Pueblo Revolt (1680)

Background to the Revolt

Inspired by the riches found in other parts of the New World, Juan de Onate gained permission from the Spanish Crown to establish the colony of New Mexico in 1598 in the hope of benefiting from the great mineral wealth reportedly located in the region. Unfortunately for Onate and the Spanish and Mesoamerican colonists who accompanied him, the region's supposed wealth turned out to be a myth. The colony was a tremendous disappointment, and the Spanish Crown nearly shut it down in 1605, a mere seven years after its founding.

Though there were no vast riches to be found, the Crown allowed the colony to continue because of what the Spanish did find in the region: a group of politically distinct, yet culturally and linguistically related, indigenous communities they collectively labeled Pueblos (the Spanish word for “town”). Though the archaeological record is not complete, the Pueblos had probably lived in the locations where the Spanish encountered them for several centuries.

Unlike other Indian communities in the region, the Pueblos already lived in towns and practiced year-round agriculture, two qualities that made them more “civilized” in the eyes of the Spanish, as well as more likely candidates for Christianization. In fact, it was the vast potential harvest of souls that Franciscan missionaries saw among the Pueblos that ensured the colony's survival into the 17th century.

Spanish occupation was very difficult on the Pueblos. The Spanish insisted that the Pueblos pay tribute in the form of agricultural products, as well as labor owed to prominent Spanish colonists. Pueblo women endured assault, and Pueblo men humiliation. Perhaps most seriously, the Franciscan monks waged an all-out war on Pueblo religious practices, which they saw as inspired by Satan.

They destroyed sacred places and objects, and they severely punished religious leaders or any Pueblos found participated in the now-forbidden rites.

The Revolt

In the late 17th century, Spanish oppression was only one of the difficulties the Pueblos faced. Severe drought and other climate changes hit the region hard. Nomadic and seminomadic raiders, such as the Apache and the Navajo, stepped up their attacks on the colony, and Spanish and Pueblo suffered alike. If the Spanish were going to oppress the Pueblos, interrupt important religious practices that the Pueblos believed could affect the weather and climate, and prove incapable of stopping the raids, then perhaps their presence could no longer be tolerated.

The catalyst that finally ignited an intolerable situation was probably the arrest of 45 Pueblo leaders on charges of sorcery in 1675. The Spanish governor sentenced four men to hanging, while the rest were publicly whipped, then released. Among those released was a man from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo (San Juan) named Pope. Pope traveled to another Pueblo community called Taos and began to plan a revolt with the help of leaders from other pueblos. Communicating through messengers carrying knotted ropes that served as countdown calendars, Pueblo leaders planned a widespread uprising on August 11, 1680. However, Spanish officials captured two messengers because of warnings from sympathetic Pueblos, so the revolt actually began a day early, on August 10. Despite the early warning, the Spanish failed to understand the seriousness of the revolt and were caught completely off guard.

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