USA > New Mexico > Historical sketches of New Mexico : from the earliest records to the American occupation > Part 11
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Coronado seems not to have remained a very long time at Quivira, the object of his present expedition having been simply to find the location of the city and its surroundings with a view of returning with his entire army. He says in his letter or report to the Emperor Charles V. " The inhabitants recognized your majesty, and submitted themselves to the power of their rightful master." At the furthest point that was reached in exploring the city, the General erected a great cross with this inscription: "Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, commander of an expedition, arrived at this place." Castañeda tells us scarcely anything of the city itself, except that the houses were round and without solid walls, that the roofs were made of straw, and that under these the people slept and kept their valuables. Their villages, he says, resembled those of New Spain, and their names and customs were similar to those of the Teyas Indians, who were met on the plains, and at the camp in the wide canon. The whole surrounding country was well populated, and produced plants and fruits similar to those of Spain; among these were plums, grapes, mulberries, and various grains, together with wild flax. Quivira was surrounded by other populous provinces, but these were
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not visited. It would be impossible from what is told us by Castañeda alone to fix its location with any cer- tainty. He says it was situated "in the midst of the countries which adjoined the mountains that skirt the sea;" and another illustration of the indefinite geographi- cal ideas entertained at that time is found in the follow- ing sentence : "It is in this country that the great river of Espiritu Santo, which Fernando de Soto discovered in Florida, takes its rise; it afterwards passes through a province called Arache. Its sources were not seen; they are very distant and on the slope of the mountain range which borders the plains. It traverses them entirely, as well as the Atlantic range (cordillera de la mer du nord); and its mouth is 300 leagues from the place where De Soto and his comrades embarked." One thing appears distinctly, however, that Quivira was on the edge of the great plain or prairie, that from it the mountains first became visible, and that it was situated on small streams, just east of a great river. Jaramillo, a captain in Coronado's army, describes the houses as follows: " The houses are of straw, very many being circular in shape. The straw reaches almost to the ground, like walls; on the outside on top is a kind of chapel or cupola, having an entrance, where the Indians sit or lie down." This description, together with the direction taken, and the distance travelled, make it almost beyond question that it was the same city of Quivira which Peñalosa crossed the plains to visit 120 years later, and the route followed cannot have been far different. Forty-eight days march from the cañons of the Canadian would carry Coronado to the Missouri without difficulty, and all things considered, we can well believe that he trav- ersed parts of the Indian Territory and Kansas, and finally stopped on the borders of Missouri, somewhere between Kansas City and Council Bluffs. Of the great country of which this was the key, in the language of Castañeda, "God reserved its discovery for others. He
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only permitted us to boast of being the first who had any knowledge of it. In the same way Hercules first discovered the place where Cesar was afterwards to found Seville. May the Lord's will be done !"
Meanwhile the main body of the army, which had been left by Coronado in the valley encampment, under Arellano, had returned to Tiguex. They remained for fifteen days at the camp after the General left them, kill- ing vast numbers of buffaloes and losing several of their men, who wandered so far from camp as not to be able to retrace their path; and then having received orders by a messenger from Coronado, commenced their march toward the west. They were fortunate in having better guides than before, and so accomplished in twenty-five days the journey which had occupied thirty-seven in the other direction. The route was more southerly than that by which they went, and passed by a number of salt lakes, which are probably those in the eastern part of Valencia County, bringing them to the Rio Grande River at a point considerably below that at which they had crossed on the bridge, and no doubt somewhere between Albuquerque and Los Lunas. From here they followed the river up to Cicuyé ; but finding the natives there indisposed to furnish any provisions, they crossed over to Tiguex, arriving about the middle of July. During their absence the people had begun to return to their homes, but on the re-appearance of the Spaniards, they all abandoned them again; every attempt to inspire new confidence having failed. While waiting here for news from Coronado, Arellano sent exploring parties into different parts of the country for the double purpose of seeking new discoveries and obtaining supplies for . the winter. Capt. Francisco de Barrio-Nuevo was sent up the Jemez River as far as the towns of Jemez and Yuqueyunque ; and hearing of a large village still higher up, they went on to that and found a very considerable town built on both sides of the river, which was crossed
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on bridges made of well-squared timber. In this pueblo they found the largest estufas which they had seen, the roofs being supported by large wooden pillars, as much as twelve feet in height. This town was called by the natives Braba, but the Spaniards renamed it Valladolid. Another officer went down the Puerco, and examined that river and the San José, discovering four more towns, and following the Puerco until it sank under-ground, as the Guadiana does in Estramadura.
At length, in August, the General arrived at Cicuyé, having travelled from Quivira by a shorter and better route in forty days ; and continued his march to Tiguex, where he expected to recuperate his army during the winter, and then undertake a new expedition to the regions of Quivira and even beyond, in the spring. Soon after his arrival, Don Pedro de Tobar came into camp with the expected reinforcements from San Geronimo. They came with high expectations of join- ing in the conquest of a land rich in gold and silver, and were much disappointed at the news which awaited them. However, they became reconciled when told of the great expedition planned for the next spring. Through the fall and winter Coronado busied himself in endeavoring to re-establish friendly relations with the people of Tiguex, Cicuyé, and the surrounding country, and in re-organizing his army for the spring campaign. The soldiers were in wretched condition from their long and arduous marches, and their clothes were liter- ally in tatters ; and the General used every exertion to procure cotton stuffs from the natives with which to furnish new suits to his men. His attention to their comfort made him the idol of the soldiers. " Never was a general more beloved and better obeyed," says Castañeda. This very attention to the wants of the privates caused dissensions · between himself and his officers, who were too apt to show favoritism and to place additional burdens on those whom they did not
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like; and once or twice these difficulties became so annoying that the general threatened to abandon the expedition.
But when the spring came, all thoughts were turned towards the new discoveries and conquests that were projected. Orders were issued for the army to be in im- mediate readiness to march. But just at this moment occurred an accident which changed somewhat the course of history. On a festival day, when various athletic and martial sports were indulged in, Coronado was showing his expertness in the favorite game of run- ning at a ring, and was accompanied by Don Pedro Maldonado. While his horse was running at full speed, the saddle-girth broke, and the General was precipitated to the ground in front of the horse of Don Pedro ; and the latter, in trying to spring over him, gave him a violent kick on the head, which came near proving fa- tal, and confined him to his bed for a long time. This, of course, put a stop to all preparations for the advance, and caused a feeling of despondency among the soldiers. Coronado's own anxiety was added to by bad news from a part of his army left near the Sonora frontier ; and he began to wish that he was at home, to suffer, and if need be to die, in the midst of his own family. Many of the officers for various reasons were anxious to return to Mexico, and they obtained a petition from the soldiers asking an abandonment of the expedition. On receiv- ing this, the General called a council of his officers, which decided that, as they had failed to find any treas- ures, or even a country fertile enough to be divided among the soldiers, it would be best to return ; and new orders were immediately issued to prepare for the march. But no sooner was this determined than the soldiers repented of their action, and begged to have the order revoked. But Coronado would not accede to this, and to avoid importunity, shut himself up in a house, with sentinels at the door. A number of the officers
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also regretted the action, on second thought, and pro- posed to the General, either toleave them sixty soldiers, with which small number they engaged to hold the country until re-inforcement came; or for him to take sixty men himself as an escort, leaving the remainder of the army under a new commander, who could prose- cute the explorations and conquest. But the soldiers objected to this separation, and so nothing was done.
At last the day of departure arrived, and the army set out on its return march, in the beginning of April, 1543. Two of the missionaries, however, expressed their desire to remain, Juan de Padilla, a Franciscan, who desired to travel to Quivira, and Luis, a lay brother, who wished to stay at Cicuyé. They were both pious men, and full of zeal in the work of propagating the faith, and could not bear to leave this great country devoid of any Christian teaching. They were sent under an escort to Cicuyé, and from there Friar Juan, accom- panied by a Portuguese, a negro, and some Mexican Indians, proceeded to Quivira, where he was martyred before even entering the town. Friar Luis was last seen by some soldiers who were sent to him with sheep by Cor- onado, on his way to visit a settlement some dozen miles from Cicuyé. Let us hope that the good wishes of the early historian were verified in his case. "He was a man of good and holy life," says Castañeda ; "I hope that our Lord graciously permitted him to convert some of those nations, and that he ended his days in feeding his spiritual flock."
On the homeward march scarcely anything oc- curred worthy of special mention. The troops rested for a few days at Cibola, and several of the Mexi- can Indians concluded to remain there and make it their home. At Chichilticale they met Juan Gallegos with re-inforcements and munitions, and again the plan of returning to Quivira was agitated ; but nothing could be accomplished. As the army neared the settlements
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of New Spain, discipline became relaxed, and the author- ity of the General much impaired. After passing Culiacan it was difficult to keep the soldiers together at all; desertions were constant, and when Coronado arrived at the City of Mexico, he could barely muster 100 men. He was coldly received by the Viceroy, who was bitterly disappointed at the result of the expe- dition ; but yet was given a regular discharge. He had lost his high reputation as a soldier, however, and soon after was deprived of his Governorship. Thus ended this expedition, which, though barren of results at the time, will never fail to be of interest as giving to us the first accurate account of the towns and the people of New Mexico.
It seems proper, before leaving the history of this expedition, to give a description of one of the Pueblo towns of that day, as stated by Castaneda. He de- scribes a number of them in his narrative-particularly Cibola, Tiguex, and Cicuyé; but the account given of the second seems to contain the most of interest. These descriptions are specially valuable in order to compare the manners and customs of these people nearly three centu- ries and a half ago with those of their descendants that exist to-day. Speaking of the towns in the Province of Tiguex, he says: "The houses are built in common. The women mix the mortar and build the walls. The men bring the wood and construct the frames. They have no lime, but they make a mixture of ashes, earth, and charcoal, which takes its place very well; for al- though they build their houses four stories high, the walls are not more than three feet thick. The young men who are not yet married serve the public in gen- eral. They go after fire-wood, and pile it up in the court or plaza, where the women go to get it for the use of their houses. They live in the estufas, which are under-ground in the plazas of the villages; and of which
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some are square and some are round. The roofs are supported by pillars made of the trunks of pine-trees. I have seen some with twelve pillars, each of twelve feet in circumference; but usually they have only four pillars. They are paved with large polished stones, like the baths of Europe. In the center is a fire-place, with a fire burning therein, on which they throw from time to time a handful of sage, which suffices to keep up the heat, so that one is kept as if in a bath. The roof is on a level with the ground. Some of these estufas are as large as a tennis-court. When a young man marries, it is by order of the aged men who govern. He has to spin and weave a mantle; they then bring the young girl to him, he covers her shoulders with it, and she becomes his wife. The houses belong to the women, and the estufas to the men. The women are forbidden to sleep in them, or even to enter, except to bring food to their husbands or sons. The men spin and weave; the women take care of the children and cook the food. The soil is so fertile that it does not need to be worked when they sow; the snow, falling, covers the seed, and the corn starts underneath. The harvest of one year is sufficient for seven. When they begin to sow, the fields are still covered with corn that has not yet been gath- ered. Their villages are very neat; the houses are well distributed, and kept in good order; one room is devoted to cooking, and another to grinding grain. The latter is apart, and contains a fire-place, and three stones set in masonry; three women sit down before the stones; the first breaks the grain, the second crushes it, and the third grinds it entirely to powder. In all the province glazed pottery abounded; and the vases were of really curious form and workmanship."
Cicuyé were described as follows:
"The town is built The buildings at
in a square, around a plaza in the center, in which were the estufas. The houses are four stories high; the roofs arranged in terraces, all of the same height, so that the
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people could make a tour of the whole town without having to cross a single street. To the first two stories there is a corridor in the form of a balcony, which also passes completely around the town, and under which was a pleasant place to sit in the shade. The houses have no doors below, but were entered by movable lad- ders which reached to the balconies on the inside of the square."
CHAPTER VI.
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THE EXPEDITION OF FRIAR RUIZ.
A FTER the unsuccessful expedition of Coronado, no further attempts were made to penetrate into New Mexico for many years. So many discoveries were being made in Central and South America, of new lands which promised rich returns to the explorer or con- queror, that the adventurous spirits of the time found ample field for the exercise of their enterprise and prow- ess without returning to any region which had already been the scene of failure. When we consider how re- mote the Land of the Seven Cities was from the City of Mexico, we may well be surprised, not at the lapse of time between expeditions for its exploration, conver- sion, or conquest, but that within so few years after the fall of Montezuma it should have been reached at all. Compared with the slow advance of the English col- onists on the Atlantic coast towards the Mississippi Valley and the interior of the continent, the swiftness with which the adventurous cavaliers of Spain pen- etrated to the upper Rio Grande is a marvel. There are traditions and some vague written accounts of mis- sionary journeys made by zealous monks who passed the boundaries of New Mexico in the interval, but nothing of certainty or importance until the coming of Friar Ruiz, forty years after the departure of Cor- onado.
In the year 1581 Agustin Ruiz, a Franciscan Friar, living at San Bartolomé, in north-eastern Mexico, heard from certain Indians who came from the country around the Concho River, that far to the north there were several large and rich provinces which the Spaniards
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had never visited. So much was said as to the impor- tance and population of this unknown country that Ruiz was much interested, and finally determined, if possible, to penetrate that region and carry a knowledge of Christianity to the thousands who were then living in heathenism. With this view he made application for permission to undertake the enterprise to both the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, and this having been granted, he lost no time in arranging to start on his benevolent mission. Two other Franciscans, named Francisco Lopez and Juan de Santa Maria, accompanied him, and they had as an escort a squad of twelve sol- diers under command of a captain, these last being also directed to make diligent inquiries for any mines that might be near their line of march. All things being prepared, they started toward the north, and after a march of about 500 miles, arrived among the Pueblo vil- lages on the Rio Grande, and continued up the valley of that river until they reached the town of Puara, long since destroyed, but which then stood about eight miles north of the site of Albuquerque. Here the soldiers be- came alarmed at their position in the midst of such a large native population, and at so great a distance from support or succor, and refused to go any further; - in- deed, they insisted on an immediate return to Mexico. The Franciscans endeavored to persuade them to go on, but without effect; and the soldiers in turn tried to in- duce the Friars to go back with them, but they were .equally determined. So they separated; the soldiers of the king returned to the ease and security of their gar- rison life, and the soldiers of the cross went forward, braving hardships, and danger, and death, to carry the words of salvation to the heathen nations around.
The Friars went as far as the Galisteo River, where there was an important pueblo, being everywhere received with welcome and hospitality ; and then con- cluded, as the country was so inviting and the people so
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ready to receive instruction, to send one of their num- ber back to Mexico in order to bring more of the breth- ren, and thus enable the work to go on with greater effi- ciency. Brother Juan de Santa Maria volunteered to undertake the journey, and the other two brethren returned to Puara, as the best point at which to learn the Indian languages. Friar Juan crossed the Sandia Mountains with the intention of proceeding directly south to El Paso from the Salt Lakes, that being a pref- erable route to the one by the river; but on the third day, when near the pueblo of San Pablo, and while rest- ing under a tree, he was killed by some Indians, who afterwards burned his remains. The two other Friars pursued their studies and missionary labors at Puara, until Lopez likewise fell a victim to the hatred of some of the natives, being killed by a blow on the head while engaged in prayer, in a secluded spot a short distance from the village. No doubt it had been determined by some of those in authority that the missionaries should be destroyed, for their lives were blameless and they had no enemies ; and the fate of these Franciscans brings to mind the last words which Brother Luis was heard to utter not quite forty years before, and but a few miles distant up the Jemez River ; that " all the Indians treated him kindly, with the exception of the old men, who disliked him and would probably cause him to be put to death."
Friar Ruiz was now all alone. He succeeded in recovering the body of his murdered companion, and gave it Christian burial at the pueblo ; but the loss was a severe blow to him, and he felt keenly his isolation and the danger in which he lived. Still he resolutely determined to remain at his post as long as life lasted. The Friar had a faithful friend in the war-captain of the pueblo; and he, knowing that the death of all three of the missionaries had been decreed, endeavored to save Ruiz by removing him to the Pueblo of Santiago, about
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four miles further up the Rio Grande. But the effort was vain, for within a few days he likewise met a mar- tyr's fate, and his body was thrown into the river as food for fishes. Thus ended the lives of these three devoted men, who came to christianize a great province, and were destroyed before they had really begun the work. But their labor was not in vain, for as will soon appear, as a consequence of their expedition, followed an almost immediate permanent colonization of the country ; and the proverb that " the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church" was illustrated in the baptism, within fifty years, of over 34,000 Indians, and the erection, by the Brethren of the Franciscan Order, of no less than forty-three churches in New Mexico.
The soldiers who returned to Mexico from Puara, ar- rived in safety at San Bartolomé, and reported the situa- tion in which the three Friars had been left by them. This caused much anxiety among the Franciscans generally, and they endeavored to have relief sent to their breth- ren. Their appeals at length touched the heart of Don Antonio de Espejo, a wealthy Spanish cavalier, then engaged in the mines at Santa Barbara ; who offered his services and fortune for the work, if proper authority could be obtained for the expedition. This was soon arranged, Governor Ontrueros, of New Biscay, granting the permission, which included the right to enlist as many soldiers as were thought necessary for the success of the project.
CHAPTER VII.
THE EXPEDITION OF ESPEJO.
D ON ANTONIO DE ESPEJO having received the proper authorization from the Governor of New Biscay, lost no time in making arrangements for the proposed expedition to carry relief to the Franciscan missionaries in New Mexico. He was a man of great energy and large resources, and possessed the confidençe of the people so fully that soldiers hastened to enlist under his banner; so that in a very short time all the men required had been enrolled, and the necessary stores and munitions were in readiness. Besides the little company which he was to command, he took with him a considerable number of Indians to perform the more laborious duties of the march, and over 100 extra horses and mules to be used in case of necessity. The ex- pedition set out from the valley of San Bartolomé, on the 10th of December, 1582, marching directly northward toward New Mexico. The first tribe that they encount- ered was the Conchos, living in the valley of the Con- cho River, in what is now the State of Chihuahua. These people extended a friendly welcome, and their chiefs sent a messenger ahead from town to town so that the inhabitants should be ready to receive the Spaniards. Two other tribes, known as the Passaguates and the Tobosos, were passed through before the expedi- tion reached the banks of the Rio Grande. All of these Indians lived in rude villages of houses covered with straw. They raised corn and melons, and obtained a good deal of game, especially bears, and also excellent fish from the Concho and other streams. In war and in the chase they used bows and arrows; and their
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government was of a simple kind, under chiefs or caciques.
It was not until the valley of the Rio Grande was reached that a higher grade of civilization was encount- ered. Here Espejo found an extensive and populous province, called by the natives Humanos, containing a number of large towns of superior construction. The houses were built of stone, cemented with lime-mortar, and covered by flat roofs. The inhabitants were of large stature and war-like disposition, and the first night that the Spaniards came among them, they at- tacked the camp and killed several horses. This was probably on account of injuries inflicted by previous expeditions of Europeans; for on being assured that Espejo meant them no harm, and was only passing through their country, they expressed entire satisfac- tion, and afforded him considerable assistance. This nation was so extensive that the Spaniards were twelve days in traversing their country; but after the first difficulty, they were everywhere well received, and treated with great hospitality-the Indians not only supplying them with all the provisions necessary, but bringing presents of hides and chamois-skins, as well dressed as those of Flanders. Many of the people brought their wives and children to the priests that they might bless them, and in other ways showed that they had a vague knowledge of Christianity; and on being asked how this had been obtained, it appeared that this was one of the tribes visited by Cabeza de Vaca nearly fifty years before; for they answered that they had been taught by three white men and a negro, who had passed that way, and had remained a number of days among them
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