Leading facts of New Mexican history, volume 1

Page 233

316 LEADING FACTS OF NEW MEXICAN HISTORY Mr. Bancroft is in great error as to the exact location of the capital first established by Onate, when he says that it was at San Juan de los Caballeros. He also is mistaken as to the place where the chapel of San Gabriel was located. He would have both on the left bank of the Rio Grande, while as a matter of fact they were on the right bank, and north of the confluence of the Chama with the Rio Grande. It was the village of Yuque-Yunque,°”? and was comit is abundantly proved that its patron saint was San Gabriel from the very beginning.’’ Zalvidar, Memorial, ibid, p. 198: ‘‘Parece que con este aparato entro hasta el asiento y Villa de San Gabriel.’’ Zalvidar was an eye-witness. Torquemada, Monarquia, vol. i, p. 672: ‘‘Despachados Don Juan de Ofiate, y los suios, para la jornada del Nuevo Mexico, siguieron su camino, en demanda de aquellas tierras, y en llegando 4 aquells partes, tomaron posesion, por el Rei, en ellas, y el pueblo donde Don Juan de Ofiate, Gobernador, y Capitan-General de esta entrada hico asiento y puso su Real, se llama San Gabriel, el qual sitio esta en treinta y siete grados de altura al Norte, y esta situado entre dos rios, y con las aguas del menor de los dos, se riegan los trigos, cevada, y maiz. El otro rio es grande, que llaman del Norte, que es de mucho, y mui buen pescado.”’ Torquemada wrote not later than 1609 (carta Nuncupatoria, ibid), and he was a contemporary of the events. Fr. Geronimo Zarate-Salmeron, Relaciones de Todas las Cosas, Ms., par. 34: ‘‘Planto su real entre este rio y el de Zama.’’ Par. 44: ‘‘Ajio de 1604, 4 7 dias del mes de Octubre, salio D. J. de Ofiate de la villa de Sn Gabriel a descubrir la mar Also: del Sur.’? Despues de auerlos bien fortalecido, Con tiros de campana, y con mosquetes. ’’ ‘‘Al arma dando todos con gran priessa, THE or Po-a-tuyo, settled at Yuge-uingge; but the winter official wizards went to work and constructed it the aRiolongGrande, i iaaying featherandof the a parrot over the stream from one side, and a long eather of a magpie from the other. As soon as the plumes met over the middle of the stream, people began to cross on this remarkable bridge; but bad <ceehped caused the delicate structure to turn over, and many people fell into For this reason they instantly became changed into fishes. the Nava} ‘sh ‘< a paches, and some of the Pueblos, refuse to eat fish to this day. Oi-ke > goes on to tell that both factions united and lived together at J-X@ on the west bank. It Seems, however, that Yuge-uingge was not abanmemoneve:in: that pueblo met with an affront that caused him to eh was thedefinitely ;forsaken in 1598, forsa the neve a a. of i , abeiak benefit Tas, who established g ; abodes themselves in the houses temporarily, could build their own they until own This occurred with consent of the Indians, who voluntarily les. relinquished the place to join their brethren at San Juan.’ MEXICO 317 tants joining their brethren across the river at San Juan, and it was partly on this account that the title of ‘‘de los Caballeros’’ was bestowed upon the Tehuas of the latter village.*?? The site of Chamita *** does not seem to have been much occupied during the seventeenth century, and it was about the year 1605 that Onate changed the location of his capital to Santa Fé. Although the Utes and the Comanches in the eighteenth century were constantly harassing the settlers of San Pedro de Chama, as the locality was called after the re-conquest by De Vargas, the number of The Indians of Spanish inhabitants increased very considerably. San Juan today hold a portion of the cultivated fields about Chamita, and a few of them live on the west side of the Rio Grande, at a place called El Pueblito. The commander was highly pleased with the locality in which he The fertility of the soil, and the healthmade his first settlement. ful climate were very attractive, and reminded the colonists of the 822 Villagra, Historia de Nueva Mezico, fol. 141: ‘* Aqui los Indios mui gustosos, Con nosotros sus casas dividieron. Y luego que alojados y de asiento, Haziendo vezindad nos asentamos.’’ Requieieron los puestos, y notaron, people, after wandering over the eastern plains for a long while, at last went in search of their brethren, and established themselves near San J uan, in sight of the other’s village at Chamita. Finally it was agreed upon that a bridge should be built OF NEW pletely forsaken by the Indians when Ofiate came there, the inhabi- ‘*Hazia un gracioso Pueblo bien trazado A quien San Juan por nombre le pusieron, Que estaban ya los altos de las casas.’’ Also: ‘‘Los techos y terrados lebantados.’’ $21 Bandelier, A. F., Final Report, p. 60: ‘Indian folk lore has much to say about -Yuque- Yunque (Yuge-uingge). The Tehuas relate that when their ancestors journeyed southward from Cibobe, and the division into summer and winter people occurred -_. the summer people, under the guidance of the Pay-0j-ke CONQUEST Y de los caualleros por memoria, This disposes De aquellos que primero lebantaron, Por estas nuevas tierras y regiones, El sangriento estandarte donde Cristo, Por la salud de todos fue arbolado.’’ of the fable that the title of ‘‘Caballeros’’ San Juan Indians was given to the for their loyalty to Spain during the insurrection of 1680. On the contrary, the Indians of San Juan were among the most bitter and cruel e the rebels; and their participation in the risings of 1694 and 1696 is well nown. $23 The name Chamita dates from the eighteenth century, and was given in order to distinguish it from the settlements higher up on the Chama river. Morfi, Descripcion Geografica, fol. 99, says that seventeen families lived there In 1744, A list nearly complete of the murders committed by the roaming Indians in the Chamita district is contained in the Libro de entierros de Santa Clara, Ms. In 1748 the people of Chamita applied for permission to abandon their homes owing to these hostilities. Peticion y auto sobre abandonar los Puestos de Abiquiu, Ojo Caliente y Pueblo Quemado, 148, Ms. This was refused.— Thomas Velez Cachupin, Auto prohibiendo el despueble de Chama como pretendian sus moradores por ostilidades de los Yutas, 1749, Ms. In 1781 the district was visited by a terrible epidemic, which lasted about two months, and aS off a frightful number of victims.— Libro de Difuntos de Santa Clara, 1, Ms.