USA > New Mexico > Historical sketches of New Mexico : from the earliest records to the American occupation > Part 9
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Before closing the account of this expedition, it seems proper to notice another version of the death of Stephen, which appears in the "Relation" of Castañeda, and which contains particulars not known, probably, to the frightened Indians who escaped to carry the first tidings to Friar Marcos. Castañeda says: "Stephen arrived at Cibola with a great quantity of turquoise, and some fine women who had been presented to him along the route. With him were a large number of Indians who had been furnished as guides at different places, and who believed that under his protection they could traverse the whole world without having anything to fear. But as the people of Cibola were more brave and spirited than those who accompanied Stephen, they shut up his whole company in a house outside of their city, and there the caciques and aged men of the place questioned him as to the object of his coming into their country. After having continued this inquiry for three
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days, they held a council to decide as to his fate. As the negro had told them that he was the forerunner of two white men, sent by a powerful prince, who were very learned in the heavenly affairs, which they would come to teach them, they considered that he must be the guide or the spy of some nation which desired to subjugate them. It seemed to them, also, unreasonable to believe that this man who was black came from the country of men who were white. Besides, Stephen had demanded of them their riches and their women; and this seemed to them hard to consent to. So they con- cluded to kill him, without doing any harm to those who accompanied him. And this they did-taking merely a few young boys, and sending back all the rest, who numbered about sixty."
The route taken by Marcos de Niza on this celebrated expedition is, so far as its main features are concerned, easy to distinguish. He first travelled nearly parallel with the coast of the Gulf of California, until he reached its head, and then turned to the north-east, and con- tinued travelling in that general direction for the rest of the distance. The fertile and populated valleys were along the Gila and its tributaries. There is no doubt at all that Cibola was Zuñi, being what is now called the "Old Pueblo," or "Old Zuñi." The kingdom to the south-east may have referred to the Pueblo country in the vicinity of Acoma and Laguna, or possibly to one still more distant and across the Rio Grande, towards Abó and the ruins now called "Gran Quivira." Totonteac, if situated as stated, to the west, would be identical with the Moqui towns; and Acus might have been the country now represented by the ruins in the Chaco Valley, the Pueblo Bonito, etc. But the experience of Coronado, shortly afterwards, shows these reports of kingdoms to have been very shadowy, and at all events greatly ex- aggerated.
CHAPTER V.
THE EXPEDITION OF CORONADO.
T HE highly colored account with which Friar Marcos regaled Governor Coronado, and afterwards the Vice- roy himself, was enough to excite the ambition as well as the cupidity of even less adventurous men. In addition to his written narration, or report, which was sufficiently enticing, the Friar made most exaggerated statements of what he had been told by Indians of the countries beyond Cibola; and his position in the Franciscan order lent weight to his words. The Viceroy became intensely interested, believing that here was an opportunity to obtain both fame and gold, and determined to lose no time in organizing an expedition for the exploration and conquest of the rich kingdoms beyond the desert.
No sooner was it known that an expedition for the conquest of Cibola and the wonderful Land of the Seven Cities had been decided on, than the most adventurous cavaliers of New Spain hastened to take part in the enterprise. The best families of Castile were repre- sented among them, and the troop of 400 which finally started was the most brilliant which, at that time, had ever been raised in the new world. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, the Governor of New Galicia, was very properly appointed as Captain-General, by the Viceroy, both because the discovery of Cibola had been made through his instrumentality, and because his province was the natural starting-place of the expe- dition. He was a man experienced both in arms and in government, wise, prudent, and able, and a great favorite with Mendoza. The Viceroy also appointed the other officers of the expedition; and here the only diffi-
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culty which arose was from an " embaras de richesses." " Seeing the great number of gentlemen taking part in this expedition," says Castañeda, "the Viceroy would have been glad to give each one the command of an army ; but as the soldiers were so few, it was necessary to make a choice. He concluded to name the captains himself, because he was so greatly loved and respected that he knew no one would refuse to obey those whom he designated." " He chose for standard-bearer Don Pedro de Tobar, a young cavalier, son of Don Fernando de Tobar, mayor-domo of the late Queen Joanna, our legitimate sovereign, whose soul may God preserve. He appointed as Maestro de Campo, Lope de Samaniego, governor of the arsenal of Mexico, and a chevalier well worthy of this position. The captains were Don Tristan de Arellano, Don Pedro de Quevara, Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, Don Rodrigo Maldonado, brother-in-law of the Duke of Infantado, Diego Lopez, member of the city council of Seville, and Diego Gutierrez, captain of cav- alry. All the other gentlemen were placed directly under the orders of the General, because they were men of distinction, and a number of them were after- wards appointed captains." The commander of the in- fantry was Pablo de Melgosa, and the chief of artillery Hernando de Alvarado. The historian of the expedition, Pedro de Castañeda de Nagera, who accompanied it through all its journeyings, and afterwards in Culiacan wrote a full account of all that occurred, mentions a number of other illustrious names, in order to impress upon the reader the chivalrous and aristocratic char- acter of those who were engaged in it, and to prove that it contained "more men of quality than any which has been undertaken for the making of discoveries," adding that it must surely have been successful but for the great riches, and the young bride, noble and charming, left behind by the commander, to which attractions he at- tributes his intense desire to return at a later day.
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With the 400 Spaniards were 800 Indian soldiers, so that the entire expedition was composed of 1,200 men ; and these were directed to rendezvous at Compostella, the capital of New Galicia, in the spring of 1540. At the same time Don Pedro Alarcon was ordered to start from Natividad, on the Pacific, with two ships, and proceed to Xalisco with such munitions as the soldiers could not well carry, and thence sail along the coast as near as possible to the army, so as to keep up communica- tion with it, the supposition being that the route of the expedition was near to the coast of the Pacific. In reality the line of march of the land forces so soon di- verged to the east that these vessels were of no service ; but they made many very interesting discoveries, as are quaintly recounted in the report made by the com- mander, Alarcon, after his return, and subsequently published in the collections of Ramusio.
Meanwhile the troops were concentrating at Com- postella, and thither the Viceroy went in person in order to give to the expedition the distinction and ben- efit of his official presence. He was splendidly enter- tained by Cristoval de Oñate, who had been appointed to act as Governor of New Galicia while Coronado was absent ; and he held a grand review of the whole army, which is described as a most brilliant spectacle. The Viceroy was exceedingly popular, and was received with great enthusiasm. He addressed the soldiers on the vast importance of the expedition in a threefold aspect; to their country by conquering this great province; to the Indians by bringing them to a knowl- edge of Christianity; and to themselves by bettering their fortunes. He then caused each man to swear on a missal containing the gospels never to abandon their General, but to obey all that he might command; and in order to encourage them to the fullest extent, he ac- companied them for two days on their march. The army set out early in January, 1541, from Compostella,
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as brilliant an array and as full of enthusiasm and high expectations as was ever seen in the new world. As soon as the Viceroy had departed, the regular march commenced, and the days of holiday parade were over. Many difficulties were at once experienced. The bag- gage was found to be a great annoyance; it had to be transported on horses, and the animals proved to be too fat, and ill accustomed to fatigue. Besides, many soldiers did not know how to pack them properly, so that very soon a large part of the baggage was abandoned, or given to any one who would take it. Necessity caused many a cavalier to perform work to which he was unaccustomed, so that it was not rare, we are told, to see men of gentle birth acting as mule-drivers.
After much fatigue, the army reached the town of Chiametla ; and here it was discovered that the supply of provisons was already failing, and a halt of some days was required in order to replenish the stock. From this place, Samaniego, the Maestro de Campo, imprudently went with only a few men to an adjacent Indian village, and while there was shot in the head with an arrow and killed. A grand military funeral was had, and all the na- tives who even "seemed to be " inhabitants of the place where the murder took place, were hung; but the affair nat- urally cast a gloom over the expedition. Another discour- aging event occurred at this town. Some time previ- ously Coronado had dispatched two officers named Mel- chior Diaz and Juan de Saldibar, with a party of a dozen men, to explore the route toward Cibola, which had been traversed by Friar Marcos de Niza. The party had gone as far as Chichilticale, which was the town so glowingly described by Marcos at the edge of the great desert, but found nothing very inviting nor in any way equaling the report of the Friar ; and so had returned and met the army at this point. While they only com- municated with Coronado, yet it soon became known in the camp that the news was unfavorable, and many
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began to be discouraged. Friar Marcos, however, assured them that the countries to be visited were of great rich- ness, and that every man would reap a splendid reward, and in this way somewhat revived their spirits; and they resumed the march to Culiacan. Here they were received on the day after Easter with great demonstra- tions. The inhabitants arranged a grand sham fight, in which they pretended to defend their town against the approach of the army, and then falling back, allowed the latter to enter the city in triumph. The officers were entertained with marked hospitality by the citi- zens, who insisted that they should occupy their houses instead of the quarters prepared ; but Castañeda throws a doubt on the disinterested character of these professions by saying, "This hospitality was not to their disadvan- tage, for the officers were very well equipped, and as they could not carry all their baggage on their animals, they preferred giving many articles to their hosts rather than expose them to the chances of the future."
The army remained here for a month, but Coronado himself only stayed half of that time, as he was im- patient to press on to the exploration, if not the imme- diate conquest, of the famed lands before him. So he took a few of his most intimate friends, and with fifty horsemen and a few soldiers on foot, started in advance, leaving the main body of the army under the command of Don Tristan de Arellano, with orders to follow him in a fortnight. The General took with him all of the priests, as for some reason none of them would remain with the army ; but after proceeding on the march three days, one of their number, named Antonio Victoria, happened to break his thigh and had to be sent back to Culiacan for treatment ; " which," says Castañeda, " was no small consolation for all the people." Meanwhile Coronado and his party were proceeding successfully on their journey, full of enthusiasm, and meeting with no trouble from the natives, as many of the latter were
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acquainted with Friar Marcos, or had acted as an escort on the recent expedition of Diaz and Saldivar ; and so they arrived at Chichilticale. But here a great dis- appointment awaited them. Instead of the flourishing town they had been led to expect, they found in reality but one single building, and that in ruins and even without a roof. It is true that its proportions and style of architecture proclaimed it to be the work of some superior and civilized nation, differing widely from the inhabitants of the country around, but that was small consolation under the circumstances. They had come seeking the riches of the present, and not the relics of the past. This building, Chichilticale, is almost beyond a doubt identical with the structure now called the "Casa Grande " of Arizona, which has been so frequently described by travellers in recent days; both the situa- tion and the description making the identification almost positively certain.
At this point the great desert began ; but Coronado would not wait for his army, but pressed on rapidly with his little escort in hopes of making discoveries of such importance that the present disappointment would be forgotten. For fifteen days they marched through a continuous desert, barren, sandy, and devoid of water ; but at length their eyes were gladdened by the sight of a narrow stream, whose waters had such a reddish tinge that they named it Vermejo. What added to their joy was the fact that they were but eight leagues from the special object of their journey-the City of Cibola. Here they saw a few Indians, but could open no com- munication, as they fled as soon as they were approached. Marching on, on the evening of the next day, when they were but two leagues from the city, they discovered some Indians on an elevation, who raised such a fright- ful cry that it startled and alarmed the Spaniards, who were unaccustomed to such extraordinary sounds ; the fright of some of the soldiers being so intense, Castañeda
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says, that they " saddled their horses wrong end fore- most." "But," he adds "these were men of the new levy." The veterans started in pursuit of the Indians, but the latter succeeded in escaping to the city. The next day the whole army arrived in sight of Cibola ; but here their disappointment was even greater than at Chichilticale, and the air was filled with maledictions against Friar Marcos and his enormous exaggerations. Instead of the large city described in his " Relation," they saw a small town located upon a rock, containing not over 200 warriors, but protected from capture by the steepness and difficulties of its approach. It was true that the houses were of three or four stories in height, but they were small and inconvenient, and one court- yard had to serve for an entire quarter. The whole province contained seven cities, some of which were much larger and better fortified than Cibola.
The Spaniards had hoped that their overtures of peace and friendship would be accepted without ques- tion or delay, but the Indians seemed to understand that peace meant subjugation, and so only replied to the demand of the interpreter by menacing gestures, and drew up their warriors in good order to resist an attack. This speedily followed, for Coronado led his followers to an immediate charge, with loud cries of "Santiago." The Indians could not withstand this attack, but fled to the shelter of the town. The Spaniards followed, but found that the task before them was not an easy one. The single approach was steep and dangerous, the com- manding position of the town on the summit of a rocky mesa giving its defenders an immense advantage. The assailants, as they attempted to carry it by storm, were received with showers of stones, one of which struck Coronado himself to the ground, where he would have been killed had not Hernando de Alvarado and Lopez de Cardenas thrown themselves before him, and protected him from the showers of missiles with their own bodies.
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Nevertheless his followers pressed on, and "as it is im- possible to resist the furious attacks of Spaniards," says Castañeda, in less than an hour the city was captured, and the Europeans marched in triumph through the streets of the first Pueblo town that had ever felt their tread. The conquerors were rejoiced to find a plentiful supply of provisions, of which they were sorely feeling the need ; and after a short period for rest, Coronado suc- ceeded in reducing the entire province to subjection.
Meanwhile the army which had been left at Culiacan under the command of Arellano had slowly proceeded on its march, travelling on foot and with considerable difficulty. They passed through the town which Cabeza de Vaca had called " Corazones," where the commander was so much pleased that he concluded to colonize the country. From here they tried to obtain news of the ships which were to have accompanied them to the head of the Gulf, but could learn nothing, and so they stopped at the new town, which was called Sonora, awaiting news and orders from Coronado. These came in the middle of October, by the hands of Melchior Diaz and Juan Gallegos, and the main army immediately set out for Cibola. Gallegos proceeded to Mexico to carry an account of the expedition as far as it had progressed; and he took with him Friar Marcos, who had been obliged to fly from the army at Cibola on account of the indignation of the troops at the exaggerations and falsi- ties of which it had now been proved he had been guilty, in the relation of his former journey. Arellano and a considerable number of soldiers who were sick, or had not the strength requisite for the hardships of the.com- ing journey, remained at Sonora. The main body marched over the same route taken by Coronado, and were hospitably received by the Indians along the road, who had been well treated by the General. They reached the desert at Chichilticale without notable adventure, except that many were seized with a violent
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disease from eating preserved Indian figs, given to them by the natives. When almost across the desert, and within a day's march of Cibola, they encountered a violent storm, followed by a very severe and deep snow. The Spaniards resisted the cold without difficulty, but the Indians who accompanied them suffered very severely, as they came from the warm country to the south, and had never experienced such intensely frigid weather before. Some succumbed to the exposure and perished, while many others were only saved by being carried on the horses while the Spaniards walked. On arriving at Cibola, however, the army found not only a warm welcome from the General and their comrades, but that Coronado, with an unusual degree of care, had prepared for them excellent and comfortable quarters in advance.
While the whole army, thus reunited, was resting after its desert march, Coronado endeavored to obtain in- formation of the surrounding country. He was soon told of a province called Tusayan, twenty-five leagues distant, where there were seven cities similar to those of Cibola. The inhabitants were said to be very brave, but the Cibolans could give no very exact information concerning them, because there was no intercourse be- tween the two provinces. Coronado was unwilling to continue his march until this province had been visited, and consequently sent a small detachment under Don Pedro de Tobar, in whose bravery and address he had special confidence, to reconnoitre, and if practicable, take possession of the country. With them was sent as an adviser, half spiritual and half military, Friar Juan de Padrila, a Franciscan monk who had been a soldier in his younger days. The expedition marched so rapidly and secretly that it arrived in the province and up to the very walls of the houses of the first village without being discovered, and encamped after dark in the midst of the unsuspecting population. At dawn
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the Indians were astonished to see the strangers at their doors, and especially amazed at the sight of the horses, the like of which they had never seen before. An alarm was sounded, and the warriors quickly assembled with bows and clubs to drive away the invaders. The Spanish interpreter endeavored to explain that they came as friends, but the Indians, while hearing them politely, insisted that the strangers should withdraw ; and drawing a line on the ground, forbade any of the Spaniards to pass beyond it. One soldier rashly vent- ured to cross, when he was immediately attacked and driven back. At this the Friar, who seemed to have been more aggressive even than the Captain, urged a charge, exclaiming in vexation at the delay, "In truth, I do not understand why we have come here!" at which the Spaniards rushed forward and killed a great num- ber of Indians, while the remainder fled to the houses for protection. These soon returned in the attitude of suppliants, bringing presents, and offering their own submission and that of the whole province. During the day deputations came from the other towns to con- firm their surrender and, to invite the Spaniards to visit them and trade. In this province, which was then called Tesayan, but which is identical with the modern Moqui, were seven villages, which were governed as were those of Cibola, by a council of aged men; having also governors and captains. They raised large quanti- ties of corn, and had well tanned leather; and among the presents which they brought to Tobar were poultry and turquoise.
Having accomplished its object, the expedition returned to Cibola, where Don Pedro gave an account of his adventures to Coronado, and also told him of a great river further to the west, of which he had received information from the people of Tusayan. On this river it was said that a race of giants lived; and so much was told of its extraordinary size and character that Coro-
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nado determined to send another expedition to explore it. Accordingly, Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas with twelve horsemen set forth, proceeding first to Tusayan, where they procured guides and laid in provisions for the desert journey. After traversing an uninhabited country for twenty days, they at length arrived on the banks of the river, which was in so deep a cañon that the sides seemed " three or four leagues in the air." It was impossible to descend the rugged and almost per- pendicular banks to the water, so the party marched along the side for three days hoping to find a safe place at which to make a descent. The river was so far below that it appeared but an arm's length in width, but the Indians assured the Spaniards that it was fully one-half
a league across. At length they arrived at a point that seemed more favorable for an attempt to descend, and Captain Melgosa, Juan Galeres, and one other soldier, who were the lightest and most active of the company, vol- unteered to make the experiment ; but toward night-fall they returned, torn and exhausted, reporting that they had only been able to accomplish a third of the distance They said that even from there the river assumed large proportions, and that some of the rocks, which from the surface appeared scarcely as high as a man, were in reality taller than the tower of the Cathedral of Seville. The expedition proceeded somewhat further along the river, until it reached some great falls, but was finally compelled to return for want of water. This river the discoverers called the Tison, correctly recognizing it as the same of which the mouth had been seen at the head of the Californian Gulf. It is now known as the Colorado of the West ; and its Grand Canon, along which Cardenas thus marched nearly three and a half centuries ago, is one of the most wonderful natural curiosities of the world.
While these expeditions were being made to the west, a deputation of natives came from a province far
.
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to the east, called Cicuyé. This was headed by their chief, a young man, tall and fine-looking, who, from the unusual circumstance of his having long mustaches, the Spaniards called "Bigotes." He said that they had heard in their country, seventy leagues away, of the arrival of the white men, and had come to offer their friendship and services, with the hope that the Spaniards, as they advanced, would consider them as allies. Coro- nado received them graciously, and an exchange of presents took place, the Indians being specially pleased with some little bells. Bigotes gave a general description of the intervening country, its productions and animals, particularly dwelling on the number of native cows (buffaloes) which were to be found to the eastward. This presented too good an opportunity for exploration to be lost ; so Coronado directed Hernando de Alvarado, with twenty men, to accompany the deputation on their journey back to their country, and to return within eighty days with an account of his discoveries.
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