Pueblo Relations

Diego de Vargas returned as governor of Nuevo México in 1703. It’s not clear if he realized how much the settlement had changed since he left in 1697. Pueblo relations were close to those between Natives and Spaniards in New Spain, and would become completely rationalized by the man who became governor in 1705, Francisco Cuervo.

Encomiendas were gone. The only residual was Cuervo’s expectation that "Christian Catholics" in the pueblos would take "care to till and cultivate the fields" for the "father minister" for the "regular maintenance of his person."

Repartimiento was nearly gone. The only labor quotas that survived were those imposed by governors for defense. Pueblos were required to send their best warriors for expeditions against bárbaros.

Wage labor had replaced both in the years immediately after Juan de Oñate trekked north and east from Nueva Vizcaya in 1588. Natives worked the silver mines and lived in homogenous communities surrounding Zacatecas and other mining towns. Some arrived as auxiliaries in local battles against nomadic bands in northern México.

Thus, the herbalist at San Juan, Juan, would have been paid for curing the women mentioned by Leonor Domínguez in 1708. Likewise, when she went for lime, she would have been expected to trade or pay for it. Disputes only arose when Españoles, like Felipe Morgana or Antonia Luján, felt they hadn’t received what they’d been promised.

The position of Catarina Luján, the lame woman accused of witchcraft by Leonor, is less clear. She testified "Father Fray Juan Minguez took this declarant to the said Town to clean his cell" in 1708. This may have been seen as "regular maintenance of his person" rather than paid work.

The pueblos assiduously defended their rights. In 1707 San Juan complained Roque de Madrid forced members to work on Sunday and was too authoritarian. It had the alcalde sign its complaint, but the governor, Jose Chacón, didn’t pursue it.

Friars later complained Chacón and his alcaldes were forcing people to work without pay. The viceroy sent a reprimand. His successor, Juan Flores Magollón, canvassed the pueblos in 1712. All said their members were paid for services, and none had been forcibly removed.

The major change in pueblo relations came with the use of auxiliaries. Oakah Jones noted that, before de Vargas left, he used warriors from one pueblo to attack another. When he died in 1704, he was using presidio, settler and pueblo troops together against common enemies. His earlier negotiations for submission had been converted into obligations of protection held by the pueblos.

Notes: See "Chronicles of Leonor" for more on Juan, Catarina Luján, Leonor Domínguez, Antonia Luján, and Felipe Morgana.

Athearn, Frederic J. A Forgotten Kingdom, 1978; on complaint against Madrid.

Bakewell, P. J. Silver Mining and Society in Colonial Mexico, Zacatecas 1546-1700, 1971.

Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, 1889.

Frank, Andre Gunder. Mexican Agriculture 1521-1630, 1979.

Jones, Oakah L. Pueblo Warriors and Spanish Conquest, 1966.

Rael de Aguilar, Alonso. Certification, 10 January 1706, collected by Adolph F. A. Bandelier and Fanny R. Bandelier, included in Historical Documents Relating to New Mexico, Nueva Vizcaya, and Approaches Thereto, to 1773, volume 3, 1937, translated and edited by Charles Wilson Hackett; quotation from Cuervo.

Twitchell, Ralph Emerson. Spanish Archives of New Mexico: Compiled and Chronologically Arranged, volume 2, 1914; quotation from Luján.