The fourth of the larger hacienda owners, Juan Griego, is the most enigmatic. We know nothing about him, except that he once said he was from Candia on the island of Crete, that he came with Juan de Oñate in 1595 as a married man, and that he said he was the son of Lazarus.
Stanley Hordes has speculated he may have been a covert Jew, based on an accusation made by Teresa de Aguilera y Roche, wife of Bernardo López de Mendizábal, when she was being tried by the Inquisition in Mexico City for Judaizing. She claimed he "died with a çapote in his mouth, and with his face against the wall, without desiring to reconcile himself, or to be a Christian, even in this hour and as a consequence, they say that he was buried in the hills of Santa Ana."
David Gitlitz suggests that when Jews in Spain and Portugal were forced to convert, many were able to live with the subsequence compromises until they faced death. Then, many believed "the deathbed reaffirmation of Judaism assured their place in the continuum of the ancestral tradition." For this reason, the Inquisition was especially mindful of the behavior of the dead, and in the Edicto de Fe issued by the Inquisition in Mexico City in 1639 proscribed these customs.
Gitlitz says "one of the most common and most persistent" rites was turning the heads of the dying towards the wall. Schulamith Halevy found the tradition has persisted among those living in México today. The underlying reference is to Hezekiah, king of Judah, who, when the prophet Isaiah came to warn him to prepare to die, turned his face to the wall to speak directly to God.
As with many things about Griego, so little is known you can draw any conclusion.
When Ferdinand expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492, some went to Candia, a city the Venetians had heavily fortified. In 1574, when Griego was about nine years old, they sent Giacomo Foscarini to reorganize the city. As head of the Inquisition, he was particularly hard on Jews and Greeks who did not accept the Roman Catholic church.
A blogger calling himself Iaonas proposes a different historic background. He notes that when the Turks took Constantinople in 1453, many Greeks joined the Spanish army where they were skilled artillerymen. Among the ones he names were Theodoro Griego who served in Pánfilo de Narváez’s attempt to sabotage Cortés in México, Pedro de Candia and Jorge Griego who joined Pizarro in Peru, and a different Juan Griego who was awarded a small encomienda in México for supporting Cortés.
They could both be right, one right, or both wrong. You’re still left with only two facts. Griego was apparently a commonly accepted nom de combat and, unlike many of the men who came with Oñate, he had "complete armor for himself."
The most extraordinary thing about him is that, when he was in México, he married an Indian rather than treated her as a mistress to be brought north as a servant. No more is known about Pascula Bernal than she spoke Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs and the tribes of the central valley.
Her name may have come from living in an area assigned to Francisco Bernal or Juan Bernal. Both had come to México with Narváez in 1520 and both were officially citizens (vecino) of Puebla. Francisco had encomiendas for Tanchinamol, Mecatlán and Heusco. Juan had the encomienda of Acatlán south of Puebla, according to Robert Himmerich y Valencia.
The natives in Puebla weren’t Aztec, but groups that had been conquered by them who spoke their language and supported Cortés. According to Wikipedia, Mixtecs were found in Acatlán, Popolocas in Tepexi, the Olmec-Xicalancas and Nahuas in the central part of the modern state, and the Totonacas, Mazatecos and Otomi in the north.
The Huastec of the Indian town of Tanchinamol split from the Maya and migrated to northern Veracruz around 1200bc. The Acatlán shared pottery techniques with the Olmec. Mecatlán is a Xicotepec ranchería in modern Puebla.
Pascula’s cultural heritage could have been that of any of the conquered people, or a mix. However, the fact that it probably was derived from the Puebla-Veracruz border area may explain the presence of çapote. Casimiroa edulis is a subtropical tree with a perishable, sweet fruit that wouldn’t grow here or survive transport by wagon train. More likely it was the large pit Teresa heard about.
About thirty years before the Oñate expedition, Spanish botanist Francisco Hernández found cochiztzaputl fruit produced drowsiness and the seeds were poisonous. In the same years, Florentine Codex compiler Bernardino de Sahagún was told by the Aztec they used it as a sedative and that "it brings, it lowers the star of the night."
White sapote commonly has been used to treat rheumatism and arthritis in Mesoamerica. The Mayo used the leaves to lower blood pressure, while Costa Ricans used them to treat diabetes.
Griego may have been suffering from any of these ailments and been treated by Pascula, or he may have been in such pain she gave him something to sleep, or, acceding to his request, may have prepared him to die and given him a toxic dose.
Gitlitz says it was common for Spanish conversos "to ease the journey of the deceased with offerings of food and money." The Mayan placed corn and stone beads in the mouths of the dead for the same reason.
You may take Griego at face value, as have descendants who have identified ancestors for both him and his wife, or you may take his reference to his father as a sign he spoke in riddles. He could have been a Spanish Jew in exile or a Greek. She may have had Mayan ancestors or not.
All we know is that they both died far from their native homes, strangers in a strange, strange land.
Notes: Hezekiah is found in Isaiah 38:2-3 and Kings 20:2.
Chávez, Angélico. Origins of New Mexico Families, revised 1992 edition.
Gitlitz, David M. Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of the Crypto-Jews, 1996; he mentions a twentieth century Portuguese legend that Jews, to avoid contamination by the last rites, asphyxiated a dying relative so he would be dead before the priest arrived.
Halevy, Schulamith Chava. Descendants of the Anusim (Crypto-Jews) in Contemporary Mexico, 2009.
Hernández, Francisco. Rerum Medicarum Novae Hispaniae, published in 1651 and cited by Morton.
Himmerich y Valencia, Robert. The Encomenderos of New Spain, 1521-1555, 1991. Juan Bernal had three sons, one who became a priest, a second Juan who lived on a government pension, and a third who died young. Nothing more is known about Francisco.
Hordes, Stanley M. To the End of the Earth, 2005.
Iaonas. "Greek Conquistadors and Explorers in the Spanish Army," Blogspot website, 11 December 2011.
Morton, Julia F. Fruits of Warm Climates, 1987.
Sahagún, Bernardino de. Historia Universal de las Cosas de Nueva España, c.1577, translated as Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, Book XI - Earthly Things by Charles E. Dibble and Arthur J. O. Anderson, 1963.
Wikipedia. "Puebla" downloaded 5 March 2012.
Yetman, David and Thomas R. Van Devender. Mayo Ethnobotany, 2002.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
La Cañada - Francisco Xavier
Another of the large landowners, Francisco Xavier, came with as an escort for the supply train that brought governor Bernardo López de Mendizábal north in 1658. He married Graciana Griego, granddaughter of Juan Griego, and rose as a military aide to the subsequent governors.
When he arrived, droughts were leading to famine among local peoples who were already turning to new gods, but the governor and the Franciscans spent their time feuding over who should receive tribute from the pueblos and how much laborers should be paid. Piñon nuts, food that fed people in bad times, were being shipped to México. Friars were more incensed by the governor not punishing the Chrsitian pueblos for kachina dances, than they were by heathen Apaches selling their children into slavery for food.
After López was arrested by the Inquisition, the governorship continued through men who were rarely allowed to finish their terms unmolested. Severe drought returned in 1666, which brought more raids by hungry Apache. Supply trains brought less food. The Piro and Salinas pueblos pillaged the conventos and their leaders were hung or sold into slavery.
Juan Bernal wrote his Franciscan superiors:
"For three years no crop has been harvested. Last year, 1668, a great many Indians perished of hunger, lying dead along the roads, in the ravines, and in their hovels...The same calamity still prevails, for, because there is no money, there is not a fanega of maize or wheat in the kingdom. As a result the Spaniards, men as well as women, have sustained themselves for two years on the cowhides they have in their houses to sit on. They roast them and eat them. And the greatest woe of all is that they no longer can find a bit of leather to eat, for their livestock is dying off."
No relief was sent and Xavier became Secretary of Government and War, responsible for fighting the Apache. Volcanic activity and more sunspots led to warmer temperatures. Epidemics followed malnutrition. Pueblo Indians, whose religion is centered on ritual appeals to rain gods to ensure plentiful harvests, began to question the power of the Spanish god.
The year Juan Francisco Treviño arrived as governor, 1675, one Franciscan, Francisco de Ayeta, sent a message to México City warning the colony was doomed without relief. Another, Andrés Durán, claimed he’d been bewitched at San Ildefonso. Treviño sent Xavier and a cadre of men to arrest 47 religious leaders. He hung three. Others were sentenced to the lash and slavery.
While they were awaiting punishment, Xavier "gathered up many idols, powders, and other things which he took from the houses of the sorcerers and from the countryside." Armed men from the Tewa speaking pueblos forced Treviño to free their leaders.
Relief finally came in 1679 with the new governor, Antonio de Otermin. Heavy snows that winter promised more relief. But it was too late. Otermin needed Xavier as his military commander.
When the pueblos erupted on August 10, Picuris killed Francisco Blanco de la Vega and her son, mulattos belonging to Xavier.
By the fifth day, many of the houses in Santa Fé had been burned and water stopped from flowing through the acequia. Soldiers had been fighting warriors through the streets. Otermin wrote his superiors, that that evening "we directed our course toward the house of the maese de campo, Francisco Xavier, which was the place where (apparently) there were the most people and where they had been most active and boldest."
Xavier managed to get to Guadalupe del Paso with his five children. The 54-year-old widower was allowed to return to México for health reasons. His son, Francisco Xavier, also returned south leaving his daughter, Josefa Xavier, with relatives. She returned with them as an orphan.
By the time Diego de Vargas entered Santa Fé in 1695, the Tano had heard Xavier was with him. They said "Give us Francisco Xavier, who is the reason we have risen, and we will remain in peace as before."
When Luis Pérez Granillo got to La Cañada, he saw his "houses are in ruins, though there is a small torreón standing. Although he lived on it alone, the site has ample lands for two families."
Notes:
Chávez, Angélico. Origins of New Mexico Families, revised 1992 edition.
Granillo, Luis. Report for 12 March 1695, included in Blood on the Boulders: The Journals of Don Diego De Vargas, New Mexico, 1694-97, volume 2, 1998, edited by John L. Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Meredith D. Dodge.
Kessell, John L. Spain in the Southwest, a Narrative History of Colonial New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California, 2002, quotation from Bernal.
_____. Kiva, Cross and Crown, 1995, other quotations.
Otermin, Antonio de. Report, 13 September 1680, in C. W. Hackett, Historical Documents Relating to New Mexico, Nueva Vizcaya, and Approaches Thereto, to 1773, vol. 3 , 1937.
Scurlock, Dan. From the Rio to the Sierra: An Environmental History of the Middle Rio Grande Basin, 1998, on Apache selling their children.
When he arrived, droughts were leading to famine among local peoples who were already turning to new gods, but the governor and the Franciscans spent their time feuding over who should receive tribute from the pueblos and how much laborers should be paid. Piñon nuts, food that fed people in bad times, were being shipped to México. Friars were more incensed by the governor not punishing the Chrsitian pueblos for kachina dances, than they were by heathen Apaches selling their children into slavery for food.
After López was arrested by the Inquisition, the governorship continued through men who were rarely allowed to finish their terms unmolested. Severe drought returned in 1666, which brought more raids by hungry Apache. Supply trains brought less food. The Piro and Salinas pueblos pillaged the conventos and their leaders were hung or sold into slavery.
Juan Bernal wrote his Franciscan superiors:
"For three years no crop has been harvested. Last year, 1668, a great many Indians perished of hunger, lying dead along the roads, in the ravines, and in their hovels...The same calamity still prevails, for, because there is no money, there is not a fanega of maize or wheat in the kingdom. As a result the Spaniards, men as well as women, have sustained themselves for two years on the cowhides they have in their houses to sit on. They roast them and eat them. And the greatest woe of all is that they no longer can find a bit of leather to eat, for their livestock is dying off."
No relief was sent and Xavier became Secretary of Government and War, responsible for fighting the Apache. Volcanic activity and more sunspots led to warmer temperatures. Epidemics followed malnutrition. Pueblo Indians, whose religion is centered on ritual appeals to rain gods to ensure plentiful harvests, began to question the power of the Spanish god.
The year Juan Francisco Treviño arrived as governor, 1675, one Franciscan, Francisco de Ayeta, sent a message to México City warning the colony was doomed without relief. Another, Andrés Durán, claimed he’d been bewitched at San Ildefonso. Treviño sent Xavier and a cadre of men to arrest 47 religious leaders. He hung three. Others were sentenced to the lash and slavery.
While they were awaiting punishment, Xavier "gathered up many idols, powders, and other things which he took from the houses of the sorcerers and from the countryside." Armed men from the Tewa speaking pueblos forced Treviño to free their leaders.
Relief finally came in 1679 with the new governor, Antonio de Otermin. Heavy snows that winter promised more relief. But it was too late. Otermin needed Xavier as his military commander.
When the pueblos erupted on August 10, Picuris killed Francisco Blanco de la Vega and her son, mulattos belonging to Xavier.
By the fifth day, many of the houses in Santa Fé had been burned and water stopped from flowing through the acequia. Soldiers had been fighting warriors through the streets. Otermin wrote his superiors, that that evening "we directed our course toward the house of the maese de campo, Francisco Xavier, which was the place where (apparently) there were the most people and where they had been most active and boldest."
Xavier managed to get to Guadalupe del Paso with his five children. The 54-year-old widower was allowed to return to México for health reasons. His son, Francisco Xavier, also returned south leaving his daughter, Josefa Xavier, with relatives. She returned with them as an orphan.
By the time Diego de Vargas entered Santa Fé in 1695, the Tano had heard Xavier was with him. They said "Give us Francisco Xavier, who is the reason we have risen, and we will remain in peace as before."
When Luis Pérez Granillo got to La Cañada, he saw his "houses are in ruins, though there is a small torreón standing. Although he lived on it alone, the site has ample lands for two families."
Notes:
Chávez, Angélico. Origins of New Mexico Families, revised 1992 edition.
Granillo, Luis. Report for 12 March 1695, included in Blood on the Boulders: The Journals of Don Diego De Vargas, New Mexico, 1694-97, volume 2, 1998, edited by John L. Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Meredith D. Dodge.
Kessell, John L. Spain in the Southwest, a Narrative History of Colonial New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California, 2002, quotation from Bernal.
_____. Kiva, Cross and Crown, 1995, other quotations.
Otermin, Antonio de. Report, 13 September 1680, in C. W. Hackett, Historical Documents Relating to New Mexico, Nueva Vizcaya, and Approaches Thereto, to 1773, vol. 3 , 1937.
Scurlock, Dan. From the Rio to the Sierra: An Environmental History of the Middle Rio Grande Basin, 1998, on Apache selling their children.
Monday, March 17, 2014
La Cañada - Large Land Owners
The larger land owners, that is those who owned enough land in La Cañada before the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 to support more than one family, resembled the upwardly mobile in any small community after the Renaissance.
They often are in, but not part of their communities, because they arrive with ambitions, accumulate wealth, often through political connections, and leave when conditions warrant.
The largest land holding after that of the Martín Serrano family belonged to Sebastián González. He apparently was an absentee land owner because Luis Granillo reported "Alonso del Río had possession. Another two families had parts of this hacienda, so three families can fit and settle on this site. Its lands are of better quality."
According to Angélico Chávez, González didn’t appear in the public record until 1626, when he was described as an alférez (low level military officer) from Portugal. Chávez thinks he could have been the son of Diego Blandín, who was sentenced to join Juan de Oñate in 1598 by the Royal Audencía. Blandín was the son of Diego González from Coimbra, where covert Jewish practices were suspected, according to Stanley Hordes.
González married Isabel Bernal, the daughter of his neighbor next in La Cañada, Juan Griego, but apparently remained in Santa Fé where he and his children rose through the ranks of middling officials.
In 1642 he had was a regent of the colony. One son, Diego González Bernal was alcalde mayor of San Macros Pueblo in 1661. Two years later he as alcalde mayor of Galisteo pueblo, when he supported Bernardo López de Mendizábal against the Franciscans, then fled to Mexico for safety
In the same year, his brother Antonio González Bernal was acting secretary to the cabildo (governing council appointed by the governor). Others were less conspicuous. Many didn’t return in the reconquest, but some women were trying to regain the property of their mother. One, Melchora Bas González lived in Santa Cruz.
The next largest land owner in La Cañada, Ambrosio Sáez, came from Nueva Vizcaya with his wife, Ana Rodríguez de Anaya. He first appeared in the public record in 1665 in the military in the Sandía area, and later moved north. He was still in the military in 1680.
He, his wife, and ten children made it to Guadalupe del Paso where his son, Agustín Sáez’s wife died. Leonor de Herrera was the daughter of Marcos de Herrera. The family fled the refuge camp for México, although Agustín subsequently enlisted in the reconquest and came north with his new wife, Antonio Márquez.
Santa Fé banished him for adultery in 1701. His daughter, Juliana, married Juan Griego’s grandson. His son, Francisco Sáez, married Juana Herrera of Santa Cruz. Her parents were among the recruits who settled in the villa in 1696.
In describing Ambrosio’s land, Luis Granillo noted that "part of the rebel Tewa Indians from Tesuque Pueblo were camped out here last year, 1694, in order to take advantage of planting the land. For that reason, there are good dwellings. In my opinion, two or three citizens can settle with their families on this hacienda."
Notes:
Chávez, Angélico. Origins of New Mexico Families, revised 1992 edition.
Granillo, Luis. Report for 12 March 1695, included Blood on the Boulders: The Journals of Don Diego De Vargas, New Mexico, 1694-97, volume 2, 1998, edited by John L. Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Meredith D. Dodge.
Hordes, Stanley M. To The End of the Earth, 2005.
They often are in, but not part of their communities, because they arrive with ambitions, accumulate wealth, often through political connections, and leave when conditions warrant.
The largest land holding after that of the Martín Serrano family belonged to Sebastián González. He apparently was an absentee land owner because Luis Granillo reported "Alonso del Río had possession. Another two families had parts of this hacienda, so three families can fit and settle on this site. Its lands are of better quality."
According to Angélico Chávez, González didn’t appear in the public record until 1626, when he was described as an alférez (low level military officer) from Portugal. Chávez thinks he could have been the son of Diego Blandín, who was sentenced to join Juan de Oñate in 1598 by the Royal Audencía. Blandín was the son of Diego González from Coimbra, where covert Jewish practices were suspected, according to Stanley Hordes.
González married Isabel Bernal, the daughter of his neighbor next in La Cañada, Juan Griego, but apparently remained in Santa Fé where he and his children rose through the ranks of middling officials.
In 1642 he had was a regent of the colony. One son, Diego González Bernal was alcalde mayor of San Macros Pueblo in 1661. Two years later he as alcalde mayor of Galisteo pueblo, when he supported Bernardo López de Mendizábal against the Franciscans, then fled to Mexico for safety
In the same year, his brother Antonio González Bernal was acting secretary to the cabildo (governing council appointed by the governor). Others were less conspicuous. Many didn’t return in the reconquest, but some women were trying to regain the property of their mother. One, Melchora Bas González lived in Santa Cruz.
The next largest land owner in La Cañada, Ambrosio Sáez, came from Nueva Vizcaya with his wife, Ana Rodríguez de Anaya. He first appeared in the public record in 1665 in the military in the Sandía area, and later moved north. He was still in the military in 1680.
He, his wife, and ten children made it to Guadalupe del Paso where his son, Agustín Sáez’s wife died. Leonor de Herrera was the daughter of Marcos de Herrera. The family fled the refuge camp for México, although Agustín subsequently enlisted in the reconquest and came north with his new wife, Antonio Márquez.
Santa Fé banished him for adultery in 1701. His daughter, Juliana, married Juan Griego’s grandson. His son, Francisco Sáez, married Juana Herrera of Santa Cruz. Her parents were among the recruits who settled in the villa in 1696.
In describing Ambrosio’s land, Luis Granillo noted that "part of the rebel Tewa Indians from Tesuque Pueblo were camped out here last year, 1694, in order to take advantage of planting the land. For that reason, there are good dwellings. In my opinion, two or three citizens can settle with their families on this hacienda."
Notes:
Chávez, Angélico. Origins of New Mexico Families, revised 1992 edition.
Granillo, Luis. Report for 12 March 1695, included Blood on the Boulders: The Journals of Don Diego De Vargas, New Mexico, 1694-97, volume 2, 1998, edited by John L. Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Meredith D. Dodge.
Hordes, Stanley M. To The End of the Earth, 2005.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
La Cañada - The Site
The first Spanish speaking settlement along the lower Santa Cruz river was known as La Cañada.
It probably evolved from encomiendas granted to men who either settled close to the natives they were supposed to be protecting or sent their agents to the area to collect tribute. Hernán Martín Serrano, the son of an encomendero, says he was living in La Cañada in 1632.
After the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, while the Spanish refugees were living in El Paso del Norte, Tano speakers from the Galisteo Basin had moved into the settlement, probably to escape attacks by nomadic tribes and to be closer to their kin at San Juan.
When Diego de Vargas agreed to lead the reconquest, he believed he needed more settlers than those who remained in El Paso and requested reinforcements. According to Angélico Cháves, one group of 67 families had been selected by the viceroy, assembled by Cristóbal de Velasco, and brought north by Francisco Farfán. The second group was “recruited in Zacatecas and the Mines of Sombrerete by Juan Páez Hurtado.”
Vargas arrived in Santa Fé with just the refugees to find so much destruction that housing was scarce. When Farfán arrived with his group, conditions were more congested. The arrival of the Zacatecans was imminent when he negotiated with the Tano speakers from San Lázaro and San Cristóbal to move west of the Río Grande, so he could place the overflow population in La Cañada.
On 21 March 1695, his lieutenant governor, Luis Pérez Granillo, and a sergeant related to Miguel Luján, Juan Ruiz Cáceres, inspected the site. To avoid the calamities of 1598, Granillo had been told to locate a place where:
“they may immediately be given a permanent settlement; lands to sow; grass, woods, water, and watering places; ejidos; pastures; and everything they need to raise every kind of cattle, sheep, and goats.”
Coming down from San Juan, they first came to the hacienda of Juan Luis, then the ruin requested by the Tano for relocation.
At the Luis boundary, they found the estancia of the Martínez, who Cháves has identified as Luis Martín Serrano, brother of the above Hernán.
They crossed the Río Grande and, in order, found the property of the following men along the south side of the cañada:
Miguel Luján - hacienda with “lands for agriculture and irrigation” and limited pastures, with a house.
Marcos de Herrera - “suerte and some agricultural fields.”
Nicolás de la Cruz - “lot and agricultural fields” with a house.
Melchor de Archuleta - land for one family, house in ruins.
Juan Griego - suerte large enough to support two families.
Sebastían González - hacienda that had had three tenants, including Alonso del Río
Francisco Javier - hacienda large enough for two families, the house in ruins and a small torreón.
Pedro de la Cruz - land and one-room house.
They then crossed an arroyo and returned back up the cañada where they found the lands of the following:
Bartolomé Montoya - hacienda with destroyed house.
Diego López - hacienda and torreón, but apparently no house.
Marcos de Herrera - hacienda, with the remains of a house destroyed by the arroyo.
Santa Clara Pueblo - suerte and convento.
Francisco Gómez - hacienda and house foundations.
Ambrosio Sáez - hacienda that could support two to three families with buildings in tact.
Augustín Romero - hacienda and fields.
In total he found land to support 20 families, and more than twice that were expected to arrive from Zacatecas. Some of the original owners no doubt would claim their lands, leaving space in the capital, but potential overcrowding would still exist in both Santa Fé and the soon to be decreed villa of Santa Cruz.
Notes: Cañada apparently referred to the sandy or dry second bottoms of a river, ejidos were common lands, a suerte was an irrigated field, a torreón was a small defense tower.
Chávez, Angélico. Origins of New Mexico Families, revised 1992 edition.
Granillo, Luis. Report for 12 March 1695, included in Blood on the Boulders: The Journals of Don Diego De Vargas, New Mexico, 1694-97, volume 2, 1998, edited by John L. Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Meredith D. Dodge.
It probably evolved from encomiendas granted to men who either settled close to the natives they were supposed to be protecting or sent their agents to the area to collect tribute. Hernán Martín Serrano, the son of an encomendero, says he was living in La Cañada in 1632.
After the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, while the Spanish refugees were living in El Paso del Norte, Tano speakers from the Galisteo Basin had moved into the settlement, probably to escape attacks by nomadic tribes and to be closer to their kin at San Juan.
When Diego de Vargas agreed to lead the reconquest, he believed he needed more settlers than those who remained in El Paso and requested reinforcements. According to Angélico Cháves, one group of 67 families had been selected by the viceroy, assembled by Cristóbal de Velasco, and brought north by Francisco Farfán. The second group was “recruited in Zacatecas and the Mines of Sombrerete by Juan Páez Hurtado.”
Vargas arrived in Santa Fé with just the refugees to find so much destruction that housing was scarce. When Farfán arrived with his group, conditions were more congested. The arrival of the Zacatecans was imminent when he negotiated with the Tano speakers from San Lázaro and San Cristóbal to move west of the Río Grande, so he could place the overflow population in La Cañada.
On 21 March 1695, his lieutenant governor, Luis Pérez Granillo, and a sergeant related to Miguel Luján, Juan Ruiz Cáceres, inspected the site. To avoid the calamities of 1598, Granillo had been told to locate a place where:
“they may immediately be given a permanent settlement; lands to sow; grass, woods, water, and watering places; ejidos; pastures; and everything they need to raise every kind of cattle, sheep, and goats.”
Coming down from San Juan, they first came to the hacienda of Juan Luis, then the ruin requested by the Tano for relocation.
At the Luis boundary, they found the estancia of the Martínez, who Cháves has identified as Luis Martín Serrano, brother of the above Hernán.
They crossed the Río Grande and, in order, found the property of the following men along the south side of the cañada:
Miguel Luján - hacienda with “lands for agriculture and irrigation” and limited pastures, with a house.
Marcos de Herrera - “suerte and some agricultural fields.”
Nicolás de la Cruz - “lot and agricultural fields” with a house.
Melchor de Archuleta - land for one family, house in ruins.
Juan Griego - suerte large enough to support two families.
Sebastían González - hacienda that had had three tenants, including Alonso del Río
Francisco Javier - hacienda large enough for two families, the house in ruins and a small torreón.
Pedro de la Cruz - land and one-room house.
They then crossed an arroyo and returned back up the cañada where they found the lands of the following:
Bartolomé Montoya - hacienda with destroyed house.
Diego López - hacienda and torreón, but apparently no house.
Marcos de Herrera - hacienda, with the remains of a house destroyed by the arroyo.
Santa Clara Pueblo - suerte and convento.
Francisco Gómez - hacienda and house foundations.
Ambrosio Sáez - hacienda that could support two to three families with buildings in tact.
Augustín Romero - hacienda and fields.
In total he found land to support 20 families, and more than twice that were expected to arrive from Zacatecas. Some of the original owners no doubt would claim their lands, leaving space in the capital, but potential overcrowding would still exist in both Santa Fé and the soon to be decreed villa of Santa Cruz.
Notes: Cañada apparently referred to the sandy or dry second bottoms of a river, ejidos were common lands, a suerte was an irrigated field, a torreón was a small defense tower.
Chávez, Angélico. Origins of New Mexico Families, revised 1992 edition.
Granillo, Luis. Report for 12 March 1695, included in Blood on the Boulders: The Journals of Don Diego De Vargas, New Mexico, 1694-97, volume 2, 1998, edited by John L. Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Meredith D. Dodge.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)