Coco (Acuco); 2 I. to an old edifice like a fort; 1 1. to another, and a little farther to a third; then a pretty large city, all in ruins 6 stories high; 11. to another city in ruins. Here is the separation of two roads, one to Chia (to left or N.), and the other (to s. and right) to Coco (Acoma), which town is briefly described; thence to a 'very good laguna' (perhaps that where the pueblo of Laguna stands in modern times); and thence to a river called Nuestra Señora, from the day (Sept. Sth, the arrival being on the 7th, making the whole journey 9 d. instead of 8, as in Castañeda). Then follows a description of the 12 pueblos of this prov. (Tiguex, not named) in the broad valley. It is also stated that there are 7 pueblos abandoned and destroyed by the wild tribes of the plains, prob. referring to those in the direction of Pecos; also, that in the whole coun- try are 80 towns. There is no record of the journey beyond the river. Some descriptive matter on a large town, 3 stories of tapia and 3 of wood, with 15,000 inhab., apparently Taos. As we shall see, Castañeda states later that Alvarado had visited Braba (Taos) on his journey to Cicuye.
51
TALES OF EL TURCO.
even turquoises. But what particularly attracted the captain's attention here was the statements of an In- dian, who claimed to be a native of Hurall, or Harale, some 300 leagues farther east toward Florida. From something in his appearance this man was named by the Spaniards El Turco, or the Turk. He spoke, 'tout autrement qu'il n'aurait dû le faire,' of great cities in his country, and of what was yet more enticing, gold and silver in large quantities; and his tales were sent back by special messengers to the general. After such news, buffaloes seemed of slight importance; yet Alva- rado, in compliance with his instructions, made a trip out into the plains in search of them, with the Turk as a guide, and he found the animals in great numbers.
In this tour he followed a river for some 100 leagues south-eastward. Then he returned to Tiguex, where he found that Cárdenas had arrived from Cíbola to prepare winter quarters for the army, and where Alvarado now remained to await the general.
From the preceding narrative of Alvarado's expedi- tion, the reader familiar with the country, or having a map before him, will naturally identify Acuco with the since famous and still existing pueblo of Acoma, the province and river of Tiguex with the valley of New Mexico's 'great river,' the Rio Grande del Norte, and Cicuye at the edge of the buffalo plains, from the vicinity of which a river flowed south-east- ward, with the now ruined pueblo of Pecos. The record of subsequent happenings will, I think, confirm these first conclusions beyond all doubt; and I append some descriptive and other matter from the different narratives which point irresistibly in the same direc- tion.3 So far as Acuco is concerned, the identity has
3 Acuco 5 days E. of Cíbola and 3 days w. of Tiguex, Castañeda, 69, 71; 30 1. and 20 l. substituted for the 5 and 3 days in Rel. del Suceso. On the march of the main army, Acuco was passed, but no distances are given by Castañeda, 82. Jaramillo, 309, places this village about midway-1 day more or less-of the 9 days' journey from Cibola to Tiguex; but this author, by an evident blunder, calls the village Tutahaco, which, as will be seen, was an- other place. Eaton, as cited by Schoolcraft, Simpson, and others, gives Hah-koo-kee-ah as the Zuñi name of Acoma. Bandelier, 14, gives the Queres name as Ago.
52
CORONADO IN NEW MEXICO.
never been questioned, I believe; yet there will be found in most of the early narratives, indications that
Tiguex-also printed Tihuex and Tihueq-is 40 1. N. (E .? ) of Cíbola. Casta- ñeda, 165-6. 3 d. (eastward) of Acuco. Id., 71. It has 12 vil. on a great river; the val. is about 2 1. wide, and bounded on the w. by high snowy mts; 4 vil. at the foot of the mts; 3 others on the heights. Id., 167-8. Tiguex is the central point of all the pueblos; 4 vil. on the river below T. are s. E., be- cause the river makes a bend to the E. (no such bend appears on modern maps); up and down the val. the region explored extends about 130 1., all inhabited. Id., 182. 20 1. E. of the peñol of Acuco, a river flowing from N. to s., well settled, with 70 pueblos, large and small, in its whole extent (and branches ?); the settled region extends 50 l. N. and s., and there are some vil. 15 or 20 1. away on either side. Rel. del Suceso, 323. On the river are 15 vil. within 20 1., and others on the branches. Jaramillo, 309. Corona.lo, Pacheco, Doc., iii. 358, says T. was the best province found; yet not desirable for Span. occupation. Gallatin, 73, followed by Davis, 185, and Prince, 128, put Tiguex on the Puerco. The reasons are the N. E. direction of Jemez from T., and the great river crossed after passing Cicuye, which these authors identify with . the Rio Grande. In my opinion, these points are of slight weight in opposi- tion to the general tenor of all the narratives. It seems incredible that the Spaniards should have described the valley of the Puerco as the broad valley of a large river on which and on its branches for over 100 1. on the right and left were situated most of the pueblos. Davis admits that the Puerco was but a small stream, but suggests that it may have been full or flooded at the time; yet in a year and more the Span. had ample time to learn its compara- tive size. They went in their explorations far below the junction, and if the Rio Tiguex had been the Puerco, its junction with a larger river would nat- urally have beeu noted. See also what is said below on Cicuye. If, how- ever, any further proof is needed, we have the fact that Espejo, ascending the Rio Grande 40 years later, found the province of Tiguas with reports of Coro- nado's visit and fights with the natives. Espejo, Rel., 112-13. This province of the Tiguas, distinct from the Teguas, or Tehuas, was well known at the end of the 16th and in the 17th centuries, being on the Rio Grande and almost certainly in the region of Sandía. Bandelier, Hist. Introd., 18-20, after a study of documentary evidence which he cites, and which I shall have occasion to use later, has no hesitation in locating Tiguex at or near Berna- lillo. Squier, Kern, and Morgan had previously located Tiguex or the Rio Grande, above the Puerco junction. Simpson, Coronado's March, 334 5, while admitting that some of the evidence points to the northern location, yet chooses to find Tiguex below the mouth of the Puerco, because only there is the valley bounded on the west by snowy mts, the Socorro Range, citing also Jeffery's Atlas of 1773, which puts Tigua at the foot of those mts. Simpson's view of this matter would remove some of the difficulties in con- nection with Espejo's trip, as we shall see; but it would also create other and greater difficulties.
Cicuye (printed also Cicuic, Cicuique, Ticuique, Tienique, and Acuique), reported to be about 70 1. east of Cibola, Castañeda, 67, 5 d. from Tiguex, strongly fortified, with houses of 4 stories. Id., 71. On the way back from Quivira, Coronado reached the Rio de Cicuye 30 1. below where he crossed it on the way from C., and followed it up to C. The Ind. said it flowed into the Rio Tiguex 20 d. below. Id., 134. Built on the summit of a rock, form- ing a square, with houses of 4 stories; 500 warriors. Id., 176. In a narrow valley between pine-covered mts, on a little river, Id., 179 70 1. from Cibola and 30 1. from the edge of the plains; the last village toward the east. Id., 188. Between Cicuye and Quirix there is a small, well-fortified village called by the Span. Ximera or Ximena (S. Cristóbal acc. to Bandelier), and another larger one, nearly abandoned, called by the Span. Silos, and a 3d, entirely ruined, as was said, by au irruption of the Teyas savages 5 or 6 years before,
53
PROVINCE OF TIGUEX.
the original Acoma may have been farther north than the modern peñol pueblo, and more nearly in a line between Zuñi and Tiguex. As to Tiguex and Cicuye, Gallatin, followed by Davis and Prince, has located the former on the Rio Puerco, and the latter west of the Rio Grande. These authors thus escape from a few slight difficulties, to become involved, as it seems to me, in many greater ones, ignoring several clear points in the testimony and the general tenor of the records. While Tiguex, however, was certainly in the Rio Grande valley, there remains a slight doubt as to its latitude, such excellent authorities as Simpson and Bandelier differing in their conclusions. The latter puts the pueblo and province in the region of Berna- lillo and Sandía, while the former prefers a site below the mouth of the Puerco. Although Simpson makes one or two strong points in favor of his position, yet the preponderance of evidence is overwhelming- amounting, I think, to proof-in support of the northern site of Tiguex. Much that may seem vague
they having attacked Cicuye, but without success. There are 7 vil. bet. C. and the Sierra Nevada, one of them subject to C. and half destroyed by the savages (possibly the one called Silos above). Id., 177-9. The largest of the ordinary pueblos, with honses 4 and 5 stories high; 15 1. east of the Rio de Tignex, on the border of the buffalo plains. Rel. del Suceso. Four days (east- ward) from Tiguex, past 2 vil. not named; then 3 d. a little more N. E. to the Rio de Ticuique (Cicuye); then N. E. into the plains. Jaramillo, 309. Simpson, 336, shows that the way from Pecos to the Rio Gallinas (the main branch of the R. Pecos) leads N. E. about 50 miles over rough mts, and may have taken 4 days (only 3 acc. to Jaramillo); also that the Gallinas, being flooded, might require a bridge and be called a large river in May and June. He might have added that Alvarado's earlier trip down what may have been this stream for 100 1. may have had something to do with its being called a large stream. S. also notes the place called Sayaqué, resembling Cicuye, on Jeffrey's atlas, It must, however, be admitted that if the great river was the Gallinas, the omission of any mention of the Canadian, so large and so near, is remarkable. Davis, 198-9, and Prince, 128, put Cicuye on the Rio Jemes or on or near the Rio Grande and west of that river, in the region of Sta Ana. This is to fit the location of Tiguex on the Puerco, and the only merit of this theory, so far as I can see, is to provide a great river to be bridged-though hardly three days from Cicuye -- and D. has even heard of some traces of a bridge in this region! The theory of D. and the others would completely ignore all the pueblos E. of the Rio Grande. Bandelier's confirmation of the identity of Pecos and Cicuye derives especial weight from his personal exam- ination of Pecos and the adjoining region. 111-17. He tells us that the aho- riginal name of Pecos was Aqui or Agin (Agiu?), 20; and he suggests that the original Spanish of Castañeda may possibly have been Acuye instead of Cicuye, especially as the name is in one narrative (Rel. del Suceso) written Acuique.
54
CORONADO IN NEW MEXICO.
to the reader of this chapter will become perfectly clear from later records.
Meanwhile Coronado, having despatched Alvarado to the east, and having sent Cárdenas, after his return from the north-west, to prepare winter quarters at Ti- guex as already related, awaited at Cíbola the arrival of the main army under Arellano, who came late in
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Coronago to Quinga, 1541. BC
Jemezo.
Cicuye
Chia
Cibola
Tigfiex
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Acuco
Tutahaco
Return
Coronado. 1540.
Arellano's
(Socorro)
(R.Grande)
106º
105º
R. Cicute (or Prcas)
10
CORONADO IN NEW MEXICO.
November or early in December, without having had any noteworthy adventures on the march from So- nora.4 Then the general, ordering the army to rest for twenty days before following him, started for Ti- guex with thirty men. Instead of the direct route by way of Acuco, or Acoma, he went farther to the right, or south, bent on new discoveries, as he had heard of
* Castañeda is clearly in error when he says the army left Sonora in the middle of Sept., and that Arellano remained behind.
Return
Gronado's
55
IN WINTER QUARTERS.
other towns in that direction. His party suffered se- verely on the way for want of water, which had to be sought in the mountains, where the intense cold was as oppressive as the thirst had been before; yet in eleven days they reached the Rio Grande at the prov- ince of Tutahaco with its eight villages,5 hearing of others farther south, and then following the river for four leagues up to Tiguex.
Here Coronado found Cárdenas and Alvarado await- ing him, together with the Turk, to whose tales of eastern wealth he listened with the greatest pleasure and credulity, all his companions becoming presently most enthusiastic in their hopes of a grand conquest in the near future.6 These hopes doubtless made them less careful than they might otherwise have been to conciliate the natives of Tiguex. Unmindful of the viceroy's instructions, and of the new Indian policy of which Coronado was to be the exponent, the invaders did not hesitate to take such houses as they desired for their own uses, turning out the inhabitants with- out ceremony, and otherwise disregarding the property rights of the people who had given them so kind a re- ception. The friendly folks of Cicuye received no better treatment, except that as yet they had not the army to support. Alvarado, being sent to obtain cer- tain golden bracelets which the Turk falsely claimed to have left at that pueblo, arrested Bigotes and an-
5 Tutahaco with 8 vil. 4 1. down the river s. E. from Tiguex. Castañeda, 76, 168, 182. Not named in the Rel. del Suceso. By Jaramillo, 309, it is confounded with Acuco. Simpson does not attempt to identify it. Davis, 180-1, and Prince, 130, entirely misunderstand the route, and mistranslate the original of Castañeda to identify this province with the Laguna group N. of Acoma. Bandelier, 21-3, identifies Tutahaco with the region of Isleta, a comparatively modern pueblo (that is, modern in its actual site; the origi- nal Isleta was, however, as we shall see, in the same region, though possi- bly a little farther south). This conclusion, which of course cannot be questioned in view of the distance from Tiguex, makes Tutahaco practically one of the 'ligua towns. There is something suggestive of possible error in the existence of a province of 8 towns only 4 1. below the other 12, and about which so little is said; still the record is clear enough.
6 By Mota Padilla, Conq. N. Gal., 160 et seq., and by some other writers, Copala Lake is mentioned as one of the regions respecting which the Span- iards at this time heard from El Turco and others. The same author states on authority not known that the town where the Spaniards were lodged was called Coofer.
56
CORONADO IN NEW MEXICO.
other chief because the ornaments were not produced, and brought his prisoners in chains back to Tiguex. The general called upon the natives for a large quan- tity of clothing for the army soon expected to arrive, refused them time to call a council to apportion the tax among the towns as was their custom, and sent soldiers to take the clothing by force, the Indians being obliged in many cases to take the garments off their backs. A Spanish officer, coolly calling to an Indian to hold his horse, ascended by a ladder to an upper apartment, where he violated the Indian's wife, and the wronged husband could get no justice. One pueblo was burned for some offence of the inhabitants not clearly specified; and many other outrages were committed. It is fair, however, to state that Casta- ñeda, on whoni we have to depend for particulars of this winter's bloody deeds, was not very friendly to Coronado; and in the other brief narrative it is implied that the troubles began with the killing of horses by the natives. Whatever may have been the truth-and I have no doubt that these haughty caba- lleros were as usual utterly disregardful of the In- dians' rights-the result was, that civilization and christianity were soon in bad odor; and when Are- llano arrived with the main army from Cíbola in December,7 the whole province was in open revolt.
The winter was spent, so far as the heavy snow- fall and intense cold-to which neither men nor ani- mals were accustomed-would permit, in efforts to conquer or conciliate the revolted pueblos. Captain Cárdenas marched against the town where the woman had been outraged, gained the roofs by assault, and there fought constantly for two days and one night. Meanwhile the Mexican allies, by introducing inflam- mable material through subterranean passages, forced the defenders to sue for peace. Captains Melgosa and
" The Ist night out from Cibola the army was lodged at the largest town of the province, named Muzaque, some of whose houses are said to have been 7 stories high. Their later route was via Acuco, where they were kindly received, and where many climbed to the top of that famous peñol. Castañeda, 79-83, 163.
57
SPANISH OUTRAGES.
Lopez responded to their signs by crossing their arms, whereupon the Indians threw down their arms and surrendered. Being conducted to the tent of Captain Cárdenas, the latter ordered them to be burned alive; and on seeing the preparations the prisoners, about 100 in number, resisted desperately and were slaugh- tered. Cárdenas alleged that he had no knowledge of the capitulation, and had followed his general's orders.8 A few escaped to tell their countrymen how the Spaniards kept their promises; and from this time to the final departure of the army the people of this province refused to listen to any propositions of peace from a race they could not trust. They defended themselves by barricading their towns, or ran away to the mountains, but to every offer of pardon and conciliation they simply pointed to past acts of bad faith. Captain Cárdenas going with thirty men to the pueblo of Tiguex to propose terms was required to advance alone and unarmed; and being knocked down, was with difficulty rescued, several others being seriously wounded. Nearly all the natives of the province had taken refuge in this pueblo and an- other three or four miles distant.
Then Coronado advanced with his army to attack Tiguex, but was repulsed in the first assault by the stones and arrows of the defenders with twenty men wounded, several of them fatally. Then followed a siege of 50 days, with many assaults and sorties, in which were killed some 200 of the natives and a nun- ber of Spaniards, including Captain Obando and a gentleman named Francisco de Pobares.º The be- sieged, suffering for want of water, dug a well inside the town, which caved in and buried thirty of their
8 Mota Padilla, Hist. Conq. N. Gal., 161, says that Cárdenas was afterward imprisoned in Spain for this act. Frejes, acc. to Escudero, Not. Son., 27-9, says C. was sentenced and imprisoned in Mex. Bustamante, in Gomara, Hist. Mex. (ed. 1826), 184, says that C. died at Chametla. As we shall see pres- ently, C. left N. Mex. for Spain via Mex., in advance of the army.
9 Castañeda, 97 -- 8, says that Obando or Cárdenas-it is not clear which- was captured and carried alive into a pueblo during one of the expeditions; perhaps C., since it is said that O. was maestro de campo in C.'s absence.
58
CORONADO IN NEW MEXICO.
number. A little later they were allowed to send away women and children, about 100 of whom de- parted; and after two weeks more of resistance they all attempted to escape by night. The movement being discovered, the fugitives bravely attacked the foe, and were either cut down or driven to perish in the icy waters of the Rio Grande. A similar fate befell those who had taken refuge in the other town; and all the villages were taken and plundered, the inhabitants being killed, enslaved, or driven from the province. Not one submitted, or would accept the conquerors' permission to return to his home.
The natives of some of the other provinces, how- ever, proved more tractable. The pueblo of Chia, a large and populous one, four leagues west of the river,10 sent in its submission voluntarily, and was visited by a captain, the inhabitants being intrusted as a mark of especial confidence with the care of four useless bronze cannon. Another party was sent to the province of Quirix, or of the Queres, situated north of Tiguex, and including seven pueblos.11 The people of the first were timid and ran away, but being overtaken and reassured as to the strangers' intentions, they not only became friendly, but aided in tranquillizing the whole province. During the winter, also, Coronado found occasion to visit Cicuye, or Pecos, where, to con- ciliate the people with a view to his proposed expedition eastward, he liberated one of the captive chieftains, and promised the early release of the other.
10 The pueblo of Cia, Zia, or Silla still stands in about the place indicated. It is mentioned by Castañeda and without location or description in Rel. del Suceso. The name Silla is probably a corruption, as the Mexicans pronounce it Siya or Ciya. This direction of Cia is of course a point in favor of the northern location of Tiguex, and against that on the Puerco, though there is no certainty that the modern site corresponds exactly to the aucient. This is a pueblo, however, which we shall find often mentioned in the 17th-century annals. Davis, 202, mistranslates '4 1. distant on the river ' to suit his theory.
11 The province was later called S. Felipe de Queres. Its pueblos of S. Felipe, Sto Domingo, Sta Ana, Cochiti, and Cia still stand in the same region, though as we have seen Cia in 1540 was named by Castañeda as a distinct pueblo. Quirix is also printed Quivix. There seems to be no reason to doubt its identity with Queres, a well-known name of later annals.
59
MARCH TO QUIVIRA.
It was not until May 1541 that the ice in the Rio Grande was sufficiently thawed to make the stream fordable;12 and on the 5th of that month the general marched with his entire force in search of the reported wealth of the regions beyond Tiguex, having previously sent Captain Tobar back to Sonora to bring up half the force left there. At Cicuye, Bigotes having been released in accordance with an earlier promise, the Spaniards were received as friends, and a guide was obtained, who claimed to be a native of Quivira. The Turk had before this time rendered himself liable to suspicion in respect of his veracity, being also detected in divers conversations with the devil; but as the new guide, named Xabe, confirmed to some extent his re- ports of gold and silver, the Spaniards were much elated at their prospective conquest. A march of three or four days over a mountainous country brought them to "a great and very deep river which flows also near Cicuye, and was therefore named Rio de Cicuye," where it took them four days to construct a bridge. This river would seem to have been the Gallinas, the eastern and larger branch of the Pecos.13
A little later they entered the great buffalo plains, and in ten days came to the first habitations of the wandering tribes. Details of Coronado's long march over these vast plains have but little intrinsic interest, and still less importance so far as the history of New Mexico is concerned; moreover the records, as might naturally be expected, are far from being sufficiently
12 It must have been a most extraordinary winter; but probably the floods following the breaking-up of the ice may have been as formidable obstacles to fording as the ice, and a month of floods should perhaps be included in the delay. Coronado, however, gives the date of starting as April 23d.
13 As we have seen, the size of this stream has to be explained by the sea- son of flood, with the possible addition of earlier exploration by Alvarado. To thus explain away the difficulty is a very different matter from Davis' similar thcory about the Rio Puerco, because on the Puerco the army spent, if D. and the others are right, two winters, and had ample time to learn its size and its connection with the Rio Grande; while the Cicuye was merely crossed at this point once in May, and was once or twice explored below and shown to be really a large river. D.'s position that the Cicuye was the Rio Grande is wholly untenable. Yet, as I have said, it is strange that the Canadian fails to figure in these narratives.
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CORONADO IN NEW MEXICO.
minute to enable us to fix the exact route followed. About the expedition in general, however, there is little or nothing of mystery or confusion. According to Castañeda, the army marched in 37 days to a point 250 leagues from Tiguex, on a north-north-east course for the larger part of the way, and perhaps all, though the most enticing reports pointed to the east, and the statements respecting the direction are at the last not quite clear.14 Jaramillo implies that more than half the journey was directed eastward. I think it clear that east-north-east is nearer the general route fcl- lowed than north-east. Two tribes of Indians, the Querechos and Teyas, both migratory, dwelling in skin tents and living chiefly on buffalo meat, were passed on the way; and their reports, though contra- dictory, seemed to confirm the idea of a rich country farther on. The explorers also visited a rancheria, where an old native explained by signs that he had seen Cabeza de Vaca's party in the south.
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