Pueblo Revolt

Early Spanish-Pueblo Contacts

Early Spanish interest in New Mexico was centered upon finding gold and riches in the area. Some of the earliest Spanish encounters with Pueblo Indians in New Mexico occurred in 1539 when the Franciscan missionary Fray Marcos de Niza (?–c. 1558) led an expedition in which Esteban or Estevánico (c. 1503–1539), a black man who had survived a shipwreck and wandered through Texas with Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca (c. 1490–1557), moved ahead of the group and sent back messages concerning his findings. Esteban told of wonderful riches in the lands of the Pueblos, but the Zuni people of Hawikuh killed him. Fray Marcos then had to turn back after seeing the Zuni pueblo from a distance. His reports prompted Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (c. 1510–1554) in 1540 to lead an expedition [Page 1275]into New Mexico and other areas north of presentday Mexico. The Coronado expedition took by force the supplies they needed from Pueblo Indians, fostering some resentment that would influence later contacts with the Indians. In 1581, Fray Agustín Rodríguez (?–1582) and Captain Francisco Sánchez Chamuscado (c. 1512–1582) ventured into New Mexico, where some Pueblo Indians fled upon hearing of the approach of the Spaniards. The early Spanish expeditions into Pueblo lands did not yield riches and led to Indian mistrust of the Spaniards.

The Early Spanish Settlements in New Mexico

In 1598, Juan de Oñate (c. 1552–1626) traveled to New Mexico with settlers to found the colony of New Mexico for Spain. They settled in towns already inhabited by Pueblo Indians. Spaniards referred to the Indians as Pueblo Indians because they lived in sedentary towns or pueblos. These Pueblo Indians were quite diverse, speaking different languages and dialects. The Franciscan missionaries worked to convert the Pueblos to Christianity and to eliminate native religion. They required Indians to attend Catholic mass every morning, and punished those who did not. The missionaries also collected and destroyed native religious articles. They whipped those who continued to practice native religion. Some Indians continued to practice their own religion and were somewhat protected by their outnumbering of the Spaniards in New Mexico during the seventeenth century. Also, communication problems developed as missionaries did not learn the native languages.

Spanish settlers and officials forced the Indians to labor and to pay tribute in both food and clothing as part of the encomienda system. The tribute of maize was especially difficult for the Indians who lived in an arid environment where periodic droughts occurred. The Pueblos had developed a system of storing maize to help them to survive these droughts, but the Spanish demands destroyed their surplus. This increased Pueblo reliance on the Spanish for food.

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