The Coronado expedition, 1540-1542/Third Part

by George Parker Winship

 

THIRD PART, WHICH DESCRIBES WHAT HAPPENED TO FRANCISCO VAZQUEZ CORONADO DURING THE WINTER, AND HOW HE GAVE UP THE EXPEDITION AND RETURNED TO NEW SPAIN.

Laus Deo.

Chapter 1, of how Son Pedro de Tovar came from Señora with some men, and Don Garcia. Lopez de Cardenas started back to New Spain.

At the end of the first part of this book, we told how Francisco Vazquez Coronado, when he got back from Quivira, gave orders to winter at Tiguex, in order to return, when the winter was over, with his whole army to discover all the settlements in those regions. Don Pedro de Tovar, who had gone, as we related, to conduct a force from the city of Saint Jerome (San Hieronimo), arrived in the meantime with the men whom he had brought. He had not selected the rebels and seditious men there, but the most experienced ones and the best soldiers—men whom lie could trust—wisely considering that he ought to have good men in order to go in search of his general in the country of the Indian called Turk. Although they found the army at Tiguex when they arrived there, this did not please them much, because they had come with great expectations, believing that they would find their general in the rich country of the Indian called Turk. They consoled themselves with the hope of going back there, and lived in anticipation of the pleasure of undertaking this return expedition, which the army would soon make to Quivira. Don Pedro de Tovar brought letters from New Spain, both from the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, and from individuals. Among these was one for Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, which informed him of the death of his brother, the heir, and summoned him to Spain to receive the inheritance. On this account he was given permission, and left Tiguex with several other persons who

Zuñi hut interior

received permission to go and settle their affairs. There were many others who would have liked to go, but did not, in order not to appear faint-hearted. During this time the general endeavored to pacify scveral villages in the neighborhood which were not well disposed, and to make peace with the people at Tiguex. He tried also to procure some of the cloth of the country, because the soldiers were almost naked and poorly clothed, full of lice, which they were unable to get rid of or avoid.

The general, Francisco Vazquez Coronado, had been beloved and obeyed by his captains and soldiers as heartily as any of those who have ever started out in the Indies. Necessity knows no law, and the captains who collected the cloth divided it badly, taking the best for themselves and their friends and soldiers, and leaving the rest for the soldiers, and so there began to be some angry murmuring on account of this. Others also complained because they noticed that some favored ones were spared in the work and iu the watches and received better portions of what was divided, both of cloth and food. On this account it is thought that they began to say that there was nothing in the country of Quivira which was worth returning for, which was no slight cause of what afterward happened, as will be seen.

 

Chapter 2, of the general's fall, and of how the return to New Spain was ordered.

After the winter was over, the return to Quivira was announced, and the men began to prepare the things needed. Since nothing in this life is at the disposition of men, but all is under the ordination of Almighty God, it was His will that we should not accomplish this, and so it happened that one feast day the general went out on horseback to amuse himself, as usual,^[1] riding with the captain Don Rodrigo Maldonado. He was on a powerful horse, and his servants had put on a new girth, which must have been rotten at the time, for it broke during the race and he fell over on the side where Don Rodrigo was, and as his horse passed over him it hit his head with its hoof, which laid him at the point of death, and his recovery was slow and doubtful.^[2]

During this time, while he was in his bed,^[3] Don Garcia Lopez de Car. denas, who had started to go to New Spain, came back in flight from Suya, because he had found that town deserted and the people and horses and cattle all dead. When he reached Tiguex and learned the sad news that the general was near his end, as already related, they did not dare to tell him until he had recovered, and when he finally got up and learned of it, it affected him so much that he had to go back to bed again. He may have done this in order to bring about what he afterward accomplished, as was believed later. It was while he was in this condition that he recollected what a scientific friend of his in Salamanca had told him, that he would become a powerful lord in distant lands, and that he would have a fall from which he would never be able to recover. This expectation of death made him desire to return and die where he had a wife and children. As the physician and surgeon who was doctoring him, and also acted as a talebearer,^[4] suppressed the murmurings that were going about among tire soldiers, he treated secretly and underhandedly with several gentlemen who agreed with him. They set the soldiers to talking about going back to New Spain, in little knots and gatherings, and induced them to hold consultations about it, and had them send papers to the general, signed by all the soldiers, through their ensigns, asking for this. They all entered into it readily, and not much time needed to be spent, since many desired it already. When they asked him, the general acted as if he did not want to do it, but all the gentlemen and captains supported them, giving him their signed opinions, and as some were in this, they could give it at once, and they even persuaded others to do the same.^[5] Thus they made it seem as if they ought to return to New Spain, because they had not fonnd any riches, nor had they discovered any settled country out of which estates could be formed for all the army. When he had obtained their signatures, the return to New Spaiu was at once announced, and siuce nothing can ever be concealed, the double dealing began to be understood, and many of the gentlemen found that they had been deceived and bad made a mistake. They tried in every way to get their signatures back again from the general, who guarded them so carefully that he did not go out of one room, making his sickness seem very much worse, and putting guards about his person and room, and at night about the floor on which he slept. In spite of all this, they stole his chest, and it is said that they did not find their signatures in it, because he kept them in his mattress; on the other hand, it is said that they did recover them. They asked the general to give them 60 picked men, with whom they would remain and hold the country until the viceroy could send them support, or recall them, or else that the general would leave them the army and pick out 60 pen to go back with him. But the soldiers did not want to remain either way, some because they had turned their prow toward New Spain, and others because they saw clearly the trouble that would arise over who should have the command. The gentlemen, I do not know whether because they had sworn fidelity or because they feared that the soldiers would not support them, did what bad been decided on,^[6] although with an ill-will, and from this time on they did not obey the general as readily as formerly, and they did not show any affection for him. He made much of the soldiers and humored them, with the result that be did what he desired and secured the return of the whole army.

 

Chapter 3, of the rebellion at Suya and the reasons the settlers gave for it.

We have already stated in the last chapter that Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas came back from Suya in flight, having found that country risen in rebellion. He told how and why that town was deserted, which occurred as I will relate. The entirely worthless fellows were all who had been left in that town, the mutinous and seditious men, besides a few who were honored with the charge of public affairs and who were left to govern the others. Thus the bad dispositions of the worthless secured the power, and they held daily meetings and councils and declared that they had been betrayed and were not going to be rescued, since the others had been directed to go through another part of the country, where there was a more convenient route to New Spain, which was not so, because they were still almost on the direct road. This talk led some of them to revolt, and they chose one Pedro de Avila as their captain. They went back to Culiacan, leaving the captain, Diego de Alcaraz, sick in the town of San Hieronimo, with only a small force. He did not have anyone whom he could send after them to compel them to return. They killed a number of people at several villages along the way. Finally they reached Culiacan, where Hernando Arias de Saabedra, who was waiting for Juan Gallego to come back from New Spain with a force, detained them by means of promises, so that Gallego could take them back. Some who feared what might happen to them ran away one night to New Spain. Diego de Alcaraz, who had remained at Suya with a small force, sick, was not able to hold his position, although he would have liked to, on account of the poisonous herb which the natives use. When these noticed how weak the Spaniards were, they did not continue to trade with them as they formerly had done. Veins of gold had already been discovered before this, but they were unable to work these, because the country was at war. The disturbance was so great that they did not cease to keep watch and to be more than usually careful.

The town was situated on a little river. One night all of a sudden^[7] they saw fires which they were not accustomed to, and on this account they doubled the watches, but not having noticed anything during the whole night, they grew careless along toward morning, and the enemy entered the village so silently that they were not seen until they began to kill and plunder. A number of men reached the plain as well as they could, but while they were getting out the captain was mortally wounded. Several Spaniards came back on some horses after they had recovered themselves and attacked the enemy, rescuing some, though only a few. The enemy went off with the booty, leaving three Spaniards killed, besides many of the servants and more than twenty horses.

The Spaniards who survived started off the same day on foot, not having any horses. They went toward Culiacan, keeping away from the roads, and did not find any food until they reached Corazones, where the Indians, like the good friends they have always been, provided them with food. From here they continued to Culiacan, undergoing great hardships. Hernandarias de Saabedra,^[8] the mayor, received them and entertained them as well as he could until Juan Gallego arrived with the reinforcements which he was conducting, on his way to find the army. He was not a little troubled at finding that post deserted, when he expected that the army would be in the rich country which had been described by the Indian called Turk, because he looked like one.

 

Chapter 4, of how Friar Juan de Padilla and Friar Luis remained in the country and the army prepared to return to Mexico.

When the general, Francisco Vazquez, saw that everything was now quiet, and that his schemes had gone as he wished, he ordered that everything should be ready to start on the return to New Spain by the beginning of the month of April, in the year 1543.^[9]

Seeing this, Friar Juan de Padilla, a regular brother of the lesser order,^[10] and another, Friar Luis, a lay brother, told the general that they wanted to remain in that country — Friar Juan de Padilla in Quivira, because his teachings seemed to promise fruit there, and Friar Luis at Cicuye. On this account, as it was Lent at the time, the father made this the subject of his sermon to the companies one Sunday, establishing his proposition on the authority of the Holy Scriptures. He declared his zeal for the conversion of these peoples and his desire to draw them to the faith, and stated that he had received permission to do it, although this was not necessary. The general sent a company to escort them as far as Cicuye, where Friar Luis stopped, while Friar Juau went on back to Quivira with the guides who had conducted the general, taking with him the Portuguese, as we related, and the half-blood, and the Indians from New Spain. He was martyred a short time after he arrived there, as we related in the second part, chapter 8. Thus we may be sure that he died a martyr, because his zeal was holy and earnest.

Friar Luis remained at Cicuye. Nothing more has been heard about him since, but before the army left Tiguex some men who went to take

Zuñis in typical modern costume

him a number of sheep that were left for him to keep, met him as he was on his way to visit some other villages, which were 15 or 20 leagues from Cicuye, accompanied by some followers. He felt very hopeful that he was liked at the village and that his teaching would bear fruit, although he complained that the old men were falling away from him. I, for my part, believe that they finally killed him. He was a man of good and holy life, and may Our Lord protect him and grant that he may convert many of those peoples, and end his days in guiding them in the faith. We do not need to believe otherwise, for the people in those parts are pious and not at all cruel. They are friends, or rather, enemies of cruelty, and they remained faithful and loyal friends.^[11] After the friars had gone, the general, fearing that they might be injured if people were carried away from that country to New Spain, ordered the soldiers to let any of the natives who were held as servants go free to their villages whenever they might wish. In my opinion, though I am not sure, it would have been better if they had been kept and taught among Christians.

The general was very happy and contented wheu the time arrived and everything needed for the journey was ready, aud the army started from Tiguex on its way back to Cibola. One thing of no small vote happened during this part of the trip. The horses were in good coudition for their work when they started, fat and sleek, but more than thirty died during the ten days which it took to reach Cibola, and there was not a day in which two or three or more did not die. A large number of them also died afterward before reaching Culiacan, a thing that did not happen during all the rest of the journey.

After the army reached Cibola, it rested before starting across the wilderness, because this was the last of the settlements in that country. The whole country was left well disposed and at peace, and several of our Indian allies remained there.^[12]

Hopi maidens, showing primitive pueblo hairdressing

Chapter 5, of how the army left the settlements and marched to Culiacan, and of what happened on the way.

Leaving astern, as we might say, the settlements that had been discovered in the new land, of which, as I have said, the seven villages of Cibola were the first to be seen and the last that were left, the army started off, marching across the wilderness. The natives kept following the rear of the army for two or three days, to pick up any baggage or servants, for although they were still at peace and had always been loyal friends, when they saw that we were going to leave the country entirely, they were glad to get some of our people in their power, although I do not think that they wanted to injure them, from what I was told by some who were not willing to go back with them when they teased and asked them to. Altogether, they carried off several people besides those who bad remained of their own accord, among whom good interpreters could be found today. The wilderness was crossed without opposition, and on the second day before reaching Chichilticalli Juan Gallego met the army, as he was coming from New Spain with reenforcements of men and necessary supplies for the army, expecting that he would find the army in the country of the Indian called Turk. When Juan Gallego saw that the army was returning, the first thing he said was not, "I am glad you are coming back," and he did not like it any better after he had talked with the general. After he had reached the army, or rather the quarters, there was quite a little movement among the gentlemen toward going back with the new force which had made no slight exertions in coming thus far, having encounters every day with the Indians of these regions who had risen in revolt, as will be related. There was talk of making a settlement somewhere in that region until the viceroy could receive an account of what had occurred. Those soldiers who had come from the new lands would not agree to anything except the return to New Spain, so that nothing came of the proposals made at the consultations, and although there was some opposition, they were finally quieted. Several of the mutineers who had deserted the town of Corazones came with Juan Gallego, who had given them his word as surety for their safety, and even if the general had wanted to punish them, his power was slight, for he had been disobeyed already and was not much respected. He began to be afraid again after this, and made himself sick, and kept a guard. In several places yells were heard and Indians seen, and some of the horses were wounded and killed, before Batuco^[13] was reached, where the friendly Indians from Corazones came to meet the army and see the general. They were always friendly and bad treated all the Spaniards who passed through their country well, furnishing them with what food they needed, and men, if they needed these. Our men had always treated them well and repaid them for these things. During this journey the juice of the quince was proved to be a good protection against the poison of the natives, because at one place, several days before reaching Señora,^[14] the hostile Indians wounded a Spaniard called Mesa, and he did not die, although the wound of the fresh poison is fatal, and there was a delay of over two hours before curing him with the juice. The poison, however, had left its mark upon him. The skin rotted and fell off until it left the bones and sinews bare, with a horrible smell. The wound was in the wrist, and the poison had reached as far as the shoulder when he was cured. The skin on all this fell off.^[15]

The army proceeded without taking any rest, because the provisions had begun to fail by this time. These districts were in rebellion, and so there were not any victuals where the soldiers could get them until they reached Petlatlan, although they made several forays into the cross country in search of provisions. Petlatlan is in the province of Culiacan, and on this account was at peace, although they had several surprises after this.^[16] The army rested here several days to get provisions. After leaving here they were able to travel more quickly than before, for the 30 leagues of the valley of Culiacan, where they were welcomed back again as people who came with their governor, who had suffered ill treatment.

 

Chapter 6, of how the general started from Culiacan to give the viceroy an account of the army with which he had been intrusted.

It seemed, indeed, as if the arrival in the valley of Culiacan had ended the labors of this journey, partly because the general was governor there and partly because it was inhabited by Christians. On this account some began to disregard their superiors and the authority which their captains had over them, and some captains even forgot the obedience due to their general. Each one played his own game, so that while the general was marching toward the town, which was still 10 leagues away, many of the men, or most of them, left him in order to rest in the valley, and some even proposed not to follow him. The general understood that lie was not strong enough to compel them, although his position as governor gave him fresh authority. He determined to accomplish it by a better method, which was to order all the captains to provide food and meat from the stores of several villages that were under his control as governor. He pretended to be sick, keeping his bed, so that those who had any business with him could speak to him or he with

Hopi grinding and paper-bread making

them more freely, without hindrance or observation, and he kept sending for his particular friends in order to ask them to be sure to speak to the soldiers and encourage them to accompany him back to New Spain, and to tell them that he would request the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, to show them especial favor, and that he would do so himself for those who might wish to remain in his government. After this had been done, he started with his army at a very bad time, when the rains were beginning, for it was about Saint John's day, at which season it rains continuously. In the uninhabited country which they passed through as far as Compostela there are numerous very dangerous rivers, full of large and fierce alligators. While the army was halting at one of these rivers, a soldier who was crossing from one side to the other was seized, in sight of everybody, and carried off by an alligator without it being possible to help him. The general proceeded, leaving the men who did not want to follow him all along the way, and reached Mexico with less than 100 men, He made his report to the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, who did not receive him very graciously, although he gave him his discharge. His reputation was gone from this time on. He kept the government of New Galicia, which had been entrusted to him, for only a short time, when the viceroy took it himself, until the arrival of the court, or audiencia, which still governs it. And this was the end of those discoveries and of the expedition which was made to these new lands.^[17]

It now remains for us to describe the way in which to enter the country by a more direct route, although there is never a short cut without hard work. It is always best to find out what those know who have prepared the way, who know what will be needed.^[18] This can be found elsewhere, and I will now tell where Quivira lies, what direction the army took, and the direction in which Greater India lies, which was what they pretended to be in search of, when the army started thither. Today, since Villalobos has discovered that this part of the coast of the South sea trends toward the west, it is clearly seen and acknowledged that, since we were in the north, we ought to have turned to the west instead of toward the east, as we did. With this, we will leave this subject and will proceed to finish this treatise, since there are several noteworthy things of which I must give an account, which I have left to be treated more extensively in the two following chapters.

 

Chapter 7, of the adventures of Captain Juan Gallego while he was bringing reenforcements through the revolted country.

One might well have complained when in the last chapter I passed in silence over the exploits of Captain Juan Gallego with his 20 companions. I will relate them in the present chapter, so that in times to come those who read about it or tell of it may have a reliable authority on whom to rely. I am not writing fables, like some of the things which we read about nowadays in the books of chivalry. If it were not that those stories contained enchantments, there are some things which our Spaniards have done in our own day in these parts, in their conquests and encounters with the Indians, which, for deeds worthy of admiration, surpass not only the books already mentioned, but also those which have been written about the twelve peers of France, because, if the deadly strength which the authors of those times attributed to their heroes and the brilliant and resplendent arms with which they adorned them, are fully considered, and compared with the small stature of the men of our time and the few and poor weapons which they have in these parts,^[19] the remarkable things which our people have undertaken and accomplished with such weapons are more to be wondered at today than those of which the ancients write, and just because, too, they fought with barbarous naked people, as ours have with Indians, among whom there are always men who are brave and valiant and very sure bowmen, for we have seen them pierce the wings while flying, and hit hares while running after them. I have said all this in order to show that some things which we consider fables may be true, because we see greater things every day in our own times, just as in future times people will greatly wonder at the deeds of Don Fernando Cortez, who dared to go into the midst of New Spain with 300 men against the vast number of people in Mexico, and who with 500 Spaniards succeeded in subduing it, and made himself lord over it in two years.

The deeds of Don Pedro de Alvarado in the conquest of Guatemala, and those of Montejo in Tabasco, the conquests of the mainland and of Peru, were all such as to make me remain silent concerning what I now wish to relate; but since I have promised to give an account of what happened on this journey, I want the things I am now going to relate to be known as well as those others of which I have spoken.

The captain Juan Gallego, then, reached the town of Culiacan with a very small force. There he collected as many as he could of those who had escaped from the town of Hearts, or, more correctly, from Suya, which made in all 22 men, and with these he marched through all of the settled country, across which he traveled 200 leagues with the country in a state of war and the people in rebellion, although they had formerly been friendly toward the Spaniards, having encounters with the enemy almost every day. He always marched with the advance guard, leaving two-thirds of his force behind with the baggage. With six or seven Spaniards, and without any of the Indian allies whom he had with him, he forced his way into their villages, killing and destroying and setting them on fire, coming upon the enemy so suddenly and with such quickness and boldness that they did not have a chance to collect or even to do anything at all, until they became so afraid of him that there was not a town which dared wait for him, but they fled before him as from a powerful army; so much so, that for ten days, while be was passing through the settlements, they did not have an hour's rest. He did all this with his seven companions, so that when the rest of the force came up with the baggage there was nothing for them to do except to pillage, since the others had already killed and captured all the people they could lay their hands on and the rest had fled. They did not pause anywhere, so that although the villages ahead of him received some warning, they were upon them so quickly that they did not have a chance to collect. Especially in the region where the town of Hearts had been, he killed and hung a large number of people to punish them for their rebellion. He did not lose a companion during all this, nor was anyone wounded, except one soldier, who was wounded in the eyelid by an Indian who was almost dead, whom he was stripping. The weapon broke the skin and, as it was poisoned, he would have had to die if he had not been saved by the quince juice; he lost his eye as it was. These deeds of theirs were such that I know those people will remember them as long as they live, and especially four or five friendly Indians who went with them from Corazones, who thought that they were so wonderful that they held them to be something divine rather than human. If he had not fallen in with our army as he did, they would have reached the country of the Indian called Turk, which they expected to march to, and they would have arrived there without danger on account of their good order and the skill with which he was leading them, and their knowledge and ample practice in war. Several of these men are still in this town of Culiacan, where I am now writing this account and narrative, where they, as well as I and the others who have remained in this province, have never lacked for labor in keeping this country quiet, in capturing rebels, and increasing in poverty and need, and more than ever at the present hour, because the country is poorer and more in debt than ever before.

 

Chapter 8, which describes some remarkable things that were seen on the plains, with a description of the bulls.

My silence was not without mystery and dissimulation when, in chapter 7 of the second part of this book, I spoke of the plains and of the things of which I will give a detailed account in this chapter, where all these things may be found together; for these things were remarkable and something not seen in other parts. I dare to write of them because I am writing at a time when many men are still living who saw them and who will vouch for my account. Who could believe that 1,000 horses and 500 of our cows and more than 5,000 rams and ewes and more than 1,500 friendly Indians and servants, in traveling over those plains, would leave no more trace where they had passed than if nothing had been there — nothing — so that it was necessary to make piles of bones and cow dung now and then, so that the rear guard could follow the army. The grass never failed to become erect after it had been trodden down, and, although it was short, it was as fresh and straight as before.

Another thing was a heap of cow bones, a crossbow shot long, or a very little less, almost twice a man's height in places, and some 18 feet or more wide, which was found on the edge of a salt lake in the southern part,^[20] and this in a region where there are no people who could have made it. The only explanation of this which could be suggested was that the waves which the north winds must make in the lake had piled np the bones of the cattle which had died in the lake, when the old and weak ones who went into the water were unable to get out. The noticeable thing is the umber of cattle that would be necessary to make such a pile of bones.

Now that I wish to describe the appearance of the bulls, it is to be noticed first that there was not one of the horses that did not take flight when he saw them first, for they have a narrow, short face, the brow two palms across from eye to eye, the eyes sticking out at the side, so that, when they are ruuniug, they can see who is following them. They have very long beards, like goats, and when they are running they throw their heads back with the beard dragging on the ground. There is a sort of girdle round the middle of the body.^[21] The hair is very woolly, like a sheep's, very fine, and in front of the girdle the hair is very long and rough like a lion's. They have a great hump, larger than a camel's. The horns are short and thick, so that they are not seen much above the hair. In May they change the hair in the middle of the body for a down, which makes perfect lions of them. They rub against the small trees in the little ravines to shed their hair, and they continue this until only the down is left, as a snake changes his skin. They have a short tail, with a bunch of hair at the end. When they run, they carry it erect like a scorpion. It is worth noticing that the little calves are red and just like ours, but they change their color and appearance with time and age.

Another strange thing was that all the bulls that were killed had their left ears slit, although these were whole when young. The reason for this was a puzzle that could not be guessed. The wool ought to

Hopi basket maker

make good cloth on account of its fineness, although the color is not good, because it is the color of buriel.^[22]

Another thing worth noticing is that the bulls traveled without cows in such large numbers that nobody could have counted them, and so far away from the cows that it was more than 40 leagues from where we began to see the bulls to the place where we began to see the cows. The country they traveled over was so level and smooth that if one looked at them the sky could be seen between their legs, so that if some of them were at a distance they looked like smooth-trunked pines whose tops joined, and if there was only one bull it looked as if there were four pines. When one was near then, it was impossible to see the ground on the other side of them. The reason for all this was that the country seemed as round as if a man should imagine himself in a three-pint measure, and could see the sky at the edge of it, about a crossbow shot from him, and even if a man only lay down on his back he lost sight of the ground.^[23] I have not written about other things which were seen nor made any mention of them, because they were not of so much importance, although it does not seem right for me to remain silent concerning the fact that they venerate the sign of the cross in the region where the settlements have high houses. For at a spring which was in the plain near Acuco they had a cross two palms high and as thick as a finger, made of wood with a square twig for its crosspiece, and many little sticks decorated with feathers around it, and numerous withered flowers, which were the offerings.^[24] In a graveyard outside the village at Tutahaco there appeared to have been a recent burial. Sear the head there was another cross made of two little sticks tied with cotton thread, and dry withered flowers. It certainly seems to me that in some way they must have received some light from the cross of Our Redeemer, Christ, and it may have come by way of India, from whence they proceeded.

 

Chapter 9, which treats of the direction which the army took, and of how another more direct way might be found, if anyone was to return to that country.

I very much wish that l possessed some knowledge of cosmography or geography, so as to render what I wish to say intelligible, and so that I could reckon up or measnre the advantage those people who might go in search of that country would have if they went directly through the center of the country, instead of following the road the army took. However, with the help of the favor of the Lord, I will state it as well as I can, making it as plain as possible.

It is, I think, already understood that the Portuguese, Campo, was the soldier who escaped when Friar Juan de Padilla was killed at Quivira, and that he finally reached New Spain from Panuco,^[25] having trav. eled across the plains country until he came to cross the North Sea mountain chain, keeping the country that Don Hernando de Soto discovered all the time on his left hand, since he did not see the river of the Holy Spirit (Espiritu Santo) at all.^[26] After he had crossed the North Sea monntains, he found that he was in Panuco, so that if he haul not tried to go to the North sea, he would have come out in the neighborhood of the border land, or the country of the Sacatecas,^[27] of which we now have some knowledge.

This way would be somewhat better and more direct for anyone going back there in search of Quivira, since some of those who came with the Portuguese are still in New Spain to serve as guides. Nevertheless, I think it would be best to go through the country of the Guachichules,^[28] keeping near the South Sea mountains all the time, for there are more settlements and a food supply, for it would be suicide to launch out on to the plains couutry, because it is so vast and is barren of anything to eat, although, it is true, there would not be much need of this after coming to the cows. This is only when one goes in search of Quivira, and of the villages which were described by the Indian called Turk, for the army of Francisco Vazquez Coronado went the very farthest way round to get there, since they started from Mexico and went 110 leagues to the west, and then 100 leagues to the northeast, and 250 to the north,^[29] and all this brought them as far as the ravines where the cows were, and after traveling 850 leagues they were not more than 400 leagues distant from Mexico by a direct route. If one desires to go to the country of Tiguex, so as to turn from there toward the west in search of the country of India, he ought to follow the road taken by the army, for there is no other, even if one wished to go by a different way, because the arm of the sea which reaches into this coast toward the north does not leave room for any. But what might be done is to have a fleet and cross this gulf and disembark in the neighborhood of the Island of Negroes^[30] and enter the country from there, crossing the mountain chains in search of the country from which the people at Tiguex came, or other peoples of the same sort. As for enteriug from the country of Florida and from the North sea, it has already been observed that the many expeditions which have been undertaken from that side have been unfortunate and not very successful, because that part of the country is full of bogs and poisonous fruits, barren, and the very worst country that is warmed by the sun. But they might disembark after passing the river of the Holy Spirit, as Don Hernando de Soto did. Nevertheless, despite the fact that I underwent much labor, I still think that the way I went to that country is the best. There ought to be river courses, because the necessary supplies can be carried ou these more easily in large quantities. Horses are the most necessary things in the new countries, and they frighten the enemy most. . . Artillery is also much feared by those who do not know how to use it. A piece of heavy artillery would be very good for settlements like those which Francisco Vazquez Coronado discovered, in order to knock them down, because he had nothing but some small machines for slinging and nobody skillful enough to make a catapult or some other machine which would frighten them, which is very necessary.

I say, then, that with what we now know about the trend of the coast of the South sea, which has been followed by the ships which explored the western part, and what is known of the North sea toward Norway, the coast of which extends up from Florida, those who now go to discover the country which Francisco Vazquez entered, and reach the country of Cibola or of Tiguex, will know the direction in which they ought to go in order to discover the true direction of the country which the Marquis of the Valley, Don Hernando Cortes, tried to find, following the direction of the gulf of the Firebrand (Tizon) river. This will suffice for the conclusion of our narrative. Everything else rests on the powerful Lord of all things, God Omnipotent, who knows how and when these lands will be discovered and for whom He has guarded this good fortune.

 

Laus Deo.

Finished copying, Saturday the 26th of October, 1596, in Seville.

Pueblo pottery making

 

---

 

1. Or perhaps as Ternaux, p. 202, rendered it, "courir la bague."
2. Mota Padilla, cap. xxxii, 6. p. 166: "así el gobernador) como los demas capítanes del ejército, debian estar tan ciegos de la pasion de la codicia de riquezas, que no trataban de radicarse poblando en aquel paraje que veian tan abastecido, ni de reducir á los indios é instruirios en algo de la fé, que es lo que debian propagar: solo trataron de engordar sus caballos para lo que se ofreciese pasado el invierno; y andando adiestrando el gobernador uno que tenia muy brioso, se le fué la silla, y dando la boca en el suelo, quedó sin sentido, y aunque despues se recobró, el juicio le quedó diminuto, con lo cual trataron todos de desistir de la empresa." Gomara, cap. ccxiii: "Cayo en Tiguex del cavallo Francisco Vazquez, y con el golpe salio de sentido, y deuaneana: loqnal vnos tuuierō por dolor, y otros por fingido, ca estauan tual con el, porque no poblaua."
3. Or, During the time that he was confined to his bed,. . .
4. Compare the Spanish. Ternaux, p. 203: "Le chirurgien qui lo pansait et qui lui servait en même temps d'espion, l'avait averti du mécontentement des soldats."
5. Compare the Spanish.
6. Compare the Spanish text.
7. Ternaux, p. 209: "à une heure très avancée."
8. Compare the spelling of this name on page 460 of the Spanish text.
9. The correct date is, of course, 1542.
10. A Franciscan. He was a "frayle de misa."
11. General W. W. H. Davis, in his Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, p. 231, gives the following extract, translated from an old Spanish MS. at Santa Fé: "When Coronado returned to Mexico, he left behind him, among the Indians of Cibola, the father fray Francisco Juan de Padilla, the father fray Juan de la Cruz, and a Portuguese named Andres del Campo. Soon after the Spaniards departed, Padilla and the Portuguese set off in search of the country of the Grand Qnivira, where the former understood there were innumerable souls to be saved. After traveling several days, they reached a large settlement in the Quivira country. The Indians came out to receive them in battle array, when the friar, knowing their intentions, told the Portuguese and his attendants to take to flight, while he would await their coming, in order that they might rent their fury on him as they ran. The former took to flight, and, placing themselves on a height within view, saw what happened to the friar. Padilla awaited their coming upon his knees, and when they arrived where he was they immediately pnt him to death. The same happened to Juan de la Cruz, who was left behind at Cibola, which people killed him. The Portuguese and his attoudants made their escape, and ultimately arrived safely in Mexico, where he told what had occnrred." In reply to a request for further information regarding this manuscript, General Davis stated that when he revisited Santa Fé, a few years ago, he learned that one of his successors in the post of governor of the territory, having despaired of disposing of the immense mass of old documents and records deposited in bis office, by the slow process of nsing them to kindle fires, had sold the entire lot--An invaluable collection of material bearing on the history of the southwest and its early European and native inhabitants, — as jnnk.

    Mota Padilla, cap. xxxiii, 7, p. 187, gives an extended account of the friars: "Pero porque el padre Fr. Juan de Padilla cuando acompañó á D. Francisco Vazquez Coronado hasta el pueblo de Quivira, puso en el una cruz, protestando no desampararla aunque le costase la vida, por tener entendido hacer fruto en aquellos indios y en los comarcanos, determinó volverse, y no bastaron las instancias del gobernador y demas capitaues para que desistiese por entonces del pensamiento. El padre Fr. Luis de Ubeda rogó tambien le dejasen volver con el padre Fr.Juan de Padilla hasta el pueblo de Coquite, en donde lo parecia podrian servir de domesticar algo á aquellos indios por parecerle so hallaban con alguna disposicion; y que pues él era viejo, emplearia la corta vida que le quedase en procurar la salvacion de las almas de aquellos miserables. A su imitacion tambien el padre Fr. Juan de la Cruz, religioso logo (como lo era Fr. Lnis de Ubeda) pretendió quedarse en aquellas provincia de Tigües, y porque se discurrió que con el tiempo se conseguiria la poblacion de aquellas tierras, condescendió el gobernador á los deseos de aq nellos apostólicos varones, y les dejaron proveidos de lo quo por entónces pareció necesario; y tambien quiso quedarse un soldado, de nacion portogues, llamado Andres del Campo, con ánimo de servir el padre Padilla, y tambien dos indizuelos donados nombrados Lúcas y Sebastian, naturales de Michoacan; y otros dos indizuelos qne en el ejército hacian oficios de sacristanes, y otro mnchacho mestizo: dejáronle a dicho padre Padilla ornamentos y provision para que celebrase el santo sacrificio de la misa, y algunos bienecillos que pudiese dar á los indios para atraerlos é su voluntad.

    "8. . . . Quedaron estos benditos religiosos como corderos entre lobos; y viéndose solos, trató el padre Fr. Juan de Padilla, con los de Tigües, el fin que le movia á quedarse entre ellos, que no era otro que el detratar de la salvacion de ans almas; que ya los soldados se habian ido, que no les serian molestos, que él pasaba á otras poblaciones y les dejaba al padre Fr. Juan de la Cruz para que les fuese instruyendoen lo que debian saber para ser cristianos e hijos de la Santa Iglesia, como necesarío para salvar ens alnas, que les tratasen bien, y que él procuraria volver á consolarles: despidese con gran ternura, dejando, como prelado, lleno de bendiciones. á Fr. Juan de la Cruz, y los indios de Tigües señalaron una escuadra de sus soldados que guiasen a dichos padres Fr. Juan de Padilla y Fr. Luis de Ubeda hasta el pueblo de Coqnite, en donde les recibieron con demostraciones de alegría, y haciendo la misma reco mendacion por el padre Fr. Luis de Ubeda, le dejó, y guiado de otros naturales del mismo pueblo, salió para Quivira con Audres del Campo, dobados indiznelos y el muchacho mestizo: llegó á Quivira y se postró al pie de la cruz, qne halló en donde la habia colocado; y con limpieza, toda la circunferencia, como lo babia encargado, de que se alegró, y luego comenzó a hacer los oficios de padre maestro y apóstol de aquellas gentes; y halláudolas dócllos y con buen ánimo, se inflamó au corazou, y le pareció corto número de almas para Dios las de aquel pueblo, y trató de ensanchar los senos de nuestra madre la Santa Iglesia, para que acogiese á cuantos se le decia haber en mayores distancias.

    "9. Salió do Quivira, acompañado de su corta comitiva, contra la voluntad de los indios de aquel pueblo, que le amaban como á su padre, mas á una jornada le salieron indios de guerre, y conociendo mal ánimo de aquellos bárbaros, le rogó al portugues, que pues iba á cahallo bnyese, y que en en conserva llevase aquellos douscos y muchachos, que como tales podrian correr y escaparse: hicléronlo así por no hallarse capaces de otro modo para la defensa, y el bendito padre, hincado de rodillas ofreció la vida, que por reducir elmas áDios teuia sacrificada, logrando los ardientes deseos de an corazon, la felicidad de ser muerto flechado por aquellos indios bárbaros, quienes le arrojaron en un hoyo, cubriendo el cuerpo con innumerables piedras. Y vuelto el portugues con los indizuelos á Quivira, dieron la noticia, la que sintieron mucho aquellos naturales, por el amor que tenian á dicho parlre, y mas lo sintierau si hubieran tenido pleno conocimiento de la falta que les hacía; no sabe el dia de su muerte, aunque si se tiene por cierto baber sido en el año de 542: y en algunos papeles que dejó escrita D. Pedro de Tovar en la villa de Culiacan, se dice que los indios habian salido á matar á este bendito padre, por robar los ornamentos, y que babla memoria de que en su muerte de vieron grandes prodigios, como fué inundarse la tierra, verse globos de fuego, cometas y oscurecerse el sol.

    "10. . . . Del padre Fr. Juan de la Cruz, la noticia que se tiene es, que despues de haber trabajado en la instruccion de los indios en Tigües y en Coquite, murió flechado de indios, porque no todos abrazaron su doctrina y consejos, cou los que trataba detostasen sus bárbaras costumlires, aunque por lo general era muy estimado de los caciques y demas naturales, que babian visto la veneracion con que el general, capitanes y soldados le trataban. El padre Fr. Luis de Ubeda se mantenia en una choza por celda ó cueva, en donde le ministraban los indios,con un poco de atole, tortillas y frijoles, el limitado sustento, y no se supo de su muerte; si quedó entre cuantos le conocieron la memoria de su pefecta vida."

    When the reports of these martyrdoms reached New Spuin, a bumber of Franciscans were fired with the zeal of entering the country and carrying on the work thas begun. Several received official permission, and went to the pueblo country. One of them was killed at Tiguex, where most of them settled. A few went on to Cieuye or Pecos, where they found a cross which Padilla had set up. Proceeding to Quivira, the natives there counseled them not to proceed farther. The Indians gave them an account of the death of Fray Padilla, sud said that if he had taken their advice he would not have been killed.

12. Antonio de Espojo, in the Relacion of his visit to New Mexico in 1582 (Pacheco y Cardenas, Documentos de Indias, vol. xv, p. 180), states that at Zuñi-Cibola, "hallamos tres indios cristianos qne se digeron llamar Andrés de Cuyacan y Gaspar de México y Anton de Guadalajara, que digeron haber entrado con Francisco Vazquez, y reformándolos en la lengua mexicana que ya casi la tepian olvidada; destos supimos que liahia llegado alli el dicho Francisco Vazquez Coronado."
13. There were two settlements in Sonora bearing this name, one occupied by the Endeve and the other by the Tegui division of the Opata. The former village is the one referred to by Castañeda.
14. Mota Padilla, cap. xxxiii, 5. p. 166. says that at Sonora "murió un fulano Temifio, hermano de Baltasar Bañuelos, uno de los quatro mineros de Zacatecas; Lais Hernandez, Domingo Fernandes y otros."
15. Rudo Ensayo, p. 64: "Mago, en lengua Opata [of Sonora), es un arbol pequeño, mui lozano de verde, y hermoso á la vista; pero contiene una leche mortal que á corta incision de su corteza brota, con la que los Naturales snelen untar sus flechas; y por esto le llaman hierba de la flecha, pero ya pocos lo tisan. Sirbe tambien dicha leche para abrir tumores rebeldes, aunque no lo aconsejara, por su calidad venenoso." This indioates a euphorbiacea. Bandelier (Final Report, pt. 1, p. 77) believes that no credit is to be given to the notion that the poison need by the Indians may have been snake poison. The Seri are the only Indians of northern Mexico who in recent times have been reported to use poisoned arrows.
16. Ternaux, p. 223: "On parvint ainsi à Petatlan, qui dépend de la province de Culiacan. A cette époque, ce village était soumis. Mais quoique depuis il y ait eu plusieurs soulèvements, on y resta quelques jours pour se refaire." Compare the Spanish.
17. Gomara, cap. ccxiiii: "Quando llego a Mexico traya el cabello muy largo, y la barua trençada, y contaus estrañezas de las tierras, rios, y montañas, q͏̃ a trauesso. Mucho peso a don Antonio de Mendoça, que ee boluiessen, porque auis gastado mas de sesenta mil pesos de oro en la empresa, y aun deuia muchos dellos, y no trayan coba ninguna de alla, ni muestra de plata, ni de oro, ni de otra riqueza. Muchos quisieron quedarse alla, mas Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, que rico, y rezien casado era con hermosa muger, no quiso, diziendo, que no se podrian sustentar, ni defender, en tan pobre tierra, y tan lexos del bocorro. Caminaron mas de nouecientas leguas de largo esta jornada."
18. Ternaux, p. 228: "il n'y ait pas de succès à espérer sans peine; mais il vaut mieux que ceux qui voudront tenter l'entreprise, soient informés d'avance des peines et des fatigues qu'ont éprouvées leurs prédécesseurs."
19. The letters of Mendoza during the early part of his administration in Mexico repeatedly call attention to the lack of arms and ammunition among the Spaniards in the New World.
20. "Ternaux, p. 236: "l'on trouve sur le bord oriental d'un des lacs salés qui sont vers le sud, un endroit qui avait environ une demi-portée de mousquet de longueur, et qui était entièrement couvert d'os de bisons jusqu'à la hauteur de deux toises sur trois de large, ce qui est surprenant dans un pays désert, et où persoune n'aurait pu rassembler ces os."
21. Compare the Spanish. Ternaux, p. 237: "Ils ont sur la partie antérieure du corps au poil frisé semblable à la laine de moutons, il est très-fin sur la croupe, et lisse comme la crinière du lion."
22. The kersey, or coarse woolen cloth out of which the habits of the Franciscan friars were made. Hence the name, grey friars.
23. The earliest description of the American buffalo by a European is in Cabeza de Vaca's Naufragios, fol. xxvii verso (ed 1555): "Alcançã aqui vacas y yo las he visto tres vezes, y comido dellas: y paresceme que seran del tamaño de las de España: tienẽ los cuernos pequeños como moriscas, y el pelo muy largo merino como vna bernia, vnas son pardillas y otras negras: y a mi parescer tienen mejor y mas gruessa carne que de las de aca. De las que no son grandes hazen los indios mātas para cubrirse, y de les mayores hazen çapatos y rodelas: estas vienen de hazia el norte. . . mas de quatrociētas leguas y en todo este camino por los valles por donde ellas vienẽ baxan las gentes que por alll babitan y se mantienen dellas, y meten en la tierra grande contidad de cueros."

    Fray Marcos heard about these animals when he was in sonthern Arizona, on his way toward Cibola-Zuñi: "Aquí. . . me truxeron un cuero, tanto y medio mayor que de nna gran vaca, y me dixeroa ques de nn animal, que tiene solo un cuero en la frente y queste cuerno es corbo hácia los pecbos, y que de allí sale una punta derecha, en la cual dicen que tiene tanta fuerzs, que ninguna cosa, por recia que sea, dexa de romper, si topa con ella; y dicen que hay muchos animales destos en aquella tierra; la color del cuero es á manera de cabron y el pelo tan largo como el dedo." — Pacheco y Cardenas, Documentos de Indias, vol. iji, p. 341.

    Gomara, cap. ccxv, gives the following description to accompany his picture of these cows (plate lv, herein): "Son aquellos bueyes del tamaño, y color, que nuestros toros, pero no de tan grandes cuernos, Tienen vna gran giba sobre la cruz, y mas pelo de medio adelante, que de medio atras, y es lana. Tienen como clines sobre el espinazo, y mucho pelo, y muy largo de las rodillas abaxo. Cuelgan es por la frente grandes guedejas, y parece que tienen barues, segun los muchos pelos del garguero, y varrillas. Tienen la cola muy larga los machos, y con vn flueco grande al cabo: assique algo tienen de leon, y algo de camello. Hicren con los cuernos, corren, alcançan, y natan vn cauallo, quando ellos se embravecen, y enojan: finalmente es animal feo y fiero de rostro, y cuerpo. Huyẽ de los cauallos por en mala catadura, o por nunca los auer visto. No tienen sus dueños otra riqueza, ni hazienda, dellos comen, beuen, visten, calçan, y hazen muchas cosas de los cueros, casas, calçado, vestido y sogas: delos hnessos, punçones: de los nerulos, y pelos, hilo: de los cnernos, buches, y bexigas, vasos: de las boñigas, lumbre: de las terneras, odres, en que traen y tienen agna: hazen en fin tantas cosas dellos quantas han menester, o quantas las bastan para su biuieuda. Ay tambien otros animales, tan grandes como cauallos, que por tener cuernos, y lana fina, los llaman carneros, y dizen, que cada cuerno pesa dos arrouas. Ay tambien grandes perros, que lidian con vn toro, y que lleuan dos arrouas de carga sobre salmas, quando vã a caça, o quando se mudau con el ganado, y hato."

    Mota Padilla, cap. xxxiii, p. 161, says: "son estas vacas menores que las nnestras; su lana menuda y mas fina que le merida; por encima un poco morena, y entre si un pardillo agraciado, á la parte de atras es la lana mas menuda; y de allí para la cabeza, crian unos guedejones grandes no tan finos; tienen cuernos pequeños, y en todo lo demas son de la hechura de las nuestras, aunque mas cenceñas: los toros son mayoros, y ens pieles se corten dejándoles la lana, y sirven, por en suavidad, de mullidas camas; no se vió becerrilla alguda, y puede atribuirse, ó á los muebos lobos que lay entre ellas, ó á tener otros parajes mas seguros en que queden las vacas con sns crias, y deben de mudarse por temporadas, ó porque falten las aguas de aquellas lagnnas, ó porque conforme el sol se retira, les dañe la mutacion del temperamento, y por eso se advierten en aquellos llanos, trillados caminos ó veredas por donde entran y salen, y al mismo movimiento de las vacua, se mueven cnadrillas de iudios. . . . y se dijo ser desabrida la carne de la hembra, y es providencia del Altisimo, para que los indios maten los machos y reserven las hembras para el multiplico."

24. Scattered through the papers of Dr J. Walter Fewkes on the Zuñi and Tusayan Indiana will be found many descriptiona of the páhos or prayer sticka and other forma used as offerings at the ahrines, together with exact accounts of the manner of making the offerings.
25. The northeastern province of New Spain.
26. The conception of the great inland plain stretching between the great lakes at the head of the St Lawrence and the Gulf of Mexico came to coamographers very slowly. Almost all of the early mape show a diaposition to carry the mountaina which follow the Atlantic coast along the Gulf coast as far as Texas, a result, doubtless, of the fact that all the expeditiona which atarted inland from Florida found mountsina. Coronado a journey to Quivira addded but little to the detailed geographical knowledge of America. The name reached Europe, and it is found on the maps, along the fortioth parallel, almost everywhere from the Pacifio coast to the neighborhood of a western tribntary to the St Lawrence syatem. See the mapa reproduced herein. Castañeda could have aided them considerably, but the map makers did not know of his book.
27. Captain John Stevens Dictionary says that this is "a northern province of North America, rich in silver mines, but ill provided with water, grain, and other substances; yet by reason of the mines there are seven or eight Spanish towns if it." Zacatecus is now one of the central states of the Mexican confederation, being south of Coahuila and southeast of Durango."
28. Ternaux, p. 242, miscopied it Quachichiles.
29. Ternaux, p. 243, reads: "puis pendant six cent cinquante vers le nord, ... sorte qu'après avoir fait plus de huit cent cinquante lieues." ... The substitution of six for two may possibly give a number which is nearer the actual distance traversed, but the fact is quite unimportant. The impression which the trip left on Castañeda is what should interest the historian or the reader.
30. The dictionary of Dominguez says: "Isla de negros; ó isla del Almirantazgo, en el grande Océano equipoccial: grande isla de la América del Norte, sobre la costa oeste." Apparently the location of this island gradually drifted westward with the increase of geographical knowledge, until it was finally located in the Philippine group.