USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume I > Part 52
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this inscription reads :
"Here was General Don Diego de Vargas, who conquered for the Holy Faith and the Royal Crown at his own expense, all of New Mexico in the year 1692."
The rock also contains another inscription, dated 1626.
The Zuñi Indians who located at Laguna there founded a society or order known as Chaquin, which in some respects resembles Masonry. The Zuñis stated that it had been taught to them by the priest who had re- mained among them, but as the head medicine men of the tribe would not allow them to practice it they had decided to establish a new pueblo for that purpose. The Chaquin is popularly known among them as the Order of the Black Mask.
Antonio Coyote, the cacique who accompanied de Vargas on his expe- dition to Acoma and Zuñi, also traveled with him to the Rio Grande. There de Vargas presented to him a cane as his badge of office of governor of the new Laguna pueblo, with the request that he return and build a church, to which the Spanish commander would send a priest. This demand was complied with and the church, known as the House of the Principales, still stands, south of the Roman Catholic church. The first priest sent to this mission was Fray Juan Mirando, and the Lagunas state that he brought with him the image of San Jose. Dipping the feet of the image in the
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water of the stream nearby, he rechristened it Rio de San Jose, by which name it is known to-day .*
When many of the Pueblos again revolted in 1696, de Vargas suc- ceeded in reconquering all excepting those at Acoma, who, however, re- newed their oath of allegiance July 6, 1699, two days after the taking of the oath by the Lagunas. This occurred during the administration of Pedro Rodriguez Cubero as governor, de Vargas' term having expired in 1696. De Vargas was reappointed governor in 1702. He died at Ber- nalillo April 7, 1704, and his body was taken to Santa Fé and buried in the wall of the old church there.
Going back to the year 1689, the records show that at that time Domingo Giron Petriz de Cruzat, then military governor, was engaged in a war of extermination against the pueblos. At the pueblo of Zia he killed six hundred and captured seventy-three Indians, who were sent to Mexico and placed in bondage. Among the latter was an Indian named Antonio de Obejada, who was one of the principal chiefs in the Pope rebellion. He was able to read and write the Spanish language; and at El Paso his testimony in regard to pueblo land titles was regarded as practically authoritative. On his testimony grant titles were issued to the pueblos of Picuries, San Juan, Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Jemez, Zia, Laguna and Acoma, in 1689. Though the records show that these grants were issued at the same time, the originals referring to Acoma and Laguna have been missing since the year of the American occupation. Nevertheless the recorded evidence, minus the original papers, was ac-
*One of the most interesting cases decided hy the Supreme Court in 1857 was that of the Pueblo of Laguna versus the Pueblo of Acoma, an action brought to determine the ownership of an oil painting of San Jose, the patron saint of the Acomas, left with them by the Spanish conquerors. The case originated in the district court of the Second Judicial District, in Valencia county, and was there tried before Judge Kirby Benedict. The pueblo of Acoma claimed that upon the establish- ment of that pueblo, San Jose (Saint Joseph) was constituted patron saint; that for many years the portrait in question had hung in the Catholic church there and was considered by the inhabitants to be almost indispensable in their worship of God; that the pueblo of Laguna, under the pretense of a loan, years before had secured possession of the painting, for the purpose of celebrating Holy Week, and refused to return it. The priest in charge at Acoma directed the return of the painting, citing the people of the two pueblos to appear before him and make the contention a subject of prayer. This was done, lots were drawn and the decision rendered in favor of the Acomas. But the Lagunas broke faith, returning armed in strong numbers, and by a threat to break into the church and shed blood, if necessary, secured the return of the painting to their pueblo. The Lagunas claimed that they knew nothing of the origin of the painting except from the tradition of their old men, which established their right to it. It is universally believed by these Indians that, after the Spanish conquest, a bishop gave it to the pueblo of Laguna, and that the Acomas stole it. The Lagunas then went to Acoma peaceably to reclaim it, but the Acomas refused to surrender it, and the question was decided by lot, at the suggestion of the priest in charge at Acoma.
Had it not been for weakness on the part of the Acomas, this venerable painting might have resulted in a bloody war between the two pueblos. Such was its value that at the trial one witness swore that unless San Jose is in Acoma the people thereof cannot prevail with God. All the supposed virtues and attributes appertaining to this saint, in the belief of these people, and the belief that the throne of God can only be successfully approached through San Jose, contributed to make the case one of more than passing interest. The Supreme Court decreed that the Acomas were the rightful owners, and the painting remains in the possession of the people of that pueblo today.
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cepted by the United States government in 1876, and upon them the sur- vey was made. The Acoma grant was confirmed by congress and patented as surveyed. The Laguna grant as surveyed in 1876 was never confirmed by congress. In 1890 the commission appointed by the federal govern- ment to investigate the old grant titles found evidence to show that the Laguna claim was valid, but too large, and recommended that it be cut down. In consequence it was again surveyed in 1895, giving them a tract six miles square, with the pueblo in the center. Subsequent to the date of the original grant Spanish squatters occupied various portions of the land claimed by the Indians, and the latter bought their rights. These parcels of land, three in number, are known as purchases ..
During the third year of the administration of Governor Joaquin Codallos, in 17.46, he established two missions for the conversion of the Navajos. One of these was located about ten miles northwest of Laguna, at Encinal, and the other about fifteen miles north, at Cebolleta. When the Navajos tired of the institution of the church, vestments and other paraphernalia were removed to Laguna.
In 1801, during the administration of Governor Ferdinand Chacon, a Spanish colony and military post was established at Cebolleta, where Gov- ernor Codallos had founded a mission over half a century before. Among the grantecs, or colonists, were Jose Maria Aragon and Francisco Aragon, brothers. The following year the Navajos, who claimed that part of the country, compelled the settlers to leave. They returned to Chihuahua, but in 1803 came back under military escort and were told that if they returned again their life would pay the forfeit. The explanation of this remarkable order is that the colonists were under contract to remain in the country and the Spanish executive adopted this method of compelling them to abide by their contract. Two years later the Navajos besieged the Cebolleta pueblo in carnest. They finally forced the gates and probably would have exterminated the inhabitants but for the arrival of Jose Maria Aragon at the head of the Lagunas. One of the Cebolleta women killed a Navajo chief by dropping a metate upon his head from a window. Tradition says that an American whom the Indians called Sargento, who was living among the pueblos, was badly wounded by a Navajo arrow, but, climbing to a window, he picked off members of the assaulting party with his rifle until he died. In the meantime the Lagunas had attacked the Navajos in the rear, compelling them to retreat. In return for this service the settlers recognized the pueblos' claim to a strip of land adjoining the Cebolleta grant on the south, which had been in dispute. This land was occupied at the time by Miguel Moquino, Vicente Pajarito, Pascual Pajarito and Antonio Paguat.
The Spanish military post at Cebolleta was maintained until the organization of the Mexican republic in 1821, then by Mexico until the American occupation. The United States government continued to occu- py the post with a garrison until 1862, when it was removed to El Gallo, near the site of San Rafael, and called Fort Wingate. In 1760 Mateo Pino, a Spaniard, settled at El Rito, on the Laguna grant, but he moved away on account of the Apache and Navajo raids. In 1825 his son, Guachin Pino, and Marcos Baca returned with the claim that Mateo Pino had received a large grant there. The Lagunas bought the rights of the claimant and secured from the Mexican governor title to the land, which
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is known as the "El Rito purchase." In 1836 Pino and Baca purchased from Francisco Baca, a Navajo Indian, land eleven miles west of Laguna, where he founded the town of Cubero. Fort Wingate was moved to its present location, at the west end of the Zuñi Mountains, in 1870.
The Queres Indians, says Mr. Gunn, were never cruel to their cap- tives or criminals. When death was the sentence they were speedily exe- cuted or marooned on a high rock or ledge of a precipice, from which it was impossible to escape, and there left to perish from hunger and thirst, or throw themselves down, to be killed on the rocks below. This mode of punishment was called Tit-Kash. Their war whoop was Ah-Ah-Ai, the first two syllables prolonged, the last short and abrupt.
The early Spanish explorers classified the pueblos of New Mexico, according to their languages, into nine different nations: Tiqua, Tegua, Tano, Queres, Piros, Tompiros, Xumanos, Tusayan and Cibolan. Of these the Queres always have been one of the most enlightened, as well as one of the most numerous. They now number seven tribes-Acoma, Laguna, Zia. Santa Ana, San Felipe, Santo Domingo and Cochiti. Mr. Gunn has furnished to us some interesting traditions of these Indians, which are "faded and covered with the dust of ages and badly patched with frag- ments from other traditions."
The meaning of the name Queres is somewhat indefinite and now practically obsolete. There is a secret medicine order called Que-ran-na, which possibly suggested the name to the conquerers. Their own name for their people is Hano. Literally translated it means "down east." One version of the tradition of the founding of the nation is that in some east- ern country all the people came out of a big water into which poured all the rivers of the earth; and though these rivers flowed for ages the big water never increased in size, though it would rise and fall at intervals (the tide of the ocean?). Another version is that somewhere in the north all the original tribe came from a deep hole in the earth, into which poured four great rivers, which never filled the pit. Many of the southwestern Indian tribes have this tradition of their origin. The tradition of Shipop is that when the first people came out of the water the land was sah-kun- met (soft, or unripe). To find firm land they traveled south and upon reaching a suitable place built a village which they called Kush-kut-ret (white house or white village). Various features of their traditions go to show that the ancestors of the race were once a seafaring people, The etymology of their language has been regarded by some authorities as to a certain extent Phoenician. The closest students of their language and traditions agree that a seismic disturbance may have destroyed their for- mer home : some even go so far as to claim that many things tend to sub- stantiate the story of Atlantis, the lost continent, which may have been peopled by the ancestors of these tribes.
"We cannot accept their romantic theory of the destruction of their land by the marine monster, the Wa-wa-keb (whale)," says Mr. Gunn, "but we can believe that such a catastrophe may have happened, caused by some seismic disturbance of nature, as geology cites us many instances, even in modern times. In tracing these people I have given but a hasty glance along the trail they long since traveled. Let us follow these argo- nauts of the western hemisphere as their boats leave the island. Their course is west; they reach the coast of Florida at a time when that penin-
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sula was shoals and shifting sand bars, or mostly swamps and marshes. Not finding a suitable place to land, they continue on to the south, skirting the coast till they reach the southwest extremity of the peninsula. Here on the island or keys they built their first habitations or first settlement on the North American continent, and called it Kush-kut-ret, or the 'white village.' Here the traditions are verified by archaeological discoveries of vast pueblo ruins on the keys and west coast of Florida, constructed of conch shells. There is a faint tradition among the Lagunas and Acomas that their ancestors built structures of some kind of shells, and the color of thesc shells may have suggested the name for their village. On the islands and main land of Florida are vast quantities of broken pottery, a silent but undisputed witness that a superior race of Indians once inhab- ited the peninsula. The broken pieces of pottery show that it was vastly inferior to the nicely construeted jars which the pueblos of today make. But no doubt their crude pots answered the purpose admirably for which they were intendedi.
"It is reasonable to suppose that communication was kept up at inter- vals with the island until some boat returning learned of the terrible disaster, and seeing the whale spouting in the vicinity of where the island had been, adopted the theory as most plausible, that the animal was re- sponsible for its destruction. Years pass, some climatic change is tak- ing place, the rainfall each year becomes less and less, until everything is parched and dry. A character whom they call 'Po-chai-an-ny' comes to them from the cane-brakes of the north; he professes to have control of the seasons; he obtains a large number of followers; the ruler, or 'Hot- chin,' is deposed and Po-chai-an-ny is elected to the place. He changes their medieine from the use of simple remedies to incantations and jug- glery, but he fails to produce the desired change in the seasons. The anger of the natives finally becomes aroused. Po-chai-an-ny flees from their wrath, but is pusued and captured, and, tying large stones to him, they cast him into the deep water; but matters become worse, and at last they are compelled to move. Their course is to the northwest.
"On tire banks of a large river (the tradition does not describe this stream) they construct another village, and in remembrance of the first settlement name this the 'White Village.' Here a plague which they call 'Ki-oat,' something like smallpox, overtakes them. A daughter of the ruler becomes afflicted. The disease baffles the skill of the medicine men. "To the west of the village in a house thatched with big leaves lives an old woman by the name of Que-o Ka-pe, who is celebrated for her skill in medicine. The ruler sends his war captain and brings her to the village. She cures his daughter and many others merely by the applica- tion of water. The medicine men become jealous of the old woman on account of her skill in overcoming the disease with so simple a remedy when they are powerless with all their incantations. The medicine men hold a consultation and Que-o Ka-pe is sentenced to be killed, but before the deed is executed she makes a prophecy. The Queres Indians say that she pronounced a curse upon them; that misfortune and misery would pursue them relentlessly for generation after generation.
"Again the disease broke out more violently than before and again they are compelled to migrate and again their course is toward the north- west. They say the reason they had followed this course was to join a
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people who years before had come from the same place, 'Shi-pop,' and had settled in this, to them, northwestern territory. In a valley surrounded by rugged mountains and perpendicular bluffs we again hear of the 'White Village,' last of grand settlements of the Queres.
"The tradition gives several significant landmarks. It might be ques- tionable whether these were on the island which was sunk or somewhere in the vicinity of the last of the 'White Villages,' most probably the latter. These landmarks were four majestic mountains. On the north was the 'Kow-i-stchun-ma Kote,' literally the 'mountain of the white lake,' but probably a snow-capped mountain. Kote is the Queres name for mount- ain. On the east was a tall, straight mountain, called 'Kutch-um-mah Kote,' on the south was the 'Tout-11-ma Kote,' the 'hooded mountain,' prob- ably a flat-topped mountain, capped with basalt. On the west was a rugged mountain covered with forests, called the 'Spinna Kote.'
"From the earliest times the Queres were governed from one central seat called 'Kush Kut-ret.' or the 'White Village.' The ruler, or 'Ho-tchin,' was elected for life, selected for his knowledge and executive ability. At his death another was selected in a similar way. His duties, besides gov- erning the people. were to keep the ancient traditions and history of the people of the nation. He was also the head of the medicine order. He had one officer, the war captain (Sah-te Ho-tchin).
"The last of the white villages was built in southern Colorado, or pos- sibly in Utah, and the tributary settlements extended throughout that part of the country where the four states corner-Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. The destruction of this grand settlement was caused by a tributary village declaring its independence and electing a new ruler. This led to a grand war among the inhabitants, and to finish what the Queres had themselves begun, those fierce warriors, the Apaches, ap- peared. The destruction is complete. The nation which for thousands of years had held together, fighting their way across the North American continent, was scattered, some going to the valley of the Rio Grande, others farther west. One party went on southwest, and were never heard of after. The invasion of the Apaches is supposed to have been between 800 and 1,000 vears ago. The Navajo Indians who inhabit the country where the Queres had their last settlements show a mixture of the Pueblo and Apache. Many words in the Queres and Navajo are alike, and some of their religious customs are similar, for instance, the sand paintings. * *
* "Another incident they speak of was a people called the She-ken, who came to them from the south pass. * * * The She-ken tarried quite a while with the Queres, at least until Korina, the leader, died. . The Queres adopted several customs from these people, and their language shows a mixture with some other language, possibly the language of the She-ken. *
* Should it be proved that these Queres Indians are descendants of the Atlanteans (inhabitants of the Lost Atlantis) it gives them an unbroken national record of at least ten thousand years.
"The religious belief of the ancient Queres Indians * is * philosophical and reveals a depth of thought far ahead of their descend- ants of the present day. *
* The religion of the Queres is not exactly a polytheism, neither is it a pantheism, but seems to be a com- pound of the two, with a slight strain of totemism. Their theory is that reason (personified) is the supreme power, a master mind that has always
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existed, which they call Sitch-tche-na-ko. This is the feminine form for thought or reason. She had one sister, Shro-tu-me-na-ko, memory or in- stinct. Their belief is that Sitch-tche-na-ko is the creator of all, and to her they offer their most devout prayers, but never to Shro-tu-me-na-ko. * * * E-yet-e-co is the most beloved of all the deities; to her they can all pray ; she is the mother who brought them forth and receives them when they die. E-yet-co means the earth; She-wo-na, the spirit of force, created from a dew-drop by Sitch-tche-na-ko; Shru-wat-tu-ma is the evil spirit ; Wa-ah-me-na-ko is the guardian spirit; Ka-tu-te-a is the spirit of charity ; Kap-poon-na-ko is the spirit of sleep; Moe-a-na-ko is the spirit of the yellow earth; Mots-sin-ne-na-ko is the spirit of the hills and mount- ains.
"The only thing in their religion which indicates totemism was the worship of the 'Tsets-Shri-na.' This was a monstrous green serpent, with horns, that they say inhabited the big water. The Queres knew something of astronomy; they knew the difference between the fixed stars and the planets, and had names for some of the constellations. According to their way of mapping them they say the sun had eight children." *
Mr. Gunn has preserved for us some interesting history of these two fascinating pueblo tribes, besides the traditions outlined. He states that in 1851 Samuel C. Gorman, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, came to Laguna as a missionary for the Baptist church. In 1856 the government author- ized him to erect a building for school and church purposes, and this build- ing is still employed for these purposes. Between 1855 and 1860 General McCook established a military camp at Laguna, maintaining it about a year. The ruins are still visible a short distance north of the pueblo. This officer recruited a company of the Laguna Indians to act as scouts in the campaign against Nane and Mangus Colorado, two bloodthirsty Apache chiefs, giving these Indians an opportunity to settle a long-stand- ing account against their old foes. Soon after this campaign President Lincoln sent to each of these pueblo villages a silver-headed cane, to be held by the governors as badges of office.
During the Navajo war of 1862-66 the Lagunas and Acomas ren- dered to the American troops every possible assistance in their campaign, and were greatly praised by the commanding officers for their fidelity and their arduous labors. In 1868 W. F. M. Arny was appointed agent for the pueblos, and did everything in his power to lift them from their woeful state and give them the rights to which they unquestionably were entitled as human beings. In 1871 Walter G. Marmon was made government teacher at Laguna-the first to be appointed by the government as teacher of the pueblo Indians. Some time prior to this time the more progressive members of the tribe, realizing the advantages of an education, established a subscription school and engaged a Mexican named Manuel Cassius to teach their children. The work done by Cassius evidently was of a most indifferent character, for when Mr. Marmon entered upon his duties he found that not one member of the tribe could speak English, and but one could read and write Spanish. Mr. Marmon was not only teacher, but preacher, physician and good counsellor as well. He was at once rec- ognized by the Indians as their friend in all that the term implied. Through his efforts the time-honored custom of burying all the dead in the Roman Catholic church or in the yard in front of it, a most unsanitary custom and
Vol. I. 24
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at that time impossible of accomplishment without the removal of the bones of others who had been buried there for many years, was abolished, and two cemeteries, Protestant and Roman Catholic, were established. Mr. Marmon continued his labors until 1875, when he resigned, and Rev. John Menaul, a Presbyterian missionary, was appointed by the government to succeed·him. Mr. Menaul established at Laguna the first printing press, which was devoted principally to the publication of missionary literature. He also translated and published in the Queres language McGuffey's First Reader. He remained until 1887, and was beloved by all the Indians.
An event of considerable importance to both the Acomas and Lagunas occurred in 1876, when arrangements for the survey of the Acoma grant were about to be put into execution. The stream rising in the warm spring, known as El Gallo, about twenty-five miles northwest of Laguna, had been diverted about 1868 as an irrigating stream by ex-soldiers who had squatted in that vicinity. As the land was a military reservation these men were notified to move. In 1870 the land was opened for settlement, and among those who came to take up land were most of those who had been expelled. When it became known that El Gallo was the property of the Acoma Indians the squatters were advised to bribe the head men of the tribe to represent to the government surveyor that another spring, about ten miles east, was the real El Gallo. In payment for this act the settlers proposed to give to the Acomas part of the Laguna grant, which had not yet been surveyed. Although by so doing the Acomas lost about one-third of their original grant, they gave the testimony sought and the changes in the limits of the grant were made. All that was now neces- sary was to put the Acomas in possession of the land of the Lagunas. The former were notified to be upon the ground at a specified time, when a Mexican alcalde, who was regarded by them as the supreme authority, would give them legal possession. When the Lagunas learned of the scheme they presented the facts to Mr. Marmon, who was then conduct- ing a trading post at Laguna, who armed two small companies, infantry and cavalry, he taking command of one and George H. Pratt, a govern- ment surveyor, commanding another. They found the Acomas upon the field, armed with every conceivable weapon. When the alcalde began to read the decree, the improvised military charged. The alcalde and his posse fled precipitately, but the Acomas stood their ground and a pitched battle ensued, in which several were injured, but none fatally. The Lagu- nas' champions were victorious, but by a compromise afterward agreed upon the Lagunas relinquished about one-half of what they claimed within the Acoma grant, and the Acomas gave to Laguna a quit-claim to the remainder of the lands in dispute that were inside the Acoma boundaries. The form of government of these pueblos is both democratic and republican. Minor business transactions are regulated by the governor and his official staff. The executive body in Laguna consists of the gov- ernor, two lieutenant governors, a war captain, seven fiscals or supervisors and seven major-domos or overseers of ditches. In the transaction of the more important business the whole population is asked to vote upon the proposition. The grant is held in common, but each individual or fam- ily holds its own private field-as much as can be cultivated. They are not permitted to sell lands to any person who is not a member of the tribe. The Lagunas claim to have had three different historical records-
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