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Show THE FEARING 89 choosing a head chief for the Navajos, who had never had such an office. Then, the Spaniards thought, they would be able to control the tribe through this chief they had made. Planning to choose a head chief and a second-in-command, Anza met with eighty Navajos on the Rio Puerco in March 1786. Don Carlos, a man whose family had been friendly with the Spaniards, was appointed head chief. Don Joseph Antonio, also from a friendly family, was chosen as second-in-command. Each was given a medal as a badge of office. Both earned salaries. Don Carlos accepted the title of General of the Navajos. He agreed to supply Anza with bands of thirty warriors each month. Anza also chose a Spaniard as "Interpreter." This man would live among the Navajos and make sure that they kept these terms. For added insurance, Anza jailed El Pinto. Anza had to allow some minor Navajo raids for his plans to succeed. He wisely knew that the new Navajo leaders could not always control all of the tribe. His plan was also expensive. In 1786 alone, six thousand pesos were set aside to keep good relations with the frontier tribes. Still, Anza kept to his plan. He urged the Navajos to come to the yearly trade fairs held with the Utes and Comanches. There they could sell their blankets. He watched over the trade with care, to make sure the Indians were not cheated. It seemed as if the Navajos had at last joined the Spanish system. El Pinto alone was still suspected, in spite of the fact that the Spaniards had little proof against him. He was released and allowed to move freely through the province. He did not know how much the Spaniards distrusted him, though. In October 1787 he and some friends visited Isleta Pueblo to trade peacefully. The Spaniards arrested him there and took him to jail in Santa Fe. Navajos claimed that the man was innocent. Even Don Carlos and Don Joseph Antonio, El Pinto's supposed foes, visited the governor to ask for his release. But the new governor, Fernando de la Concha, chose not to release him until June 1788. Spanish feelings toward El Pinto changed quickly after his release in June. Don Carlos had failed to supply bands of Navajo warriors to the Spanish army every month. El Pinto began to look better to Governor Concha. In August El Pinto joined a campaign against the Gila Apaches. He had more power with the "friendly" Navajos than Don Carlos. What Anza had failed to see was that the Navajos were far more likely to follow a traditional leader like El Pinto than someone chosen by outsiders. |