had given him. He appointed the alderman Diego Lopez his army-master,
and took with him the men who seemed to him to be most efficient, and
the best horses. The army still had some hope that the general would
send for them, and sent two horsemen, lightly equipped and riding
post, to repeat their petition.
The general arrived—I mean, the guides ran away during the first few
days and Diego Lopez had to return to the army for guides, bringing
orders for the army to return to Tiguex to find food and wait there
for the general. The Teyas, as before, willingly furnished him with
new guides. The army waited for its messengers and spent a fortnight
here, preparing jerked beef to take with them. It was estimated that
during this fortnight they killed 500 bulls. The number of these that
were there without any cows was something incredible. Many fellows
were lost at this time who went out hunting and did not get back to
the army for two or three days, wandering about the country as if
they were crazy, in one direction or another, not knowing how to get
back where they started from, although this ravine extended in either
direction so that they could find it.[179] Every night they took
account of who was missing, fired guns and blew trumpets and beat
drums and built great fires, but yet some of them went off so far
and wandered about so much that all this did not give them any help,
although it helped others. The only way was to go back where they had
killed an animal and start from there in one direction and another
until [p509] they struck the ravine or fell in with somebody who
could put them on the right road. It is worth noting that the country
there is so level that at midday, after one has wandered about in one
direction and another in pursuit of game, the only thing to do is to
stay near the game quietly until sunset, so as to see where it goes
down, and even then they have to be men who are practiced to do it.
Those who are not, had to trust themselves to others.
The general followed his guides until he reached Quivira, which took
forty-eight days’ marching, on account of the great detour they had
made toward Florida.[180] He was received peacefully on account of
the guides whom he had. They asked the Turk why he had lied and had
guided them so far out of their way. He said that his country was
in that direction and that, besides this, the people at Cicuye had
asked him to lead them off on to the plains and lose them, so that
the horses would die when their provisions gave out, and they would
be so weak if they ever returned that they could be killed without
any trouble, and thus they could take revenge for what had been done
to them. This was the reason why he had led them astray, supposing
that they did not know how to hunt or to live without corn, while
as for the gold, he did not know where there was any of it. He said
this like one who had given up hope and who found that he was being
persecuted, since they had begun to believe Ysopete, who had guided
them better than he had, and fearing lest those who were there might
give some advice by which some harm would come to him. They garroted
him, which pleased Ysopete very much, because he had always said that
Ysopete was a rascal and that he did not know what he was talking
about and had always hindered his talking with anybody. Neither gold
nor silver nor any trace of either was found among these people.
Their lord wore a copper plate on his neck and prized it highly.
The messengers whom the army had sent to the general returned, as
I said, and then, as they brought no news except what the alderman
had delivered, the army left the ravine and returned to the Teyas,
where they took guides who led them back by a more direct road. They
readily furnished these, because these people are always roaming over
this country in pursuit of the animals and so know it thoroughly.
They keep their road in this way: In the morning they notice where
the sun rises and observe the direction they are going to take, and
then shoot an arrow in this direction. Before reaching this they
shoot another over it, and in this way they go all day toward the
water where they are to end the day. In this way they covered in 25
days [p510] what had taken them 37 days going, besides stopping to
hunt cows on the way. They found many salt lakes on this road, and
there was a great quantity of salt. There were thick pieces of it
on top of the water bigger than tables, as thick as four or five
fingers. Two or three spans down under water there was salt which
tasted better than that in the floating pieces, because this was
rather bitter. It was crystalline. All over these plains there were
large numbers of animals like squirrels and a great number of their
holes. On its return the army reached the Cicuye river more than 30
leagues below there—I mean below the bridge they had made when they
crossed it, and they followed it up to that place. In general, its
banks are covered with a sort of rose bushes, the fruit of which
tastes like muscatel grapes.[181] They grow on little twigs about as
high up as a man. It has the parsley leaf. There were unripe grapes
and currants (?)[182] and wild marjoram. The guides said this river
joined that of Tiguex more than 20 days from here, and that its
course turned toward the east. It is believed that it flows into the
mighty river of the Holy Spirit (Espiritu Santo), which the men with
Don Hernando de Soto discovered in Florida. A painted Indian woman
ran away from Juan de Saldibar and hid in the ravines about this
time, because she recognized the country of Tiguex where she had been
a slave. She fell into the hands of some Spaniards who had entered
the country from Florida to explore it in this direction. After I got
back to New Spain I heard them say that the Indian told them that she
had run away from other men like them nine days, and that she gave
the names of some captains; from which we ought to believe that we
were not far from the region they discovered, although they said they
were more than 200 leagues inland. I believe the land at that point
is more than 600 leagues across from sea to sea.
As I said, the army followed the river up as far as Cicuye, which it
found ready for war and unwilling to make any advances toward peace
or to give any food to the army. From there they went on to Tigeux
where several villages had been reinhabited, but the people were
afraid and left them again.
_Chapter 22, of how the general returned from Quivira and of other
expeditions toward the North._
After Don Tristan de Arellano reached Tiguex, about the middle of
July, in the year ’42,[183] he had provisions collected for the
coming winter. Captain Francisco de Barrionuevo was sent up the
river toward the north with several men. He saw two provinces, one
of which was called Hemes and had seven villages, and the other
Yuqueyunque.[184] The inhabitants of Hemes came out peaceably and
furnished provisions. At Yuqueyunque the whole nation left two very
fine villages which [p511] they had on either side of the river
entirely vacant, and went into the mountains, where they had four
very strong villages in a rough, country, where it was impossible
for horses to go. In the two villages there was a great deal of food
and some very beautiful glazed earthenware with many figures and
different shapes. Here they also found many bowls full of a carefully
selected shining metal with which they glazed the earthenware. This
shows that mines of silver would be found in that country if they
should hunt for them.
There was a large and powerful river, I mean village, which was
called Braba, 20 leagues farther up the river, which our men called
Valladolid.[185] The river flowed through the middle of it. The
natives crossed it by wooden bridges, made of very long, large,
squared pines. At this village they saw the largest and finest hot
rooms or estufas that there were in the entire country, for they had
a dozen pillars, each one of which was twice as large around as one
could reach and twice as tall as a man. Hernando de Alvarado visited
this village when he discovered Cicuye. The country is very high
and very cold. The river is deep and very swift, without any ford.
Captain Barrionuevo returned from here, leaving the province at peace.
Another captain went down the river in search of the settlements
which the people at Tutahaco had said were several days distant
from there. This captain went down 80 leagues and found four large
villages which he left at peace. He proceeded until he found that the
river sank into the earth, like the Guadiana in Estremadura.[186] He
did not go on to where the Indians said that it came out much larger,
because his commission did not extend for more than 80 leagues
march. After this captain got back, as the time had arrived which
the captain had set for his return from Quivira, and as he had not
come back, Don Tristan selected 40 companions and, leaving the army
to Francisco de Barrionuevo, he started with them in search of the
general. When he reached Cicuye the people came out of the village
to fight, which detained him there four days, while he punished
them, which he did by firing some volleys into the village. These
killed several men, so that they did not come out against the army,
since two of their principal men had been killed on the first day.
Just then word was brought that the general was coming, and so Don
Tristan had to stay there on this account also, to keep the road
open.[187] Everybody welcomed the general on his arrival, with great
joy. The Indian Xabe, who was the young fellow who had been given
to the general at Cicuye when he started off in search of Quivira,
was with Don Tristan de Arellano and when he learned that the [p512]
general was coming he acted as if he was greatly pleased, and said,
“Now when the general comes, you will see that there is gold and
silver in Quivira, although not so much as the Turk said.” When the
general arrived, and Xabe saw that they had not found anything, he
was sad and silent, and kept declaring that there was some. He made
many believe that it was so, because the general had not dared to
enter into the country on account of its being thickly settled and
his force not very strong, and that he had returned to lead his army
there after the rains, because it had begun to rain there already,
as it was early in August when he left. It took him forty days to
return, traveling lightly equipped. The Turk had said when they
left Tiguex that they ought not to load the horses with too much
provisions, which would tire them so that they could not afterward
carry the gold and silver, from which it is very evident that he was
deceiving them.
The general reached Cicuye with his force and at once set off
for Tiguex, leaving the village more quiet, for they had met him
peaceably and had talked with him. When he reached Tiguex, he made
his plans to pass the winter there, so as to return with the whole
army, because it was said that he brought information regarding large
settlements and very large rivers, and that the country was very much
like that of Spain in the fruits and vegetation and seasons. They
were not ready to believe that there was no gold there, but instead
had suspicions that there was some farther back in the country,
because, although this was denied, they knew what the thing was and
had a name for it among themselves—acochis. With this we end this
first part, and now we will give an account of the provinces.
SECOND PART, WHICH TREATS OF THE HIGH VILLAGES AND PROVINCES AND OF
THEIR HABITS AND CUSTOMS, AS COLLECTED BY PEDRO DE CASTAÑEDA, NATIVE
OF THE CITY OF NAJARA.
_Laus Deo._
It does not seem to me that the reader will be satisfied with having
seen and understood what I have already related about the expedition,
although that has made it easy to see the difference between the
report which told about vast treasures, and the places where nothing
like this was either found or known. It is to be noted that in place
of settlements great deserts were found, and instead of populous
cities villages of 200 inhabitants and only 800 or 1,000 people in
the largest. I do not know whether this will furnish grounds for
pondering and considering the uncertainty of this life. To please
these, I wish to give a detailed account of all the inhabited region
seen and discovered by this expedition, and some of their ceremonies
and habits, in accordance with what we came to know about them, and
the limits within which each province falls, so that hereafter it
maybe possible to understand in what direction Florida lies and in
what direction Greater India; and [p513] this land of New Spain
is part of the mainland with Peru, and with Greater India or China
as well, there not being any strait between to separate them. On
the other hand, the country is so wide that there is room for these
vast deserts which lie between the two seas, for the coast of the
North sea beyond Florida stretches toward the Bacallaos[188] and then
turns toward Norway, while that of the South sea turns toward the
west, making another bend down toward the south almost like a bow and
stretches away toward India, leaving room for the lands that border
on the mountains on both sides to stretch out in such a way as to
have between them these great plains which are full of cattle and
many other animals of different sorts, since they are not inhabited,
as I will relate farther on. There is every sort of game and fowl
there, but no snakes, for they are free[189] from these. I will leave
the account of the return of the army to New Spain until I have shown
what slight occasion there was for this. We will begin our account
with the city of Culiacan, and point out the differences between
the one country and the other, on account of which one ought to be
settled by Spaniards and the other not. It should be the reverse,
however, with Christians, since there are intelligent men in one, and
in the other wild animals and worse than beasts.
[Illustration: LV. The Buffalo of Gomara, 1554]
_Chapter 1, of the province of Culiacan and of its habits and
customs._
Culiacan is the last place in the New Kingdom of Galicia, and was
the first settlement made by Nuño de Guzman when he conquered this
kingdom. It is 210 leagues west of Mexico. In this province there are
three chief languages, besides other related dialects. The first is
that of the Tahus, who are the best and most intelligent race. They
are now the most settled and have received the most light from the
faith. They worship idols and make presents to the devil of their
goods and riches, consisting of cloth and turquoises. They do not
eat human flesh nor sacrifice it. They are accustomed to keep very
large snakes, which they venerate. Among them there are men dressed
like women who marry other men and serve as their wives. At a great
festival they consecrate the women who wish to live unmarried,
with much singing and dancing,[190] at which all the chiefs of the
locality gather and dance naked, and after all have danced with her
they put her in a hut that has been decorated for this event and
the chiefs adorn her with clothes and bracelets of fine turquoises,
and then the chiefs go in one by one to lie with her, and all the
others who wish, follow them. From this time on these women can not
refuse anyone who pays them a certain amount agreed on for this.
Even if they take husbands, this does not exempt them from obliging
anyone who pays them. The greatest festivals are on market days. The
custom is for the husbands to buy the women whom they marry, of
their fathers and relatives at a high price, and then to take them
to a chief, who is considered to be a priest, to deflower them and
see if she is a virgin; and if she is not, they have to return the
whole price, and he can keep her for his wife or not, or let her be
consecrated, as he chooses. At these times they all get drunk.
The second language is that of the Pacaxes, the people who live in
the country between the plains and the mountains. These people are
more barbarous. Some of them who live near the mountains eat human
flesh.[191] They are great sodomites, and have many wives, even when
these are sisters. They worship painted and sculptured stones, and
are much given to witchcraft and sorcery.
The third language is that of the Acaxes, who are in possession of
a large part of the hilly country and all of the mountains. They
go hunting for men just as they hunt animals. They all eat human
flesh, and he who has the most human bones and skulls hung up around
his house is most feared and respected. They live in settlements
and in very rough country, avoiding the plains. In passing from one
settlement to another, there is always a ravine in the way which they
can not cross, although they can talk together across it.[192] At
the slightest call 500 men collect, and on any pretext kill and eat
one another. Thus it has been very hard to subdue these people, on
account of the roughness of the country, which is very great.
Many rich silver mines have been found in this country. They do not
run deep, but soon give out. The gulf of the sea begins on the coast
of this province, entering the land 250 leagues toward the north and
ending at the mouth of the Firebrand (Tizon) river. This country
forms its eastern limit, and California the western. From what I have
been told by men who had navigated it, it is 30 leagues across from
point to point, because they lose sight of this country when they see
the other. They say the gulf is over 150 leagues broad (or deep),
from shore to shore. The coast makes a turn toward the south at the
Firebrand river, bending down to California, which turns toward the
west, forming that peninsula which was formerly held to be an island,
because it was a low sandy country. It is inhabited by brutish,
bestial, naked people who eat their own offal. The men and women
couple like animals, the female openly getting down on all fours.
_Chapter 2, of the province of Petlatlan and all the inhabited
country as far as Chichilticalli._
Petlatlan is a settlement of houses covered with a sort of mats
made of _plants_.[193] These are collected into villages, extending
along a river from the mountains to the sea. The people are of the
same race and [p515] habits as the Culuacanian Tahues. There is
much sodomy among them. In the mountain district there is a large
population and more settlements. These people have a somewhat
different language from the Tahues, although they understand each
other. It is called Petlatlan because the houses are made of petates
or palm-leaf mats.[194] Houses of this sort are found for more
than 240 leagues in this region, to the beginning of the Cibola
wilderness. The nature of the country changes here very greatly,
because from this point on there are no trees except the pine,[195]
nor are there any fruits except a few tunas,[196] mesquites,[197] and
pitahayas.[198]
Petlatlan is 20 leagues from Culiacan, and it is 130 leagues from
here to the valley of Señora. There are many rivers between the two,
with settlements of the same sort of people—for example, Smoloa,
Boyomo, Teocomo, Yaquimi, and other smaller ones. There is also the
Corazones or Hearts, which is in our possession, down the valley of
Señora.[199]
Señora is a river and valley thickly settled by able-bodied people.
The women wear petticoats of tanned deerskin, and little san benitos
reaching half way down the body.[200] The chiefs of the villages
go up on some little heights they have made for this purpose, like
public criers, and there make proclamations for the space of an
hour, regulating those things they have to attend to. They have some
little huts for shrines, all over the outside of which they stick
many arrows, like a hedgehog. They do this when they are eager for
war. All about this province toward the mountains there is a large
population in separate little provinces containing ten or twelve
villages. Seven or eight of them, of which I know the names, are
Comupatrico, Mochilagua, Arispa, and the Little Valley.[201] There
are others which we did not see.
It is 40 leagues from Señora to the valley of Suya. The town of
Saint Jerome (San Hieronimo) was established in this valley, where
there was [p516] a rebellion later, and part of the people who
had settled there were killed, as will be seen in the third part.
There are many villages in the neighborhood of this valley. The
people are the same as those in Señora and have the same dress and
language, habits, and customs, like all the rest as far as the desert
of Chichilticalli. The women paint their chins and eyes like the
Moorish women of Barbary. They are great sodomites. They drink wine
made of the pitahaya, which is the fruit of a great thistle which
opens like the pomegranate. The wine makes them stupid. They make
a great quantity of preserves from the tuna; they preserve it in a
large amount of its sap without other honey. They make bread of the
mesquite, like cheese, which keeps good for a whole year.[202] There
are native melons in this country so large that a person can carry
only one of them. They cut these into slices and dry them in the sun.
They are good to eat, and taste like figs, and are better than dried
meat; they are very good and sweet, keeping for a whole year when
prepared in this way.[203]
In this country there were also tame eagles, which the chiefs
esteemed to be something fine.[204] No fowls of any sort were seen
in any of these villages except in this valley of Suya, where fowls
like those of Castile were found. Nobody could find out how they came
to be so far inland, the people being all at war with one another.
Between Suya and Chichilticalli there are many sheep and mountain
goats with very large bodies and horns. Some Spaniards declare that
they have seen flocks of more than a hundred together, which ran so
fast that they disappeared very quickly.
At Chichilticalli the country changes its character again and the
spiky vegetation ceases. The reason is that the gulf reaches as far
up as this place, and the mountain chain changes its direction at
the same time that the coast does. Here they had to cross and pass
through the mountains in order to get into the level country.
_Chapter 3, of Chichilticalli and the desert, of Cibola, its customs
and habits, and of other things._
Chichilticalli is so called because the friars found a house at this
place which was formerly inhabited by people who separated from
Cibola. It was made of colored or reddish earth.[205] The house
was large and appeared to have been a fortress. It must have been
destroyed by the people of the district, who are the most barbarous
people that have yet been seen. They live in separate cabins and
not in settlements. They live by [p517] hunting. The rest of the
country is all wilderness, covered with pine forests. There are great
quantities of the pine nuts. The pines are two or three times as high
as a man before they send out branches. There is a sort of oak with
sweet acorns, of which they make cakes like sugar plums with dried
coriander seeds. It is very sweet, like sugar. Watercress grows in
many springs, and there are rosebushes, and pennyroyal, and wild
marjoram.
[Illustration: LVI. The Buffalo of Thevet, 1558]
There are barbels and picones,[206] like those of Spain, in the
rivers of this wilderness. Gray lions and leopards were seen.[207]
The country rises continually from the beginning of the wilderness
until Cibola is reached, which is 85 leagues, going north. From
Culiacan to the edge of the wilderness the route had kept the north
on the left hand.
Cibola[208] is seven villages. The largest is called Maçaque.[209]
The houses are ordinarily three or four stories high, but in Maçaque
there are houses with four and seven stories. These people are very
intelligent. They cover their privy parts and all the immodest parts
with cloths made like a sort of table napkin, with fringed edges
and a tassel at each corner, which they tie over the hips. They
wear long robes of feathers and of the skins of hares, and cotton
blankets.[210] The women wear blankets, which they tie or knot over
the left shoulder, leaving the right arm out. These serve to cover
the body. They wear a neat well-shaped outer garment of skin. They
gather their hair over the two ears, making a frame which looks like
an old-fashioned headdress.[211] [p518]
This country is a valley between rocky mountains. They cultivate
corn, which does not grow very high. The ears start at the very foot,
and each large fat stalk, bears about 800 grains, something not seen
before in these parts.[212] There are large numbers of bears in this
province, and lions, wild-cats, deer, and otter. There are very
fine turquoises, although not so many as was reported. They collect
the pine nuts each year, and store them up in advance. A man does
not have more than one wife. There are estufas or hot rooms in the
villages, which are the courtyards or places where they gather for
consultation. They do not have chiefs as in New Spain, but are ruled
by a council of the oldest men.[213] They have priests who preach to
them, whom they call papas.[214] These are the elders. They go up on
the highest roof of the village and preach to the village from there,
like public criers, in the morning while the sun is rising, the whole
village being silent and sitting in the galleries to listen.[215]
They tell them how they are to live, and I believe that they give
certain commandments for them to keep, for there is no drunkenness
among them nor sodomy nor sacrifices, neither do they eat human flesh
nor steal, but they are usually at work. The estufas belong to the
whole village. It is a sacrilege for the women to go into the estufas
to sleep.[216] They make the cross as a sign of peace. They burn
their dead, and throw the implements used in their work into the fire
with the bodies.[217] [p519]
It is 20 leagues to Tusayan, going northwest. This is a province
with seven villages, of the same sort, dress, habits, and ceremonies
as at Cibola. There may be as many as 3,000 or 4,000 men in the
fourteen villages of these two provinces. It is 40 leagues or more to
Tiguex, the road, trending toward the north. The rock of Acuco, which
we described in the first part, is between these.
_Chapter 4, of how they live at Tiguex, and of the province of Tiguex
and its neighborhood._
Tiguex is a province with twelve villages on the banks of a large,
mighty river; some villages on one side and some on the other. It
is a spacious valley two leagues wide, and a very high, rough,
snow-covered mountain chain lies east of it. There are seven villages
in the ridges at the foot of this—four on the plain and three
situated on the skirts of the mountain.
There are seven villages 7 leagues to the north, at Quirix, and the
seven villages of the province of Hemes are 40 leagues northwest. It
is 40 leagues north or east to Acha,[218] and 4 leagues southeast to
[p520] Tutahaco, a province with eight villages. In general, these
villages all have the same habits and customs, although some have
some things in particular which the others have not.[219] They are
governed by the opinions of the elders. They all work together to
build the villages, the women being engaged in making the mixture and
the walls, while the men bring the wood and put it in place.[220]
They have no lime, but they make a mixture of ashes, coals, and dirt
which is almost as good as mortar, for when the house is to have four
stories, they do not make the walls more than half a yard thick.
They gather a great pile of twigs of thyme and sedge grass and set
it afire, and when it is half coals and ashes they throw a quantity
of dirt and water on it and mix it all together. They make round
balls of this, which they use instead of stones after they are dry,
fixing them with the same mixture, which comes to be like a stiff
clay. Before they are married the young men serve the whole village
in general, and fetch the wood that is needed for use, putting it in
a pile in the courtyard of the villages, from which the women take it
to carry to their houses.
[Illustration: LVII. The Buffalo of De Bry, 1595]
The young men live in the estufas, which are in the yards of the
village.[221] They are underground, square or round, with pine
pillars. [p521] Some were seen with twelve pillars and with
four in the center as large as two men could stretch around. They
usually had three or four pillars. The floor was made of large,
smooth stones, like the baths which they have in Europe. They have
a hearth made like the binnacle or compass box of a ship,[222] in
which they burn a handful of thyme at a time to keep up the heat,
and they can stay in there just as in a bath. The top was on a level
with the ground. Some that were seen were large enough for a game
of ball. When any man wishes to marry, it has to be arranged by
those who govern. The man has to spin and weave a blanket and place
it before the woman, who covers herself with it and becomes his
wife.[223] The houses belong to the women, the estufas to the men. If
a man repudiates his woman, he has to go to the estufa.[224] It is
forbidden for women to sleep in the estufas, or to enter these for
any purpose except to give their husbands or sons something to eat.
The men spin and weave. The women bring up the children and prepare
the food. The country is so fertile that they do not have to break up
the ground the year round, but only have to sow the seed, which is
presently covered by the fall of snow, and the ears come up under the
snow. In one year they gather enough for seven. A very large number
of cranes and wild geese and crows and starlings live on what is
sown, and for all this, when they come to sow for another year, the
fields are covered with corn which they have not been able to finish
gathering.
There are a great many native fowl in these provinces, and cocks
with great hanging chins.[225] When dead, these keep for sixty days,
and longer in winter, without losing their feathers or opening, and
without any bad smell, and the same is true of dead men.
The villages are free from nuisances, because they go outside to
excrete, and they pass their water into clay vessels, which they
empty [p522] at a distance from the village.[226] They keep the
separate houses where they prepare the food for eating and where they
grind the meal, very clean. This is a separate room or closet, where
they have a trough with three stones fixed in stiff clay. Three women
go in here, each one having a stone, with which one of them breaks
the corn, the next grinds it, and the third grinds it again.[227]
They take off their shoes, do up their hair, shake their clothes,
and cover their heads before they enter the door. A man sits at the
door playing on a fife while they grind, moving the stones to the
music and singing together. They grind a large quantity at one time,
because they make all their bread of meal soaked in warm water, like
wafers. They gather a great quantity of brushwood and dry it to use
for cooking all through the year. There are no fruits good to eat
in the country, except the pine nuts. They have their preachers.
Sodomy is not found among them. They do not eat human flesh nor make
sacrifices of it. The people are not cruel, for they had Francisco
de Ovando in Tiguex about forty days, after he was dead, and when
the village was captured, he was found among their dead, whole and
without any other wound except the one which killed him, white as
snow, without any bad smell. I found out several things about them
from one of our Indians, who had been a captive among them for a
whole year. I asked him especially for the reason why the young women
in that province went entirely naked, however cold it might be, and
he told me that the virgins had to go around this way until they took
a husband, and that they covered themselves after they had known man.
The men here wear little shirts of tanned deerskin and their long
robes over this. In all these provinces they have earthenware glazed
with antimony and jars of extraordinary labor and workmanship, which
were worth seeing.[228] [p523]
_Chapter 5, of Cicuye and the villages in its neighborhood, and of how
some people came to conquer this country._
We have already said that the people of Tiguex and of all the
provinces on the banks of that river were all alike, having the same
ways of living and the same customs. It will not be necessary to say
anything particular about them. I wish merely to give an account of
Cicuye and some depopulated villages which the army saw on the direct
road which it followed thither, and of others that were across the
snowy mountains near Tiguex, which also lay in that region above the
river.
Cicuye[229] is a village of nearly five hundred warriors, who are
feared throughout that country. It is square, situated on a rock,
with a large court or yard in the middle, containing the estufas.
The houses are all alike, four stories high. One can go over the
top of the whole village without there being a street to hinder.
There are corridors going all around it at the first two stories, by
which one can go around the whole village. These are like outside
balconies, and they are able to protect themselves under these.[230]
The houses do not have doors below, but they use ladders, which can
be lifted up like a drawbridge, and so go up to the corridors which
are on the inside of the village. As the doors of the houses open
on the corridor of that story, the corridor serves as a street. The
houses that open on the plain are right back of those that open on
the court, and in time of war they go through those behind them. The
village is inclosed by a low wall of stone. There is a spring of
water inside, which they are able to divert.[231] The people of this
village boast that no one has been able to conquer them and that they
conquer whatever villages they wish. The people and their customs are
like those of the other villages. Their virgins also go nude until
they take husbands, because they say that if they do anything wrong
then it will be seen, and so they do not do it. They do not need to
be ashamed because they go around as they were born.
There is a village, small and strong, between Cicuye and the province
of Quirix, which the Spaniards named Ximena,[232] and another village
almost deserted, only one part of which is inhabited.[233] This
was a large village, and judging from its condition and newness it
appeared to have been destroyed. They called this the village of the
granaries or silos, because large underground cellars were found
here stored with corn. There was another large village farther on,
entirely destroyed and [p524] pulled down, in the yards of which
there were many stone balls, as big as 12-quart bowls, which seemed
to have been thrown by engines or catapults, which had destroyed the
village. All that I was able to find out about them was that, sixteen
years before, some people called Teyas,[234] had come to this country
in great numbers and had destroyed these villages. They had besieged
Cicuye but had not been able to capture it, because it was strong,
and when they left the region, they had made peace with the whole
country. It seems as if they must have been a powerful people, and
that they must have had engines to knock down the villages. The only
thing they could tell about the direction these people came from was
by pointing toward the north. They usually call these people Teyas
or brave men, just as the Mexicans say chichimecas or braves,[235]
for the Teyas whom the army saw were brave. These knew the people
in the settlements, and were friendly with them, and they (the
Teyas of the plains) went there to spend the winter under the wings
of the settlements. The inhabitants do not dare to let them come
inside, because they can not trust them. Although they are received
as friends, and trade with them, they do not stay in the villages
over night, but outside under the wings. The villages are guarded
by sentinels with trumpets, who call to one another just as in the
fortresses of Spain.
There are seven other villages along this route, toward the snowy
mountains, one of which has been half destroyed by the people already
referred to. These were under the rule of Cicuye. Cicuye is in a
little valley between mountain chains and mountains covered with
large pine forests. There is a little stream which contains very good
trout and otters, and there are very large bears and good falcons
hereabouts.
_Chapter 6, which gives the number of villages which were seen in the
country of the terraced houses, and their population._
[Illustration: LVIII. On the Terraces at Zuñi]
Before I proceed to speak of the plains, with the cows and
settlements and tribes there, it seems to me that it will be well for
the reader to know how large the settlements were, where the houses
with stories, gathered into villages, were seen, and how great an
extent of country they occupied.[236] As I say, Cibola is the first:
Cibola, seven villages.
Tusayan, seven villages.
The rock of Acuco, one. [p525]
Tiguex, twelve villages.
Tutahaco,[237] eight villages.
These villages were below the river.
Quirix,[238] seven villages.
In the snowy mountains, seven villages.
Ximena,[239] three villages.
Cicuye, one village.
Hemes,[240] seven villages.
Aguas Calientes,[240] or Boiling Springs, three villages.
Yuqueyunque,[241] in the mountains, six villages.
Valladolid, called Braba,[242] one village.
Chia,[243] one village.
In all, there are sixty-six villages.[244] Tiguex appears to be in
the center of the villages. Valladolid is the farthest up the river
toward the northeast. The four villages down the river are toward
the southeast, because the river turns toward the east.[245] It is
130 leagues—10 more or less—from the farthest point that was seen
down the river to the farthest point up the river, and all the
settlements are within this region. Including those at a distance,
there are sixty-six villages in all, as I have said, and in all of
them there may be some 20,000 men, which may be taken to be a fair
estimate of the population of the villages. There are no houses or
other buildings between one village and another, but where we went
it is entirely uninhabited.[246] These people, since they are few,
and their manners, government, and habits are so different from all
the nations that have been seen and discovered in these western
regions, must come from that part of Greater India, the coast of
which lies to the west of this country, for they could have come down
from that country, crossing the mountain chains and following down,
the river, settling in what seemed to them the best place.[247] As
they multiplied, they have kept on making settlements until they
lost the river when it buried itself underground, its course being
in the direction of Florida. It comes down from the northeast, where
they[248] could certainly have found signs of villages. He preferred,
however, to follow the reports of [p526] the Turk, but it would have
been better to cross the mountains where this river rises. I believe
they would have found traces of riches and would have reached the
lands from which these people started, which from its location is on
the edge of Greater India, although the region is neither known nor
understood, because from the trend of the coast it appears that the
land between Norway and China is very far up.[249] The country from
sea to sea is very wide, judging from the location of both coasts,
as well as from what Captain Villalobos discovered when he went in
search of China by the sea to the west,[250] and from what has been
discovered on the North sea concerning the trend of the coast of
Florida toward the Bacallaos, up toward Norway.[251]
To return then to the proposition with which I began, I say that
the settlements and people already named were all that were seen
in a region 70 leagues wide and 130 long, in the settled country
along the river Tiguex.[252] In New Spain there are not one but many
establishments, containing a larger number of people. Silver metals
were found in many of their villages, which they use for glazing and
painting their earthenware.[253]
_Chapter 7, which treats of the plains that were crossed, of the
cows, and of the people who inhabit them._
We have spoken of the settlements of high houses which are situated
in what seems to be the most level and open part of the mountains,
since it is 150 leagues across before entering the level country
between the two mountain chains which I said were near the North
sea and the South sea, which might better be called the Western sea
along this coast. This mountain series is the one which is near the
South sea.[254] In order to show that the settlements are in the
middle of the mountains, I will state that it is 80 leagues from
Chichilticalli, where we began to cross this country, to Cibola; from
Cibola, which is the first village, to Cicuye, which is the last
on the way across, is 70 leagues; it is 30 leagues from Cicuye to
where the plains begin. It may be we went across in an indirect or
roundabout way, which would make it seem as if there was more country
than if it had been crossed in a direct line, and it may be more
difficult and rougher. This can not be known certainly, because the
mountains change their direction above the bay at the mouth of the
Firebrand (Tizon) river. [p527]
[Illustration: LIX. Middle Court at Zuñi]
Now we will speak of the plains. The country is spacious and level,
and is more than 400 leagues wide in the part between the two
mountain ranges—one, that which Francisco Vazquez Coronado crossed,
and the other that which the force under Don Fernando de Soto
crossed, near the North sea, entering the country from Florida. No
settlements were seen anywhere on these plains.
In traversing 250 leagues, the other mountain range was not seen,
nor a hill nor a hillock which was three times as high as a man.
Several lakes were found at intervals; they were round as plates, a
stone’s throw or more across, some fresh and some salt. The grass
grows tall near these lakes; away from them it is very short, a span
or less. The country is like a bowl, so that when a man sits down,
the horizon surrounds him all around at the distance of a musket
shot.[255] There are no groves of trees except at the rivers, which
flow at the bottom of some ravines where the trees grow so thick
that they were not noticed until one was right on the edge of them.
They are of dead earth.[256] There are paths down into these, made
by the cows when they go to the water, which is essential throughout
these plains. As I have related in the first part, people follow the
cows, hunting them and tanning the skins to take to the settlements
in the winter to sell, since they go there to pass the winter, each
company going to those which are nearest, some to the settlements at
Cicuye,[257] others toward Quivira, and others to the settlements
which are situated in the direction of Florida. These people are
called Querechos and Teyas. They described some large settlements,
and judging from what was seen, of these people and from the accounts
they gave of other places, there are a good many more of these people
than there are of those at the settlements.[258] They have better
figures, are better warriors, and are more feared. They travel like
the Arabs, with their tents and troops of dogs loaded with poles[259]
and having Moorish pack saddles with girths.[260] When the load gets
disarranged, the dogs howl, calling some one to fix them right. These
people eat raw flesh and drink blood. They do not eat human flesh.
They are a kind people and not cruel. They are faithful friends. They
are able to make themselves very well understood by means of signs.
They dry the flesh in the sun, cutting it thin like a leaf, and when
dry they grind it like meal to keep it and make a sort of sea soup of
it to eat. A handful thrown into a pot swells up so as to increase
very [p528] much. They season it with fat, which they always try to
secure when they kill a cow.[261] They empty a large gut and fill
it with blood, and carry this around the neck to drink when they
are thirsty. When they open the belly of a cow, they squeeze out
the chewed grass and drink the juice that remains behind, because
they say that this contains the essence of the stomach. They cut the
hide open at the back and pull it off at the joints, using a flint
as large as a finger, tied in a little stick, with as much ease as
if working with a good iron tool. They give it an edge with their
own teeth. The quickness with which they do this is something worth
seeing and noting.[262]
There are very great numbers of wolves on these plains, which go
around with the cows. They have white skins. The deer are pied with
white. Their skin is loose, so that when they are killed it can be
pulled off with the hand while warm, coming off like pigskin.[263]
The rabbits, which, are very numerous, are so foolish that those
on horseback killed them with their lances. This is when they are
mounted among the cows. They fly from a person on foot.
_Chapter 8, of Quivira, of where it is and some information about it._
Quivira is to the west of those ravines, in the midst of the country,
somewhat nearer the mountains toward the sea, for the country is
level as far as Quivira, and there they began to see some mountain
chains. The country is well settled. Judging from what was seen on
the borders of it, this country is very similar to that of Spain in
the varieties of vegetation and fruits. There are plums like those of
Castile, grapes, nuts, mulberries, oats, pennyroyal, wild marjoram,
and large quantities of flax, but this does not do them any good,
because they do not know how to use it.[264] The people are of almost
the same sort and appearance as the Teyas. They have villages like
those in New Spain. The houses are round, without a wall, and they
have one story like a loft, under the roof, where they sleep and keep
their belongings. The roofs [p529] are of straw. There are other
thickly settled provinces around it containing large numbers of men.
A friar named Juan de Padilla remained in this province, together
with a Spanish-Portuguese and a negro and a half-blood and some
Indians from the province of Capothan,[265] in New Spain. They killed
the friar because he wanted to go to the province of the Guas,[266]
who were their enemies. The Spaniard escaped by taking flight on a
mare, and afterward reached New Spain, coming out by way of Panuco.
The Indians from New Spain who accompanied the friar were allowed by
the murderers to bury him, and then they followed the Spaniard and
overtook him. This Spaniard was a Portuguese, named Campo.[267]
[Illustration: LX. Zuñi Court, Showing “Balcony”]
The great river of the Holy Spirit (Espiritu Santo),[268] which Don
Fernando de Soto discovered in the country of Florida, flows through
this country. It passes through a province called Arache, according
to the reliable accounts which were obtained here. The sources were
not visited, because, according to what they said, it comes from a
very distant country in the mountains of the South sea, from the part
that sheds its waters onto the plains. It flows across all the level
country and breaks through the mountains of the North sea, and comes
out where the people with Don Fernando de Soto navigated it. This is
more than 300 leagues from where it enters the sea. On account of
this, and also because it has large tributaries, it is so mighty when
it enters the sea that they lost sight of the land before the water
ceased to be fresh.[269]
This country of Quivira was the last that was seen, of which I am
able to give any description or information. Now it is proper for me
to return and speak of the army, which I left in Tiguex, resting for
the winter, so that it would be able to proceed or return in search
of these settlements of Quivira, which was not accomplished after
all, because it was [p530] God’s pleasure that these discoveries
should remain for other peoples and that we who had been there should
content ourselves with saying that we were the first who discovered
it and obtained any information concerning it, just as Hercules knew
the site where Julius Cæsar was to found Seville or Hispales. May the
all-powerful Lord grant that His will be done in everything. It is
certain that if this had not been His will Francisco Vazquez would
not have returned to New Spain without cause or reason, as he did,
and that it would not have been left for those with Don Fernando de
Soto to settle such a good country, as they have done, and besides
settling it to increase its extent, after obtaining, as they did,
information from our army.[270]
THIRD PART, WHICH DESCRIBES WHAT HAPPENED TO FRANCISCO VAZQUEZ
CORONADO DURING THE WINTER, AND HOW HE GAVE UP THE EXPEDITION AND
RETURNED TO NEW SPAIN.
_Laus Deo._
_Chapter 1, of how Don Pedro de Tovar came from Señora with some men,
and, Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas started back to New Spain_.
At the end of the first part of this book, we told how Francisco
Vazquez Coronado, when he got back from Quivira, gave orders to
winter at Tiguex, in order to return, when the winter was over, with
his whole army to discover all the settlements in those regions. Don
Pedro de Tovar, who had gone, as we related, to conduct a force from
the city of Saint Jerome (San Hieronimo), arrived in the meantime
with the men whom he had brought. He had not selected the rebels
and seditious men there, but the most experienced ones and the best
soldiers—men whom he could trust—wisely considering that he ought to
have good men in order to go in search of his general in the country
of the Indian called Turk. Although they found the army at Tiguex
when they arrived there, this did not please them much, because they
had come with great expectations, believing that they would find
their general in the rich country of the Indian called Turk. They
consoled themselves with the hope of going back there, and lived in
anticipation of the pleasure of undertaking this return expedition,
which the army would soon make to Quivira. Don Pedro de Tovar
brought letters from New Spain, both from the viceroy, Don Antonio
de Mendoza, and from individuals. Among these was one for Don Garcia
Lopez de Cardenas, which informed him of the death of his brother,
the heir, and summoned him to Spain to receive the inheritance. On
this account he was given permission, and left Tiguex with several
other persons who [p531] received permission to go and settle
their affairs. There were many others who would have liked to go, but
did not, in order not to appear faint-hearted. During this time the
general endeavored to pacify several villages in the neighborhood
which were not well disposed, and to make peace with the people at
Tiguex. He tried also to procure some of the cloth of the country,
because the soldiers were almost naked and poorly clothed, full of
lice, which they were unable to get rid of or avoid.
[Illustration: LXI. Zuñi Interior]
The general, Francisco Vazquez Coronado, had been beloved and obeyed
by his captains and soldiers as heartily as any of those who have
ever started out in the Indies. Necessity knows no law, and the
captains who collected the cloth divided it badly, taking the best
for themselves and their friends and soldiers, and leaving the rest
for the soldiers, and so there began to be some angry murmuring on
account of this. Others also complained because they noticed that
some favored ones were spared in the work and in the watches and
received better portions of what was divided, both of cloth and food.
On this account it is thought that they began to say that there was
nothing in the country of Quivira which was worth returning for,
which was no slight cause of what afterward happened, as will be seen.
_Chapter 2, of the general’s fall, and of how the return to New Spain
was ordered._
After the winter was over, the return to Quivira was announced, and
the men began to prepare the things needed. Since nothing in this
life is at the disposition of men, but all is under the ordination of
Almighty God, it was His will that we should not accomplish this, and
so it happened that one feast day the general went out on horseback
to amuse himself, as usual,[271] riding with the captain Don Rodrigo
Maldonado. He was on a powerful horse, and his servants had put on
a new girth, which must have been rotten at the time, for it broke
during the race and he fell over on the side where Don Rodrigo was,
and as his horse passed over him it hit his head with its hoof,
which laid him at the point of death, and his recovery was slow and
doubtful.[272]
During this time, while he was in his bed,[273] Don Garcia Lopez de
Cardenas, who had started to go to New Spain, came back in flight
from Suya, because he had found that town deserted and the people
and horses and cattle all dead. When he reached Tiguex and learned
the sad news [p532] that the general was near his end, as already
related, they did not dare to tell him until he had recovered, and
when he finally got up and learned of it, it affected him so much
that he had to go back to bed again. He may have done this in order
to bring about what he afterward accomplished, as was believed later.
It was while he was in this condition that he recollected what a
scientific friend of his in Salamanca had told him, that he would
become a powerful lord in distant lands, and that he would have a
fall from which he would never be able to recover. This expectation
of death made him desire to return and die where he had a wife and
children. As the physician and surgeon who was doctoring him, and
also acted as a talebearer,[274] suppressed the murmurings that were
going about among the soldiers, he treated secretly and underhandedly
with several gentlemen who agreed with him. They set the soldiers
to talking about going back to New Spain, in little knots and
gatherings, and induced them to hold consultations about it, and had
them send papers to the general, signed by all the soldiers, through
their ensigns, asking for this. They all entered into it readily,
and not much time needed to be spent, since many desired it already.
When they asked him, the general acted as if he did not want to do
it, but all the gentlemen and captains supported them, giving him
their signed opinions, and as some were in this, they could give it
at once, and they even persuaded others to do the same.[275] Thus
they made it seem as if they ought to return to New Spain, because
they had not found any riches, nor had they discovered any settled
country out of which estates could be formed for all the army. When
he had obtained their signatures, the return to New Spain was at
once announced, and since nothing can ever be concealed, the double
dealing began to be understood, and many of the gentlemen found that
they had been deceived and had made a mistake. They tried in every
way to get their signatures back again from the general, who guarded
them so carefully that he did not go out of one room, making his
sickness seem very much worse, and putting guards about his person
and room, and at night about the floor on which he slept. In spite
of all this, they stole his chest, and it is said that they did not
find their signatures in it, because he kept them in his mattress; on
the other hand, it is said that they did recover them. They asked the
general to give them 60 picked men, with whom they would remain and
hold the country until the viceroy could send them support, or recall
them, or else that the general would leave them the army and pick out
60 men to go back with him. But the soldiers did not want to remain
either way, some because they had turned their prow toward New Spain,
and others because they saw clearly the trouble that would arise over
who should have the command. The gentlemen, I do not know whether
because they had sworn fidelity or because they [p533] feared that
the soldiers would not support them, did what had been decided
on,[276] although with an ill-will, and from this time on they did
not obey the general as readily as formerly, and they did not show
any affection for him. He made much of the soldiers and humored them,
with the result that he did what he desired and secured the return of
the whole army.
_Chapter 3, of the rebellion at Suya and the reasons the settlers
gave for it._
We have already stated in the last chapter that Don Garcia Lopez de
Cardenas came back from Suya in flight, having found that country
risen in rebellion. He told how and why that town was deserted,
which occurred as I will relate. The entirely worthless fellows were
all who had been left in that town, the mutinous and seditious men,
besides a few who were honored with the charge of public affairs
and who were left to govern the others. Thus the bad dispositions
of the worthless secured the power, and they held daily meetings
and councils and declared that they had been betrayed and were not
going to be rescued, since the others had been directed to go through
another part of the country, where there was a more convenient route
to New Spain, which was not so, because they were still almost on the
direct road. This talk led some of them to revolt, and they chose one
Pedro de Avila as their captain. They went back to Culiacan, leaving
the captain, Diego de Alcaraz, sick in the town of San Hieronimo,
with only a small force. He did not have anyone whom he could send
after them to compel them to return. They killed a number of people
at several villages along the way. Finally they reached Culiacan,
where Hernando Arias de Saabedra, who was waiting for Juan Gallego
to come back from New Spain with a force, detained them by means
of promises, so that Gallego could take them back. Some who feared
what might happen to them ran away one night to New Spain. Diego
de Alcaraz, who had remained at Suya with a small force, sick, was
not able to hold his position, although he would have liked to, on
account of the poisonous herb which the natives use. When these
noticed how weak the Spaniards were, they did not continue to trade
with them as they formerly had done. Veins of gold had already been
discovered before this, but they were unable to work these, because
the country was at war. The disturbance was so great that they did
not cease to keep watch and to be more than usually careful.
The town was situated on a little river. One night all of a
sudden[277] they saw fires which they were not accustomed to, and
on this account they doubled the watches, but not having noticed
anything during the whole night, they grew careless along toward
morning, and the enemy entered the village so silently that they
were not seen until they began to kill and plunder. A number of men
reached the plain as well as [p534] they could, but while they were
getting out the captain was mortally wounded. Several Spaniards came
back on some horses after they had recovered themselves and attacked
the enemy, rescuing some, though only a few. The enemy went off
with the booty, leaving three Spaniards killed, besides many of the
servants and more than twenty horses.
The Spaniards who survived started off the same day on foot, not
having any horses. They went toward Culiacan, keeping away from the
roads, and did not find any food until they reached Corazones, where
the Indians, like the good friends they have always been, provided
them with food. From here they continued to Culiacan, undergoing
great hardships. Hernandarias de Saabedra,[278] the mayor, received
them and entertained them as well as he could until Juan Gallego
arrived with the reinforcements which he was conducting, on his way
to find the army. He was not a little troubled at finding that post
deserted, when he expected that the army would be in the rich country
which had been described by the Indian called Turk, because he looked
like one.
_Chapter 4, of how Friar Juan de Padilla and Friar Luis remained in
the country and the army prepared to return to Mexico._
When the general, Francisco Vazquez, saw that everything was now
quiet, and that his schemes had gone as he wished, he ordered that
everything should be ready to start on the return to New Spain by the
beginning of the month of April, in the year 1543.[279]
Seeing this, Friar Juan de Padilla, a regular brother of the lesser
order,[280] and another, Friar Luis, a lay brother, told the general
that they wanted to remain in that country—Friar Juan de Padilla in
Quivira, because his teachings seemed to promise fruit there, and
Friar Luis at Cicuye. On this account, as it was Lent at the time,
the father made this the subject of his sermon to the companies one
Sunday, establishing his proposition on the authority of the Holy
Scriptures. He declared his zeal for the conversion of these peoples
and his desire to draw them to the faith, and stated that he had
received permission to do it, although this was not necessary. The
general sent a company to escort them as far as Cicuye, where Friar
Luis stopped, while Friar Juan went on back to Quivira with the
guides who had conducted the general, taking with him the Portuguese,
as we related, and the half-blood, and the Indians from New Spain.
He was martyred a short time after he arrived there, as we related
in the second part, chapter 8. Thus we may be sure that he died a
martyr, because his zeal was holy and earnest.
[Illustration: LXII. Zuñis in Typical Modern Costume]
Friar Luis remained at Cicuye. Nothing more has been heard about him
since, but before the army left Tiguex some men who went to take
[p535] him a number of sheep that were left for him to keep,
met him as he was on his way to visit some other villages, which
were 15 or 20 leagues from Cicuye, accompanied by some followers.
He felt very hopeful that he was liked at the village and that his
teaching would bear fruit, although he complained that the old men
were falling away from him. I, for my part, believe that they finally
killed him. He was a man of good and holy life, and may Our Lord
protect him and grant that he may convert many of those peoples, and
end his days in guiding them in the faith. We do not need to believe
otherwise, for the people in those parts are pious and not at all
cruel. They are friends, or rather, enemies of cruelty, and they
remained faithful and loyal friends.[281] [p536]
After the friars had gone, the general, fearing that they might be
injured if people were carried away from that country to New Spain,
ordered the soldiers to let any of the natives who were held as
servants go free to their villages whenever they might wish. In my
opinion, though I am not sure, it would have been better if they had
been kept and taught among Christians.
The general was very happy and contented when the time arrived and
everything needed for the journey was ready, and the army started
from Tiguex on its way back to Cibola. One thing of no small note
happened during this part of the trip. The horses were in good
condition for their work when they started, fat and sleek, but more
than, thirty died during the ten days which it took to reach Cibola,
and there was not a day in which two or three or more did not die. A
large number of them also died afterward, before reaching Culiacan, a
thing that did not happen during all the rest of the journey.
After the army reached Cibola, it rested before starting across the
wilderness, because this was the last of the settlements in that
country. The whole country was left well disposed and at peace, and
several of our Indian allies remained there.[282] [p537]
[Illustration: LXIII. Hopi Maidens, Showing Primitive Pueblo
Hairdressing]
_Chapter 5, of how the army left the settlements and marched to
Culiacan, and of what happened on the way._
Leaving astern, as we might say, the settlements that had been
discovered in the new land, of which, as I have said, the seven
villages of Cibola were the first to be seen and the last that were
left, the army started off, marching across the wilderness. The
natives kept following the rear of the army for two or three days,
to pick up any baggage or servants, for although they were still at
peace and had always been loyal friends, when they saw that we were
going to leave the country entirely, they were glad to get some of
our people in their power, although I do not think that they wanted
to injure them, from what I was told by some who were not willing to
go back with them when they teased and asked them to. Altogether,
they carried off several people besides those who had remained of
their own accord, among whom good interpreters could be found today.
The wilderness was crossed without opposition, and on the second
day before reaching Chichilticalli Juan Gallego met the army, as he
was coming from New Spain with reenforcements of men and necessary
supplies for the army, expecting that he would find the army in the
country of the Indian called Turk. When Juan Gallego saw that the
army was returning, the first thing he said was not, “I am glad you
are coming back,” and he did not like it any better after he had
talked with the general. After he had reached the army, or rather
the quarters, there was quite a little movement among the gentlemen
toward going back with the new force which had made no slight
exertions in coming thus far, having encounters every day with the
Indians of these regions who had risen in revolt, as will be related.
There was talk of making a settlement somewhere in that region until
the viceroy could receive an account of what had occurred. Those
soldiers who had come from the new lands would not agree to anything
except the return to New Spain, so that nothing came of the proposals
made at the consultations, and although there was some opposition,
they were finally quieted. Several of the mutineers who had deserted
the town of Corazones came with Juan Gallego, who had given them his
word as surety for their safety, and even if the general had wanted
to punish them, his power was slight, for he had been disobeyed
already and was not much respected. He began to be afraid again
after this, and made himself sick, and kept a guard. In several
places yells were heard and Indians seen, and some of the horses
were wounded and killed, before Batuco[283] was reached, where the
friendly Indians from Corazones came to meet the army and see the
general. They were always friendly and had treated all the Spaniards
who passed through their country well, furnishing them with what
food they needed, and men, if they needed these. Our men had always
treated them well and repaid them for these things. During this
journey the juice of the quince was proved to be a good protection
against the poison of the [p538] natives, because at one place,
several days before reaching Señora,[284] the hostile Indians wounded
a Spaniard called Mesa, and he did not die, although the wound of the
fresh poison is fatal, and there was a delay of over two hours before
curing him with the juice. The poison, however, had left its mark
upon him. The skin rotted and fell off until it left the bones and
sinews bare, with a horrible smell. The wound was in the wrist, and
the poison had reached as far as the shoulder when he was cured. The
skin on all this fell off.[285]
The army proceeded without taking any rest, because the provisions
had begun to fail by this time. These districts were in rebellion,
and so there were not any victuals where the soldiers could get them
until they reached Petlatlan, although they made several forays
into the cross country in search of provisions. Petlatlan is in the
province of Culiacan, and on this account was at peace, although
they had several surprises after this.[286] The army rested here
several days to get provisions. After leaving here they were able to
travel more quickly than before, for the 30 leagues of the valley of
Culiacan, where they were welcomed back again as people who came with
their governor, who had suffered ill treatment.
_Chapter 6, of how the general started from Culiacan to give the
viceroy an account of the army with which he had been intrusted._
It seemed, indeed, as if the arrival in the valley of Culiacan had
ended the labors of this journey, partly because the general was
governor there and partly because it was inhabited by Christians.
On this account some began to disregard their superiors and the
authority which their captains had over them, and some captains even
forgot the obedience due to their general. Each one played his own
game, so that while the general was marching toward the town, which
was still 10 leagues away, many of the men, or most of them, left
him in order to rest in the valley, and some even proposed not to
follow him. The general understood that he was not strong enough
to compel them, although his position as governor gave him fresh
authority. He determined to accomplish it by a better method, which
was to order all the captains to provide food and meat from the
stores of several villages that were under his control as governor.
He pretended to be sick, keeping his bed, so that those who had any
business with him could speak to him or he with [p539] them more
freely, without hindrance or observation, and he kept sending for
his particular friends in order to ask them to be sure to speak to
the soldiers and encourage them to accompany him back to New Spain,
and to tell them that he would request the viceroy, Don Antonio
de Mendoza, to show them especial favor, and that he would do so
himself for those who might wish to remain in his government. After
this had been done, he started with his army at a very bad time,
when the rains were beginning, for it was about Saint John’s day,
at which season it rains continuously. In the uninhabited country
which they passed through as far as Compostela there are numerous
very dangerous rivers, full of large and fierce alligators. While the
army was halting at one of these rivers, a soldier who was crossing
from one side to the other was seized, in sight of everybody, and
carried off by an alligator without it being possible to help him.
The general proceeded, leaving the men who did not want to follow
him all along the way, and reached Mexico with less than 100 men.
He made his report to the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, who did
not receive him very graciously, although he gave him his discharge.
His reputation was gone from this time on. He kept the government
of New Galicia, which had been entrusted to him, for only a short
time, when the viceroy took it himself, until the arrival of the
court, or audiencia, which still governs it. And this was the end of
those discoveries and of the expedition which was made to these new
lands.[287]
[Illustration: LXIV. Hopi Grinding and Paper-bread Making
(From photograph of a model in the National Museum)]
It now remains for us to describe the way in which to enter the
country by a more direct route, although there is never a short cut
without hard work. It is always best to find out what those know who
have prepared the way, who know what will be needed.[288] This can
be found elsewhere, and I will now tell where Quivira lies, what
direction the army took, and the direction in which Greater India
lies, which was what they pretended to be in search of, when the
army started thither. Today, since Villalobos has discovered that
this part of the coast of the South sea trends toward the west, it
is clearly seen and acknowledged that, since we were in the north,
we ought to have turned to the west instead of toward the east, as
we did. With this, we will leave this subject and will proceed to
finish this treatise, since there are several noteworthy things of
which I must give an account, which I have left to be treated more
extensively in the two following chapters. [p540]
_Chapter 7, of the adventures of Captain Juan Gallego while he was
bringing reenforcements through the revolted country._
One might well have complained when in the last chapter I passed
in silence over the exploits of Captain Juan Gallego with his 20
companions. I will relate them in the present chapter, so that in
times to come those who read about it or tell of it may have a
reliable authority on whom to rely. I am not writing fables, like
some of the things which we read about nowadays in the books of
chivalry. If it were not that those stories contained enchantments,
there are some things which our Spaniards have done in our own day
in these parts, in their conquests and encounters with the Indians,
which, for deeds worthy of admiration, surpass not only the books
already mentioned, but also those which have been written about
the twelve peers of France, because, if the deadly strength which
the authors of those times attributed to their heroes and the
brilliant and resplendent arms with which they adorned them, are
fully considered, and compared with the small stature of the men
of our time and the few and poor weapons which they have in these
parts,[289] the remarkable things which our people have undertaken
and accomplished with such weapons are more to be wondered at today
than those of which the ancients write, and just because, too, they
fought with barbarous naked people, as ours have with Indians, among
whom there are always men who are brave and valiant and very sure
bowmen, for we have seen them pierce the wings while flying, and hit
hares while running after them. I have said all this in order to show
that some things which we consider fables may be true, because we see
greater things every day in our own times, just as in future times
people will greatly wonder at the deeds of Don Fernando Cortez, who
dared to go into the midst of New Spain with 300 men against the vast
number of people in Mexico, and who with 500 Spaniards succeeded in
subduing it, and made himself lord over it in two years.
The deeds of Don Pedro de Alvarado in the conquest of Guatemala, and
those of Montejo in Tabasco, the conquests of the mainland and of
Peru, were all such as to make me remain silent concerning what I now
wish to relate; but since I have promised to give an account of what
happened on this journey, I want the things I am now going to relate
to be known as well as those others of which I have spoken.
The captain Juan Gallego, then, reached the town of Culiacan with a
very small force. There he collected as many as he could of those who
had escaped from the town of Hearts, or, more correctly, from Suya,
which made in all 22 men, and with these he marched through all of
the settled country, across which he traveled 200 leagues with the
country in a state of war and the people in rebellion, although they
had formerly been friendly toward the Spaniards, having encounters
with [p541] the enemy almost every day. He always marched with
the advance guard, leaving two-thirds of his force behind with the
baggage. With six or seven Spaniards, and without any of the Indian
allies whom he had with him, he forced his way into their villages,
killing and destroying and setting them on fire, coming upon the
enemy so suddenly and with such quickness and boldness that they did
not have a chance to collect or even to do anything at all, until
they became so afraid of him that there was not a town which dared
wait for him, but they fled before him as from a powerful army;
so much so, that for ten days, while he was passing through the
settlements, they did not have an hour’s rest. He did all this with
his seven companions, so that when the rest of the force came up
with the baggage there was nothing for them to do except to pillage,
since the others had already killed and captured all the people they
could lay their hands on and the rest had fled. They did not pause
anywhere, so that although the villages ahead of him received some
warning, they were upon them so quickly that they did not have a
chance to collect. Especially in the region where the town of Hearts
had been, he killed and hung a large number of people to punish them
for their rebellion. He did not lose a companion during all this,
nor was anyone wounded, except one soldier, who was wounded in the
eyelid by an Indian who was almost dead, whom he was stripping. The
weapon broke the skin and, as it was poisoned, he would have had to
die if he had not been saved by the quince juice; he lost his eye
as it was. These deeds of theirs were such that I know those people
will remember them as long as they live, and especially four or five
friendly Indians who went with them from Corazones, who thought that
they were so wonderful that they held them to be something divine
rather than human. If he had not fallen in with our army as he did,
they would have reached the country of the Indian called Turk, which
they expected to march to, and they would have arrived there without
danger on account of their good order and the skill with which he
was leading them, and their knowledge and ample practice in war.
Several of these men are still in this town of Culiacan, where I am
now writing this account and narrative, where they, as well as I and
the others who have remained in this province, have never lacked
for labor in keeping this country quiet, in capturing rebels, and
increasing in poverty and need, and more than ever at the present
hour, because the country is poorer and more in debt than ever before.
_Chapter 8, which describes some remarkable things that were seen on
the plains, with a description of the bulls._
My silence was not without mystery and dissimulation when, in chapter
7 of the second part of this book, I spoke of the plains and of the
things of which I will give a detailed account in this chapter,
where all these things may be found together; for these things
were remarkable and something not seen in other parts. I dare to
write [p542] of them because I am writing at a time when many men
are still living who saw them and who will vouch for my account.
Who could believe that 1,000 horses and 500 of our cows and more
than 5,000 rams and ewes and more than 1,500 friendly Indians and
servants, in traveling over those plains, would leave no more trace
where they had passed than if nothing had been there—nothing—so that
it was necessary to make piles of bones and cow dung now and then,
so that the rear guard could follow the army. The grass never failed
to become erect after it had been trodden down, and, although it was
short, it was as fresh and straight as before.
Another thing was a heap of cowbones, a crossbow shot long, or a
very little less, almost twice a man’s height in places, and some 18
feet or more wide, which was found on the edge of a salt lake in the
southern part,[290] and this in a region where there are no people
who could have made it. The only explanation of this which could be
suggested was that the waves which the north winds must make in the
lake had piled up the bones of the cattle which had died in the lake,
when the old and weak ones who went into the water were unable to
get out. The noticeable thing is the number of cattle that would be
necessary to make such a pile of bones.
Now that I wish to describe the appearance of the bulls, it is to
be noticed first that there was not one of the horses that did not
take flight when he saw them first, for they have a narrow, short
face, the brow two palms across from eye to eye, the eyes sticking
out at the side, so that, when they are running, they can see who
is following them. They have very long beards, like goats, and when
they are running they throw their heads back with the beard dragging
on the ground. There is a sort of girdle round the middle of the
body.[291] The hair is very woolly, like a sheep’s, very fine, and in
front of the girdle the hair is very long and rough like a lion’s.
They have a great hump, larger than a camel’s. The horns are short
and thick, so that they are not seen much above the hair. In May they
change the hair in the middle of the body for a down, which makes
perfect lions of them. They rub against the small trees in the little
ravines to shed their hair, and they continue this until only the
down is left, as a snake changes his skin. They have a short tail,
with a bunch of hair at the end. When they run, they carry it erect
like a scorpion. It is worth noticing that the little calves are red
and just like ours, but they change their color and appearance with
time and age.
Another strange thing was that all the bulls that were killed had
their left ears slit, although these were whole when young. The
reason for this was a puzzle that could not be guessed. The wool
ought to [p543] make good cloth, on account of its fineness,
although, the color is not good, because it is the color of
buriel.[292]
[Illustration: LXV. Hopi Basket Maker
(From photograph of a model in the National Museum)]
Another thing worth noticing is that the bulls traveled without cows
in such large numbers that nobody could have counted them, and so far
away from the cows that it was more than 40 leagues from where we
began to see the bulls to the place where we began to see the cows.
The country they traveled over was so level and smooth that if one
looked at them the sky could be seen between their legs, so that if
some of them were at a distance they looked like smooth-trunked pines
whose tops joined, and if there was only one bull it looked as if
there were four pines. When one was near them, it was impossible to
see the ground on the other side of them. The reason for all this was
that the country seemed as round as if a man should imagine himself
in a three-pint measure, and could see the sky at the edge of it,
about a crossbow shot from him, and even if a man only lay down on
his back he lost sight of the ground.[293] [p544]
I have not written about other things which were seen nor made
any mention of them, because they were not of so much importance,
although it does not seem right for me to remain silent concerning
the fact that they venerate the sign of the cross in the region where
the settlements have high houses. For at a spring which was in the
plain near Acuco they had a cross two palms high and as thick as
a finger, made of wood with a square twig for its crosspiece, and
many little sticks decorated with feathers around it, and numerous
withered flowers, which were the offerings.[294] In a graveyard
outside the village at Tutahaco there appeared to have been a
recent burial. Near the head there was another cross made of two
little sticks tied with cotton thread, and dry withered flowers. It
certainly seems to me that in some way they must have received some
light from the cross of Our Redeemer, Christ, and it may have come by
way of India, from whence they proceeded.
_Chapter 9, which treats of the direction which the army took, and of
how another more direct way might be found, if anyone was to return
to that country._
I very much wish that I possessed some knowledge of cosmography or
geography, so as to render what I wish to say intelligible, and so
that I could reckon up or measure the advantage those people who
might go in search of that country would have if they went directly
through the center of the country, instead of following the road the
army took. However, with the help of the favor of the Lord, I will
state it as well as I can, making it as plain as possible.
It is, I think, already understood that the Portuguese, Campo, was
the soldier who escaped when Friar Juan de Padilla was killed at
Quivira, and that he finally reached New Spain from Panuco,[295]
having traveled across the plains country until he came to cross the
North Sea mountain chain, keeping the country that Don Hernando de
Soto discovered all the time on his left hand, since he did not see
the river of the Holy Spirit (Espiritu Santo) at all.[296] After he
had crossed the North Sea mountains, he found that he was in Panuco,
so that if he had not tried to go to the North sea, he would have
come out in the [p545] neighborhood of the border land, or the
country of the Sacatecas,[297] of which we now have some knowledge.
This way would be somewhat better and more direct for anyone going
back there in search of Quivira, since some of those who came
with the Portuguese are still in New Spain to serve as guides.
Nevertheless, I think it would be best to go through the country of
the Guachichules,[298] keeping near the South Sea mountains all the
time, for there are more settlements and a food supply, for it would
be suicide to launch out on to the plains country, because it is so
vast and is barren of anything to eat, although, it is true, there
would not be much need of this after coming to the cows. This is
only when one goes in search of Quivira, and of the villages which
were described by the Indian called Turk, for the army of Francisco
Vazquez Coronado went the very farthest way round to get there, since
they started from Mexico and went 110 leagues to the west, and then
100 leagues to the northeast, and 250 to the north,[299] and all this
brought them as far as the ravines where the cows were, and after
traveling 850 leagues they were not more than 400 leagues distant
from Mexico by a direct route. If one desires to go to the country
of Tiguex, so as to turn from there toward the west in search of the
country of India, he ought to follow the road taken by the army,
for there is no other, even if one wished to go by a different way,
because the arm of the sea which reaches into this coast toward the
north does not leave room for any. But what might be done is to have
a fleet and cross this gulf and disembark in the neighborhood of the
Island of Negroes[300] and enter the country from there, crossing the
mountain chains in search of the country from which the people at
Tiguex came, or other peoples of the same sort. As for entering from
the country of Florida and from the North sea, it has already been
observed that the many expeditions which have been undertaken from
that side have been unfortunate and not very successful, because that
part of the country is full of bogs and poisonous fruits, barren,
and the very worst country that is warmed by the sun. But they might
disembark after passing the river of the Holy Spirit, as Don Hernando
de Soto did. Nevertheless, despite the fact that I underwent much
labor, I still think that the way I went to that country is the best.
There ought to be river courses, because the necessary supplies can
be carried on these more easily in [p546] large quantities. Horses,
are the most necessary things in the new countries, and they frighten
the enemy most. . . . Artillery is also much feared by those who do
not know how to use it. A piece of heavy artillery would be very
good for settlements like those which Francisco Vazquez Coronado
discovered, in order to knock them down, because he had nothing but
some small machines for slinging and nobody skillful enough to make
a catapult or some other machine which would frighten them, which is
very necessary.
I say, then, that with what we now know about the trend of the coast
of the South sea, which has been followed by the ships which explored
the western part, and what is known of the North sea toward Norway,
the coast of which extends up from Florida, those who now go to
discover the country which Francisco Vazquez entered, and reach the
country of Cibola or of Tiguex, will know the direction in which they
ought to go in order to discover the true direction of the country
which the Marquis of the Valley, Don Hernando Cortes, tried to find,
following the direction of the gulf of the Firebrand (Tizon) river.
This will suffice for the conclusion of our narrative. Everything
else rests on the powerful Lord of all things, God Omnipotent, who
knows how and when these lands will be discovered and for whom. He
has guarded this good fortune.
_Laus Deo._
Finished copying, Saturday the 26th of October, 1596, in Seville.
[Illustration: LXVI. Pueblo Pottery Making
(From photograph of a model in the National Museum)]
[p547]
TRANSLATION OF THE LETTER FROM MENDOZA TO THE KING, APRIL 17,
1540.[301]
S.C.C.M.:
I wrote to Your Majesty from Compostela the last of February, giving
you an account of my arrival there and of the departure of Francisco
Vazquez with the force which I sent to pacify and settle in the newly
discovered country, and of how the warden, Lope de Samaniego, was
going as army master, both because he was a responsible person and a
very good Christian, and because he has had experience in matters of
this sort; as Your Majesty had desired to know. And the news which I
have received since then is to the effect that after they had passed
the uninhabited region of Culuacan and were approaching Chiametla,
the warden went off with some horsemen to find provisions, and one
of the soldiers who was with him, who had strayed from the force,
called out that they were killing him. The warden hastened to his
assistance, and they wounded him in the eye with an arrow, from which
he died. In regard to the fortress,[302] besides the fact that it
is badly built and going to pieces, it seems to me that the cost of
it is excessive, and that Your Majesty could do without the most of
it, because there is one man who takes charge of the munitions and
artillery, and an armorer to repair it, and a gunner, and as this is
the way it was under the audiencia, before the fortresses were made
conformable to what I have written to Your Majesty, we can get along
without the rest, because that fortress was built on account of the
brigantines, and not for any other purpose.[303] And as the lagoon is
so dry that it can do no good in this way for the present, I think
that, for this reason, the cost is superfluous. I believe that it
will have fallen in before a reply can come from Your Majesty.
Some days ago I wrote to Your Majesty that I had ordered Melchior
Diaz, who was in the town of San Miguel de Culuacan, to take some
horsemen and see if the account given by the father, Friar Marcos,
agreed with what he could discover. He set out from Culuacan with
fifteen horsemen, the 17th of November last. The 20th of this present
[p548] March I received a letter from him, which he sent me by Juan
de Zaldyvar and three other horsemen. In this he says that after he
left Culuacan and crossed the river of Petatlan he was everywhere
very well received by the Indians. The way he did was to send a
cross to the place where he was going to stop, because this was a
sign which the Indians received with deep veneration, making a house
out of mats in which to place it, and somewhat away from this they
made a lodging for the Spaniards, and drove stakes where they could
tie the horses, and supplied fodder for them, and abundance of corn
wherever they had it. They say that they suffered from hunger in many
places, because it had been a bad year. After going 100 leagues from
Culuacan, he began to find the country cold, with severe frosts,
and the farther he went on the colder it became, until he reached a
point where some Indians whom he had with him were frozen, and two
Spaniards were in great danger. Seeing this, he decided not to go any
farther until the winter was over, and to send back, by those whom I
mentioned, an account of what he had learned concerning Cibola and
the country beyond, which is as follows, taken literally from his
letter:
“I have given Your Lordship an account of what happened to me along
the way; and seeing that it is impossible to cross the uninhabited
region which stretches from here to Cibola, on account of the heavy
snows and the cold, I will give Your Lordship an account of what I
have learned about Cibola, which I have ascertained by asking many
persons who have been there fifteen and twenty years; and I have
secured this in many different ways, taking some Indians together
and others separately, and on comparison they all seem to agree in
what they say. After crossing this large wilderness, there are seven
places, being a short day’s march from one to another, all of which
are together called Cibola. The houses are of stone and mud, coarsely
worked. They are made in this way: One large wall, and at each end
of this wall some rooms are built, partitioned off 20 feet square,
according to the description they give, which are planked with square
beams. Most of the houses are reached from the flat roofs, using
their ladders to go to the streets. The houses have three and four
stories. They declare that there are few having two stories. The
stories are mostly half as high again as a man, except the first
one, which is low, and only a little more than a man’s height. One
ladder is used to communicate with ten or twelve houses together.
They make use of the low ones and live in the highest ones. In the
lowest ones of all they have some loopholes made sideways, as in
the fortresses of Spain. The Indians say that when these people are
attacked, they station themselves in their houses and fight from
there; and that when they go to make war, they carry shields and wear
leather jackets, which are made of cows’ hide, colored, and that they
fight with arrows and with a sort of stone maul and with some other
weapons made of sticks, which I have not been able to make out. They
eat human flesh, and they keep those whom they capture in war as
slaves. There are many fowls in the [p549] country, tame. They have
much corn and beans and melons [squashes]. In their houses they keep
some hairy animals, like the large Spanish hounds, which they shear,
and they make long colored wigs from the hair, like this one which I
send to Your Lordship, which they wear, and they also put this same
stuff in the cloth which they make.[304] The men are of small stature
[plate LXII]; the women are light colored and of good appearance,
and they wear shirts or chemises which reach down to their feet.
They wear their hair on each side done up in a sort of twist [plate
LXIII], which leaves the ears outside, in which they hang many
turquoises, as well as on their necks and on the wrists of their
arms. The clothing of the men is a cloak, and over this the skin of
a cow, like the one which Cabeza de Vaca and Dorantes brought, which
Your Lordship saw; they wear caps[305] on their heads; in summer
they wear shoes made of painted or colored skin, and high buskins in
winter.[306]
“They were also unable to tell me of any metal, nor did they say
that they had it. They have turquoises in quantity, although not
so many as the father provincial said. They have some little stone
crystals, like this which I send to Your Lordship, of which Your
Lordship has seen many here in New Spain. They cultivate the ground
in the same way as in New Spain. They carry things on their heads,
as in Mexico. [p550] The men weave cloth, and spin cotton. They
have salt from a marshy lake, which is two days from the province
of Cibola.[307] The Indians have their dances and songs, with some
flutes which have holes on which to put the fingers. They make much
noise. They sing in unison with those who play, and those who sing
clap their hands in our fashion. One of the Indians that accompanied
the negro Esteban, who had been a captive there, saw the playing
as they practiced it, and others singing as I have said, although
not very vigorously. They say that five or six play together, and
that some of the flutes are better than others.[308] They say the
country is good for corn and beans, and that they do not have any
fruit trees, nor do they know what such a thing is.[309] They have
very good mountains. The country lacks water. They do not raise
cotton, but bring it from Totonteac.[310] They eat out of flat
bowls, like the Mexicans. They raise considerable corn and beans
and other similar things.[311] They do not know what sea fish is,
nor have they ever heard of it. I have not obtained any information
about the cows, except that these are found beyond the province of
Cibola. There is a great abundance of wild goats, of the color of bay
horses; there are many of these here where I am, and although I have
asked the Indians if those are like these, they tell me no. Of the
seven settlements, they describe three of them as very large; four
not so big. They describe them, as I understand, to be about three
crossbow shots square for each place, and from what the Indians say,
and their descriptions of the houses and their size, and as these
are close together, and considering that there are people in each
house, it ought to make a large multitude. Totonteac is declared to
be seven short days from the province of Cibola, and of the same sort
of houses and people, and they say that cotton grows there. I doubt
this, because they tell me that it is a cold country. They say that
there are twelve villages, every one of which is larger than the
largest at Cibola. They also tell me that there is a village which is
one day from Cibola, and that the two are at war.[312] They have the
same sort of houses and people and customs. They declare this to be
greater than any of those described; I take it that there is a great
multitude of people there. They are very well known, on account of
having these houses and abundance of food and turquoises. I have not
been able to learn more than what I have [p551] related, although, as
I have said, I have had with me Indians who have lived there fifteen
and twenty years.
[Illustration: LXVII. Pueblo Spinning and Weaving
(From photograph of a model in the National Museum)]
“The death of Esteban the negro took place in the way the father,
Friar Marcos, described it to your lordship, and so I do not make
a report of it here, except that the people at Cibola sent word to
those of this village and in its neighborhood that if any Christians
should come, they ought not to consider them as anything peculiar,
and ought to kill them, because they were mortal—saying that they
had learned this because they kept the bones of the one who had come
there; and that, if they did not dare to do this, they should send
word so that those (at Cibola) could come and do it. I can very
easily believe that all this has taken place, and that there has been
some communication between these places, because of the coolness with
which they received us and the sour faces they have shown us.”
Melchior Diaz says that the people whom he found along the way do
not have any settlements at all, except in one valley which is 150
leagues from Culuacan, which is well settled and has houses with
lofts, and that there are many people along the way, but that they
are not good for anything except to make them Christians, as if this
was of small account. May Your Majesty remember to provide for the
service of God, and keep in mind the deaths and the loss of life and
of provinces which has taken place in these Indies. And, moreover, up
to this present day none of the things Your Majesty has commanded,
which have been very holy and good, have been attended to, nor
priests provided, either for that country or for this. For I assure
Your Majesty that there is no trace of Christianity where they have
not yet arrived, neither little nor much, and that the poor people
are ready to receive the priests and come to them even when they flee
from us like deer in the mountains. And I state this because I am
an eyewitness, and I have seen it clearly during this trip. I have
importuned Your Majesty for friars, and yet again I can not cease
doing it much more, because unless this be done I can not accomplish
that which I am bound to do.
After I reach Mexico, I will give Your Majesty an account of
everything concerning these provinces, for while I should like to do
it today, I can not, because I am very weak from a slow fever which
I caught in Colima, which attacked me very severely, although it did
not last more than six days. It has pleased Our Lord to make me well
already, and I have traveled here to Jacona, where I am.
May Our Lord protect the Holy Catholic Cæsarian person of Your
Majesty and aggrandize it with increase of better kingdoms and
lordships, as we your servants desire.
From Jacona, April 17, 1540.
S.C.C.M.
Your Holy Majesty’s humble servant, who salutes your royal feet and
hands,
D. ANTONIO DE MENDOZA.
[p552]
TRANSLATION OF THE LETTER FROM CORONADO TO MENDOZA, AUGUST 3,
1540.[313]
THE ACCOUNT GIVEN BY FRANCISCO VAZQUEZ DE CORONADO, CAPTAIN-GENERAL
OF THE FORCE WHICH WAS SENT IN THE NAME OF HIS MAJESTY TO THE NEWLY
DISCOVERED COUNTRY, OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EXPEDITION AFTER APRIL 22
OF THE YEAR MDXL, WHEN HE STARTED FORWARD FROM CULIACAN, AND OF WHAT
HE FOUND IN THE COUNTRY THROUGH WHICH HE PASSED.
_Francisco Vazquez starts from Culiacan with his army, and after
suffering various inconveniences on account of the badness of the
way, reaches the Valley of Hearts, where he failed to find any corn,
to procure which he sends to the valley called Señora. He receives an
account of the important Valley of Hearts and of the people there,
and of some lands lying along that coast._
On the 22d of the month of April last, I set out from the province
of Culiacan with a part of the army, having made the arrangements of
which I wrote to Your Lordship. Judging by the outcome, I feel sure
that it was fortunate that I did not start the whole of the army on
this undertaking, because the labors have been so very great and
the lack of food such that I do not believe this undertaking could
have been completed before the end of this year, and that there
would be a great loss of life if it should be accomplished. For,
as I wrote to Your Lordship, I spent eighty days in traveling to
Culiacan,[314] during which time I and the gentlemen of my company,
who were horsemen, carried on our backs and on our horses a little
food, in such wise that after leaving this place none of us carried
any necessary effects weighing more than a pound. For all this, and
although we took all possible care and forethought of the small
supply of provisions which we carried, it gave out. And this is not
to be wondered at, because the road is rough and long, and what with
our harquebuses, which had to be carried up the mountains and hills
and in the passage of the rivers, the greater part of the [p553]
corn was lost. And since I send Your Lordship a drawing of this
route, I will say no more about it here.
Thirty leagues before reaching the place which the father provincial
spoke so well of in his report,[315] I sent Melchior Diaz forward
with fifteen horsemen, ordering him to make but one day’s journey
out of two, so that he could examine everything there before I
arrived. He traveled through some very rough mountains for four days,
and did not find anything to live on, nor people, nor information
about anything, except that he found two or three poor villages,
with twenty or thirty huts apiece. From the people here he learned
that there was nothing to be found in the country beyond except
the mountains, which continued very rough, entirely uninhabited by
people. And, because this was labor lost, I did not want to send
Your Lordship an account of it. The whole company felt disturbed at
this, that a thing so much praised, and about which the father had
said so many things, should be found so very different; and they
began to think that all the rest would be of the same sort. When I
noticed this, I tried to encourage them as well as I could, telling
them that Your Lordship had always thought that this part of the
trip would be a waste of effort, and that we ought to devote our
attention to those Seven Cities and the other provinces about which
we had information—that these should be the end of our enterprise.
With this resolution and purpose, we all marched cheerfully along a
very bad way, where it was impossible to pass without making a new
road or repairing the one that was there, which troubled the soldiers
not a little, considering that everything which the friar had said
was found to be quite the reverse; because, among other things which
the father had said and declared, he said that the way would be plain
and good, and that there would be only one small hill of about half
a league. And the truth is, that there are mountains where, however
well the path might be fixed, they could not be crossed without
there being great danger of the horses falling over them. And it was
so bad that a large number of the animals which Your Lordship sent
as provision for the army were lost along this part of the way, on
account of the roughness of the rocks. The lambs and wethers lost
their hoofs along the way, and I left the greater part of those which
I brought from Culiacan at the river of Lachimi,[316] because they
were unable to travel, and so that they might proceed more slowly.
Four horsemen remained with them, who have just arrived. They have
not brought more than 24 lambs and 4 wethers; the rest died from the
toil, although they did not travel more than two leagues daily. I
reached the Valley of Hearts at last, on the 26th day of the month
of May, and rested there a number of days. Between Culiacan and this
place I could sustain myself only by means of a large supply of corn
bread, because I had to leave all the corn, as it was not yet ripe.
In this Valley of Hearts we found more people than in any part of
the country [p554] which we had left behind, and a large extent
of tilled ground. There was no corn for food among them, but as I
heard that there was some in another valley called Señora, which I
did not wish to disturb by force, I sent Melchior Diaz with goods to
exchange for it, so as to give this to the friendly Indians whom we
brought with us, and to some who had lost their animals along the way
and had not been able to carry the food which they had taken from
Culiacan. By the favor of Our Lord, some little corn was obtained by
this trading, which relieved the friendly Indians and some Spaniards.
Ten or twelve of the horses had died of overwork by the time that
we reached this Valley of Hearts, because they were unable to stand
the strain of carrying heavy burdens and eating little. Some of our
negroes and some of the Indians also died here, which, was not a
slight loss for the rest of the expedition. They told me that the
Valley of Hearts is a long five-days’ journey from the western sea. I
sent to summon Indians from the coast in order to learn about their
condition, and while I was waiting for these the horses rested. I
stayed there four days, during which the Indians came from the sea,
who told me that there were seven or eight islands two days’ journey
from that seacoast, directly opposite, well populated with people,
but poorly supplied with food, and the people were savages.[317]
They told me they had seen a ship pass not very far from the land. I
do not know whether to think that it was the one which was sent to
discover the country, or perhaps some Portuguese.[318]
_They come to Chichilticale; after having taken two days’ rest, they
enter a country containing very little food and hard to travel for 30
leagues, beyond which the country becomes pleasant, and there is a
river called the River of the Flax (del Lino); they fight against the
Indians, being attacked by these; and having by their victory secured
the city, they relieve themselves of the pangs of their hunger._
[Illustration: LXVIII. The Tewa Pueblo of P’o-who-gi or San Ildefonso]
I set out from the Hearts and kept near the seacoast as well as I
could judge, but in fact I found myself continually farther off, so
that when I reached Chichilticale I found that I was fifteen days’
journey distant from the sea,[319] although the father provincial
had said that it was only 5 leagues distant and that he had seen
it. We all became very distrustful, and felt great anxiety and
dismay to see that everything was the reverse of what he had told
Your Lordship. The Indians of Chichilticale say that when they go
to the sea for fish, or for anything else that they need, they go
across the country, and that it takes them [p555] ten days; and
this information which I have received from the Indians appears to
me to be true. The sea turns toward the west directly opposite the
Hearts for 10 or 12 leagues, where I learned that the ships of Your
Lordship had been seen, which had gone in search of the port of
Chichilticale, which the father said was on the thirty-fifth degree.
God knows what I have suffered, because I fear that they may have
met with some mishap. If they follow the coast, as they said they
would, as long as the food lasts which they took with them, of which
I left them a supply in Culiacan, and if they have not been overtaken
by some misfortune, I maintain my trust in God that they have
already discovered something good, for which the delay which they
have made may be pardoned. I rested for two days at Chichilticale,
and there was good reason for staying longer, because we found that
the horses were becoming so tired; but there was no chance to rest
longer, because the food was giving out. I entered the borders of
the wilderness region on Saint John’s eve, and, for a change from
our past labors, we found no grass during the first days, but a
worse way through mountains and more dangerous passages than we had
experienced previously. The horses were so tired that they were
not equal to it, so that in this last desert we lost more horses
than before; and some Indian allies and a Spaniard called Spinosa,
besides two negroes, died from eating some herbs because the food
had given out. I sent the army-master, Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas,
with 15 horsemen, a day’s march ahead of me, in order to explore
the country and prepare the way, which he accomplished like the man
that he is, and agreeably to the confidence which Your Lordship has
had in him. I am the more certain that he did so, because, as I have
said, the way is very bad for at least 30 leagues and more, through
impassable mountains. But when we had passed these 30 leagues, we
found fresh rivers and grass like that of Castile, and especially
one sort like what we call _Scaramoio_; many nut and mulberry trees,
but the leaves of the nut trees are different from those of Spain.
There was a considerable amount of flax near the banks of one river,
which was called on this account El Rio del Lino. No Indians were
seen during the first day’s march, after which four Indians came out
with signs of peace, saying that they had been sent to that desert
place to say that we were welcome, and that on the next day the tribe
would provide the whole force with food. The army-master gave them
a cross, telling them to say to the people in their city that they
need not fear, and that they should have their people stay in their
own houses, because I was coming in the name of His Majesty to defend
and help them. After this was done, Ferrando Alvarado came back to
tell me that some Indians had met him peaceably, and that two of them
were with the army-master waiting for me. I went to them forthwith
and gave them some paternosters and some little cloaks, telling them
to return to their city and say to the people there that they could
stay quietly in their houses and that they need not fear. After this
I ordered [p556] the army-master to go and see if there were any bad
passages which the Indians might be able to defend, and to seize and
hold any such until the next day, when I would come up. He went, and
found a very bad place in our way where we might have received much
harm. He immediately established himself there with the force which
he was conducting. The Indians came that very night to occupy that
place so as to defend it, and finding it taken, they assaulted our
men. According to what I have been told, they attacked like valiant
men, although in the end they had to retreat in flight, because the
army-master was on the watch and kept his men in good order. The
Indians sounded a little trumpet as a sign of retreat, and did not do
any injury to the Spaniards. The army-master sent me notice of this
the same night, so that on the next day I started with as good order
as I could, for we were in such great need of food that I thought we
should all die of hunger if we continued to be without provisions
for another day, especially the Indians, since altogether we did not
have two bushels of corn, and so I was obliged to hasten forward
without delay. The Indians lighted their fires from point to point,
and these were answered from a distance with as good understanding
as we could have shown. Thus notice was given concerning how we went
and where we had arrived. As soon as I came within sight of this
city, I sent the army-master, Don Garcia Lopez, Friar Daniel and
Friar Luis, and Ferrando Vermizzo, with some horsemen, a little way
ahead, so that they might find the Indians and tell them that we
were not coming to do them any harm, but to defend them in the name
of our lord the Emperor. The summons, in the form which His Majesty
commanded in his instructions, was made intelligible to the people
of the country by an interpreter. But they, being a proud people,
were little affected, because it seemed to them that we were few in
number, and that they would not have any difficulty in conquering us.
They pierced the gown of Friar Luis with an arrow, which, blessed
be God, did him no harm. Meanwhile I arrived with all the rest of
the horse and the footmen, and found a large body of the Indians on
the plain, who began to shoot with their arrows. In obedience to the
orders of Your Lordship and of the marquis,[320] I did not wish my
company, who were begging me for permission, to attack them, telling
them that they ought not to offend them, and that what the enemy was
doing was nothing, and that so few people ought not to be insulted.
On the other hand, when the Indians saw that we did not move, they
took greater courage, and grew so bold that they came up almost to
the heels of our horses to shoot their arrows. On this account I saw
that it was no longer time to hesitate, and as the priests approved
the action, I charged them. There was little to do, because they
suddenly took to flight, part running toward the city, which was near
and well fortified, and others toward the plain, wherever chance led
them. Some Indians [p557] were killed, and others might have been
slain if I could have allowed them to be pursued. But I saw that
there would be little advantage in this, because the Indians who
were outside were few, and those who had retired to the city were
numerous, besides many who had remained there in the first place. As
that was where the food was, of which we stood in such great need,
I assembled my whole force and divided them as seemed to me best
for the attack on the city, and surrounded it. The hunger which we
suffered would not permit of any delay, and so I dismounted with
some of these gentlemen and soldiers. I ordered the musketeers and
crossbowmen to begin the attack and drive back the enemy from the
defenses, so that they could not do us any injury. I assaulted the
wall on one side, where I was told that there was a scaling ladder
and that there was also a gate. But the crossbowmen broke all the
strings of their crossbows and the musketeers could do nothing,
because they had arrived so weak and feeble that they could scarcely
stand on their feet. On this account the people who were on top were
not prevented at all from defending themselves and doing us whatever
injury they were able. Thus, for myself, they knocked me down to the
ground twice with countless great stones which they threw down from
above, and if I had not been protected by the very good headpiece
which I wore, I think that the outcome would have been bad for me.
They picked me up from the ground, however, with two small wounds in
my face and an arrow in my foot, and with many bruises on my arms and
legs, and in this condition I retired from the battle, very weak. I
think that if Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas had not come to my help,
like a good cavalier, the second time that they knocked me to the
ground, by placing his own body above mine, I should have been in
much greater danger than I was. But, by the pleasure of God, these
Indians surrendered, and their city was taken with the help of Our
Lord, and a sufficient supply of corn was found there to relieve our
necessities. The army-master and Don Pedro de Tovar and Ferrando de
Alvarado and Paulo de Melgosa, the infantry captain, sustained some
bruises, although none of them were wounded. Agoniez Quarez was hit
in the arm by an arrow, and one Torres, who lived in Panuco, in the
face by another, and two other footmen received slight arrow wounds.
They all directed their attack against me because my armor was gilded
and glittered, and on this account I was hurt more than the rest,
and not because I had done more or was farther in advance than the
others; for all these gentlemen and soldiers bore themselves well,
as was expected of them. I praise God that I am now well, although
somewhat sore from the stones. Two or three other soldiers were
hurt in the battle which we had on the plain, and three horses were
killed—one that of Don Lopez and another that of Vigliega and the
third that of Don Alfonso Manrich—and seven or eight other horses
were wounded; but the men, as well as the horses, have now recovered
and are well. [p558]
_Of the situation and condition of the Seven Cities called the
kingdom of Cevola, and the sort of people and their customs, and of
the animals which are found there._
[Illustration: LXIX. Pueblo of Jemez]