|
CHAPTER VI.
OÑATE’S CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO.
1595-1598.
Having chronicled in the preceding chapters all the various explorations
of New Mexican territory from 1540 to 1596, together with several unsuccessful
projects of colonization, I now come to the final success of another similar
undertaking, to the actual conquest and occupation of the country accomplished
by Don Juan de Oñate for the king of Spain, in
1598-9. While this achievement may properly be regarded as the most important
in New Mexican annals, the corner-stone of the
historic structure, its record has hitherto been left almost a blank. The early
standard writers somewhat unaccountably gave but a brief and generally
inaccurate outline of the conquest. Nearly all gave the date as 1595-6, fixing
it by that of Oñate’s preparations, and greatly
underestimating the delays that ensued; and only Mariana, the historian of
Spain, seems to have given a correct date. The sum and substance of all these
versions, rejecting errors, would be hardly more than a statement that in 1595 Oñate undertook the enterprise, and soon with the aid of
Franciscan friars succeeded in occupying the province, and even made a tour to
the Quivira region in the north-eastern plains.
That later writers,
consulting only a part of these earlier authorities, should not have materially
improved the accuracy and completeness of the record is not surprising. They
have made a few slight additions from documentary sources; but they have
retained for the most part the erroneous dates, and have introduced some new
errors, the latest and best of them, Davis and Prince,
having copied the blunder of some faulty document consulted, and moved the
conquest backward to 1591. The real and original authorities—a book published
in 1610, and documents obtained in modern times from the Spanish archives—are
now utilized practically for the first time in writing the history of New
Mexico. I say practically, because in the long interval between the writing and
final revision of this chapter, a Spanish investigator has given to the public
a résumé of the book referred to, and another in America has made known his
acquaintance with the volumes containing the confirmatory documents.
The veritable authority for the events presented in this chapter is to
be found in the shape of an epic poem, written by Captain Gaspar de Villagrá, one of Oñate’s companion conquistadores, and published only eleven years after the occurrence
of the events narrated. This work, though by no means unknown to
bibliographers, is very rare; and its historic value seems to have been
concealed from the public until 1883. When I had occasion to consult its pages
in 1877, I did so with an idea that it might furnish material for a brief note
as a literary curiosity; but I found it a most complete narrative, very little
if at all the less useful for being in verse. The subject is well enough
adapted to epic narration, and in the generally smooth-flowing hendecasyllabic
lines of Villagrá loses nothing of its intrinsic
fascination. Occasionally the author quits the realm of poesy to give us a
document in plain prose; and while enthusiastic in praise of his leader and his
companions, our New Mexican Homer is modest in recounting his own exploits. Of
all the territories of America—or of the world, so far as my knowledge goes—New
Mexico alone may point to a poem as the original authority for its early
annals. Not less remarkable is the historic accuracy of the muse in this
production, or the long concealment of the book from the eye of students.
Viceroy Velasco on the failure of Urdiñola’s project, not favoring as we have seen that of Lomas, accepted the propositions
of Juan de Oñate in the autumn of 1595. Don Juan was
a rich and prominent resident of Zacatecas, son of the brave and popular
conquistador Don Cristóbal; married to Doña Isabel, daughter of Juan de Tolosa, granddaughter of Hernán Cortés, and great-granddaughter of Montezuma; and was backed by the wealth,
nobility, and power of Nueva Galicia. Oñate’s petition and contract are not extant; but the former with marginal notes of
approval and dissent was seen by Gregg at Santa Fé; and his brief résumé,
confirmed by incidental allusions in other documents, shows that the contract
did not differ materially from the earlier ones that have been described. The
empresario agreed to raise a force of 200 men or more at his own expense; but
seems to have been furnished by the king with a considerable quantity of arms
and ammunition, and even a sum of money, being also authorized to confiscate
the property of Bonilla and other adventurers if he could catch them. He was
made governor, adelantado, and captain-general of the territories to be
colonized; and his somewhat extravagant claims for honors, titles, lands, and
other emoluments were freely granted by Velasco so far as the royal
instructions would permit.
The contract once signed, Don Juan, securing the support of the highest
officials and most influential men of Mexico, Nueva Galicia, and Nueva Vizcaya,
invoking the aid of his four brothers, and the four brothers Zaldívar, his nephews, and of other active friends, set
about the task of recruiting an army, by no means a long or difficult one. The sargento mayor, Captain Vicente Zaldívar, unfurled his enlistment banner in the grand plaza
of Mexico with a salute of artillery; the scenes of ’30 and ’40 under Guzman
and Coronado were repeated; recruits came in from all directions, attracted by
the favorable terms offered and the hope of wealth and fame in the north, and
the ranks were soon full.
All was enthusiasm; success seemed assured; and preparations for an
early departure were well-nigh completed, when a change of viceroys occurred in
November, the count of Monterey succeeding Velasco. This in
itself naturally caused some delay; but more serious causes were at
work. Oñate’s brilliant prospects, and the unusual
prerogatives granted him, had created jealousy; and his rivals and foes appear
to have had more influence with the new viceroy than with the old one. Even
before he reached the capital, Monterey asked for a delay; but after Velasco
had explained the matter by letter, he consented to a completion of the
arrangements. Arriving the 5th of November and taking possession of his office,
he proceeded to investigate somewhat at his leisure the adelantado’s fitness
for his position, and the truth of certain charges against him. The exact
nature of the accusations is not revealed; but soon everybody seems to have had
something to say against Don Juan and his enterprise; virtue, if we may credit
the poet companion and eulogist, being in this instance well-nigh overpowered
by calumny. A prominent element, however, in the new viceroy’s policy was his
favor to one Pedro Ponce de León, who wished to undertake the conquista himself; at any rate, he wrote to the king on
December 20th, asking that ratification of Oñate’s project be delayed until new information could be obtained. The poet’s
narrative of these and latter complications is confirmed by documents from the
Spanish archives.
At last the viceroy was induced to approve his
predecessor’s contract with certain modifications, insisting particularly that Oñate should not, as he demanded, be independent of the audiencia
in the administration of justice, or of the viceroy in war and finance.
Preparations were now actively renewed for the march; but when the
modifications alluded to became known to some members of the colony, whose
privileges were more or less curtailed, a new storm of
complaints and curses burst upon the leader’s head; and his foes took advantage
of the occasion to renew their attacks. Oñate deemed
it wiser to flee from than resist such foes; accordingly he made haste to begin his march northward. In Zacatecas a halt was made for
final preparations. In June 1596, Lope de Ulloa y Lemos was commissioned by Monterey to make a visita general, or inspection and inventory.
Ulloa was also instructed to remove the army from the settlements on account of
certain complaints of disorderly conduct; and he began his inspection in July,
appointing Francisco de Esquivel as assistant or comisario.
This caused an annoying and seemingly needless delay from the poet’s point of
view; but as the viceroy had already sent a friendly letter, assuring the
governor that the visita was a mere formality,
not based on any suspicion, no serious discontent resulted at this time, and
soon the force moved on, a part to the Caxco, or
Taxco, mines in Durango, and the rest still farther to the San Bartolomé
valley.
About a year had now passed since the contract was signed, and the
military colony had been considerably reduced during the delay. A courier was
daily expected with marching orders, and at last he came, the 9th of September,
with a sealed packet for Ulloa, which contained, as the general and all the
army thought, the welcome order. Bitter was Oñate’s disappointment when the packet was found to be, instead, a royal order of May
8th, directing a suspension of the entrada until the receipt of further
instructions, in consequence of the viceroy’s letter of the past December and
the pending negotiations with Ponce de León. Enclosed was the viceroy’s letter
of August 12th to Ulloa, instructing that officer to make known the king’s
will, and to order Oñate, under the severest
penalties, including a revocation of all past concessions, to make no further
advance. In October came from Mexico a repetition of the order. The governor
with a heavy heart thought of his past efforts, and of the 500,000 ducats
already spent; but kissed the unwelcome pliego and promised to obey. He concealed the bad news from his army for a time, and joined in their festivities. He had no thought of giving up his enterprise; and Juan Guerra
generously offered to bear a portion of the heavy expense to be entailed by
this new delay, which was destined to last over a year.
It seems unnecessary to narrate in detail the history of this gloomy
period. Soldiers were constantly deserting, and more than once utter failure
seemed inevitable. One visita after another
was ordered; but Oñate was able on each occasion to
keep his force and supplies up to the standard of his contract. To his protests
against the delay, and those of his brothers and friends, the viceroy, although
professing the most friendly disposition, replied
always that he could not act without royal orders. The adelantado’s foes wished
of course to break up the expedition altogether, and at times such was the
policy of the government as well; but at other times there seemed to be a desire
to keep the force together until Ponce de Leon or some other royally favored
individual could be in some way given the command. Padre Duran became
discouraged and left the company with most of his friars in
spite of all remonstrances. But amid all troubles, Oñate,
if we may credit his somewhat partial biographer, stood firm as a rock,
sustained by his friends, and by the influence of Doña Eufemia, the beautiful
wife of Alferez Peñalosa, who publicly harangued the
men, urging them to imitate the fortitude of their leader. Some were mutinous, and bent on going to New Mexico in spite of the
king’s prohibition; but cutting off the head of their leader checked the ardor
of this party.
Late in 1597 came orders to get ready, to submit to a final visita, and to start. The royal cédula of April 2d,
on which these orders were founded, I have not seen. In September Juan Frias de
Salazar was commissioned as visitador,
Esquivel retaining his position as comisario,
and in December, when the army had been reunited at the Santa Barbara mines,
the final inspection began. If we follow Villagrá’s version, the expectation was that Oñate could not
pass the inspection; and the viceroy even advised him not to attempt it but to
disband his force. The general’s reply was that he would submit, not only to
this visita, but to as many more as the
government might choose to order; and he did submit, and successfully passed
the ordeal. The viceroy states, however, that Salazar was secretly instructed
to deal as leniently as possible with Oñate,
disregarding small deficiencies; and the records show that there was a
deficiency in both supplies and men, of whom only 130 remained. It was decided
that the viceroy should raise 80 men at Oñate’s expense—Juan Guerra and his wife, Ana de Mendoza, becoming sureties; and about
this number were indeed sent north the next year.
Oñate’s Route, 1598.
The final inspection having been concluded the 20th of January, 1598, the army started northward six days later,
and on the 30th reached the Conchos. Spanish travellers in America never encamped if it were possible to avoid it, on the near, but
always on the farther, side of a stream; therefore haste was made to cross; and the bustle and incidents of bridging and fording
the river are vividly portrayed by our poet chronicler. They remained in camp
on the Conchos for a week, getting rid of the visitador,
who is said to have departed without bidding the colonists goodbye, but also
having to part with Padre Marquez, their confessor. Arrangements had, however,
been made for a new band of ten Franciscans; and these friars, under Padre
Alonso Martinez, as comisario, came north with
Captain Farfan and his party, who had escorted Padre
Marquez on his return, and joined the army soon after the start.
The force that left the Conchos on the 7th of February is given by
Salmeron and Niel, and implied by Villagrá,
as 400 men, 130 of whom were accompanied by their families. The documentary
records indicate only the 130 soldier colonists, besides a large number of
servants and Indians: and it is difficult to understand how there could have
been more whom Oñate could not utilize to make up the
200 of his contract. Don Cristobal de Oñate, son of Don Juan, accompanied the expedition as teniente
de gobernador y capitán general, at the age of ten years! Juan de Zaldívar was maestro de campo; Don Vicente, his brother, sargento mayor; Captain Villagrá,
procurador general; Captain Bartolomé Romeros, contador; Zubia, or Cubia, proveedor; and Juan
Velarde and Juan Perez Donis, secretaries. I append a list of such names as I have found in the various records,
well worth preserving, as including the first settlers of New Mexico; though
unfortunately the full names and titles of all could not be made to fit the metre of the poetic version. There were 83 wagons in the
train, and 7,000 head of cattle.
Instead of descending the Conchos as earlier explorers had done, Oñate seems to have taken a northward course to the Río
Bravo. Two exploring parties were sent out in advance to find a way for the
wagons, and Villagrá, who accompanied the sargento mayor, devotes more than two cantos
of his work to a description of their adventures; and in the Itinerario the dates, distances, and names of
successive points reached by the main army are given; but though this was the
first exploration of northern Chihuahua, the details have no special interest
in connection with our present subject except as appended in a note. Progress
with the wagons was naturally slow, but there were no adventures or calamities.
Captain Landin was despatched for Mexico with letters
in the middle of March. On the 20th of April they reached the Río Grande. On
the last day of the month, a few leagues up the river on the western bank, Oñate proceeded with all the complicated and curious
ceremonial deemed essential in such cases, to take formal possession for God,
the king, and himself, of New Mexico “and all the adjoining provinces,” as
appears from the long and verbose act of possession duly certified by Juan
Perez, the royal escribano, in the presence of the
friars and all the army. There were also imposing religious ceremonies,
including mass in a chapel built for the occasion, and a sermon by the padre comisario; and finally in the evening the
performance of an original comedy written by Captain Far fan on a subject
connected with the conquest of New Mexico—early days of the drama, indeed.
Alphabetic list of Oñate’s associates in the
conquest of N. Mex.
Capt. Pablo de Aguilar
Araujo
Ascencio de Archuleta
Ayarde
Alf. Dionisio de Bañuelos
Bartol
Juan Benítez
Bibero
Capt. Juan Gutiérrez de
Bocanegra
Juan Pérez de Bustillo
Cesar Ortiz Cadimo
Juan Camacho
Esteban Carbajal
Carrera
Juan de Caso
Alf. (Capt.)
Bernabé de las Casas
Castillo
Juan Catalán
Cavanillas
Capt. Gregorio César Cordero
Alf. Juan Cortés
Marcos Cortés
Pedro Sánchez Damiero
Juan Diaz
Sec. Juan Pérez de Donis
Capt. Felipe Escalante
Juan Escarramal
Capt. Marcelo de Espinosa
Capt. Marcos Farfán de los
Godos
Juan Fernández
Manuel Francisco
Alvaro García
Francisco García
Marcos García
Simón García
Luis Gascón
Bartolomé González
Juan González
Juan Griego
Guevara
Francisco Guillén
Antonio Gutiérrez
Alf. Gerón de Heredia
Antonio Hernández
Francisco Hernández
Gonzalo Hernández
Pedro Hernández
Antonio Conde de Herrera
Cristóbal de Herrera
Juan de Herrera
Alonzo Núñez de Hinojosa
León de Isasti
Jiménez
Capt. Diego Landín
Francisco de Ledesma
Alf. Juan de León
Domingo de Lizana
Cristóbal López
Juan López
Alonso Lucas
Lucio
Mallea
Francisco Márquez
Capt. Gerónimo Márquez
Hernán Martín
Juan Martínez
Juan Medel
Medina
Monroi
Alonso Gómez Montesinos
Baltasar de Monzón
Morales
Juan Morán
Munuera
Naranjo
Capt. Diego Núñez
Juan de Olague
Ten. Gen. Cristóbal de
Oñate
Capt. Gen. Juan de Oñate
Juan de Ortega
Ortiz
Regundo Paladin
Simón de Paz
Juan de Pedraza
Alf. Pereyra
Simón Pérez
Capt. Juan Piñero
Alt. Fran, de Posa y
Peñalosa
Capt. Alonso de Quesada
Fran. Guillén de Quesada
Martin Ramírez
Juan Rangel
Rascón
Pedro de los Reyes
Pedro de Ribera
Alonso del Rio
Diego Robledo
Francisco Robledo
Pedro Robledo
Pedro Rodríguez
Sebastián Rodríguez
Bartolomé Romeros
Capt. Moreno de la Rúa
Capt. Ruiz
Juan Ruiz
Lorenzo Salado
Juan de Salas
Alonso Sánchez
Cristóbal Sánchez
Francisco Sánchez
Antonio Sariflana
Juan de Segura
Serrano
Sosa
Capt. Tabora
Capt. Francisco Vaca
Varela
Francisco Vasques
Jorge de la Vega
Sec. Juan Velarde
Francisco Vido
Juan de Victoria Vido
Capt. Gaspar de Villagrá
Villalba
Villaviciosa
Capt. Juan de Zaldívar
Capt. Vicente de Zaldívar
Alf. León Zapata
Prov. Zubia
Zumaia.
CHAPTER VII.
OÑATE’S CONQUEST CONTINUED.
1598-1599.
|
