CHAPTER VII
The Spanish Era
The early part of the eighteenth century saw the Spanish interested in more than [Pueblo] Indians. There was the actual colonization of New Mexico and the war with France which drew their attention. New Mexican land was divided into tracts or land grants. The Spanish had combed it all. They knew about the [canyon] today known as the “Frijoles,” the [Tyuonyi] of the [Cochiti] Indians. The tract lay just south of the bounds of what is known as the “[Ramon Vigil Grant].” It was in litigation much of the time. The land was cleared, broken and put under cultivation during the latter part of the eighteenth century. The valley floor was cleared and no doubt some of the homes occupied by Indians years before were obliterated. This valley was given the name of [El Rito de Los Frijoles] sometime prior to the year 1780. For years, people have said that the Canyon derived its name from the fact that Indians raised beans here in [prehistoric] times. True, prehistoric Indians did grow beans at Frijoles but the derivation of its name probably had no connection with any Indian occupation.
With the coming of a new century, Spanish people were accused of living in the caves of the Rito like barbarians. This picturesque Hidden Valley was a rendezvous for cattle thieves and persons whose characters could be questioned. It was a den for robbers who greatly troubled the people around the country, so, in 1811 the Spanish Governor ordered all its inhabitants to move out. The [Canyon] must have been occupied more or less continuously throughout the nineteenth century by farming groups of Spanish-Americans. And they were troubled by Indian raids from time to time until the latter part of the century.
PHOTO BY GEORGE THOMPSON THE AUTHOR AT AN OLD HIDDEN TRAIL
COURTESY NAT’L. PARK SERVICE A PARTY OF VISITORS AT LONG HOUSE
The walls of ancient caves today are pocked with nail holes. Sheepherders might have camped for a while and left initials and dates picked in the soft stone. Cow bones strewn at the base of the cliff, now dry and white and brittle with age, are the only sad memorials of what went on. And many are the hidden legends. Every little [canyon] in the locality has a name. Something happened to give them their names. One, Water Canyon, was formerly known as “[Diesmo]” or “Ten-Percent Canyon,” because a priest collected ten percent of the lambs from sheep owners as a tithe for the church and herded his flocks in this valley. Everything has a meaning in this colorful land. There still exists today a circular platform of blocks of tuff on the floor of Frijoles Canyon. Local farmers claim that it belonged to them and their fathers before them. It was used as a threshing floor. I have heard that it was a dance pavilion or platform and was advised that if I brought over some of the Indian women from [San Ildefonso] and asked them to do what they were supposed to do, they would begin dancing the ring dance. The stories are many but will the truth ever be known? Time is slipping by.
Within quite recent years the [Navaho] has used the old trails, just passing through, going to some [pueblo] to trade perhaps. Even [Zuñi] Indians have passed through the Valley of the [Tyuonyi]—resting a few minutes and drinking of the waters of [El Rito de Los Frijoles] as they might have done in years past when they were supposed to have visited the Stone Lions to the south. And Indians from [Cochiti] have returned to their Tyuonyi during summer months to raise a little corn. These people religiously return to the homes of their ancestors. Even today, certain of the old [Tewa] men from northern pueblos trudge south into timbered mountainous country and erect shrines near their ancestral homes. They carve miniature pueblos three and four stories high out of volcanic boulders of soft ash. They build altars and burn ceremonial fires. They dig holes in the soft ground, line them with little rocks and cover the holes with green branches from the juniper tree. Many times I have seen evidences of these ceremonies along dry [arroyo] banks on the [Pajarito] Plateau.