Northern Mexican Frontier and the Pueblo Revolt

Northern Mexican Frontier

New Mexico

  • People on Mexico's northern frontier were self-reliant and rebellious.
  • They were known as Nortenos (from the North) or fronterizos (from the frontier/border).
  • They had to protect themselves against Mounted Plains tribes.
  • Colonial authority in Mexico City was distant.
  • Nortenos entered the US with the Juan de Onate expedition in 1598, founding San Juan De Los Carrejeros with 500 settlers and 7,000 cattle.
  • This settlement predates Jamestown by almost 14 years.
  • Santa Fe was founded in 1610 with a Mexican layout, unlike the American grid pattern.
  • Albuquerque was started in the 1650s.
  • Oñate was chosen by King Philip II and came from a wealthy peninsular family, marrying a granddaughter of Hernan Cortes.
  • Most settlers were from the lower strata of society.
  • Oñate is considered the last Pochistador.
  • He became governor after founding San Juan but failed to find the rumored seven cities of Gol Tivira.
  • Settlers became disillusioned, and when they tried to leave, Oñate refused and executed some, leading to secret desertions.
  • Oñate had a reputation for severity and violence.
  • In 1599, natives in Acoma refused tribute and killed 13 Spaniards.
  • Oñate responded by massacring 800 indigenous people and amputating the hands/feet of surviving males. Children were sold into slavery.
  • Spanish colonial policies meant to protect natives were often ignored.
  • Oñate was tried for his crimes, resigned, and was convicted of excessive force, banished from New Mexico, and exiled from Mexico City for five years before retiring in Spain.
  • Bernardo Lopez de Mendizabal, the next governor, was the opposite of Oñate, allowing native dances and ceremonies.
  • He was removed from office due to inquisitional concerns about native worship.

Puebloans

  • The Spanish never fully subdued the natives in New Mexico due to their large numbers.
  • Settlers had to accommodate native demands.
  • Pueblo was a name given by the Spanish because the natives lived in similar adobe brick structures.
  • They built rectangular rooms like apartment complexes on cliffs and hilltops.
  • Chaco Canyon, populated around 1050 AD, had 700 rooms. Similar structures were not built in the US until the late 1800s.
  • Puebloans include the Hopi, Zuni, Yokoma, and Taos tribes, stretching from Texas to Arizona along the San Cristo Mountains, Rio Grande, and Colorado River.
  • They were descended from the Anasazi.
  • They practiced agriculture.
  • The Navajo and Apache were semi-nomadic people.

Pueblo Revolt

  • Indigenous people resented Spanish rule and the church.
  • In 1680, Pueblo and Apache natives overthrew the Spanish, preventing their return for twelve years.
  • The natives resented Franciscan missionaries who burned ceremonial pits, destroyed masks, and outlawed traditional dances (some involving psychotropic mushrooms).
  • Franciscans exploited native laborers.
  • The Spanish judicial system punished natives severely for minor crimes, forcing them to provide tribute.
  • A severe drought in the mid-1670s worsened conditions.
  • Native groups experienced population decline due to diseases.
  • Previous unsuccessful revolts had occurred.
  • A Tiwa medicine man named Pope of the San Juan Pueblo believed the tribal ancestors (Cachinas) commanded him to restore the old ways.
  • He had been arrested for practicing sorcery.
  • He promised wealth and prosperity would return after the Spanish were expelled.
  • This movement is a millenarian movement which is based on the belief on a coming fundamental transformation of society.
  • Millenarianism was common among indigenous groups after contact, for example:
    • In the Andes in the 1780s by Tupacamaru.
    • Tecumseh's movement in the Ohio area in the 1820s.
    • Wavoka in Nevada in the 1880s.
  • The promise of these movements is the expulsion of Euro Americans.
  • For five years, Pope secretly planned the revolt from Taos.
  • He gained the support of the indigenous people, except those nearest to Spanish settlements.
  • In August 1680, Pope sent runners with knotted cords to signal the start of the uprising.
  • The plot was discovered, forcing an early start to the revolt.
  • Roads to Santa Fe were blocked, horses were stolen, and homes were burned.
  • 400 Spaniards and Mestizos were murdered, including 21 of 33 Franciscan missionaries.
  • Survivors escaped to El Paso, including 500 indigenous slaves.
  • The natives destroyed all Catholic churches, rejecting Spanish culture, clothing, names, and tools.
  • They uprooted orchards and killed livestock.
  • Some Spanish methods remained useful, causing tensions among tribes.
  • The drought continued, and the promised good times did not return.
  • Initial Spanish attempts to retake New Mexico were unsuccessful, but they eventually succeeded after twelve years.
  • The Spanish wanted a buffer zone against the French in North America.
  • Natives agreed to a peace treaty in exchange for pardons, allegiance to the Spanish crown, return to Catholicism, land grants, and a public defender.
  • Tensions remained high.
  • The Pueblo revolt of 1680 was one of the bloodiest defeats for the Spanish and one of the most successful Indian revolutions in what is now The United States.
  • It occurred around the same time as King Philip's War, which ended in defeat for the natives.
  • The Puebloans gained concessions from the Spanish due to their resistance.