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Show 230 THE SPANISH ARCHIVES OF NEW MEXICO THE SPANISH ARCHIVES OF NEW MEXICO the Comanches, November 3, 1751; they were repulsed by the Indians of Galisteo and ten soldiers. Subsequently a campaign by the governor, with fifty-four soldiers, thirty citizens and eighty Indians, was instituted as far as the Napeste where, on November 11, 1751, he compelled them to sue for peace. The Napeste is the Arkansas river of today. 4f 519 MENCHERO, 1752. FRAY JUAN MIGUEL. July 30, Statement by him relative to the Moqui and the Cosninos, as follows: ‘‘T, Fray Juan Miguel Menchero, delegate commissary of the Very Reverend P. Fr. Commissary General of the Provinces of the Order of our Father St. Francis, and of the Custodias of New Spain, as such, present myself before Your Excellency and state as follows: ‘‘Having sent three Indians of this pueblo to the province of the Moquis during the month of February of this year fifty-two, having asked your permission and which you granted to me, letting me know that these Indians wished to go to visit their relatives and to inquire about their willingness to come back to this pueblo and Mission of Sandia, where I have them located; and two of them having returned, except one, bearing the name of Joseph Yachica, who remained at the pueblo of Oraybe for want of means and being unable to obtain them [lograr seca?] and did not come with his companions; and during the intervening time when he stayed in the aforesaid province he related what I have placed in this report as worthy of mention and for the good which may result for the service of both of their majesties and for the splendor of my Seraphic Order, and for the honor and greater increase of loyalty in the service of Your Excellency. ‘‘He says that these barbarous gentiles, on three oceasions, put him in the estufa with the intention of killing him in order to force him to give up some horses and cows which his brother left to him, for it is contrary to their common character and a custom accepted in this Kingdom and some other missions, that a son does not inherit from his father, nor relatives from relatives, but the inheritance is left to the strongest, which is contrary to the natural rights of nations. In this controversy the aforesaid Yachica gave up his inheritance in order to save his life, which he secured by the intervention of the Holy Trinity to whose mystery he had recommended himself. 231 ‘*He also says that he crossed the country of the Cosninos, who are distant from the province of the Moquis a little more than thirty leagues; and having remained among them some time and having been honored by them according to their fashion, they gave him to understand that they wished to become Christians and to enroll themselves under the banner of our King and their Natural Master, and for whom, also on this occasion, their cacique and chief captain gave to me a bunch of dates, accompanied with many expressions of love for me and for your Excellency. I send this bunch of dates to your Excellency for it is a politeness in its significance and I anticipate the many good results which may ensue and I feel certain your Excellency will appreciate it equally with myself, that in your time you could obtain these results, as well as others, for the service of both majesties. ‘‘ Having asked the said Indian, Yachica, why he had not handed Among them to me as soon as he came, he answered: those who had come at this time to this Mission were many Gentiles who did not accept the Christian religion; lest they would have discovered it before they departed and that this would have worked wrong to those who had decided to remain and become Christians, as well as to those who stayed there; for this reason he had concealed the bunch [of dates] until after they had reached their place. On account of which matter I wish to consult your Excellency, as I do in proper form, as well as in regard to many other matters relative thereto, of which your Excellency will receive information from the said Indian. I omit to mention these in order not to lengthen this report and in order to furnish your Excellency with other evi- Therefore, I ask your Excellency that you accept dence. my report and that for my convenience you give me notice of any effect it may have. ‘“Moreover, I certify that having informed myself as to the people who claim to possess the eleven ranchos [settlements], and who comprise the Cosnino nation, I ascertained that they are over ten thousand souls, which fact I have not cared to omit from your constant . . . ‘*City of Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 30, 1752. ‘‘This report has been compared with the one made by the Indian, not cautioned in relation to it and examined with all possible care by means of an interpreter; and I ordered that this report be brought into account for all the resolutions which will be taken in regard thereto. ordered and signed, I, Don Tomas Velez Cachupin, So I gov- |