Pedro de Rivera Villalón may have exaggerated the role of governor as the sole source for currency in Nuevo México. As indicated in the last post, other people regularly went to Chihuahua and Parral where they may have traded for cash.
However, his access to the payroll did put him in an ambiguous position. He bought supplies, then sold them to soldiers and deducted the costs from their salaries at prices he controlled.
The men themselves didn’t complain because the governor, Juan de Bustamante, "was able to keep accurate records."
The governors cached money from the payroll by continuing the salaries for unfilled positions. In 1726, Rivera found there were "800 pesos from the position of Don Alonso Rael de Aguilar, which had been vacant for two years; 225 pesos from another vacant post."
In addition, the previous governor, Antonio Valverde "had 2,084 pesos on deposit, which came from Don Félix Martínez’s position." Martínez, who was governor between 1715 and 1716, had left another "2,139 pesos" that passed to Bustamante. Rivera impounded it all.
Very little of the presidio money reached Santa Cruz, except through family transactions. Agricultural societies were notoriously bereft of hard cash. Money lending in anticipation of crops greased trade that otherwise would have stagnated. Barter served as the common exchange medium.
Charles Cutter suggested the use of two currency rates hindered the accumulation of wealth in the colony. Merchants used the peso de plata when they set prices, but used the peso de la tierra when they accepted farm goods in payment. The one was worth about twice the other.
Cristóbal Tafoya Altamirano was probably typical of the middling level in the local economy. He borrowed currency, which he repaid in agricultural goods, and sold livestock where he could.
He left a record of his dealings with one of the governors. He said he had agreed to serve Martínez for 430 pesos a year, and that he had received a 200 advance from him in Mexico City and 160 in Santa Cruz.
Since Martínez’s tenure was cut short, Tafoya was left owing him 200 pesos. As of 1718, he had "paid him twenty fanegas of corn at the price of two pesos each, and three of wheat at two pesos and fifty cents each."
One doesn’t need to calculate the relative values of currencies to know a wide discrepancy existed between the 400 peso salary of an enlisted man and two pesos for a year’s worth of corn for two adults and a child or 7.5 pesos for half a year’s wheat crop.
Tafoya probably sold most of his livestock in Chihuahua where he received currency la plata. However, his balance sheet in 1718 indicated he did make strategic loans of a bull to a priest, Lucas de Arevalo, and an ox to "an Indian of Picuris, by the name of Trujillo." He had lent horses to Francisco, a war captain at Taos, and to "Juan Estevan de Apodaca, a soldier of this garrison."
Apart from work animals critical to people’s survival, Tafoya had more direct dealings with members of his extended family. He paid Tomás García for two cows that then were lent to Bartolomé Sánchez. He lent "another cow" to García. Sánchez was the "retired Ensign of this garrison" who had been caught stealing cattle with him in 1696. The other may have been Tomás García de Noriega, the stepson of his brother Antonio’s wife. The soldier had married the widow of Cristóbal de Cuéllar in 1705.
He left no indication what he expected in return for his loans, only that he expected to have the animals returned.
Notes: The cattle theft was discussed in the post for 2 February 2015. The value of a fanega was mentioned in the post for 11 March 2015.
Chávez, Angélico. Origins of New Mexico Families, 1992 revised edition.
Cutter, Charles R. The Legal Culture of Northern New Spain, 1700-1810, 1995.
Rivera Villalón, Pedro de. Proyecto (inspection report), 1728, in Thomas H. Naylor and Charles W. Polzer, Pedro de Rivera and the Military Regulations for Northern New Spain, 1724-1729, 1988.
Tafoya, Cristobal. Will, 1718, republished by Henrietta Martinez Christmas, "Cristobal Tafoya - 1718 Will," 1598 New Mexico website, 7 July 2014.
Showing posts with label 01 Tafoya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 01 Tafoya. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 06, 2016
Sunday, January 03, 2016
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Cristóbal Tafoya
Cristóbal Tafoya Altamirano was raised in the Michoacán mining town of Tlalpujahua with his younger brothers Juan and Antonio. Before the Reconquest, Antonio was serving in the presidio at Cuencamé, a mining area in Durango being attacked by the Tobosa. Both he and Cristóbal were on the payroll of the Santa Fé presidio in 1697.
They became entangled in the political feud between Diego de Vargas and his successor, Pedro Cubero. In 1696, Cristóbal was in jail for stealing cattle along with Bartolomé Sánchez of Querétaro and Miguel Gutíerrez of San Luis Potosí. Antonio Gutíerrez de Figueroa of Zacatecas claimed de Vargas sent the three “gifts of chocolate, knives, and anything else they sent to ask of him” and that he asked Francisco de Anaya Almazán “to drop his complaint.”
The following year, Cubero was using Cristóbal’s brother as a courier to deliver documents to the viceroy. Since Cubero believed de Vargas ally Juan Páez Hurtado wanted to kill Juan Tafoya, one can assume the packet was related to the case Cubero was building against Vargas.
Whether the brothers, in fact, were committed conspirators, or simply men looking for ways to profit from the venality of their superiors is open to interpretation. Others made protestations against involvement. Antonio Gutíerrez protested that de Vargas’ assistant, Alfonso Rael de Aguilar, “should not involve him in those matters.” Similarly, the man who testified about Juan Tafoya, Juan Roque Gutíerrez, claimed he and Miguel de Herrera had told a representative from de Vargas “they did not want to get involved in such a big, complicated mess.”
A year later, in 1698, Cristóbal married Miguel de Herrera’s sister, Isabel. That placed him amongst survivors from the Pueblo Revolt who were hoping to recoup their losses. Miguel and Isabel were the children of Ana López del Castillo and Juan de Herrera who held the encomienda of Santa Clara. Juan was dead before the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, but family grievances no doubt were perpetuated.
The association with refugee families in El Paso had been formed earlier. Cristóbal fathered a child by Lucía Varela Jaramillo, probably before the widow remarried in 1696. Her father, Pedro, had escaped the Pueblo Revolt as a 60-year-old capitán. Her first husband, Bartolomé Romero de Pedraza, had been an adjutant in Santa Fé with land in La Cañada. Witnesses for her second wedding included Fernando Durán y Chaves and Baltasar Romero.
Cristóbal’s brother Antonio married María Louisa Godines in 1697. She was the 17-year-old widow of Alonso García de Noriega, the uncle of both Leonor Domínguez Mendoza and Alonso Rael de Aguilar. The likely atmosphere in their family circle was discussed in the post for 5 April 2015.
In 1707 Cristóbal and Juan were in trouble again for stealing oxen. Juan had married Josefa Pacheco, the widow of José Baca. After she died in 1707, her great-uncle Nicolás Ortiz brought suit over the mistreatment of one her daughters and the abuse of an Indian captive, perhaps one of the Apache he had sponsored in 1705.
When Juan tried to marry another member of the extended Baca clan in 1708, the illegitimate stepsister of María Durán y Chaves claimed she had had relations with Juan and that Cristóbal knew about it. At the time Juan had one known illegitimate son, Cristóbal. Angélico Chávez didn’t think the marriage of Fernando Durán y Chaves’s daughter occurred.
It’s not known when Cristóbal retired from the military. His brother Antonio remained with the presidio, and was with Juan Páez Hurtado in his 1715 expedition against the Faraón Apache.
Cristóbal made his will in 1718. At that time he had two sons, Juan and Antonio, and acknowledged two daughters by other women, Antonia Tafoya Jaramillo and Gertrudis de Tafoya Ruiz. His brother Anthony’s oldest boy, Cristóbal, also lived in his household.
He declared he had “a ranch with its necessary lands for agriculture” along with “seventy-eight head of cattle and four yoke of oxen, together with equipment and a cart. Thirty head of sheep. Fifty-four head of horses and mares, and three mules.”
After this, the record becomes confusing. Cristóbal’s older son, Juan, had married a cousin, Antonia González Bas, in 1716. Her parents were María López del Castillo and Juan González Bas. González was the great-grandson of Juan Griego and Pascula Bernal through their daughter Isabel Bernal. María was the daughter of Pedro López del Castillo and María de Ortega.
Cristóbal’s wife’s grandfather was Diego López del Castillo. He migrated from Sevilla and may have come north with the military or may have followed Matías López del Castillo, who had been in the solider escort for the Santa Fé supply train in 1628. Diego married María de la Cruz Alemán in 1664. She was the granddaughter of Juan Griego and Pascula Bernal through their son Juan Griego.
Chávez suspects the two men were brothers. He doesn’t guess if Pedro was the son of one or related to a brother who remained in México or Spain.
Juan’s brother, Antonio, married his wife’s sister, Prudencia González Bas, in 1722. These marriages reinforced the brothers’ ties to the Juan de Herrera inheritance of their mother. Two years later they made their claim for Santa Clara land, perhaps land they thought was rightfully theirs.
The death date of their father Cristóbal became obscured when a man who said he was their father was present when the Santa Clara protested the grant in 1724. Cristóbal Torres, the alcalde for Santa Clara, should have recognized Cristóbal and would have heard if here dead.
This was the same Cristóbal Torres mentioned in the post for 21 October 2015 who was distributing some of the land in his 1724 grant along the Chama river to the widowed María Margarita Trujillo. In 1719, the daughter of Jose Trujillo and Antonia Luján had married the 20-year-old illegitimate son of the senior Tafoya’s brother Juan. To keep the Cristóbals straight, they called this one El Moso.
Notes: Juan de Herrera was discussed in the post for 13 April 2014. The Spanish origins of the Tafoyas aren’t known. Altamirano usually refers to someone from the area of Altamira in Cantabria.
Arias de Quirós, Diego. “Report on the Costs for One Hundred Soldiers of Santa Fe,” August 1697?, in Kessell 2000.
Chávez, Angélico. New Mexico Roots, Ltd, 1982.
_____. Origins of New Mexico Families, 1992 revised edition. Fernando Durán y Chaves was an ancestor of Chávez.
Gutíerrez, Juan Roque. Statement, 3 December 1697, in Kessell, 2000.
Gutíerrez de Figueroa, Antonio. Statement, 3 December 1697, in Kessell, 2000.
Kessell, John L., Rick Hendricks, Meredith D. Dodge, and Larry D. Miller. That Disturbances Cease, 2000.
_____, _____, _____. To the Royal Crown Restored, 1995.
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; contains 1715 rosters for August 28 and August 30 for Juan Páez Hurtado expedition.
They became entangled in the political feud between Diego de Vargas and his successor, Pedro Cubero. In 1696, Cristóbal was in jail for stealing cattle along with Bartolomé Sánchez of Querétaro and Miguel Gutíerrez of San Luis Potosí. Antonio Gutíerrez de Figueroa of Zacatecas claimed de Vargas sent the three “gifts of chocolate, knives, and anything else they sent to ask of him” and that he asked Francisco de Anaya Almazán “to drop his complaint.”
The following year, Cubero was using Cristóbal’s brother as a courier to deliver documents to the viceroy. Since Cubero believed de Vargas ally Juan Páez Hurtado wanted to kill Juan Tafoya, one can assume the packet was related to the case Cubero was building against Vargas.
Whether the brothers, in fact, were committed conspirators, or simply men looking for ways to profit from the venality of their superiors is open to interpretation. Others made protestations against involvement. Antonio Gutíerrez protested that de Vargas’ assistant, Alfonso Rael de Aguilar, “should not involve him in those matters.” Similarly, the man who testified about Juan Tafoya, Juan Roque Gutíerrez, claimed he and Miguel de Herrera had told a representative from de Vargas “they did not want to get involved in such a big, complicated mess.”
A year later, in 1698, Cristóbal married Miguel de Herrera’s sister, Isabel. That placed him amongst survivors from the Pueblo Revolt who were hoping to recoup their losses. Miguel and Isabel were the children of Ana López del Castillo and Juan de Herrera who held the encomienda of Santa Clara. Juan was dead before the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, but family grievances no doubt were perpetuated.
The association with refugee families in El Paso had been formed earlier. Cristóbal fathered a child by Lucía Varela Jaramillo, probably before the widow remarried in 1696. Her father, Pedro, had escaped the Pueblo Revolt as a 60-year-old capitán. Her first husband, Bartolomé Romero de Pedraza, had been an adjutant in Santa Fé with land in La Cañada. Witnesses for her second wedding included Fernando Durán y Chaves and Baltasar Romero.
Cristóbal’s brother Antonio married María Louisa Godines in 1697. She was the 17-year-old widow of Alonso García de Noriega, the uncle of both Leonor Domínguez Mendoza and Alonso Rael de Aguilar. The likely atmosphere in their family circle was discussed in the post for 5 April 2015.
In 1707 Cristóbal and Juan were in trouble again for stealing oxen. Juan had married Josefa Pacheco, the widow of José Baca. After she died in 1707, her great-uncle Nicolás Ortiz brought suit over the mistreatment of one her daughters and the abuse of an Indian captive, perhaps one of the Apache he had sponsored in 1705.
When Juan tried to marry another member of the extended Baca clan in 1708, the illegitimate stepsister of María Durán y Chaves claimed she had had relations with Juan and that Cristóbal knew about it. At the time Juan had one known illegitimate son, Cristóbal. Angélico Chávez didn’t think the marriage of Fernando Durán y Chaves’s daughter occurred.
It’s not known when Cristóbal retired from the military. His brother Antonio remained with the presidio, and was with Juan Páez Hurtado in his 1715 expedition against the Faraón Apache.
Cristóbal made his will in 1718. At that time he had two sons, Juan and Antonio, and acknowledged two daughters by other women, Antonia Tafoya Jaramillo and Gertrudis de Tafoya Ruiz. His brother Anthony’s oldest boy, Cristóbal, also lived in his household.
He declared he had “a ranch with its necessary lands for agriculture” along with “seventy-eight head of cattle and four yoke of oxen, together with equipment and a cart. Thirty head of sheep. Fifty-four head of horses and mares, and three mules.”
After this, the record becomes confusing. Cristóbal’s older son, Juan, had married a cousin, Antonia González Bas, in 1716. Her parents were María López del Castillo and Juan González Bas. González was the great-grandson of Juan Griego and Pascula Bernal through their daughter Isabel Bernal. María was the daughter of Pedro López del Castillo and María de Ortega.
Cristóbal’s wife’s grandfather was Diego López del Castillo. He migrated from Sevilla and may have come north with the military or may have followed Matías López del Castillo, who had been in the solider escort for the Santa Fé supply train in 1628. Diego married María de la Cruz Alemán in 1664. She was the granddaughter of Juan Griego and Pascula Bernal through their son Juan Griego.
Chávez suspects the two men were brothers. He doesn’t guess if Pedro was the son of one or related to a brother who remained in México or Spain.
Juan’s brother, Antonio, married his wife’s sister, Prudencia González Bas, in 1722. These marriages reinforced the brothers’ ties to the Juan de Herrera inheritance of their mother. Two years later they made their claim for Santa Clara land, perhaps land they thought was rightfully theirs.
The death date of their father Cristóbal became obscured when a man who said he was their father was present when the Santa Clara protested the grant in 1724. Cristóbal Torres, the alcalde for Santa Clara, should have recognized Cristóbal and would have heard if here dead.
This was the same Cristóbal Torres mentioned in the post for 21 October 2015 who was distributing some of the land in his 1724 grant along the Chama river to the widowed María Margarita Trujillo. In 1719, the daughter of Jose Trujillo and Antonia Luján had married the 20-year-old illegitimate son of the senior Tafoya’s brother Juan. To keep the Cristóbals straight, they called this one El Moso.
Notes: Juan de Herrera was discussed in the post for 13 April 2014. The Spanish origins of the Tafoyas aren’t known. Altamirano usually refers to someone from the area of Altamira in Cantabria.
Arias de Quirós, Diego. “Report on the Costs for One Hundred Soldiers of Santa Fe,” August 1697?, in Kessell 2000.
Chávez, Angélico. New Mexico Roots, Ltd, 1982.
_____. Origins of New Mexico Families, 1992 revised edition. Fernando Durán y Chaves was an ancestor of Chávez.
Gutíerrez, Juan Roque. Statement, 3 December 1697, in Kessell, 2000.
Gutíerrez de Figueroa, Antonio. Statement, 3 December 1697, in Kessell, 2000.
Kessell, John L., Rick Hendricks, Meredith D. Dodge, and Larry D. Miller. That Disturbances Cease, 2000.
_____, _____, _____. To the Royal Crown Restored, 1995.
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; contains 1715 rosters for August 28 and August 30 for Juan Páez Hurtado expedition.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Santa Clara Lands
Indies law was clear: natives had a right to enough land to feed themselves. In 1568, Gastón de Peralta set the allotment at 500 varas in all directions from a settlement. As the new viceroy of New Spain, he ruled the measurement was made from the location of the local church and that no grant could be within 1000 "varas of cloth and silk measure distant." That is, 500 varas within the pueblo and 500 outside.
In 1687, the Consejo de Indias realized many settlers were encroaching native land. It had Charles II increase the minimum to 600 varas measured from "the last boundaries and houses" for "sowing lands." Further, estancias for cattle were to be a minimum 1100 varas away. Viceroys were given the right to increase those clearances if necessary.
Charles Cutter said, pueblos became proficient in enforcing a league from the church as the legal minimum. In 1700, Pedro Cubero granted Mateo Trujillo land west of the Río Grande between Santa Clara and San Ildefonso. There was a dispute over the outer boundary because the pueblo hadn’t planted during the drought, and Trujillo had claimed it was available. As a result, the governor, Felipe Cherpe, and the war captain, Juan, said:
"They had only 2,200 varas of land on which they were planting, the land being theirs and they always planted it, as was shown by an irrigation ditch which was on the tract, and they not having in any other direction any place they could plant, there remaining for Trujillo, from the Indians’ boundaries of the table-land, about three hundred varas."
The differences between varas and the league that Juan Páez Hurtado measured were relatively small, given the accuracy of measuring instruments. A vara was just under 33", so 500 varas was a little less than 16,500'. 600 varas was less than 19,800'. A league was roughly 18,228'.
Cattle were the primary problem. Fences didn’t exist. Only human supervision could keep them from abandoning dry range for more succulent crops. In 1718, settlers near San Juan were chided for "for allowing their cattle to trespass upon the lands of the Indians" by Páez. In 1732, Gervasio Cruzat y Góngora admonished settlers in Santa Cruz "to take better care of their stock and guard the same."
Santa Clara had a different problem in 1715 when Francisco Xavier Romero, José Vasquez, and Santiago Romero stole a steer belonging to a pueblo member, Lucas de Azenbua. They confessed, but said they only did it because their families were hungry, and, "since the natives never took good care of the stock, there was little harm in killing a few cows." They were found guilty by Juan Flores Mogollón, but Felix Martínez granted Romero land in the Cañada de Santa Clara the following year.
Santa Clara protested vehemently in 1724 when Juan Tafoya and his brother Antonio requested all the land west of the pueblo to the "high mountain range," and everything from "a high, wooded black hill" on the north to a line west of "the little table-land of San Ildefonso." That included the canyon that carried what is now called Santa Clara creek.
The pueblo pointed out that cultivating lands in that area would "result in grave injury" because there wasn’t enough water in the stream to water their fields. Tafoya received the grant from Juan de Bustamante after "Cristóbal Tafoya, who was present as the representative of the two grantees, his sons, stated that they did not want the tract for agricultural purposes, but only to build corrals and keep their cattle and horses there."
Settlers in 1727 complained the Tafoyas were keeping them "out of the common pasture lands in the Cañada de Santa Clara." When Bustamante ordered the father and two sons to present their title to the alcalde, Antonio said he would go to Santa Fé to see the governor. When he failed to appear, he was arrested.
Antonio next asked for a copy of the petition to prepare his answer. Ralph Twitchell noted, "here, the proceedings abruptly ended." It’s less likely they had influence with Bustamante, than they did with whoever was managing the archives when this grant was disputed again.
Notes:
Athearn, Frederic J. A Forgotten Kingdom, 1989; quotation from Romero case.
Charles II. Royal cédula, 6 June 1687, translated by Frederic Hall in The Laws of Mexico, 1885, as "Upon the Fundo Legal of the So-called Indians - The Ancient Mode of Measuring It, and the Increase of a Hundred Varas above the Five Hundred of the Primitive Ordinance, issued by Antonio Ortiz de Otalora, secretary of the Council of the Indies;" quotations from regulation.
Cutter, Charles R. The Legal Culture of Northern New Spain, 1700-1810, 1995.
Twitchell, Ralph Emerson. Spanish Archives of New Mexico, 1914; volume 1 has San Ildefonso, Twitchell, and Santa Clara-Tafoya quotations; volume 2 has quotations from 1718 San Juan case.
Graphics: United States Department of the Interior, Geological Survey map. Española Quadrangle, New Mexico, 15 minute series (topographic) 1953; location of Santa Clara pueblo settlement has moved slightly since 1724.
In 1687, the Consejo de Indias realized many settlers were encroaching native land. It had Charles II increase the minimum to 600 varas measured from "the last boundaries and houses" for "sowing lands." Further, estancias for cattle were to be a minimum 1100 varas away. Viceroys were given the right to increase those clearances if necessary.
Charles Cutter said, pueblos became proficient in enforcing a league from the church as the legal minimum. In 1700, Pedro Cubero granted Mateo Trujillo land west of the Río Grande between Santa Clara and San Ildefonso. There was a dispute over the outer boundary because the pueblo hadn’t planted during the drought, and Trujillo had claimed it was available. As a result, the governor, Felipe Cherpe, and the war captain, Juan, said:
"They had only 2,200 varas of land on which they were planting, the land being theirs and they always planted it, as was shown by an irrigation ditch which was on the tract, and they not having in any other direction any place they could plant, there remaining for Trujillo, from the Indians’ boundaries of the table-land, about three hundred varas."
The differences between varas and the league that Juan Páez Hurtado measured were relatively small, given the accuracy of measuring instruments. A vara was just under 33", so 500 varas was a little less than 16,500'. 600 varas was less than 19,800'. A league was roughly 18,228'.
Cattle were the primary problem. Fences didn’t exist. Only human supervision could keep them from abandoning dry range for more succulent crops. In 1718, settlers near San Juan were chided for "for allowing their cattle to trespass upon the lands of the Indians" by Páez. In 1732, Gervasio Cruzat y Góngora admonished settlers in Santa Cruz "to take better care of their stock and guard the same."
Santa Clara had a different problem in 1715 when Francisco Xavier Romero, José Vasquez, and Santiago Romero stole a steer belonging to a pueblo member, Lucas de Azenbua. They confessed, but said they only did it because their families were hungry, and, "since the natives never took good care of the stock, there was little harm in killing a few cows." They were found guilty by Juan Flores Mogollón, but Felix Martínez granted Romero land in the Cañada de Santa Clara the following year.
Santa Clara protested vehemently in 1724 when Juan Tafoya and his brother Antonio requested all the land west of the pueblo to the "high mountain range," and everything from "a high, wooded black hill" on the north to a line west of "the little table-land of San Ildefonso." That included the canyon that carried what is now called Santa Clara creek.
The pueblo pointed out that cultivating lands in that area would "result in grave injury" because there wasn’t enough water in the stream to water their fields. Tafoya received the grant from Juan de Bustamante after "Cristóbal Tafoya, who was present as the representative of the two grantees, his sons, stated that they did not want the tract for agricultural purposes, but only to build corrals and keep their cattle and horses there."
Settlers in 1727 complained the Tafoyas were keeping them "out of the common pasture lands in the Cañada de Santa Clara." When Bustamante ordered the father and two sons to present their title to the alcalde, Antonio said he would go to Santa Fé to see the governor. When he failed to appear, he was arrested.
Antonio next asked for a copy of the petition to prepare his answer. Ralph Twitchell noted, "here, the proceedings abruptly ended." It’s less likely they had influence with Bustamante, than they did with whoever was managing the archives when this grant was disputed again.
Notes:
Athearn, Frederic J. A Forgotten Kingdom, 1989; quotation from Romero case.
Charles II. Royal cédula, 6 June 1687, translated by Frederic Hall in The Laws of Mexico, 1885, as "Upon the Fundo Legal of the So-called Indians - The Ancient Mode of Measuring It, and the Increase of a Hundred Varas above the Five Hundred of the Primitive Ordinance, issued by Antonio Ortiz de Otalora, secretary of the Council of the Indies;" quotations from regulation.
Cutter, Charles R. The Legal Culture of Northern New Spain, 1700-1810, 1995.
Twitchell, Ralph Emerson. Spanish Archives of New Mexico, 1914; volume 1 has San Ildefonso, Twitchell, and Santa Clara-Tafoya quotations; volume 2 has quotations from 1718 San Juan case.
Graphics: United States Department of the Interior, Geological Survey map. Española Quadrangle, New Mexico, 15 minute series (topographic) 1953; location of Santa Clara pueblo settlement has moved slightly since 1724.
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