Laguna, New Mexico - Schat-chen; History, Traditions and Naratives [sic] of the Queres Indi (part 1 of 4)

Preface

We of today, the great Aryan race, who hold the scepter of civilization, must acknowledge our indebtedness - "with becoming admiration, what we have inherited from our Cushite predecessors. " - ^Baldwin.

They were the first civilizers, the first enlightened nation of antiquity. They taught the world the art of navigation, the phonetic alphabet and the science of numbers. They are the ones who gathered from different parts of the world and tamed nearly all of what we call our domestic animals. They were the architects who built the great monuments and cities, now in ruin, of Arabia, Egypt, Mexico and Central America. When at the height of their glory this nation had colonies in practically all parts of the world.

Index Introduction

History should be an accurate account of every significant fact, but a good deal of ancient history of remote, antiquity has come down to us from oral tradition. Before the invention of the phonetic alphabet, there was no other feasible way of recording acquired knowledge and historical events which people wished to preserve for future generations. After the science of letters was understood, it was an easy matter to copy these old yarns, but in many instances they had lost most of their original meaning; each one who repeated them imparted a certain personality and made slight changes. So it can be seen that traditions which have come down orally from dim antiquity to the present time, with never an attempt to analyze or confine to written words, present quite a problem for solution. Of such is the character of the Queres traditions. They are probably no more absurd than those of any of the ancient nations with which we' are acquainted ; for instance, the Grecian tradition of the Golden Fleece, or of Cadmus and the Dragon's Teeth, yet these traditions record two of the greatest scientific and historical facts of ancient times. The first circumnavigation of Africa by the Phoenecians. The second the introduction of phonetic writing in Europe. These, old yarns would be pretty hard to decipher if we had no other historical data to guide us; but with the Queres it is different. We have no Herodotus, no Plato, no StraJbo or Diadorus to help us; no inscriptions or hieroglyphics we might decipher, but we will proceed to untangle some of these knotty old yarns and abide by the verdict of the reader. We will begin with the authentic history left us by the early Spanish explorers in this country which introduces to us the Queres Pueblo Indians of Acoma and Laguna. We follow the accounts of these old Spanish Conquistadores as long as they remain sovereigns of New Mexico, then by the pale, flickering light of tradition trace the ancestors of these Queres Indians away into the dim past, if not to their origin at least to a remote antiquity, guided at times only by fragments of traditions, a word, a phrase or certain features of their language; scattered here and there at long intervals along the trail now almost obliterated. As we follow their wanderings we feel for them a melancholy sympathy ; they are the same in manner, customs and beliefs today as they were centuries before the haughty Caucasian trod the western continent, but at the dawn of the twentieth century we see the sign of a change and the time may be when the descendants of these Queres Indians will give to the world minds as great as the world has yet produced. Hoping that they may be guided and guarded by that great intelligence (Sitch-tche-nock-o) the spirit of reason to whom they pray, I have gathered these old myths, traditions and historical facts that have survived the obliterating influence of time.

Authentic History

Laguna, village of the lake, though the lake has long been drained, and where the ripples once chased each other across an expanse of water two miles long by onehalf mile wide, now wave fields of wheat and corn.

Youngest of the Queres villages, the exact date of settlement is indefinite. Certain, however, something more than 200 years have received the shelter of its walls and passed on to oblivion.

The Spanish records of the country put the date of settlement in the year 1699. De Thoma says: "The Queres of Cieneguilla, Santo Domingo and Cochiti constructed in the same year (1699) a new pueblo close to an arroyo, four leagues north of Acoma. On the fourth day of July, in 1699, this pueblo swore its vassalage and obedience, and received the name of 'San Jose de la Laguna.' " But from other historical sources and traditions it is evident that it was settled several years previous to this date.

The first reference to this 'particular place is by Hernando de Alvarado, an officer in the expedition of Coronado. In his report to the general he says:

"We set out from Granada (Ojo Caliente, one of the Zuni villages) on Sunday, the day of the beheading of John the Baptist, the 29th of August, in the year 1540, on the way to Co Co (Acoma). After we had gone two leagues we came to an ancient building, like a fortress, and a league beyond we found another, and yet another ; a little further on, and beyond these, we found an ancient city, very large, entirely destroyed, although a large part of the walls were standing, which were six times as tall as a man, the walls well made, of good stone>, with gates and glitters like a city in Castile. Half a league or more beyond this we found another ruined city, the walls of which must have been very fine, built of very large granite blocks as high as a man.

"Here t\\ o roads separate, one to Chia (Zia) and the other to Co Co (Acoma). We took the latter and reached that place, which is one of the strongest places that we have ever seen, because the city is on a very high rock, with such a rough ascent that we repented having gone up to the place. Theiiouses have three or four stories. The people are the same sort as those of the province of Cibola; they have plenty of food, of corn and beans and fowls, like those of New Spain. From here we went to a very good lake or (Laguna) marsh, where there are trees like those of Castile.

"From here we went to a river, which we named Nuestra Senora, because we reached it the evening before her day. In the month of September (8) we sent the cross by a guide to the village in advance, and the next day the people came from twelve villages, the chief men and people in order, those of one village behind those of another, and they approached the tent to the sound of a pipe, and with an old man for spokesman. In this, fashion they came into the tent and gave me the food and clothing and skins they had brought, and I gave them some trinkets and they went off.

"The river of Nuestra Senora flows through a very open plain, sowed with corn plants. There are several groves and there are twelve villages.

"The houses are of earth, two stories high. The people have a good appearance, more like laborers than a warlike race. They have a large food supply of corn, beans, melons and fowls in great plenty. They clothe themselves with cotton and skins of cows and dresses of the feathers of the fowls.

Authentic History 13

We regarded them as witches because they say that they go up into the sky, and other things of the same sort. In this province there are seven other villages, depopulated and destroyed by those Indians who paint their eyes, of whom the guide will tell your grace. They say that they live in the same region as the cows, and that they have corn and houses of straw. Here the people of another village came to make peace with me, and as your grace may see in this memorandum there are eighty villages there, of .the same sort as I have described, and among them one which is located on some stream. It is divided into twenty divisions, which is something remarkable. The houses have three stories of mud walls, and three others of small wooden boards, and on the outside of the three stories with the mud walls they have three balconies. It seems to us that there were nearly 15,000 persons in this village. The country is very cold. They do not raise fowls or cotton. They worship the sun and' water. In some mounds of earth outside of the places where they are buried and in the places where crosses were raised we saw them worship there. They made offerings .to these of their powder and feathers, and some left the blankets they had on. They showed so much zeal that some climbed up on the others to grasp the arms of the cross to place feathers and flowers there, and the others bringing ladders; while some held them others went up to tie strings so as to fasten the flowers and feathers. "

The lake of which Alvarado speaks, and which gave to the village the name of Laguna, was a short distance west of the pueblo. Geological evidence shows that at some time, many years ago, a stream of molten lava flowed down the valley, following the river, and filling up the channel where the stream ran, between bluffs, thus damming the river in many places and forming lakes.

Authentic History 15

Such was the lake at Laguna. It is evident that a much larger stream than the present one once flowed through the valley, filling the basins formed !by the lava flow and then pouring over the rocky obstructions, and in time wore a new channel through the solid lava, in some places a quarter of a mile long and forty feet deep, which must have taken ages to complete ; the water being furnished in all probability by local glaciers, as there are signs of glacial action and moraines in the Zuni mountains to the west. After a new channel had thus been formed and the lake drained there came a period of drought and the beavers, taking advantage of the narrow channels, constructed artificial dams, again backing up the water and refilled the basins. Such was the lake when Alvarado and his soldiers first passed through here.

When the Indians came to build the town the beavers were frightened away, but the villagers continued to repair the dam from time to time until the year 1850, when on account of religious disputes the people refused to obey the officers or work together in unity. The dam washed away and the lake was drained. The Spaniards named the stream which supplied the lake the Bio del Gallo, probably on account of the mud hens which infested these marshes and lakes in great numbers, and which have some resemblance to a chicken, but as no mention is made of any habitation, it is safe to say that there was no settlement here at that time.

Fifteen miles southwest of Laguna rises the great rock of Acoma, crowned by the ancient pueblo of the same name. Basking in the summer suns and swept by the winter blasts of centuries, the old village, though now slightly in ruins, still smiles on the nigged mesas and fantastically shaped rocks with which nature has surrounded it, the great buttes and curiously eroded pillars, nearly all of which have some entertaining story of folk-lore connected with it, and are sure to excite the imagination when viewed for the first time. The town was ever a source of wonder to the early Spaniards, who visited the country. They wrote the name indifferently, Co-co, Acuco, Tutuhaco, Hacus. Acuco was the name most frequently used. This name was adopted from the Zuni pronunciation. The native name for the village is Ah-ko or Stche-ahko, a contraction of the word iStche-ahko-ki or Stchuk-ko-ki, meaning a rude form of ladder, formed by driving sticks into the crevices of a rock. The Acoma Indians have a peculiar habit of accenting certain syllables of a word and slurring the rest. Thus it may be seen how the word originated.

From the base to the summit the rock of Acoma is about 300 feet, in area about sixty acres. There are at least ten trails leading up to the village from the valley below, two of which it is practical to ride on horseback.

The date of the first settlement of Acoma lies away back in the dim past. There was a tradition among them when the first Spaniards came into the country that their ancestors inhabited a valley about twelve miles north of Acoma, between the present Mexican village of Cubero and Mount Taylor, and that they were compelled to abandon their dwellings here and locate on the rock for protection against the constant raids of the Navajos and Apaches; this, they claimed, was 300 years before the coming of the Spaniards. This story is probable, as there are several ruins of pueblo villages in the valley.

Their stories and traditions show that at one time they inhabited the country to the west and south. There are extensive pueblo ruins in these parts not many miles distant from Acoma; the inhabitants, no doubt, being compelled to flee to the rock for mutual protection against their warlike neighbors.

One of the most notable sights in the vicinity of Acoma is the enchanted mesa, 430 feet from base to summit, with an area on top of about twelve acres. The

Authentic History 17

Indian name for this gigantic rock is Kut-se-nmh, meaning he who stands in the door. The walls are precipitous, but there is one place where it is practicable to climb to the top by the aid of ladders. It is not probable that this butte was ever inhabited.

Although Fray Marcos de Niza was the first white man to visit Zuni and the first to give to the world a definite description of Acoma or Hacus, as he called the village, Coronado 's soldiers were the first Europeans to gaze on the wounderful pueblo, and although most of Coronado's army passed this way on their journey to the Eio Grande, Coronado himself did not see Acoma till two years later, on his way back to Mexico.

As these pueblos are closely associated with the early Spanish history of New Mexico, I will begin with the first explorations in the country. The history of these pueblos is like a trail ; it has its beginnings and endings, crooks and turns, forks, branches and crossings ; in some places it is clear and easily followed, in other places it is dim or totally obliterated, and the historian is compelled to grope around, with no landmarks to guide him, nothing but a few fragments of tradition scattered here and there at long intervals. The authentic history of Laguna and Acoma begins with Coronado 's expedition at Zuni. On August 29, 1540, Coronado sent Alvarado with a company of twenty men to explore the country to the east, taking as guide the war captain of Pecos, who, with two companions, had come to Zuni to see the white men. The soldiers named the war captain "Bigotes," meaning "Mustaches. " The instructions to Alvarado were to return in eighty days, but, arriving at the Eio Grande and exploring the country quite thoroughly, he sent a messenger back with the report which we have already seen. About this time word was received that Tristan de Arellanes would soon arrive with reinforcements and fresh supplies from Sonora, so Coronado decided to move on to the river. With this end in view he dispatched Garcia Lopez de Cardenas to intercept Alvarado on his return and pick out a suitable place to camp the army for the winter. As soon as Arellanes arrived Coronado placed him in command, with instructions to move on to the river, after resting the army twenty days, while Coronado himself, with a company of thirty men, instead of following the direct route which Alvarado had traveled, diverged to the south of Acoma in order to explore the country and visit a group of six or eight pueblos, at that time supposed to have been inhabited, to the southeast of Zuni.

After a journey of eight days of hardships, occasioned by cold and lack of water, Coronado and his little band reached the Kio Grande, near Isleta, and soon after joined Alvarado and Cardenas, twenty-four miles further north. The winter of 1540-41 seemed to have been very severe, but the Spanish suffered very little from the cold, being domiciled in comfortable houses. Castenada says : "As it was necessary that the Indians should give the Spaniards lodging places, the people in one village had to abandon it and go to others belonging to their friends, and they took nothing with them but themselves and the clothing they had on." But the Spaniards' clothing was wearing out and to provide new wearing apparel for his soldiers Coronado ordered the governor of Tiguex, a large pueblo close to where the army was encamped, to furnish 300 or more pieces of suitable cotton cloth. The governor agreed to furnish what cloth his people could spare, but suggested that the levy be divided among the different pueblos. Acting on this suggestion, Coronado sent his soldiers up and down the valley to collect the cloth. This turned out to be nothing less than a foraging expedition. Instead of taking what was given, the soldiers took what they wanted. At one of the towns a Spaniard got into trouble over a woman, the wife of one of the principal men of the village. The Indians brought this grievance before the commander, but failed to obtain satisfaction. Concluding that there was no justice to be expected from the Spaniards they decided on a bold move, and one which, had it been successful, would have seriously affected the Spaniards. This was to drive the horses of the expedition inside the fortifications of Tiguex. This village was surrounded by a palisade or picket fence of cedar posts. In getting possession of the horses one of the Indian herders was killed, but the other escaped and gave the alarm to the Spaniards, who came in a body to the rescue of their animals. The pueblos were forced to abandon the greater part of the herd, but a few of the horses were rushed into the enclosure and the gates hastily barred. The next day some of the Spaniards went to the village to see about their horses. The Indians refused to allow them to enter the fortifications. The horses were being chased around and shot with arrows.

One account says that forty head of horses and seven head of the general's mules were killed at this time by the Indians. The Spaniards then attacked the town, but on account of its being so well fortified they could accomplish nothing. The general then ordered his soldiers, under Cardenas, to attack another town close to Tiguex, but not so well fortified. The fight lasted two days and nights, and then, under promise of fair treatment, the Pueblos surrendered. The instructions to Cardenas were to make an example of the Indians, so as to intimidate the rest of the natives and make them fear the Spaniards. Accordingly he had 200 of them burned at the stake, The rest of the Pueblos, whom the Spaniards had under guard, seeing the fate of their companions, broke away from their captors, but were pursued by the horsemen and slain to a man.

body of the army, under Tristan de Arellanes, arrived from Zuni. Intercourse between the Pueblos and the Spaniards was suspended. For nearly two months the army remained in its quarters, partly for this reason and partly on account of the snow and cold weather. The order which had been executed by Cardenas had its effect. The natives were suspicious and afraid of the ^Spaniards and refused all attempts at communication volunteered by the white men, especially at the village of Tiguex. As time passed the Spaniards became restless and wished to restore friendly relations and confidence with the natives. For this reason Cardenas, with a guard of thirty men, went to the village of Tiguex to have a talk with the principal men. The governor and one man agreed to meet him outside the village, provided he came alone and unarmed. This was complied with, and when the three had come together the governor seized Cardenas, while his companion struck him twice on the head with a club which he had brought concealed under his blanket. The guards, seeing their chief in danger, rode hastily up and rescued him, while the two Indians retreated to the shelter of the village, the inhabitants meanwhile pouring a shower of arrows on the Spaniards, but without doing any severe damage. Coronado then ordered an attack on Tiguex, but on account of its fortified condition and the fierce resistance of the Indians he changed his tactics and settled down to besiege the town, well knowing that in time the natives would be compelled to surrender. The siege lasted fifty days. The lack of water at last determined the Indians to abandon the town. This was done one dark night, but they were discovered and the sentries gave the alarm, and a fierce hand-to-hand fight ensued, in which nearly all the Indians were killed or forced to jump into the river and were drowned. What few escaped were captured the next day and forced into slavery.

Authentic History 21

Alvarado to the Eio Grande, and from there to Pecos, where the Spaniards were royally received. There at the village of Pecos Alvarado met an Indian of a different tribe, a foreigner. The Spaniards gave him the name of Turk, on account of his peculiar head-dress. He entertained his eager listeners with wonderful stories of a land far to the east, which he called "Quivira," and the fantastic imagination of the Spaniards easily pictured a land far richer than Hernando Cortez had found in Mexico, or Francisco Pizarro in Peru. The Turk accompanied Alvarado 's command back to the Rio Grande, and when Coronado arrived and heard the stories the Turk was the lion of the hour; nothing was talked of but the land of "Quivira" and the great treasures of gold and silver which the Turk described.

The Turk claimed that he had brought some trinkets of gold and silver and that the people of Pecos had taken them away from him. To obtain these trinkets Coronado sent Alvarado with a small squad of men back to Pecos. The people of the village solemnly denied ever having seen the gold and silver of the Turk. Unable to get what he was sent for, he succeeded in arresting the governor and his war captain and took them to the army headquarters, and during all this time they were held as close prisoners by order of Coronado. The historian tells us how, after keeping these two Indians prisoners for six months, they finally turned them loose, and then the expedition started on that grand march, with the Turk as guide, in search of the "Quivira," across the seemingly boundless plains of Kansas, and after reaching somewhere near the south boundary of Nebraska, they strangled the unfortunate Turk, thinking that he had deceived them, and then returned to the land of the Pueblos.

It is possible that the Turk was sincere and was leading the Spaniards to the great copper deposits of Lake Superior. Although Pedro de Tobar had arrived with supplies and reinforcements to assist Coronado in his search for the "Quivira," the general decided to return, and after giving the army a brief rest, conducted the expedition back to Mexico, passing by Acoma and the present site of Laguna in the year 1542.

Almost half a century passes before we again hear of this country. The reports brought back by the expediton of Coronado were not reassuring, and few cared to brave the cold, the drought, the storms and the privations which seemed the only reward to (be gained; but among these few were yet stout hearts willing to plunge into the wilderness of what is now New Mexico and Arizona for the sake of science and their religious faith. Among these was Antonio Espejo, who commanded an expedition to New Mexico in 1582. This expedition was organized by Fray Bernardino Beltran for this purpose, and for which he obtained permission from the viceroy of Mexico to rescue or determine the fate of three priests - Augustino Bodrigues, Juan de Santa Maria and Francisco Lopez - who had come to the Pueblos the summer previous with a small escort of twenty-eight men, under the command of Sanchez Chamuscado; the priests with their servants remaining among the Indians while the escort was sent back to Mexico. A short time after, however, two of the servants appeared in Mexico and reported that the priests had been assassinated, and to determine the truth this expedition started toward the north, following the Eio Grande, or as near to it as practical. Arriving at the pueblo of Tiguex, which Espejo calls Paola, in the winter of 1582, they learned that the report which the servants had circulated in Mexico was true.

Espejo And Beltran

Espejo and Beltran then turned their attention to exploring the country, visiting Acoma, Zuni and the Moqui villages, ajid going as far west as where the town of Flagstaff now stands. From there they returned, passing by Zuni, Acoma and the present site of Laguna, in the early summer of 1683, and after visiting a few more of the Pueblos in the vicinity of the Bio Grande the explorers continued on to the Pecos village, where their reception was not very cordial, but nothing occurred to mar the record of the expedition. From here they followed the Pecos river to its junction with the Eio Grande, and thence to Mexico.

Espejo and Beltran were men of intelligence and humane principles. The account of their expedition is a bright page in history, not like that of Coronado and some others, who came later, who left to posterity a record stained with blood. Espejo was the first to give to the world an exact and minute account of the country and its inhabitants. He says: "Here we found houses very well built, with gallant lodgings, and in most of them were stoves (fireplaces probably) for the winter season. Their garments were of cotton and deerskins and the attire both of men and women was after the manner of the Indians of Mexico. But the strangest thing of all was to see both men and women wear shoes and boots with good soles of neat's leather, a thing which we never saw in any. other part of Mexico. The women keep their hair well combed and dressed, wearing nothing else on their heads. In all these towns they had caciques, people like the caciques of Mexico, with sergeants to execute their commands, who go through the town proclaiming with a loud voice the pleasure of the cacique, commanding the same to be put into execution. The weapons they use are strong bows with arrows headed with flint, which will pierce through a coat of mail, and macanas, which are clubs of half a yard to a yard long, so set with sharp flints that they are sufficient to cleave a man asunder in the midst. They also use a kind of shield made of rawhide." It is a peculiar fact that within the last 100 years many of the arts practiced by the Pueblo Indians at the time of the Spanish invasion have been discontinued or lost.

One of these was the tanning of leather. At Laguna the first settlers understood the art, as the old vats in the sandstone indicate. This process was accomplished, probably, by the aid of the canaigre root, a species of dock, which carries a large percentage of tannic acid and which grows luxuriantly in the arid places of the southwest.

Another was the raising of the cotton plant. This was cultivated at Laguna and Acoma and probably by the Pueblos farther west. It is true the climate is too cold to make much success farming cotton at these puehlos, but it may have been of a more hardy variety than that which is now cultivated in the southern states. The average temperature at Laguna and Acoma is about 60 degrees, but subject to extreme variations. In the winter the thermometer frequently records 20 degrees below zero, and in summer very often 100 degrees above. They still do some weaving, such as belts and legging strings and a coarse woolen cloth which in color is black and used as an outer garment by the women, and worn in the same fashion as when Castenada wrote his narrative. He says: "They wear long robes of feathers and skins of hares and cotton blankets. The women wear blankets, which they ti-Q or knot over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm out." They also wove a coarse cloth out of the maguey plant. This cloth was used as a background on which to construct their feather robes.

The women wear heavy leggings; these leggings are of buckskins, wound several times around, in some instances two or three inches thick. The principal reason for wearing them now seems to be style, but it may have been adopted primarily to guard against snakes.

At Laguna and Acoma were formerly large droves of turkeys ; they were herded something after the manner of sheep. They told the Spaniards that the turkeys were reared for their feathers.

They had no idea of the metals other than the name. Espejo, being a practical miner, examined the mineral resources of the country over which he traveled quite thoroughly, considering the time he was here, and speaks very flatteringly of the mineral deposits; not quite so enthusiastically, however, as Fray Geronimo Zarata de Salmeron, whom I will speak of later, who says:

"As for saying that this is a poor country, I answer that there has not been discovered in the whole world a country of more mineral deposits than New Mexico. " When we consider that at that time New Mexico embraced nearly all of the country west of the Missouri river, we come to the conclusion that Salmeron was correct in his statement. The ideas of the early Spaniards with regard to the mineral wealth of New Mexico were romantic, and would have led one at that time to suppose that Midas had visitecj this country. The seven cities of Cibola - what fantastic dreams of gold and silver chased each other through the brains of those old Spaniards, and when it was discovered that those fabled cities were nothing more than rude Indian villages, with houses built of mud, with no doors except a hole in the roof, as one writer says, "like the hatchways of ships. " Another mirage started up in the distance to lure them on - The "Gran Quivira ' '- - but still it is not to be wondered at that the most absurd tales of treasure in this vast wilderness of the north would find belief after the dis- covery of such quantities of gold and silver by Cortez in Mexico and Pizarro in Peru, and this feverish craze seems to have been the principal incentive for most of the early explorations in this country. In the year 1862 there was found in the pueblo of San Juan, forty miles north of Santa Fe, a peculiar old document by Theodore Greiner, at that time agent for the Pueblo Indians. It Supposes to be a conversation between Cortez and Montezuma. This is the manuscript translated from the .Spanish :

6 i They will respect and obey me in whatsoever I will command, there being nothing in my order against you. I will treat all with much leniency, without prejudice to any. I will teach them the law of Jesus Christ, God of Heaven, Him unto whom all should render and give infinite thanks for the benefaction they are about to receive from the Children of the Sun ; that they should ever come to receive cheerfully the waters of baptism and to which should respond all the Indians who hold good faith and disposition to follow the Christian faith.

1 i From this issued much pleasure and delight among all the people, dances taking place in which there was shown no rancor or complaint against the Children of the $un, and seeing this the king, Montezuma, who had manifested as much joy, said to the great Cortez that, as Ms children had had so much joy in being transferred to Ms ( Cortez ?s) control, he charged Mm that he would look upon them and would treat them with much leniency, and would teach them to worship the most true God, to which Cortez answered him that he thus would act, for which purpose they both signed it in Mexico the same date. After this being signed Montezuma commanded all the Indians to present homage (render tribute) to the great Cortez, which the Indians fulfilled, running to their places of habitation, some to bring jars of gold, others pieces of silver, oth?rs pointing out the very rich mines they had of gold and silver. The young Indians presented their baskets of fruit and eatables for all the Children of the Sun. This current of feeling and action reached all the Indians. In all the pueblos they came to visit, nothing was hidden. And the great Cortez regaled them with all that was brought for which reason there was much joy, that he saw for himself that in being subdued they had not felt nor held complaint, and that they were rather pleased with the Children of the Sun on being acquainted. Montezuma and the great Cortez returned to confer. Montezuma asked of the latter that he would tell him how he knew of this kingdom, as that was what he wished to make manifest. The great Cortez said: 'Great monarch, I will tell you how I came to know of the discovery of this great kingdom. There was a little schoolgirl named Maria Aguada de Jesus in the convent, who was absent from school for two hours. Upon the mistress going to punish her this said child said that if she would not punish her she would tell the truth of where she had been. Then the mistress said, 1 i Well, tell me where you have been. ' ' Then she said to the mistress: "In that moment much water appeared, which I saw, and I went through it until Iwas able to step upon the other side, where there was a great kingdom in which were many Indian dances ; and I saw a great king who had an imperial crown of gold upon his head, all emplumed." Whereupon the mistress went and related this to the king of Spain, and as this king now had notice of the king of Indians but did not know where he was to foe found until this little girl discovered it, the king ordered that she (the little child) should take three days* time to arrive and bring with her the plumes of that king's crown for certain. The child came and the king, being about to go forth to dance, as soon as he took off the crown the girl took the plumes and went and presented them to the king of Spain.

Espejo And Beltean 29

" 'As soon as the king took hold of the plumes in his hand, he said: "Eagle plumes the king of the Indians wears; make diligence to know where he is that I may engage to conquer him." Thus it was, great monarch, that your kingdom was made known. Now I also wish you to answer me, concerning how mnay provinces has New Mexico, and mines of gold and silver T The monarch said: ll will respond to you forever as you have to me. I command this province, which is the first of New Mexico - the pueblo of Teguayo, which governs one hundred and two pueblos. In this pueblo there is a great mine near-by in which they cut with stone hatchets the gold of my crown. The great province of Zuni, where was born the great Malinche. This pueblo is very large, increasing in Indians of light complexion, who are governed well. In this province is a silver mine and this caiptal controls eighteen pueblos. The province of the Moqui ; the province of the Navajos ; the great province of the Grand Quivira that governs the pueblos of the Queres and the Tanos. These provinces have different tongues, which only La Malinche understands. The province of Acoma, in which there is a blackish-colored hill in which there is found a silver mine/ Seeing this, the great monarch sent Malinche to these provinces of New Mexico to the new conquests. And La Malinche conquered and took possession of the part in which were all in the best disposition to comply with the orders of the great monarch, for which he commanded it to the Spaniards who entered to locate their missions. "

There doesn't seem to be anything particularly remarkable about this old manuscript but nonsense, except where it speaks of: "The province of Acoma, in which there is a blackish-colored hill in which there is found a silver mine." *

Here is a letter which may have some bearing on the subject. It explains itself, barring probably a slight introduction. Col. W. G. Marmon, to whom the letter was written, came to this country in 1868 and married into the Laguna tribe, and was therefore a member of the pueblo. William Brockway, who wrote the letter, was employed by the Atlantic & Pacific Eailroad Company as foreman on a work train :

"Pursuant to our agreement, entered into July 1st, 1889, regarding a silver mine in Valencia county, N. M., I will endeavor to give you a sketch of the history of the finding of this mineral. It will necessarily be a long story to make the matter plain to you, but I will make it as brief as possible. During the winter and spring and up to July 1st, 1882, I was employed on the A, & P. E. E. as foreman of a work train. I had with me as timekeeper and operator Matt Daly, who was given the mineral by an Indian at McCarties station. "We were laying at Mc- Carties and working between Bluewater and Eio Puerco, Daly showed me the mineral about the time it was given him. We were all this time like two brothers, sleeping together and everything, but the exact location of this mineral I was knowing to. He showed me the mineral at once. It looks just as if silver and lead had been melted and run together. It is as dark through as lead or darker, in thin pieces, but cuts bright with a knife; it is in exactly the form of melted lead. I considered this a freak of nature, a blow-out of an ore chimney at a time of immense heat and eruption. I finally got him to have it assayed. He sent a piece to Burlingame - Deflver - and got a return of $800, and a little more, to the ton. He would not believe it and sent samples to San Francisco and Socorro and they all agreed closer than usual in assays. He was then satisfied he had a good thing and told me considerably of his past mining experience and said he had been beat out of the only good claims he ever had in Leadville and the Black Hills and was bound no one should know of the locality of this mineral until he was sure of his location. He made no location, as he was in error regarding locating on Indian land, on account of being all through the Black Hills campaign with Crook and saw the government would not let any whites locate on Indian land. His idea then was to go to Washington ; he had a friend, Congressman Boss of Ohio, who had been an operator with him when they were boys together. He told me repeatedly that all he wanted was a very narrow strip from the side or end of the grant ; that the mineral was just inside of the grant line. I at this time never had any doubts or thoughts of it being anywhere but on the Acoma grant, nor ever have since. It was mutually understood between us that it was there. The mineral was given him at McCarties. It was from there he went to the place, never being gone long enough to go any distance. The fact of his wanting this map shows it was not on the Navajo reservation, although I was with him in the cashier's - Denison's - office when he told Joe Allen, a relative of Drnison's, that if he (Allen) insisted upon it, that it was on the Navajo reservation, he could have it so. Joe Allen worked on Matt two or three days and I guess started him on the drunk in order to get the information from him. You have probably heard of this story and of their hunting the Navajo country high and low for this mineral. I know that Matt was never on or near the Navajo reservation and that was how he came to admit to Allen th*t, it was in the Navajo reservation, just to put him off. I believe I have seen the Indian at McCarties station that gave Matt the mineral. He used .to hang around the boarding cars. I don't know as he lives right there at the station. Also Matt told me of an Indian at Bibo's store at Grants taking a piece of this mineral as big or bigger than your hand out of the top of a sack of wool. He bought it of the Indian and buried it, so he told me. We were ordered into town the last day of June, '82, to disband our outfit. Matt and I roomed together at LilwalPs on Front street. He had said before this that he would start for Washington when we got through with the work or job we were at. On July 5th or 6th he started, on the night of the third he got on the drunk that finally caused his death in Elmira, N. Y. I said to him the night of the 4th in the room at LilwalPs, when I saw he was on the drunk, that I proposed going east with him. He would not hear to it, said he wanted me to stay right where I was and watch things and see that no one got onto it while he was gone and that I should consider myself a partner in it. He would have told me where it was, that is the exact location, but I said no, that if anyone should get onto it while he was away I might be blamed for it, and I would rather not know it; of course being distinctly understood always that it was in the neighborhood of where he was given the mineral. I said to him: "Now, Matt, between you and me as partners in this matter, is there enough in this to justify you in going f " He said there was not sacks nor teams enough in Albuquerque to haul away what was just buried under the sand all ready to sack up. He said it was covered up by sand but you could kick it out of the sand or soil with your foot. He kept on the drunk all the way east and died in Elmira, N. Y., from exhaustion and delirium. The map I send with this is the one I gave him at LilwalPs. I have marked a few locations I wanted to look up, the line running northwest and southeast is on a dike of trap rock, but I think you would do better to hunt among the

Espejo And Beltran 33

Indians for lead. It was my intention to hunt this up myself. I have been at McCarties twice about six years ago for that purpose, but could only stay a day or two and could do nothing. I got the job at El Eito in hopes of being transferred to McCarties "

It appears from this old document that the name Zuni originated and was applied to these Indians at that early date. The name is a construction of a Queres word, Se-un-ne, meaning acquainted. The Zuni name for themselves is iShe-we.

The first iSpanish explorers in this country called them "Cibola." The Queres language has given several words to the English vocabulary - Coconino, the name of a county in Arizona, The word is a modification of Co-ne-ne, a name applied to the Supai Indians, inhabiting a branch of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. The name means nearly the opposite of the word for Zuni ; as generally applied it means a person who is dull, or very reserved, or hard to get along with.

Of The Province

In the early spring of the year 1598, Juan de Onate entered the province of New Mexico with a command of 201 men, taking formal possession and assuming control as first governor of the territory, commissioned by Count de Monterey, viceroy of Mexico. Going as far north as the pueblo of San Juan, close to where the Eio Chama enters the Eio Grande, here he established his headquarters and base of supplies, naming the new settlement San Gabriel. Onate entered upon the work with an energy worthy of the time, visiting all the pueblos of New Mexico, and even those in what is now the territory of Arizona, the first year, receiving from each their oath of allegiance and obedience to Spain. It was Onate 's wish and cherished ambition to explore the country to the west, as far as the coast, and as everything seemed tranquil, he decided to carry his wish into effect. Going ahead with a small company, intending to rendezvous at a certain place in Arizona where Juan de Zaldivar with reinforcements should join him later. It had been noticed that the cacique or governor of Acoma, Zuta-kapan (the name probably a construction of Seutchene-kapana, meaning I gave him pancakes), was one of the very last to come before the governor and take the oath of allegience, and this was done in a sullen manner. But at this time Onate considered the occurrence not worth of serious thought. The oath was taken on October 27, 1598. On December 4, just a month and 8 days later, Zaldivar and his companions arrived at Acoma, and camped at the foot of the rock. The Spaniards confiding in the apparrent friendship of the Indians, climbed the steep trail and were scattered through the village in small groups, when all at once without a moment's warning, the Indians rushed upon them and hand-to-hand the Spaniards fought for their lives, but the numbers were against them. Zaldivar was killed by Zutakapan with a club. Besides Zaldivar, 10 of his men fell before the fury of the Indians. Two servants were thrown into the crevices of the rock and perished there. Five of the soldiers jumped from the rock to the valley below; one lost his life and the other four escaped with slight injuries. These carried the news back to Onate, who, hearing of the trouble had returned to San Gabriel. He immediately dispatched Vicente de Zaldivar with 70 men to punish the Acomas and quell the revolt. On January 21 the Spaniards appeared before the pueblo of Acoma. On the 22nd they began the attack, fighting two days and one night before the Indians surrendered. Of the 3,000 inhabitants of the village but 600 remained. These were compelled by the Spaniards to abandon the village on the rock and build habitations in the valley, the old town being destroyed and the fortification torn down. Onate 's account of this is certainly exagerated, not only with regard to the number of inhabitants, but other things.

On the south side of the Acoma mesa is a detached portion with quite a wide space separating it from the main rock on which the village stands, except at one place where it narrows down, forming a possible crossing. It is said that after the Spaniards had gained possession of this rock, Vincente de Zaldivar clad in a full suit of mail jumped across this chasm. But this circumstance should go a long way towards expelling any doubt as to the location.

Some historians think that the description of the place where the fight took place, as given by Onate, is not applicable to Acoma, and that it is a question whether this trouble did not occur at some other village similarly situated. The Acoma Indians have no tradition of this particular fight or that the town was ever destroyed, nor does the old village show any evidence of having once been torn down, and there is no indication of any settlement having been made in the valley near the Acoma mesa. It is possible that Zaldivar and his companions mistook some other pueblo for the real Acoma.

To the west of Acoma and within a radius of 15 to 20 miles are the ruins of several different pueblos, some of these like Acoma and similarly located, one in particular, about 16 miles west of the pueblo. Here are the ruins of a village, or rather two villages, close together, on a rock of about the same dimensions as that of Acoma. The place is known to the Americans as the i i Montezuma mesa" and to the Acoma and Laguna Indians as the Aut-sin-ish, meaning "like a woman's dress." The ruins appear as though the village had been destroyed by some other force than the slow disintegration that time produces.

To jump from either Acoma or this rock would be equally dangerous. At the foot of the mesa in the valley are the ruins of a compact village, which might correspond to the dwellings which the Spaniards compelled the Indians to build after the village on the rock was destroyed.

On the 7th of October, 1604, Onate, accompanied by 32 men, sallied forth on his last trip of exploration that history records. This was the second attempt to clear away the mists that veiled the country to the west.

Like the former expedition, in which the brave Zaldivar lost his life, this came very near ending disastrously. Passing by Acoma in the fall of 1604, then to Zuni and from there to the Moqui pueblos, thense southwest to about where the town of Prescott is located, thence south to the Gila river, which he followed to its junction with the Eio Colorado, which stream he followed to its mouth; crossing the river here he took for-

On his return, instead of retracing the route already traveled, Onate struck a direct course northeast toward the pueblos. The expedition was launched almost immediately into a trackless desert, where thickets of cactus contested their march at every step. They suffered severely from lack of water. Their provisions became exhausted and finally they were compelled to kill and eat their horses for food. The expedition at last reached Zuni in a forlorn condition in the spring of 1605. Onate held the office of governor until the year 1608.

From this date on for 72 years the history of New Mexico is almost a complete blank. Santa Fe was settled by Europeans some time between 1605 and 1616. There are several reasons for this discrepancy. Principal among these was the Pueblo revolt of 1680. General Antonio de Otermin, who was governor of New Mexico at that time, may have carried many of the records away, and these might yet be found in Mexico or in Madrid, and possibly some of them in Rome. What were left were destroyed by the infuriated Indians.

Another destruction of valuable records occurred in 1846. Governor Manuel Armijo allowed many valuable records to be used in making cartridges to repel the Americans under the command of General Kearney, but were never used. It was reported that William A. Pile, who was governor of the territory in 1869-70, consigned many valuable documents, historical records and land papers to the waste basket, thinking no doubt that was the quickest way to settle the grant title question, which was even then, and has been ever since, a thorn in the side of New Mexico, by retarding immigration and keeping the people in isolated communities where ignorance is the password. There are many valuable church records of historical value still in existence. In 1618 Ger- onimo de Zarate de Salmeron was appointed first parish priest of the pueblos, embracing Jemez, Zia and Acoma, consequently visiting the latter many times. He returned to Mexico, where he lived to write a valuable work, entitled Relaciones. Acoma, ever a rebellious factor, revolted against the Spanish rule in 1629 and again in 1645.

In the year 1650 the Pueblo Indians were on the verge of a grand rebellion, faint rumblings of the storm which 30 years later swept the Spaniards from the country. A priest by the name of Juan Bamirez lived in Acoma during the decade 1650-60 and returned to Mexico, where he died in the year 1664. The Acomas, who from the first defied the authority of the Spanish soldiers, allowed the priests to come among them unmolested, and had these old generals used a milder form of persuasion to bring the -Pueblo Indians under subjection than the force of gunpowder, the sword, and the battleaxe, I would have no hesitation in saying that there would have been little trouble with these people.

Nearly all who wrote at this time of the Pueblos testify to the amity of their disposition. Alvarado says, ' * The people have a good appearance, more like laborers than a war-like race." Castaneda says, " These people are not cruel. " Jaramillo says, "All these Indians, except the first in the first village of Cibola, received us well."

The Pope Rebellion

The coming of the bearded warriors with coats of mail had been prophesied years before by the Indian seers, and the natives as a rule revered the first of those haughty Conquistadores with a deference almost akin to worship, but the cruel treatment in return and the heartless persecution kindled a spark of hatred and distrust which smouldered in the hearts of the Pueblo Indians for years, and at last blazed forth in that fierce fire of revenge, the great Pueblo revolt, sometimes called the "Pope rebellion, " when, with but probably a single exception, every Caucasian was put to death or driven from the country, and for 12 years the Pueblos held the country against the successive attacks of Otermin, Ramirez, Cruzate and Posada and it was owing to enmity among the Pueblos, which resulted in a war, and prevented them from acting in unity, that Diego de Vargas reconau-°rrd them in 1691-92.

There is a difference of opinion among historians as to the cause of these wars among the Pueblos after the Spaniards were compelled to abandon the country. I will not stop to debate the cause. Enough to say that the facts show it to have been jealousy and rivalry. This rebellion, which proved so destructive to the Spaniards, was planned and generaled by a Tigua Indian from the Pueblo of San Juan, known to history as Pope, at , that time a fugitive from justice, and living in Taos. The word Pope is a Queres word, "you tell," and it is probable that he was of Queres extraction.

It was intended that the general revolt should take place on the 13th of August, and plans laid accordingly. Somewhere about the latter part of June or the first of July Pope sent to each of the different Pueblos, with the exception of the Piros, who refused to join the rebellion, messengers with final instructions and bearing a knotted cord for each of the villages, each knot corresponding to a day, and when the last knot was counted the massacre was to begin ; but Pope, hearing that the Spaniards were aware of the contemplated outbreak, changed the date to three days earlier, and the storm burst forth with all its fury on August 10, 1680. Every Spaniard was sentenced to death, 380 soldiers and civilians and 21 priests suffering that penalty, and all surviving Caucasians were compelled to flee from the country to save their lives. General Antonio Otermin, who was governor of New Mexico at that time, was forced to abandon Santa Fe, and with a venom compounded of jealousy, hatred and ignorance, every paper and Spanish document was destroyed. Churches were desecrated, pillaged and torn down, and mines that had been worked by the Spaniards were filled up and a severe punishment was inflicted on anyone who should speak a word of the Spanish language. All marriages performed by the priests were annulled and Spanish names cancelled. Pope also decreed that all villages which had harbored the Spaniards should be abandoned, and he even went so far as to prohibit the planting of grain and garden seeds which the Spaniards had introduced. It was further decreed that no Spaniard should ever witness their custom dances or religious ceremonies, rites, etc. To the latter they adhere to the present day.

Intoxicated by his success, Pope, like Alexander the Great, imagined that he was superior to mortal beings and insisted that the Pueblos pay him divine honors. The Indians soon tired of this hero worship and of certain obnoxious customs that he had instituted, and Pope was deposed and Luis Tupatu, a Tano, of the village of Pi- cures, was elected to bis place, but beld tbe office only a sbort time, wben be was deposed and Pope reinstated, but be died in 1688, and Luis Tupatu was again placed in command. He beld tbe office until be surrendered to tbe authority of Diego de Vargas in 1691; but long before tbis tbe internal wars among tbe tribes bad severed tbe bonds of union, and Pope's dream of an empire comprising all the Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona faded like tbe colors of tbe rainbow as tbe storm disappears.

In speculating on tbis rebellion, tbougb tradition is silent and history meager, it is barely possible that La iSalle, that daring French explorer, or bis emissaries bad more to do with inciting this revolt than has ever been recorded.

During this period the inhabitants of the pueblo of Cieneguilla, a Queres village near Santa Fe, abandoned their town and moved in a body to Laguna. Others in small bands soon followed from the Queres villages Zia, Santo Domingo and Cochiti. About one-half mile southwest from the pueblo of Laguna are tbe ruins of a small village. This, according to tradition, is the first settlement made at this place. The town was settled by Indians from Acoma and called Koshtea. They organized an independent or separate government of their own. This led to trouble with tbe parent town, Acoma, culminating in a series of fights. It was at this time that the Queres Indians around Santa Fe were leaving their villages and seeking new habitations. They were welcomed by the villagers of Kosh-tea, but the newcomers, not liking tbe location of Kosh-tea, on account of its exposed position, settled on the present site of Laguna. This was a rough sandstone hill or point of ridge covered with oak brush, cedar and pinon. The place was known to the hunters and people who frequented these parts as Kush-tit Kow-ike. Kushtit is a word used for dry sticks and limbs suitable for firewood, and Kowike is. a con-

Juan De Onate 43

The old pueblo of Kosh-tea was finally abandoned, the inhabitants taking up their residence in the new village of Laguna, or as they call it, Kowike. The internal wars among the Pueblos produced great changes. All the tribes were greatly reduced in numbers. The Tompiros were completely exterminated. The Queres, for some reason, suffered least of all.

One branch of the Tanos, tiring of the ceaseless warfare and fearing the vengeance of the Spaniards, should they return, moved away from Santa Fe, under the leadership of Frasquillo, a mere boy, who had been educated by a Spanish missionary, and had a fairly good education. For this reason and from the fact that he had distinguished himself in murdering his benefactor, Simon -de Jesus, he was placed in command. This band sent their agents to Laguna and Acoma in search of a new location to build habitations, but being of a different tribe and late antagonists of the Queres, they were advised to move on. They next went to Zuni, but with no better success. From here they went to the Moquis. These people being of a mild disposition allowed them to settle in their country for a certain length of time, but, like the Goths whom the Greeks allowed to settle in Grecian territory, at the expiration of that time they refused to move, and their descendants still live in the village of Tigua, or as it is sometimes called, Han-no. At the breaking out of the Pope rebellion there were three priests in Acoma - Christobal Figueroa, Albino Maldonado and Juan Mora. With regard to the manner in which these priests were put to death historians differ. One account says that they were taken to a high point on the edge of the Acoma mesa, where the face of the rock is a sheer precipice of 300 feet, and compelled to jump off. Two were killed outright on striking the ground beneath ; the third escaped in a peculiar manner. In jumping, the air caught under his cloak or gown, forming a sort of parachute, and thus the force of the fall was broken. The Indians, seeing how he escaped death, attributed it to divine intervention and gave him his liberty. Another account says that they were tied together with a hair rope and driven through the streets of the village, beaten with sticks and pelted with rocks until Figueroa, becoming desperate, infuriated the Indians by prophesying that within three years the (Spaniards would return, that the village of Acoma would be torn down, and the inhabitants exterminated. On hearing this the Indians rushed upon them and speedily put them to death. The bodies were afterward placed in a cave in the rocks north of the town.

The Priest Who Survived

In 1681 Otermin came back to recapture the pueblos. He met with no serious opposition, as most of the Indians had abandoned their villages and fled to the mountains. Some of these abandoned towns Otermin had burned, but fearing the effect of a severe winter on his stock he returned to El Paso, taking with him eight prisoners and 393 newly converted Indians, principally from Isleta. Among the captives was a Queres priest or medicine manr known as Pedro Naranjo, from the pueblo of San Felipe,, who had the distinction of being one of Pope's chief advisers and councillors. When questioned with regard to the Pueblo revolt, he said that there were two principal causes: First, the persecution of the Indians by the various predecessors of Otermin; and, second, the interference of the Spaniards with the Indians' religion, which came to a climax during the administration of Governor Trevino, who had all the estufas destroyed. THE PRIEST WHO SURVIVED.

Near where the town of Bernalillo now stands, but on the opposite side of the Rio Grande, is a heap of mouldering ruins, last sad relics of a once happy and prosperous village. This is the Tiguex of Coronado, Paola of

The Pope Rebellion 45

Espejo, and Puari of Rodrigues. This was a Queres village and called by the natives " Po-ri-kun-neh. ' ' The name signifies butterflies. Here is where Coronado allowed the atrocities to be committed in the winter of 1540-41. At the time of the breaking out of the rebellion there was a priest at this village, who, by kindness and humanity, had won the affections of the natives ; so, instead of putting him to death, one of the Indians took him a long way from the village under cover of darkness, and then giving him sufficient food for several days, commanded him to go in peace. The priest kept in the mountains, avoiding the settlements and traveling westward until he reached the Pescado spring near Zuni; here he was discovered by a party of Indians, who were hunting antelope. The Zunis took pity on the poor, half-starved being, fed him and took him to the village of Zuni. There he adopted the costume of the Indians. I shall speak of him again.

Diego De Vargas, Governor Of New Mexico

In 1691 Diego de Vargas was commissioned governor of New Mexico by the Count of Galves, viceroy of Mexico at that time, and dispatched with an escort of fifty soldiers to bring the Pueblos into subjection. The Pueblos, as we have seen, were divided against one another, and de Vargas found it comparatively easy to recapture the towns along the Bio Grande and around Santa Fe. After the river pueblos were brought into subjection de Vargas led the attack in person against the pueblos of the west, Laguna and Acoma, Zuni and Moqui. The Laguna Indians, hearing that the Spaniards were coming, placed all the women and children of the tribe on a high bluff, or rather bench of the mesa, about three miles north of the town, and left the old men to guard them. The old fortifications are still there. The place is known as the Stchumits Sin-otes (white bluff).

The Spaniards were repulsed at the first attack, but the Lagunas, seeing that further resistance was useless, surrendered . After arranging terms of peace with them, de Vargas secured the services of the cacique and his war captain to act as guides for the expedition to Acoma and Zuni.

The war captain they called Pancho. The expedition arrived at Acoma on November 3 with something over 100 Spanish soldiers (the command having been reinforced) and fifty Indian auxiliaries.

Diego De Vakgas 47

iSpain. On reaching the pueblo of Zuni, de Vargas was met by an unexpected obstacle, the natives having fled to the top of "Thunder mountain/7 from which it was impossible to dislodge them. The Spaniards decided to surround the mountain, which is only a large butte of about 1,000 feet altitude, and starve the Indians into subjection. The Indians laughed at the Spaniards and would thrown down rushes, which had been brought from the springs in the valley, to make the enemy think that there was abundance of food and water on the mesa. But time passed ; the wily Spaniard kept his ground ; things began to look serious for the Zunis ; they knew that the tanks of water would soon be exhausted and the food consumed. They held a council and it was decided that the priest, whom we have before spoken of, should treat with his countrymen. The priest asked for a tanned buckskin, then with a piece of kiel he wrote a message to the commander. When the writing was finished the priest handed it to the chief man, requesting him to have it thrown down where the soldiers would see it. One of the warriors, tying a stone in the end of the skin, threw it far out from the edge of the mesa. The Spanish guards were on the alert and saw that something of importance was taking place on the mountain, and hardly had the skin touched the ground when they were there to pick it up ; but imagine their surprise when, upon examination, they found a message in their own native tongue. It was speedily delivered to de Vargas, who at once opened negotiations with the priest, and terms of surrender were agreed upon. The priest accompanied de Vargas and his command when they returned to the river. Several of the Zuni Indians, who had become attached to the priest, followed as far as Laguna, where they took up their residence. This story of the priest is traditionary, but there is historic evidence enough to show that some priest survived the massacre of August 10. Gushing refers to him in some of his writings of the Zuni history and tradition. De Thoma says, "Fray Jose de Esboleta, a native of Estella, in the heroic province of Navarre, came to New Mexico in the year 1650 and took charge of the missions of Oraibe, one of the Moqui villages, " and that Juan, a Picnries Indian, informed the authorities at El Paso that he had seen the priest alive in the pueblo of Xongopavi, one of the Moqui villages, in 1682, enslaved by the Indians. De Vargas, however, makes no mention of him in his reports, but this may be accounted for from the fact that de Varga's was brief in all his writings, verifying the old saying that actions speak louder than words; or as one writer, speaking of de Vargas, says: "His manuscripts, unlike the old Spanish documents, which are beautifully engrossed, forces on you the reflection that as he carved his way through the country with the blade of his sword, he did his writing with the hilt."

There is no mention in history of this fight at Laguna. De Vargas states that after receiving the oath of allegiance and obedience of Acoma he and his command moved on towards Zuni. Arriving there they found the Indians fortified on the butte, ' ' Thunder mountain, ' ' or, as he calls it, "Penasco de Galisteo," and that before beginning the attack he sent a certain man of the pueblo to tell them that he had come with peaceable intentions, and on November 11 the Zuni Indians surrendered. In one of the houses he found several articles of church apparel.

As I have said, this incident of the fight at Laguna and the negotiation of the treaty with the Zunis, through the help of the priest, is merely traditionary, but from the fact that the Indians say that the captain of the Spaniards was named Diego, seems to show that this trouble took place during his administration. But there are other events which indicate that it may have happened during Cubero's term of office. It seems that Cubero banished three Mexican citizens to the pueblo of Zuni whom the Zuni Indians promptly killed, and for which violation of the law Cubero led an armed expedition against them, and it may have been during this campaign that the incidents related occurred.

From Zuni de Vargas made a short trip to some of the Moqui villages and then returned to the Eio Grande by the way of Acoma and Laguna. He left, however, his autograph on the rock "El Moro," or "Insciption Bock," about thirty miles east of Zuni. Although the inscriptions were known to the natives and some of the early traders in that part of the country, they were first copied' and made public by Lieutenant J. H. Simpson, September 19, 1849. He was first lieutenant topographical engineer to Lieutenant Colonel J. M. Washington. This is the inscription translated : i l Here was General Don Diego de Vargas, who conquered for the Holy Faith and the Eoyal Crown at his own expense, all of New Mexico, in the year 1692." De Vargas was not the first, however, who carved his name on this rock, as there are other inscriptions bearing the early date of "Don Juan de Onate, April 16, 1605," and' "Don Jose de Basconzeles, 1626."

Referring to the priest, it is possible that he returned to Zuni and took up his abode, adopted the costume and accommodated himself to the customs of the Indians (in fact there is traditionary evidence to emphasize this statement), and by so doing was dropped from the church calendar. The Zuni Indians who followed the command as far as Laguna brought with them a new society or order called "Chaquin." In some respects it resembles Masonry. The Zunis claimed that it had been taught to them by the priest, but not being allowed to. practice it in Zuni, on account of the opposition of the medicine orders, they had come to Laguna, which, being a new pueblo, any new order would be welcomed. It is quite a popular order

Diego De Vargas 51

The two guides and several others from Laguna accompanied the command to the Rio Grande. There de Vargas presented Antonio Coyote (Kum-nms-che Kush) with a cane as a badge of office as governor of the new pueblo, and requested the Lagunas to return to their village and build a church, and that when it was completed he would send a priest to preside.

The church was built in due time. The old structure still stands, adjoining the present Eoman Catholic church, on the south, and is known as the " House of the Principales." Once every year in April the old men of the tribe meet in this building and rehearse their beliefs and ancient traditions. The priest, Fray Juan Merando, came, as promised, and brought with him the image of San Jose. Taking the image to the river he dipped its feet into the water and rechristened the stream Rio de San Jose, the name which the stream bears to this day. In 1696 many of the Pueblos again revolted against the authority of Spain. De Vargas succeeded in bringing them all to terms as far west as Acoma, which stubbornly refused to surrender.

Pedro Rodriguez Cubero'S Administration

The same year de Vargas ' term of office expired and Pedro Rodriguez Cubero was appointed to fill the vacancy. Cubero had also been empowered to arrest de Vargas on certain untrue and unjust charges, preferred against him by those who were jealous of his fame and popularity and success in quelling the Indian troubles of New Mexico.

On these charges de Vargas was imprisoned for three years in Santa Fe, but finally, obtaining a hearing before the viceroy of Mexico, was pardoned and reappointed governor of New Mexico in 1702, and Cubero returned to Mexico. It was during Cubero 's administration that Laguna took the oath of allegiance and obedience to Spain, which we have before alluded to, on July 4, 1699, and received the name of San Jose de la Laguna, in honor of its patron saint, San Jose. On July 6, of the same year, 1699, the Acomas renewed their oath of obedience and allegiance which had been so many times broken, and their patron ^saint was changed from San Pedro to San Estevan. De Vargas died on April 7, 1704, at the town of Bernalillo, and his remains were buried in the wall of the old church at Santa Fe.

Antonio De Obejada And The Grant Title Papers

Let us go back to the year 1689. Domingo Giron Petriz de Cruzate, at that time military governor of New Mexico, was waging a war of extermination against the Pueblos. In his attack on the Zia Indians 600 of them were killed and 73 captured, the captives being taken to Mexico as slaves. Among these captives was an Indian known by the name of Antonio de Obejada (probably a corruption of Antonio de Ojeda). He seldom is mentioned in history. He was one of the principal chiefs in the Pope rebellion, and held the same rank as Tupatu, Catiti and Jaca of Taos. He claimed to be a native of Zia.

He was well educated, being able to read and write the (Spanish language, and although suffering from a serious wound received in battle, he was taken to El Paso. The authorities, finding him very intelligent, questioned him with regard to the lands claimed by the different pueblos, and on his testimony grant titles were issued to several of the pueblo villages - namely, Picuries, San Juan, Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Jemez, Zia, Laguna and Acoma.

The records show that like papers were issued to all these different pueblos in the year 1689. The original grant title papers of Acoma and Laguna, however, have never been found since the occupation of the country by the Americans, but on the recorded evidence the United States government, in 1876, surveyed to them the lands claimed. 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 government appointed a commission to investigate the old grant titles in New Mexico and Arizona. They found evidence to show that the Laguna claim was valid, but too large, and suggested that it be cut down. Consequently it was surveyed again in 1895, giving them a body of land six miles square, with the village of Laguna in the center. Subsequent to the date of the grant, 1689, Spanish squatters settled at different times on different parts of the land claimed by the Lagunas, and in order to get them away without trouble the Indians bought their improvements and what land they claimed. These parcels of land are three in number and comprise about onehalf of the original grant. They are known as purchases. Their claim to their land was recognized by Spain and later by the republic of Mexico. We will speak of these different purchases as we come to them.

In 1744 Joaquin Codallos became governor and captain general. It seems that he tried in a way to assist the Indians, for in 1746 he had two missions established for the conversion of the Navajos, one about fifteen miles north of Laguna, at Cebolleta, and the other about ten miles northwest of Laguna, at Encinal. These missions were quite popular with the Indians for a time, but when the novelty of the institution wore off the Navajos, like their prototypes (Arabs) folded their tents and moved away, and the church vestments were removed to Laguna.

This town was repopulated with Indans from Moqui (Ho pi) principally, a few from Acoma and Laguna. Sandia is located about fifteen miles north of Albuquerque; it has very few inhabitants now and seems to be again on the verge of extinction. It may interest the reader to know a little more of the history of this pueblo of Sandia. During the revolt of 1680-90 the Indians of the village abandoned their pueblo and moved in a body to

Antonio De Obejada 55

Moqui. During the administration of Codallos they were brought back and settled, first on the Eio Puerco, at a place called Ojito, but for several reasons, principally the incessant raids of the Navajos and Apaches, they were again removed to the old pueblo of Sandia. The ruins of this settlement on the Bio Puerco are still to be seen close to the little village of Ojito. In 1788 Juan Bautista de Anza was appointed civil and military governor of New Mexico. He undertook the task of Christianizing the Moqui Indians, but met with no success, further than inducing about thirty families to abandon their country, which is very arid and barren, and settle among the pueblos of the Rio Grande. As they were passing Laguna a little girl of the party became sleepy and hid herself among the weeds and pumpkin vines and went to sleep, while the party continued on without her. When night came on she awoke, and seeing the lights in the houses, came to the village, was adopted, and grew up with the rest of the Laguna children. Her descendants, the Moqui Sun people, represent one of the largest clans in the tribe.

In the year 1801, during the administration of Ferdinand Chacon, a Spanish colony and presidio, or military post, was established at Cebolleta, fifteen miles north of Laguna. This is the place where Governor Codallos fifty-five years before had the mission built for the purpose of evangelizing the Navajos. The garrison consisted of thirty-five soldiers. The grant issued to the colonists bears the date of 1801 and names thirty-three grantees. Among the first on the list are the names of Jose Maria Aragon and his brother, Francisco Aragon. Soon after the settlement of the colony Jose Maria Aragon took up his residence among the Laguna Indians and married a woman of the tribe. In 1802 the Navajos, who claimed that section of the country, forced the colonists to abandon the settlement and they returned to Chihua- hua, Mexico, but were brought back the following year under a military escort, and cautioned that if they ever returned again their lives would pay the penalty. This statement seems singular, that free-born citizens of Mexico should be transported back to New Mexico by force, and might lead one to the belief that Cebolleta was originally a convict colony. But it is claimed by the old settlers that the colonists were under contract to remain in the country and the Spanish governor took this means of compelling them to live up to their agreement. In 1805 the Navajos laid siege to the town in earnest. The village was at that time surrounded by a high wall, but the Navajos, numbering about 3,000, succeeded in forcing the gates, and would have massacred the entire population, but for the timely assistance of the Laguna Indians, under the leadership of Jose Maria Aragon, who was recognized by the Spanish authorities as alcalde, or justice of the peace, of Laguna. When the Navajos broke through the gates the settlers were compelled to barricade themselves in their houses, and then the fight began at close quarters.

It is said that a woman killed a Navajo chief by dropping a metate from a window on his head. A metate is a stone used for grinding corn by hand. The story says that there was an American in the village at the time. They called him the sargento (sergeant). He had received a desperate wound from an arrow, but with the fighting instinct peculiar to those old pioneers, he climbed to a window, and there with his trusty rifle fought until he died from the effect of his wound. The Laguna Indians in the meantime had attacked the Navajos in the rear, and the latter were compelled to retreat. In return for the services of the Lagunas the settlers recognized the Pueblos' title to a strip of land joining the Cebolleta grant on the south, which had been in dispute. The land was occupied at the time by four Mexicans, Miguel Mo- quino, Vicente Pajarito, Pascual Pajarito and Antonio Paguate, from the village of Cebolleta, but to quiet the title. the Lagunas purchased the improvements of these settlers, and under petition the Spanish government gave them a title to that part of the grant which is now known as the Paguate Purchase. 1* he military post, or presidio, established at Cebolleta was continued by the Spanish authorities until Mexico became a republic in 1821 ; then by the republic of Mexico till New Mexico became a territory of the United States, and was re-established as a. camp by the United States government, occupied first by Colonel Jackson's command in 1846, and continued until 1862, when it was removed to "El Gallo," close to the present town of iSan Rafael, thirty-five miles west of Laguna, and called Fort Wingate. In the year 1760 a Spaniard by the name of Mateo Pino settled on the Laguna grant at a place which is known as "'El Rito," but on account of the raids of the Navajos and Apaches hewas compelled to move away, but in 1825 his son and sole heir, Guachin Pino, and another Spaniard, by the name of Marcos Baca, returned to the place claiming that Mateo Pino had been granted a large strip of land in that vicinity. The Laguna Indians bought the claimant out and by petition to the Mexican governor secured title to the land. It is known as the "El Rito" purchase.

In 1836 Pino and Baca moved to a place eleven miles west of Laguna a^nd bought a quiet claim from a Navajo Indian by the name of Francisco Baca, and established tlie town of Cubero.

In 1870 Fort Wingate was moved to its present site at the west end of the Zuni mountains. The history from here down to the occupation of the country by the Americans is meager and not of much interest. There were occasional raids of the Navajos and Apaches, and even Utes. These prowling nomads never attacked the pueblos of Laguna and Acoma in force, but contented themselves

Costume Worn By The Queues

The pipe or flute is their national musical instrument. It differs from the ordinary flute by being simply a hollow tube and requires considerable practice by the novice to sound the notes with waylaying the lone herder or hunter, robbing him, and in many cases leaving his dead body as a ghastly reminder of their wanton atrocities. Many wonderful tales of daring are told by the old men of the village ; of fights with these wild denizens of the mountains; of children that were captured by the Navajos or Apaches, and certain instances, when, after long years, they returned to their native pueblos. Many of these stories are strange and romantic. It was necessary for the people to be continually on their guard. Their stock was penned in the village or as near as possible. The only door to the dwellings was a hole in the roof, only accessible by means of a ladder, which could be drawn up in time of siege. The windows were small, with slats set in, or sometimes a slab of selenite (crystalized gypsum) to answer the purpose of glass. With all the trials and troubles which they have passed through, however, Acoma and Laguna have about the same number of inhabitants as when their first authentic history began. The early Spaniards were prone to exaggerate the number of inhabitants of nearly all the pueblo villages. The population of Acoma in 1680 was estimated at 1,500; in 1798 at 757; in 1860 at 491; at present about 500.

The Queres Indians were never particularly cruel to their captives or criminals. When death was the sentence they were speedily executed 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 Raid Of The Apaches

chief of the tribe. They came in from the south, a band of about fifty warriors. From the time they left their stronghold their trail was marked by destruction. At the Cienega, from where we will follow their course, a spring and ranch about forty-five miles south of Laguna, were two Mexican families. They barricaded themselves in a little fortress which had been built for such emergencies and were able to repel the attack. The next place was a spring and ranch house known as Ojo Torribio. There was no one living at this place at the time, but a Mexican named Pablo Pino had just reached the place with two wagon-loads of freight for his sheep ranch, seventy-five miles southwest, and seeing a band of Indians approaching suspected it to be Apaches on the war path. He drove his oxen into the corral and then taking several sticks to represent rifles he and his son climbed to the top of the house, which had a parapet about two feet high along the edge of the roof furnished with loop-holes for defence. He arranged his sticks so it might appear to the Apaches that eight or ten men were concealed on the roof. The bluff worked, for, after surveying the situation and a short parley, the Indians went on, giving the house a wide berth. The fact was that he had one good rifle, a .45-caliber magazine gun, which might have done considerable execution. This Pablo Pino was a nephew of Guachino Pino, who settled at El Eito in 1825, and claimed the El Eito grant. He was married to an American woman, Frances Skinner, who had come to this country as a companion and assistant in 1851 to the wife of Samuel C. Gorman, the first Protestant missionary to Laguna.

The Apaches crossed over a high ridge, or tableland rather, to the head of the El Eito valley. On this tableland they met a sheep herd. They killed the two herders and scattered the sheep to the four winds. At the south end of the El Eito valley was a Mexican ranchman by the name of Gregorio Montanio, with his family, and the morning of the -day the Apaches made the descent into the valley his wife told of a dream or vision or premonition or whatever it might be called, and described the coming of the Apaches so vividly that they decided to hide out for the day. So, taking a lunch and a few other necessary articles, they repaired to a little spring about a mile distant, where there were huge rocks which offered excellent places for concealment, and as the day passed they began to think it a false alarm, but about two o'clock in the afternoon they saw a smoke in the direction of their dwellings and then they knew that the Apaches were there. They saw their house in flames. The corral and wagons, everything that would burn, was subjected to the torch. There were two big wagons loaded with wool belonging to sheep men by the name of Ballejos. These they burned and they killed every living thing around the place that they could find. A Laguna Indian was hunting a stray horse in that part of the valley and saw the band of Apaches as they wound down through the hills. Not stopping to estimate the number or their possible direction, his duty as he considered it was to warn the pueblo, thirty miles distant, where he arrived a while after dark, but long before he arrived the village was aroused by his cry of warning or war whoop, and as it rang out on the still air of the evening it sounded to one who had never heard the cry before very much like the quick, sharp bark of the coyote, omitting the howl.

An advanced guard was hurriedly dispatched to engage and intercept the enemy, while runners were sent to the different villages to give the alarm, and in an incredibly short space of time warriors began to arrive, armed for strife. The gathering of the clans, probably was the last time that the old village will ever witness such a sight. They were all well armed with modern firearms and each had his emergency ration rolled up in a cloth and tied around his body. But it seems that the Apaches had not come with the intention of battling with warriors worthy of their steel, for instead of coming any further north they turned abruptly west and ascended out of the valley at a place called the Alcon. Here, at the brink of this mesa or tableland they ran foul of a big herd of sheep. They killed the two herders without ceremony or mercy and took what sheep they wanted to eat and went on. The cook, or camp man of the sheep herd, had gone for water with his burros (donkeys) and was just returning. He saw the Apaches killing his companions and made a hasty retreat, concealing himself in a deep canyon, thus saving his scalp.

The Apaches went from here to a big spring and ranch about fifteen miles distant, known as the Seboya, arriving there early in the morning while the people, two men and a woman, wife of one of the men, were at breakfast. They were mistaken for Navajos on a hunting expedition and invited in. The reply was a fusillade from a score or more of rifles and the two men fell dead, pierced with bullets. The Apaches took the woman with them. They were closely pursued by United ^States soldiers but managed to evade them and reached Sonora, in Mexico. After two years of captivity the woman got away and returned to her people in Cubero.

The Lagunas, knowing that the Apaches might be followed *by United States troops, abandoned the trail after following several miles, fearing that they might be mistaken for the raiders.