CHAPTER II
The [Pueblo] Indian Meets the White Man
Could there be, in the Southwest, a man or woman who has not heard something of the Spanish expeditions into the New World during the sixteenth century? And, narrowing it down, about [Coronado]’s famed Seven Cities of [Cibola] and how they turned out to be six instead of seven poor little [pueblos] of stone and mud. They are now reduced to but one called [Zuñi]. [Marcos de Nisa], a Franciscan [friar], had led the little army of conquerors to nothing here except grief and disappointment in trade for fabulous stories about gold and silver.
New Mexico was a new country and besides extending the domain of His Majesty, King Charles, and forcing Christianity on the Indians, there were many wonders that would stand investigation. Had it not been for an Indian who was named [Bigotes] by the Spaniards, the conquerors might never have reached the [Rio Grande] during that expedition. Bigotes means “whiskers” and his appearance must have been a sight to His Majesty’s soldiers when this half-clad native came strolling into their camp with a few companions from [Pecos] far to the east. Unlike most of his kind, Bigotes wore a long mustache. He had brought buffalo hides to trade to the Spanish and he persuaded them to visit his country. It was on August 29, 1540, that the little band pushed out under the guidance of Bigotes. On September 7 of that year they reached the Province of [Tiguex], which was between the present towns of [Albuquerque] and [Bernalillo].
There were twelve Indian villages on the banks of the [Rio Grande] within a distance of some fifteen miles or so. The Rio Grande was described by the Spanish, at that time, as large and mighty in a spacious valley two leagues wide. Although the valley was broad and fertile, the Spanish description was certainly an over-estimation. Two leagues equalled five or six miles. They also said that the river froze so hard that laden animals and carts could cross over it. [Tiguex] was the winter camp of the entire Spanish expedition. It was here that [Coronado] and his band of weary and disappointed explorers spent that miserable and never-to-be-forgotten winter of 1540-1541. Glowing accounts of how Indians lived were told by the romantic Spanish chroniclers. Still, they found only a poor simple people living by the soil and a little hunting—but no gold.
[Tiguex] was not the only province along the river. There were others whose people had the same ways and peculiar customs as the people at the Tiguex villages. One of these provinces was that of [Quirex]. It has been determined that this was the district where the [Keres] language is spoken today by five very primitive Indian [Pueblos]. They are [Cochiti], [Santo Domingo], [San Felipe], [Santa Ana] and [Sia]. Moved by an indomitable spirit and determination, a small band of soldiers pushed far north from Tiguex, past the Keres-speaking villages where another province was discovered on the upper [Rio Grande]. It was reported that two very fine villages were to be seen. According to some students these were in the vicinity of the present Tewa-speaking village of [San Juan]. The entire Indian population moved out at the sight of the Spanish. They retreated into the mountains where they said they had four very strong villages in a rough country where it was impossible for the Spanish to follow on horseback. Had they followed these people they would, no doubt, have found almost inaccessible Indian trails. Instead, they returned to Tiguex and left this northern province in peace. Little did the Spanish realize what extensive villages they might have seen in the rough mountains mentioned by the Indians.
Indians also spoke of villages on rivers flowing into the [Rio Grande]. Could these villages have been on the banks of the [Rio Chama] or were they on the [Pajarito] Plateau? They likely were in the Pajarito region and could have been the same villages mentioned by the Indians living near [San Juan]. But the towns of the Pajarito remained unexplored, unplundered and unstripped of what little they had. How fortunate were these people to have escaped the attentions of the Spanish with their shining armor, pointed lances and firearms. Otherwise, these poor Indians might have found themselves without adequate clothing and food for the approaching winter of 1541-1542 as did the Indians at [Tiguex]. But the passing of that second uneventful winter by disheartened and spirit-broken Spanish soldiers ended a chapter which was never to be forgotten by the other little [pueblo] dwellers. In the spring of 1542, the remnants of the Spanish were gathered together and the return to Mexico was begun. This must have been a day of rejoicing for the Indians at Tiguex. They had experienced a great deal. Murder, insincerity on the part of the Spanish, and violation of their living standards were just a few of their trials.
Life went on in the [pueblos]. Slowly but surely the Indians reorganized. Summers and winters passed and the Indians tilled their fields of corn for two generations before the Spanish came again. This next expedition up the [Rio Grande] in 1581 was that of Captain [Francisco Sanchez Chamuscado] with nine soldiers. This combined treasure-hunt and missionary expedition ended in tragedy. Chamuscado died before he returned to Mexico, and two [padres], who accompanied the little party, were murdered by the Indians at [Tiguex]. So elated were the Indians with their success that they drew pictures of the killings.
[BANDELIER] NAT’L MONUMENT & VICINITY
Dreams of conquest and fabulous empires caused the launching of still another expedition into New Mexico in 1583. It was headed by [Antonio de Espejo]. Espejo, too, passed northward from the villages of the Province of [Tiguex] which had been visited by [Coronado] some forty years before and by Chamuscado in 1581. This little handful went north to a place called [Cachiti]. This was one of the [pueblos] of the Keres-speaking group mentioned by Coronado. People who were peaceful came from other pueblos and tried to persuade the Spanish to go with them. They told stories of most of the houses being three stories high. The Spanish named this place [Los Confiados] because the people were not disturbed. But where was Los Confiados? It has never been determined.