Economics and Trade

Santa Cruz was a node in the northern frontier economic network. The center was Santa Fé, where Pedro de Rivera Villalón noted in 1726, "all the commerce of New Mexico consists of goods brought in by the governor for his soldiers" and sold at inflated prices.

In 1728, Rivera set prices for military gear sold to soldiers, and was able to reduce their pay to 400 pesos a year. They still got a premium "because of the higher costs in getting what they need, given the distance." Men in presidios around Parral received 365 pesos.

Three officers were given 15 to 30 pesos more. There had many more with titles like "capitán de campaña, ayudante de la capitanía general, alféreces reales, and other titles never before used in that garrison." This particular form of what is now called "fraud, waste and abuse" of government money goes back as far as the term of Juan Flores Mogollón, as indicated by the roster for Juan Páez Hurtado’s expedition published on 16 August 2015.

There were 100 soldiers when he arrived, and 80 when he left. Rivera noted he "dismissed twenty men who, with the title reformados, were a waste of money." The appointment of an individual to two posts had been banned by the military code introduced in Habana in 1719. He believed such men forced the others to do their work, and the functional level at the presidio was 80.

These reformados were "the alcaldes mayores, who had the privilege of retirement and who received a fixed salary from the king." The conversion of these positions into tools of the governor probably occurred during the tenure of Antonio Valverde. That was when, according to the post for 18 June 2015, the identity of the alcaldes became obscure in the record.

The position remained, but it could no longer be filled by a man on active duty in the presidio.

The 100-man garrison served "more than 600 families." If the men were drawn evenly from the population, 15% of the families had some connections to the major employer. As it was, some families had several members in the military. Still, even with the reduced garrison, nearly 10% of the households had some direct income.

In Santa Cruz, Cristóbal Tafoya Altamirano had retired and his youngest brother still served.

Eighty men required at least 30 fanegas of corn a year. They also required meat, wheat, and other foodstuffs. Items like sugar were imported by the governor or merchants like Jean l’Archevêque before he died. The rest had to be purchased locally from farmers who produced more than they ate.

In 1718, Tafoya lived on a ranch with his wife, and two nearly adult men. In addition, he must have had captives to watch his livestock, work his fields, and prepare their food. They all might have required three fanegas of corn. If his married son’s family lived with him, they would have needed a fanega. His younger illegitimate daughter may have lived in the household, may have been part of the servants, or lived elsewhere with her mother. They too may have needed a fanega.

Tafoya didn’t raise corn in 1718, but had five fanegas planted in wheat and surplus livestock.

He apparently was shipping animals to Chihuahua or Parral. He owed a merchant in Chihuahua 25 pesos and was owed 10 pesos by a miner there. He also owed a few pesos to a man in Parral for which he had "agreed to pay with a little Indian girl."

The presidio provided escorts for pack trains to El Paso twice a year. There were yet no presidios between there and Parral. Military installations usually followed successful silver mines, and El Real de Minas de San Francisco de Cuéllar Real had only been founded in 1709 by Blas Cano de los Rios and Antonio Deza y Ulloa. It became the villa of San Felipe el Real de Chihuahua in 1718. It’s probably a coincidence that Tafoya’s mother’s name was Felipa Taguada de Ulloa.

In 1724, an attorney who had had close ties with Archevêque, Francisco de Casados, said "every year they go to the royal stores at Chihuahua to buy what they need in clothing and other things necessary for their maintenance." At the same hearing on trade, Páez said "the inhabitants of this kingdom go to the royal stores of Chihuahua and Parral to get the goods they need for their use."

The viceroy heard rumors that year the "Spaniards of this region have been buying from the French in the colony of Louisiana merchandise to the amount of twelve thousand pesos." The governor, Juan de Bustamante, couldn’t find evidence, but then he only asked men who had gone on expeditions with Antonio Valverde or Pedro Villasur, or who lived in Santa Fé.

He made his inquiry before Bourgmont made contact with the Apache. After that, more routes were open to bypass crown monopolies for nonedible goods like knives and kettles through trade on the frontier with non-pueblo bands.

Notes: The value of a fanega was mentioned in the post for 11 March 2015. Standardized spelling of Chihuahua from Chiguagua.

Casados, Francisco Lorenzo de. Declaration on trade with French, 21 April 1724, in Thomas.

Felipe V. Reglamento de Habana, 1719, in Naylor.

Naylor, Thomas H. and Charles W. Polzer. Pedro de Rivera and the Military Regulations for Northern New Spain, 1724-1729, 1988.

Páez, Juan Páez. Declaration on trade with French, 21 April 1724, in Thomas.

Rivera Villalón, Pedro de. Proyecto (inspection report), 1728, in Naylor.

Tafoya, Cristobal. Will, 1718, republished by Henrietta Martinez Christmas, "Cristobal Tafoya - 1718 Will," 1598 New Mexico website, 7 July 2014.

Thomas, Alfred B. After Coronado, 1935.