etc., I have not been able to gather much information as yet. The old
marriage customs are supplanted by those of the church. Still, they may
be traced up eventually. Every Pecos Indian had, besides his Spanish
name, an Indian name; and there is, according to Mr. Ritch, still a
Pecos Indian at Jemez whose aboriginal appellation is "Huaja-toya"
(Spanish pronunciation). I heard of him this morning (Sept. 17) through
an Indian of Jemez. What I know of their burials is already stated.
Of their agriculture, or rather horticulture, I have also spoken; the
modes of cultivation have not been explained to me as yet. Irrigation is
therefore the only part of their tillage system upon which I have been
able to gather any information. In addition to what the preceding pages
may contain, Sr. Vigil has assured me that they also irrigated their
_huerta_ from the _arroyo_. This thin fillet of clear water, now
scarcely 0.50 m.--20 in.--in width, fills at times its entire gravelly
bed, 100 m. to 150 m.--327 ft. to 490 ft.--from bank to bank. This does
not occur annually, but at irregular intervals. Sr. Ruiz said that while
the Pecos Indians were living at their pueblo the streams were filled
with water ("en ese tiempo, corrieron los arroyos con agua, muy
abundante"). It is further said that the tribe worked other "gardens"
besides, on the banks of the river Pecos, two miles to the east.
For their arts and industry I must refer to the collections, however
meagre and unsatisfactory they are; a condition for which I have already
apologized. Nowhere did I find a trace of iron nor of copper, although
they used the latter for ornaments (bracelets, etc.), and there can be
no doubt that they had the former metal also,--after the Spanish
conquest, of course. The squaring of timbers, the scroll-work and
friezes in the church, could only be done with instruments of iron. But
all traces of these implements have disappeared from the ruins, as far
as the surface is concerned. I cannot refrain, however, from dwelling
at greater length upon two products of industry, so common among the
ruins as hardly to attract the attention of curiosity-hunters any more.
These are the flakes of obsidian and lava and the painted pottery.
I have called these flakes a product of industry; while the material
itself is of course a mineral, the fragments scattered about are
undoubted products of skill. They are chips and splinters. There is
neither lava nor obsidian cropping out in or about the valley,[182] but
highly volcanic formations are abundantly found to the north, within
fifty miles from Pecos, in the high Sierra de Mora; perhaps, also,
nearer yet. At all events, the mineral has been brought to the pueblo
and chipped there. The same is the case with the flint flakes, agates,
jaspers, and moss-agates, with the difference, however, that, in the
case of these, water has done a great part of the carrying, if not all;
whereas the drift of the _arroyo_ contains no obsidian nor lava, except
such as has clearly been washed into it from the ruins. Among the flakes
there will be noticed several which may have been used for knives,
whereas still others approximate to the arrow-head. A small perfect
arrow-head was found and transmitted by me to the Institute,--the only
one I met with on the premises.[183]
The fact that several localities at Pecos are completely devoid of
obsidian has already been mentioned. These are the oldest ruins. In the
case of the ruins along the mesa and those south of the church, I can
only speak of the surface; but where the corrugated pottery was found
the whole section of the bluff was exposed for more than 100 m.--327
ft.,--and still not a trace of the mineral appeared, while flint, agate,
and jasper were rather conspicuous.[184] This may be accidental, but it
is certainly suspicious and suggestive.
The painted pottery is scattered in wagon-loads of fragments over the
ruins. There are two places, however, where, as already stated, the
surface is utterly devoid of them. Whether or not this deficiency
extends to the soil, I cannot tell. I doubt it, however. These
localities are, again, the apron along the _mesa_ and the ruins south of
the church. For the rest, it is very equally distributed everywhere.
Still there are two distinct kinds at least. One is exactly similar to
the kind now made and sold: it is coarse, soft; the ground is painted
gray or yellow; the ornaments show, in few instances, traces of animal
shapes (they are either black or brown); and the vessels must have been
thick, and with a thicker coarse rim. Out of the grave in the mound _V_,
the pottery was more perfect. There are pieces of a _tinaja_ (bowl) with
a vertical rim, yellow outside, white inside, with black geometrical
ornamentation, not vitrified. This kind of pottery is still made by the
Indians of Nambe, of Tezuque, and of Cochiti. (The former two are
Tehuas, the latter is Queres.) But there I also found fragments of a
plain black pottery, of dark red, and of dark red with black ornaments,
which are thinner and much superior in "ring," and therefore in quality,
to any now made. This pottery is older in date, and appears to be almost
a lost art. There was, however, no distinction in distribution. Both
kinds have one point in common, namely, the varnishing of the
ornamental surfaces. I say varnishing,[185] and not "glazing;" for,
although I believe the glassy appearance of the painted lines to be due
to some admixture of the coloring material, and not to a separate glossy
exterior coating, I do not as yet find a reason for admitting that the
Indians knew the process of vitrification.
Of the military manufactures of the Pecos, a small arrow-head of
obsidian found near the church is the only trace. It is even too small
for a war-arrow. They had stone hatchets, and may have had the dart,
and, later on, the spear. Pebbles convenient for hurling are
promiscuously observed on the _mesilla_, but they are not numerous; and
nowhere along the circumvallation did I notice any trace of heaps.[186]
The military constructions, however, become very interesting through
their connection with the system of drainage and a comparison with the
ancient Mexicans. Around the ancient pueblo of Mexico ("Tenuchtitlan")
the water formed the protective circumvallation; at Pecos, the defensive
wall collected the water and conducted it where it was needed for
subsistence for the irrigation of crops.
That this great circumvallation, 983 m.--3,225 ft.--in circuit, was a
wall for protection also there is no doubt, although the main strength
of the pueblo lay in the construction of its houses, where the
inhabitants could simply shut themselves in and await quietly until the
enemy was tired of prowling around it. By Indians it could only be
carried by surprise or treachery.[187] Hence it was customary for the
young men to leave the pueblo at times in a body, abandoning it to the
old men and women, etc., without concern.[188] As long as these kept
good watch they were safe, even if the Comanches should appear. Roaming
Indians cannot break open a pueblo house if well guarded. For that
purpose alone the mounds near the great gate, and the mound _H_, Pl.
IV., were erected. They were watch-towers for special purposes, for
particular sections, where the lookouts from the wall-tops were not
sufficient.[189] These two mounds--one on each side of the
gateway--overlooked the fields and the creek-bank: in the morning, when
the people went out to work, or to carry drinking water from the spring
opposite; during the day, while they attended to their simple labor of
tillage.
The mound and tower _H_ performed a similar office towards the steep
ledge of rocks there descending, among whose fragments Indians could
hide for hours from the scouts on the house tops. Thus the great
enclosure with its details served a triple purpose. It was the reservoir
which held and conducted the waters precipitated on the _mesilla_ to the
useful purpose of irrigation. It was a preliminary defensive line,--a
first obstruction to a storming foe, and a shelter for its defenders.
But it was also in places an admirable post of observation. It formed
the necessary complement to the houses themselves,[190] and both
together composed a system of defences which, inadequate against the
military science of civilization, was still wonderfully adapted for
protection against the stealthy, lurking approach, the impetuous but
"short-winded" dash, of Indian warfare.
In conclusion of this lengthy report, I may be permitted to add a few
lines concerning the great houses themselves. Their mode and manner of
construction and occupation I have already discussed; it is their
abandonment and decay to which I wish to refer. This decay is the same
in both houses; the path of ruin from S.S.E. to N.N.W. indicates its
progress. It shows clearly that, as section after section had been
originally added as the tribe increased in number, so cell after cell
(or section after section) was successively vacated and left to ruin as
their numbers waned, till at last the northern end of the building alone
sheltered the poor survivors. They receded from south to north; for the
church, despoiled and partly destroyed in 1680, was no protection to
them. Its own ruin kept pace with that of the tribe.[191] The northern
extremity of the pueblo was their best stronghold, and thither they
retired step by step in the face of inevitable doom.
A. F. BANDELIER.
SANTA FE, Sept. 17, 1880.
To PROFESSOR C. E. NORTON, _President of the Archaeological Institute of
America, Cambridge, Mass._
GRANT OF 1689 TO THE PUEBLO OF PECOS.
* * * * *
The following is a literal copy of the original grant, now (Sept. 25,
1880) on file at the United States Surveyor-General's office at Santa
Fe, made to the inhabitants of the Indian pueblo of Pecos in New Mexico.
The language of the document is not altogether clear, but the essential
terms are distinct:--
[Sidenote: Ano de 1689]
[Sidenote: MERCED CONCEDIDA A PECOS.]
En el Pueblo de nu. S.^a de Guadalupe del Paso del Rio del Norte en
veinte y cinco dias del mes de Sep.^te de mil seiscientos y ochenta y
nueve anos el Senor Gov.^or y Cap.^n Gen.^l D.^a Domingo Jironza Petroz
de Cruzate dijo que por quanto en el alcanze que se dio en los de la
Nueva Mex.^co de los Yndios Queres y los Apostatas y los Teguas y de la
nacion Thanos y despues de haber peleado con todos los demas Yndios de
todos Pueblos un Yndio del Pueblo de Zia llamado Bartolome de Ojeda que
fue el que mas se senalo en la vatalla acudiendo a todas partes se
rindio viendose herido de un balazo y un flechaso lo cual como dicho es
mando que debajo de juram.^to declare como se halla el Pu.^o de Pecos
aunque queda muy metido a donde el sol sale y fueron unos Yndios
Apostatas de aquel Reyno de la Nueva Mexico.
Preguntado que si este Pu.^o volvera en algun tiempo como ha sido
constumbre en ellos y dice el confesante que no que ya esta muy metido
en terror que aunque estaban abilantados con lo que les habia susedido a
los de el Pu.^o de Zia el ano pasado juzgaba que era un imposible que
dejaran de dar la obediencia; por lo cual se concedieron por el Senor
Governador y Capitan General D.^a Domingo Jironza Petroz de Cruzate los
linderos que aqui anoto; para el. Norte una legua; y para el Oriente una
legua; y para el Poniente una legua; y para el Sur una legua; y medidas
estas cuatro lineas de las cuatro esquinas del Pu.^o dejando a salvo el
templo que queda al medio dia del Pu.^o y asi lo proveyo mando y firmo
susc^a [?] a mi el presente Secretario de Gov.^on y Guerra que de ello
doy fe.
D.^a Domingo Jironza
Petroz de Cruzate.
Ante mi
Don Pedro Ladron de Guitara
Sc.^o de G.^n y Gu.^a
[TRANSLATION.]
[Sidenote: In the year 1689.]
[Sidenote: GRANT GIVEN TO PECOS.]
In the Pueblo of Our Lady of Guadalupe of El Paso del Rio del Norte, on
the twenty-fifth day of the month of September, in the year sixteen
hundred and eighty nine, the Governor and Captain-General, Don Domingo
Jironza Petroz de Cruzate, said that inasmuch as during the pursuit of
the men of New Mexico, [namely], of the Queres Indians, and the
Renegades, and the Teguas, and those of the Thanos nation, and after the
fight with all the rest of the Indians of all the Pueblos--an Indian of
the Pueblo of Zia, named Bartholome de Ojeda, who had greatly
distinguished himself in the fight, assisting at every point,
surrendered, having been wounded by a bullet and by an arrow; he [the
Governor] ordered that he should declare, under oath, how the Pueblo of
Pecos is disposed, although it lies far off toward the sunrise, and [its
people] are renegade Indians of that kingdom of New Mexico.
Being asked whether [the inhabitants of] this Pueblo will ever return to
their old ways, he, the deponent, says that they will not, since they
are now in great terror, and though they were very much emboldened by
what had happened to those of the Pueblo of Zia the year before, he
thought it was impossible that they should fail to give in their
submission. Wherefore there were granted by the Governor and
Captain-General, Don Domingo Jironza Petroz de Cruzate, the boundaries
here noted: to the north a league, and to the east a league, and to the
west a league, and to the south a league; and these four lines measured
from the four corners of the Pueblo, reserving the temple, which lies to
the south of the Pueblo; and thus did his Excellency provide, command,
and sign before me, the present Secretary of the Interior and of War,
who attest it.
DON DOMINGO JIRONZA
PETROZ DE CRUZATE.
Before me,
Don Pedro Ladron de Guitara,
Secretary of the Interior and of War.
[87] Lieut.-Col. W. H. Emory, _Notes of a Military Reconnoissance from
Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri, to San Diego, in California, Executive
Document_ 41, Washington, 1848. _Meteorological Observations_, p. 163.
Camp 44, half-mile south of the Pecos, Aug. 17, 1846, altitude six
thousand three hundred and forty-six feet. Camp 45, on the Pecos, near
Pecos village, August 18, six thousand three hundred and sixty-six feet.
[88] This is the lowest height of the peaks seen from the valley. Some
of the other tops are much higher yet. The altitude of Santa Fe Baldy,
for instance, exceeds twelve thousand feet.
[89] Not to be confounded with the Rio de Pecos proper. The _arroyo_ is
not found on most of the maps. Its width is about 100 m.--330 ft.--but
there is scarcely ever more than a mere fillet of very clear, limpid
water in it.
[90] This is, however, only accidental, and exclusively due to nine
months of consecutive drouth. Generally the strips of bottom-land have a
rich soil, and grow fine corn, wheat, and oats.
[91] They are very picturesque objects, and stand out boldly, appearing
to rise directly from the plain. Their height is stated to be about
thirteen thousand feet. In this vicinity are the Placitas, now famous
for mineral wealth (gold and silver), and the Cerrillos, also rich in
ore, and containing beautiful green and blue turquoises, of which I saw
excellent specimens in possession of His Excellency Governor L. Wallace.
[92] Baughl's Sidings is a switch and large storing-place for ties. Even
the Spaniards call it La Switcha. It is about 800 m.--2,620 ft.--from
the foot of the _mesa_, in a belt of fine large pine timber, very high,
and gives glimpses of splendid views over the valley of Pecos to the
Sierras beyond. Climate fine, but nights very cold. The buildings are as
yet nearly all temporary; it is more a camp than a place as is it now. I
spent ten very happy days here, from the 28th of August to the 6th of
September,--or rather nights, since the days were, with two exceptions
(5th and 6th of September, when I visited Pecos town and explored the
high _mesa_), devoted to the study of the ruins. I shall always
gratefully remember the uniform kindness and attention with which its
inhabitants and transient guests have treated me, and assisted me in my
work. Aside of those whom I shall have occasion to name in the body of
my report, I take occasion to express my thanks here to Messrs.
McPherson & Co., and to their obliging manager, Mr. Wright; also to the
station agent.
[93] On the right side of the Arroyo de Pecos, there is a wide
amphitheatre bottom, which was filled with red clay, like that of which
the adobe at the church is made, and which appears to have been partly
dug out. The place is to the right of the road also, which there crosses
the creek. The only objection to the surmise is in the fact that along
this entire bottom I found not the slightest trace of obsidian. Pottery,
however, is scattered everywhere. On the left side of the creek, unless
more than a mile below, there is no place where the soil is sufficiently
thick or sufficiently free from ruins and scattered stones, to permit
the enormous quantity of clay needed for the church to be secured.
[94] Lieut.-Col. Emory, _Notes of a Military Reconnoissance_, p. 30, and
two plates.
[95] The walls, or foundations rather, appear as follows:--The
interstices are often filled with tufts of _grama_, and the stones
themselves look very old and worn, covered with lichens and moss.
[Illustration: Stone Wall]
[96] According to Mariano Ruiz and to Mrs. Kozlowski. The former has
lived in Pecos since 1837. But few, if any, of the dead are buried
there; the majority were entombed within the church itself.
[97] P. Jose Amando Niel, _Apuntamientos que sobre el Terreno hizo el
... Annotations to the history of_ Fray Geronimo Zarate Salmeron, in
_Documentos para la Historia de Mexico_, 3 series, vol. i. p. 99.
[98] Called by the Spaniards Plaza de Pecos. It is a comparatively new
place, the only church-book still in possession of Rev. Father Leon
Mailluchet, the present priest, commences in 1862. Including the
scattered _casitas_ several miles around, its population is not over
five hundred souls. It is situated in a narrow vale or hollow, not far
west from the Rio Pecos itself, and has a modest but clean and tidy
church, with a small belfry. All the houses are of adobe.
Lieutenant-Colonel Emory (_Notes, Executive Document_ 41, p. 30) speaks
of it in 1846 as "the modern village of Pecos, ... with a very
inconsiderable population." As yet there are but very few Americans in
the plaza. My recollections of Pecos are highly pleasant (5th
September), owing to the friendly reception tendered me by Mr. E. K.
Walters, Sr. Juan Bacay Salazar, and Father L. Mailluchet. According to
Colonel Emory, its altitude is nearly 6,366 ft. (p. 163). Lat. about 35 deg.
30' N.
[99] See Plate I.
[100] See Plate IX.
[101] See Plate I., Fig. 5.
[102] When Mr. Louis Felsenthal of Santa-Fe came to New Mexico in 1855,
and still later, in 1858, the time of the arrival of Mrs. Kozlowski, the
roofs were still perfect in part.
[103] Pl. II., Fig. 6.
[104] Pedro de Castaneda de Nagera, _Relation du Voyage de Cibola_,
French translation, by Ternaux-Compans, 1838. Original written about
1560. Introduction, p. ix; part ii. cap. v. p. 176.
[105] Castaneda, _Relation_, i. cap. xii. p. 71; ii. cap. v. p. 176.
Juan Jaramillo, _Relation du Voyage fait a la Nouvelle Terre_, app. vi.
to _Voyage de Cibola_, p. 371. Fray Agustin de Vetancurt, _Cronica de la
Provincia del Santo Evangelio de Mexico_ (edition of 1871), p. 323.
Gaspar Castano de la Sosa, _Memoria del Descubrimiento que ... hizo en
el Nuevo Mexico, siendo teniente del Gobernador y Capitan General del
Nuevo-Reino de Leon_, July 27, 1590, in vol. xv. of _Documentos Ineditos
de los Archivos de Indias_, p. 244. The latter though, as well as
Castaneda and Jaramillo, mentions evidently building _A_, but there
cannot be the slightest doubt that _B_ was erected for the same purpose;
to wit, as a dwelling.
[106] They are evidently moulded. Their size is about 0.28 m. x 15
m.--11 in. x 6 in.--and straw is mixed with the soil. The appearance is
very much as if the adobe had been put in as a "mending;" and I am
decidedly of the opinion that the northern section is the latest, and
erected after 1540.
[107] It is very much like the stone-work of the Moqui Pueblos in
Arizona, according to the photographs in possession of the Bureau of
Ethnology at Washington, D. C.; and in some respects to the walls of the
great house described by the Hon. L. H. Morgan, _On the Ruins of an
Ancient Stone Pueblo on the Animas River, Eleventh and Twelfth Reports
of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology_, etc.; also to those figured by Dr.
William H. Jackson, _Tenth Annual Report of the United States Geological
and Geographical Survey of the Territories_, 1878, plate lxii. fig. 1,
from the Ruins of the Rio Chaco. Compare photograph No. 6. I am led to
suspect that the greater or less regularity of the courses was entirely
dependent upon the kind of stone on hand, and not upon the mechanical
skill employed.
[108] I am just (Sept. 9) informed by Governor Wallace, that the Sierra
de Tecolote, east of the ruins, contains probably gypsum, even in the
form of alabaster. It is certain that nothing like lime-kilns or places
where lime might have been burnt are found at any moderate distance from
the ruins. The surrounding rocks, up to head of the valley and to the
_mesa_, contain deposits of white, yellow, and red carbonates of lead,
often copper-stained, and very impure, therefore proportionately light
in weight. However, we have very positive information as to how they
made their plaster, etc., in Castaneda, _Voyage de Cibola_, ii. cap. iv.
pp. 168, 169. He says: "They have no lime, but make a mixture of ashes,
soil, and of charcoal, which replace it very well; for although they
raise their houses to four stories, the walls have not more than half an
ell in width. They form great heaps of pine [thym] and reeds, and set
fire to them; whenever this mass is reduced to ashes and charcoal, they
throw over it a large quantity of soil and water, and mix it all
together. They knead it into round blocks, which they dry, and of which
they make use in lieu of stones, coating the whole with the same
mixture." Substituting for the "round blocks" the stones found at Pecos,
we have the whole process thoroughly explained, for indeed the mud
contains bits of charcoal, as the specimens sent prove. The white coat,
however, is not explained. I must state here, however, that I found the
latter only in such parts of _A_, as well as of _B_, as appeared to be
most recent in occupation and in construction. Further investigations at
other pueblos may yet solve the mystery.
[109] See Plate VIII.
[110] Compare, in regard to the outer (western) wall of B, and also in
regard to the inner wall, Lieut. James H. Simpson, _Journal of a
Military Reconnoissance from Santa Fe, New-Mexico, to the Navajo
Country, Executive Document 64_, 31st Congress, 1st section, 1850; plate
41, no. 5. Also, L. H. Morgan, _On an Ancient Stone Pueblo on the Animas
River, Peabody Museum Reports_, 1880. The latter is particularly
suggestive.
[111] Compare Castaneda, _Voyage de Cibola_, ii. cap. iv. pp. 171, 172.
"There is a piece reserved for the kitchen, and another one for to grind
the corn. This last one is apart; in it is found an oven and three
stones sealed in masonry." Simpson, _Journal_, etc, p. 62, description
of a fireplace.
[112] Simpson, p. 62, _Fireplace and Smoke-escape at the Pueblo of Santo
Domingo_. The vent was directly over the hearth. I expect to visit Santo
Domingo shortly.
[113] Mr. Thomas Munn found about the church a stone hatchet, a fragment
of a stone pipe (?), and many arrow-heads. These he kindly promised to
me, even authorizing me to get them at the place where he had deposited
them, and which lay on the line of my daily tramp to the ruins.
Unfortunately, when I reached the place, the objects were already gone.