# History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 2/Chapter 24

Table of Contents
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE MIXTON WAR.
1541-1542.
Rule of Oñate in Nueva Galicia — His Difficult Position — Rebellion Rife — Departure of Coronado — Causes of Dissatisfaction — Beginning of Hostilities — Defeat of Ibarra — Alvarado Arrives at Navidad — And is Appealed to for Aid — He Receives a Summons from Mendoza, and Departs for Tiripitío — Agreement between Them — Alvarado Returns to Oñate's Relief — Precipitous Attack on Nochistlan — Defeat of the Spaniards — And Death of Alvarado — Arrival of Mendoza with Reënforcements — His Successful Campaign — End of the Mixton War — Expeditions of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and Ruy Lopez de Villalobos — The Survivors of Soto's Florida Expedition Arrive at Pánuco.
By the departure of Francisco Vazquez de Coronado from Nueva Galicia, Cristóbal de Oñate, as lieutenant-governor, occupied no enviable position; nevertheless he behaved with prudence and circumspection. He was respected without being hated, and he united justice with clemency as far as he was able. In war he seldom shared in the reckless confidence of his fellow-conquerors, and never appeared over-hasty to attack; but once engaged, he was wanting in neither skill nor bravery.
From the revolt of 1538, in which Governor Torre lost his life, to the departure of Coronado, there seems to have been no open hostilities on the part of the natives. Yet there was observed a growing spirit of discontent, and of disregard for the authority of the encomenderos which foreboded trouble; and here and there outrages began to be committed, until finally open insurrection was at hand. Certain ruling spirits among the conquered race were plotting mischief, and ​sounding the minds of the several nations through secret agencies. Sorcerers from the mountains of Zacatecas, messengers of Satan the pious chroniclers called them, appeared in the northern towns of Tlaltenango, Juchipila, Jalpa, and elsewhere, inciting the inhabitants to rise and exterminate the oppressors. They refused to pay tribute, and abandoned their houses and lands.
In some parts the Indians killed the missionaries who tried to persuade them to return in peace and submit to Spanish rule; in other places they killed their encomenderos, abandoned their towns, and retired to the mountains. Fortified camps were established in the mountains where the chieftains and warriors gathered to meet the unconquered Chichimecs. Upon their ancient altars again appeared the bloody sacrifice; promise of supernatural aid through omens was made by the sorcerers; and the effects of Christian baptism were removed by washing of heads and other acts of penance. Few, indeed, were the towns in New Galicia, from Colima to Culiacan, not represented at these mysterious conclaves. But while the conspiracy was thus wide-spread, active operations were confined for the most part to the region north of the Rio Grande, and east of the mountains about Nochistlan. Mixton, Nochistlan, Acatic, and Cuinao were the principal strongholds, and were under the command of Tenamaxtli. In other parts of the country the warriors were also on the alert, but seemed in most cases to have awaited the results in the north. Their peñoles and fortified cliffs, almost impregnable, were strengthened by walls supplied with trunks of trees and stones to be rolled or thrown down upon the assailants; they had been well provided with food and water, though the prophetic words of the magicians led the natives to expect that food would be miraculously bestowed; they even reckoned on the annihilation of the Spaniards by the deities without human instrumentality.
​We are not accustomed to seek long for the reason of insurrection and revolt among conquered nations. In this instance we need only call to mind that Nuño de Guzman had been there. As to more recent causes we have the testimony of Cortés that the trouble was due to Coronado's departure, and Mendoza's extortion of men and provisions for that
expedition. Beaumont declares it certain that the insurrection originated in the brutality of the encomenderos.
​Before open hostilities began, Oñate had gone to Compostela to make provision for the safety of the Tepic region and the coast. Here he left Juan de Villalba as governor, and returned to Guadalajara, where he learned that the Guaynamota and Guasamota Indians had killed the encomendero Juan de Arce. The viceroy was notified of the outbreak, and ail available measures were adopted for defence. And thus began the last desperate struggle of the natives of New Galicia to regain their ancient liberty.
Realizing his precarious position, Oñate made an attempt at reconciliation. In April 1541 he sent Captain Miguel de Ibarra, with some twenty-five Spaniards and a considerable force of friendly Tlajomulco and Tonalá Indians, up the Juchipila River to reconnoitre. The inhabitants had destroyed their fields, deserted their towns, burned the church, thrown down the crosses, and retired to the mountain fastness, or peñol, of Mixton.
Ibarra arrived, and through friars and interpreters the natives were exhorted to lay down their arms, whereupon full pardon would be granted. The answer was a shower of arrows and stones, in which one of the Franciscan mediators was killed. The Spaniards fell back to consult respecting future movements. Shortly afterward they were visited by embassadors pretending peace, and who desired the next day, palm Sunday, April 10th, to be set apart for a formal conference. Ibarra was thus thrown off his guard, and retired to rest. Early next morning, during an eclipse of the sun as some say, the Spanish camp was attacked ​by overwhelming numbers. Ibarra was defeated and put to flight; ten Spaniards were killed, including Captain Francisco de la Mota, and over two hundred of the native allies. It was through the valor of Captain Diego Vazquez that Ibarra's party escaped utter destruction.
When the first among the wounded arrived at Guadalajara, Oñate set out with his force, except twelve whom he left to guard the city. He had not gone a league before he learned that the most gallant of Ibarra's companions were killed or captured, and that the whole province was in arms; whereupon he deemed it more prudent to return and defend the town. Fifteen days later friendly Indians confirmed the alarming news of a general uprising in the regions of Culiacan, Compostela, and Purificacion, where the small Spanish garrisons were continually harassed; it was also said that the enemy intended to march against Guadalajara. Oñate immediately sent Diego Vazguez to the city of Mexico with urgent appeals for aid.
During the month of August 1540, Pedro de Alvarado had put into the port of Navidad, for water and provisions, with the formidable fleet prepared in Guatemala to discover the Spice Islands, though now diverted to explore the newly found regions of Cíbola, for which were so many claimants. While ​there word reached him from Juan Fernandez de Híjar, commanding at Purificacion, concerning the critical state of affairs. Híjar explained their forlorn condition, and begged the adelantado not to depart without coming to their aid.
The prospect of an encounter with so formidable a foe appealed at once to Alvarado's chivalry, to his devotedness to the interest of the crown, and to his love of great and perilous undertakings. He landed his force, consisting of about four hundred Spaniards and some Indians, who all agreed to render the required assistance before proceeding on their voyage of discovery. At this juncture couriers arrived from Mendoza, summoning Alvarado to Mexico, to arrange necessary matters concerning his expedition. The order frustrated his plans; but though he had determined to go at once to the relief of Guadalajara, he could not disregard the request of the viceroy. He marched his forces to Zapotlan, there to pass the rainy season; and after some discussion with Mendoza's messengers, Luis de Castilla and Agustin Guerrero, Alvarado agreed to meet the viceroy at Tiripitío in Michoacan, where Juan de Alvarado, his relative, had an encomienda.
It appears that Mendoza had received from the crown an interest in Alvarado's contract, which the latter was reluctant to concede. Difficulties arose between them on this point at Tiripitío, but were fortunately removed by the good offices of Bishop Marroquin of Guatemala, who was present. Mendoza's plan to unite with Alvarado and exclude Cortés from further discoveries northward and in the South Sea was accomplished, as much to his own as to Alvarado's satisfaction. The latter was severely censured at the time for thus conniving against the interests of his benefactor.
​The contract concluded, Alvarado accompanied the viceroy to the city of Mexico, to attend to the final preparations for the two expeditions agreed upon: one along the northern coast and the other to the Spice Islands, after which Alvarado returned to New Galicia to join his troops and the fleet. When Cristóbal de Oñate, who was now sorely pressed by the savages, learned of Alvarado's return to Zapotlan, he despatched Juan de Villareal to notify him of the Mixton disaster, and to ask for early assistance. It was necessary to Alvarado's enterprise to leave the ports of New Galicia secure as a base for operations, so that there was inducement for him to hasten to Oñate's relief. He sent fifty men to protect Autlan and Purificacion; fifty remained at Zapotlan to guard the districts of Colima and Ávalos; at Etzatlan and Lake Chapala garrisons of twenty-five men each were stationed, and Alvarado himself with a hundred horse and as many foot pushed on to Guadalajara. Tonalá and Tlacomulco had been kept faithful by Friar Antonio de Segovia, and reënforced Alvarado on the way; he seems also to have been joined by a native force from Michoacan. Such was the rapidity of his march to Guadalajara, that the passage of the barranca of Tonalá, which, owing to the river and the roughness of the country ordinarily required three days, was accomplished in a day and a night.
Just before the arrival of Alvarado, which occurred June 12, 1541, Ibarra had returned from a new reconnoissance, during which he had met nothing but scorn ​from the natives at Nochistlan. A council of war was held, and the fiery adelantado declined to await the coming of reënforcements from Mexico; nor would he accept the aid of Oñate's brave little band in the attack he had decided upon. The lieutenant-governor, better acquainted with the enemy's strength and desperate valor, counselled prudence and delay. He called to mind the rugged nature of the country, and the recent rains which rendered operations of cavalry difficult. Other prominent persons joined Oñate in his endeavor to dissuade the adelantado from so perilous an undertaking until troops should arrive from Mexico, but no reason could prevail, and he scoffed at their fears.
The conqueror had been summoned from weighty matters for this petty strife. He would show Oñate a thing or two, and teach him how to quell his own disturbances. "By Santiago!" he exclaimed, "there are not Indians enough in the country to withstand my attack, and a disgrace would it be to Spanish valor to employ more men. God has guided me hither and I shall vanquish the rebels alone. With a smaller force than this I have discomfited greater hosts. It is disgraceful that the barking of such a pack should suffice to alarm the country. I shall leave this city on the day of St John with my own force, and not a citizen or soldier from Guadalajara shall follow. Let them remain; the victory will be mine alone." And somewhat sneeringly he added, "Because of an insignificant advantage gained by the natives, the Spaniards have lost their valor!"
Now Oñate was every whit as brave as Alvarado, but he was more prudent; the lives of the settlers, of their wives and little ones, depended on his judicious conduct. The taunt of the adelantado stung, but he would not treat the illustrious conqueror with ​disrespect. It pained him to see bravery becoming bravado; Alvarado's men were but lately enlisted, and could not be compared with those so recently defeated at the Mixton. "I am sorry to see you depart alone," he said, "for I assure your worship there will be trouble. Had you but awaited the viceroy's reënforcements, we might have jointly pacified the country without much risk." More determined than ever, Alvarado replied: "The die is cast; I trust in God!" Thereupon he set out from Guadalajara with his forces, horse, foot, and Indians, toward Nochistlan. He stirred within his men their vanity and their valor; it was absurd to think of waiting for more men; the fewer the number the greater the share of plunder. Thus was opened the last campaign of the dashing adelantado, one of the most reckless, and one of the most cruel.
Unable to remain inactive, Oñate followed with twenty-five horsemen. Should his fears be realized, he would be near to render aid; and in case of a hopeless rout he might return in time for the protection of Guadalajara. He crossed the Rio Grande and marching through the mountains of Nochistlan toward Juchipila stationed himself on a height from which he could witness the attack.
On the 24th of June Alvarado arrived at the peñol of Nochistlan, which was protected by seven walls of stone, earth, and trees, and defended by a multitude of warriors. After a short and fruitless parley he pushed forward to take the breastworks by assault. A human flood opposed his progress. Ten thousand Indians, men and women, poured down upon the aggressor like a torrent. The sky was dark with arrows, darts, and stones, and at the first shock twenty Spaniards fell dead. The ferocity of the enemy was such that they tore the bodies of the slain to pieces, threw them into the air, and then devoured them. Consternation seized the Spaniards. Nevertheless Alvarado rallied, and in a second onslaught ten more ​horsemen bit the dust. Thirty out of a hundred, slain in a trice! It was a result unparalleled in the history of Indian warfare. It was indeed a perilous situation, yet they rallied again. The natives encouraged by their victory, and aware of the determination of the assailants, were ready; they even came forth from their intrenchment and seemed desirous of taking the open field.
Alvarado now ordered to the assault the Spanish foot. Captain Falcon, one hundred strong, with five thousand Michoacan allies under Antonio, son of Caltzontzin, the late king of that country, all to be supported by the cavalry. Disregarding his orders. Falcon attacked too soon, and without awaiting the support, pressed on toward the summit of the hill. Perceiving that the horsemen were not present the Indians offered little resistance until he had reached a point near the top of the peñol, then, suddenly closing in upon his front and rear, they prevented the cavalry from coming to his aid. With great difficulty the assailants extricated themselves from their desperate situation, during which Captain Falcon with seven or eight Spaniards, and many allies, were killed. The enemy pursued the retreating Spaniards into the plain below, where bogs prevented the cavalry from effective action. The people of the peñol were masters of the field, and the Spaniards were fairly put to rout. The rain fell in torrents; the roads became impassable.
For a distance of three leagues the elated Indians pursued, and another Spaniard was killed. Alvarado had dismounted to fight on foot, to cover the retreat in person. At last the Spanish forces were driven into a ravine between Yahualica and Acatic, when the fury of the pursuers began to abate, and they turned ​back toward Nochistlan. Alvarado endeavored to check the flight of his men, to rally and rest them; but they were terror-stricken and paid no heed to the orders of the commander. To save their lives they were now even willing the enemy should live; so onward they swept over the rugged ground, caring little for captain or country. Alvarado's secretary, Baltasar de Montoya, whose horse was much fatigued, was particularly anxious to widen the distance between himself and the enemy.
Montoya rode in front of his master, who repeatedly told him to slacken his pace, or the horse would fall with him. But the scribe was beside himself with fear; so much so that on coming to a broken embankment, instead of economizing his fast failing resources he spurred the jaded animal toward the steep. When about half way up the horse lost its footing and fell, throwing likewise Alvarado and his horse to the ground, whereupon all were precipitated into a ravine below. Montoya was not much injured, but the gallant conqueror lay crushed, his fair form broken and mutilated.
Alas! Tonatiuh, the sun, had set; the immortal one was clay. Slain by no enemy, he was none the less a victim to his own rashness. He was the last of the famous four, and his death was as might have been expected. Cortés and Sandoval, though no less familiar with danger than Olid and Alvarado, were less the slaves of reckless impulse. Ever holding passion subservient to reason, and feeling to common-sense, they escaped violent death. Not that death by violence, quick deliverance, is necessarily worse or more appalling than the long-drawn agony attending bodily disease or a broken heart. Alvarado's was not a glorious death, but neither was that of Cortés or Columbus, whose last hours were made miserable by slights and insults, by foiled ambition and a princely pauperism.
​Few of the New World conquerors perished in battle; and yet it was not altogether on account of the superior prowess of the European. Surely the danger was apparently greater during the Noche Triste than in this retreat of Alvarado's, or in the captivity of Olid in Honduras. Look at the fate of Diego de Nicuesa, of Alonso de Ojeda, of Vasco Nuñez, Pizarro, and the long list of captains who came to the Indies, and behold the irony of ambition! And even worse, perhaps, was the end of those of yet more exalted ideas and successes, whose souls, no matter how high the achievement, or how great the reward, were racked with disappointment, envy, and hatred as the aching body was descending to the grave. Reverse the proverb "Per aspera ad astra," and see what toils and sufferings spring from renown!
Alvarado did not immediately expire. Upon a hastily prepared litter he was borne, in great suffering, to Atenguillo, four leagues from where the fatal fall occurred. Oñate having witnessed the rout of the Spanish forces from his position, hastened to his relief; but the flight of Alvarado's party was so rapid that it was impossible to overtake them. At Yahualica, too late, he came up with stragglers from whom he learned the particulars of Alvarado's fate.
At nightfall the lieutenant-governor arrived at Atenguillo, and the meeting of the commanders was touching in the extreme. "He who will not listen to good counsel must be content to suffer," said Alvarado. "I was wrong; I see it now; yet most of all it was my misfortune to have with me so vile a coward as Montoya, whom I have rescued these many times from death." He was conveyed to the city of Guadalajara to the house of Juan de Camino, who was married to Magdalena de Alvarado, his relative; and ​after attending to his worldly affairs he expired, July 4, 1541.
With few exceptions, Alvarado's men left Guadalajara after their leader's death. But the garrisons posted at different points remained for some time at Oñate's request; and at last a detachment of troops arrived from Mexico. Fifty men, sent by Mendoza, under Captain Juan de Muncibay, came late in July and increased the number of defenders to eighty-five. And the revolted natives, elated at their recent victory, redoubled their efforts to enlist in the struggle for freedom those who had heretofore held aloof.
Many native chiefs, however, remained faithful to the Spaniards. One of these, Francisco Ganguillos of Ixcatlan, distinguished himself by arresting thirty of the rebel emissaries from Matlatlan, sending them to Guadalajara, where they were put to death after having revealed a plan to attack the city in September, the intention being to annihilate the Spaniards before Mendoza could arrive with succor. At a council of war it was resolved to defend the city to the last, though some of the officers were in favor of abandoning the country, or at least of retreating to Tonalá. Oñate, however, objected, maintaining that the Indians there were as treacherous as elsewhere.
The strongest buildings about the plaza were fortified, the rest being abandoned and torn to pieces for material to strengthen the defences. In the mean time Captain Muncibay and Juan de Alvarado made a reconnoissance, during which they had a sharp fight, and a thousand natives are said to have been slain. ​When the fortifications were completed, news came by the natives who supplied the city with food and water, that the friendly people of Tlacotlan, a town of three thousand inhabitants, one league from Guadalajara, had also rebelled.
Captain Pedro de Placencia was sent to protect the carriers, but the enemy advanced upon him in such force that he was obliged to return headlong into the city, with the pursuers upon his heels. On the 28th of September the assailants appeared in the vicinity, fifty thousand strong, blackening the plain for half a league about the town. The following morning, St Michael's day, they entered Guadalajara, set fire to the abandoned houses, destroyed the church, desecrated the images, and desperately assaulted the fortified buildings. The protected position of the Spaniards and the skilful use of a few pieces of artillery alone enabled them to withstand the shock. The entrances to the plaza were bravely defended; only one Indian entered, and he was killed by Beatriz Hernandez, wife of Captain Olea, who distinguished herself throughout the war by comforting the women and children and aiding the soldiers.
At one time the enemy were on the point of success. The powder had become wet and the cannon useless, and an explosion occurred during an attempt at drying. Meanwhile the adobe wall was undermined and fell; but the guns were brought to bear in time and the foe fell by hundreds. The Indians ceased their assaults, resolved to starve the besieged; they retired behind the buildings, where they were sheltered from the guns, and poured in upon the garrison volley after volley of taunts and threats, promising to kill all the men and make concubines of the women. The virago Beatriz Hernandez, enraged by these insults, would have sprung from a window upon the savages to tear their tongues out, but was prevented by the men. The soldiers in time became ​discouraged, and it was only by great coolness and presence of mind that Oñate was able to prevent their spirits from sinking; he threatened finally to open the gates and allow all of them to be butchered in cold blood if they continued to display such pusillanimity.
A series of sorties was now resolved on, and proved successful. During a conflict of several hours in which only one Spaniard fell, the hosts of the enemy were routed, leaving fifteen thousand dead in and about the town. The Spaniards themselves were astonished at their victory over such vast numbers; but the secret of their success was soon revealed. Many of the idolatrous Indians were found hidden in the town, blinded and maimed, but not by hand of man. Santiago on his white horse had issued from the burning church, at the head of an army of angels, and had fought for the Christians throughout the battle. Due honors were paid to this saint for his timely interposition; also to St Michael, on whose day the battle was fought. Many captives were put to death, and others enslaved; those blinded by the hand of God were set at liberty; and many more were sent to rejoin their tribes after being deprived of their sight, or otherwise mutilated, and having their wounds bathed in boiling oil. It is hardly to be expected that when the heavenly powers set such an example, their earthly followers should be slow to imitate. This battle was regarded as one of the most hotly contested in the annals of the conquest, and a chapter might be filled with incidents of individual prowess.
In October, in consequence of this siege, and the Spaniards fearing another attack, it was determined to transfer the city to its modern site south of the Rio Grande.
​The viceroy and other authorities in Mexico had now become thoroughly aroused. The situation was critical. The rebels were sending messengers in all directions, and aimed at nothing less than the extermination of the foreigners throughout America. Their superstitious fear of the Spaniards, of their powder and of their horses, which had rendered conquest possible, had to a great extent disappeared. It was now well understood by the native leaders that they had to deal with men, not gods; united action might throw off the yoke. This unity of action it seemed well-nigh impossible to attain. In the region about Mexico a successful rebellion could not be set on foot; the only hope for the natives and danger to the Spaniards lay in the frontier provinces. Let two or three of these expel the intruders, regain their independence, establish fortified camps in naturally strong positions, offer an asylum and rallying-point to the disaffected everywhere, divide the forces of the Spaniards and thus gain time to arouse the native patriotism, and perfect a general plan of action: the result would be a desperate struggle from which the Spaniards had everything to fear. The Indian chiefs of New Galicia had hit upon the only plan which offered any chance of success; the hated invaders must be crushed wholly and immediately.
Mendoza raised a force of about four hundred and fifty Spaniards, and some thirty thousand Tlascaltec and Aztec warriors, whose fidelity was assured by promises of honors and wealth to their leaders. And not without misgivings and opposition they were intrusted by the viceroy with horses and fire-arms, being authorized for the first time to manufacture and to carry Spanish weapons. The army set out from Mexico on the day of the battle at Guadalajara, and marched through Michoacan by nearly the same route as that followed by Nuño de Guzman in 1529. ​While Mendoza was marching to the valley of Cuiná, Oñate was preparing for the removal of Guadalajara, and had for that purpose sent Juan del Camino with twenty horsemen toward Tlacotlan, Contla, and Mesticacan, to reconnoitre. The Spaniards were surprised to find as many Indians here as formerly, who had all been frightened into submission. These natives advised Camino, however, to proceed no farther, as the fierce Cascanes were preparing for another attack on Guadalajara. He thereupon returned, bringing with him to the city a troop of natives with a large quantity of provisions.
Meanwhile Mendoza arrived at the peñol of Cuiná, the first stronghold of the Indians attacked. It was defended by ten thousand warriors, who scornfully refused offers of peace, withstood a siege of ten or fifteen days, and were finally conquered by stratagem. A party of Mexicans disguised themselves as Cuiná warriors bearing water-jars, and gained access to the fortress, after a sham fight in which other auxiliaries of Mendoza pretended to prevent the succor. The army followed; and in the hand-to-hand struggle which ensued, a large part of the defenders of the peñol, with their wives and children, were slaughtered. In their fright and confusion many threw themselves down the precipice. Over two thousand are said to have been captured and enslaved. ​Mendoza then pushed forward over the Cerro Gordo. The natives of Acatic and of the valley of Zapotlan having surrendered without serious resistance, the forces of Oñate and Mendoza effected a junction and marched against Nochistlan. The place was defended by a large army under Tenamaxtli, whose Christian name was Don Diego Zacatecas. In the first attack two of the seven lines of defensive works were carried, and the rest, except the last and strongest, were battered down by the artillery after a siege of several days. The besieged at last proposed a suspension of hostilities and an attack on Mixton, promising to surrender when that fortress should fall. These terms were of course refused, and by a final assault the last defences were carried. The Spanish flag was planted by Captain Muncibay on the summit, and those of the defenders who had not escaped with their leader to Mixton, yielded. The prisoners were condemned to slavery by Mendoza; but Ibarra, who was the encomendero of the district, fearing its depopulation and the ruin of his property interests, allowed them to escape.
The Spanish forces then marched to Juchipila and found that all the natives had taken refuge on the Mixton, which was the strongest of all the rebel ​fortresses. There were still assembled under Tenamaxtli a hundred thousand warriors. So strong was the position, and so bravely were the few accessible passes guarded, that after a siege of about three weeks, with continuous assaults, little progress had been made. But thousands of the patriotic defenders of their native soil had perished, swept down by Spanish cannon, and great suffering began to be experienced. Many of the christianized natives, and others who had joined in the rebellion on the sorcerer's assurances of an easy victory and abundant spoils, were tired of the hardships and slaughter, and leaving the peñol by secret passes they returned to their homes. The warriors of Teul openly declared they had come to the Mixton only to prove that they were no cowards, and proposed a sortie by the whole force. This being declined, they marched out alone against the Spaniards; but, traitors as they were, they shot their arrows into the air and allowed themselves to be easily captured. They were pardoned and accepted as auxiliaries or sent home, after having revealed a secret pass by which the viceroy's forces might reach the top of the peñol.
The disclosing of this pass was attributed by some to St James, who appeared to Father Segovia and led the Christians to the attack. Accounts of the final victory are conflicting; but it seems that one or two assaults, accompanied by great slaughter during which thousands cast themselves down the cliff, were made and repulsed; and that finally such survivors as could not escape or had not the courage to destroy themselves, surrendered to an embassy of friars who went unarmed among them. These friars permitted many of the Christian Indians to retire to their towns before the surrender, on promise of good behavior. The captives taken numbered over ten thousand. A large proportion of the force at Mixton was ​composed of Chichimec tribes, and of these such as escaped slavery fled with their leader toward the mountains of Zacatecas and Nayarit"
There were some further military movements, but apparently no serious resistance north of the river Tololotlan. From Juchipila the Spaniards marched down the river of that name to San Cristóbal, at the junction with the former. Thirty thousand native warriors had fortified themselves near Tepeaca, but on the approach of the Spaniards they were persuaded by Romero, the encomendero of the place, to scatter and abandon the idea of further resistance. In thus looking out for his own interests, he had but followed the example of Ibarra; but he had allowed the escape of the fierce Cascanes, one of the leaders of the rebellion. He was condemned to death by Mendoza, but afterward pardoned in consideration of past services. The viceroy next marched toward the peñol of Ahuacatlan, where all the natives of the province of Compostela were understood to be fortified. Passing with his army south of the Rio Grande, probably in January 1542, visiting many of the disaffected towns in that region, he extended his operations to Etzatlan and Tequila, where two friars had been murdered during the year.
The inhabitants now seemed ready to submit without further resistance. After several days at Etzatlan, and when about to march on Ahuacatlan, the viceroy learned that Juan de Villalba had taken that peñol ​and dispersed the natives, and in the regions of Purificacion quiet was also restored. Here the viceroy was apprised of Coronado's return from Cibola, where he had found nothing worthy of note. Though Mendoza wished to proceed north to meet Coronado, he was prevailed upon by Oñate to return to Mexico, From every part of New Galicia the news came that the bloody arbitrament at Nochistlan and Mixton was accepted as final, save in the mountains of Nayarit, where the fierce inhabitants had never been conquered, and were not to be so for nearly two hundred years; and in the Culiacan region, where it was left to the army of Coronado to suppress such remnants of revolt as might there be found. The total number of slaves made during this campaign is estimated at over five thousand. Some say that Mendoza made no slaves. But even had his heart prompted so humane an idea, the army would not have consented. For what but the spoils do men endure the pangs of war? Alvarado's forces were subsequently relieved of their garrison duty and allowed to depart at their pleasure, and Mendoza returned to the city of Mexico.
I have thus given in brief the events connected with the great revolt in New Galicia, known as the Mixton war. The records are voluminous, but fragmentary and contradictory, bearing for the most part on petty details of military operations; of dealings between encomenderos and their subjects; of purely local events in hundreds of villages long passed out of existence; of tribal names and those of native ​chieftains, and of Spanish leaders and their individual achievements.
The threatened perils of a general uprising of the American nations having thus been averted, the viceroy was again at liberty to turn his attention northward. Coronado had abandoned the conquest of Cíbola and Quivira, and was returning homeward with the remnants of his army. By the voyages of Ulloa and Alarcon the gulf coasts had been explored, and California proved to be a peninsula. Such results had evidently done much to cool Mendoza's ardor for northern enterprise. Yet, he had a fleet on his hands, and one route for exploration still remained open — the continuation of that followed by Ulloa, up the outer coast beyond Cedros Island. Two vessels of Alvarado's former fleet, the San Salvador and Victoria, were made ready and despatched June 27, 1542, under the ​command of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. After touching at several points along the coast and passing through the Santa Bárbara Channel, he died, and his successor, Ferelo, advanced in March 1543 past snowcapped mountains to what he called latitude 44°, but found the cold so excessive that he turned back.
During Cabrillo's absence two ships and three smaller craft, also remnants of Alvarado's fleet, were despatched by order of Mendoza from the western coast, probably from Navidad. These vessels, sailing in November 1542 in command of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, carried three hundred and seventy men, including several Austin friars destined for the islands of the Pacific.
The original object of the expedition seems to have been to found a colony on Zebú, and Villalobos was particularly enjomed not to touch at the islands whereof the Portuguese held possession. This command, however, was disregarded, either from necessity on account of stress of weather, or by miscalculations of the course, after many other islands had been sighted or touched. The expedition is but a continuous record of troubles in which the Spaniards became involved, largely by their own fault, with each other, with the natives, and especially with the Portuguese. It was at this time that the Philippines were named, and more than one effort was made to send a vessel ​back to New Spain, but contrary winds always prevented it. Most of the survivors of the expedition returned by way of Cape Good Hope to Europe in 1547 and the following years; but the leader died on the way, and Spain had as yet no foothold in that quarter. Mendoza was prevented from entering upon further expeditions of discovery by a new law which forbade viceroys and governors henceforth to engage in any such enterprise.
Into this period also falls the memorable and disastrous expedition of Fernando de Soto to Florida and the Mississippi Valley. Though not belonging to my province, a slight allusion to the subject may not be out of place, as the remnant of Soto's force landed on the shores of Pánuco soon after Mendoza's return to the city of Mexico.
After departing from Cuba in 1539 with a formidable force and well-appointed fleet, four years were spent in endless marches and countermarches through the regions east and west of the Mississippi, where the cruel barbarities which characterized the earlier conquests were repeated. Gold was the watchword of Soto's band, and where it was not obtained blood must flow. Even the poor and destitute savages they plundered of their little property, and then tortured them because there was no more. The natives, at first friendly and hospitable, were finally compelled by exactions and cruelty to make common cause against the invaders. Driven down the Mississippi after Soto's death, the remnant of the unfortunate band arrived at the town of Pánuco, after a most dangerous voyage of fifty-two days from the mouth of the river. The magnificent company of three hundred and fifty horse and nine hundred foot had in a measure met ​their deserts, being now reduced to some three hundred men, haggard and worn, clad in tatters and the skins of animals. They were kindly received by the Spanish settlers and natives, and the viceroy invited them to Mexico, where they were properly cared for.
A later and complete book on the same region is that by Mota Padilla, Historia de la Conquista de la Provincia de la Nueva Galicia, Mex., 1870, ​folio, 523 pages, and index. It contains a detailed historical and physical account of northern Mexico, New Mexico, and Texas, from the conquest till 1742. The author, born in Guadalajara October 6, 1688, was the second son of Matías Lopez, an hidalgo from Estremadura, and Ana de la Mota, a lineal descendant of the conquerors, and of illustrious family, who for all that at her marriage could not, it is said, sign the papers because she did not know how to write. From 1713 to 1746, and even later, he filled several municipal and judicial offices, namely, those of district judge, attorney-general, and associate justice of the audiencia of Guadalajara. His character as a man, lawyer, and public officer stands high.
* ↑ Peticion al Emperador, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 63-4. Cortés had complained as early as June 1540 that Coronado was leaving the country unprotected. Col. Doc. Inéd., iv. 214; see also Frejes, Hist. Breve, 79.
* ↑ And in the face of such evidence, together with assertions to the same effect by nearly all the old chroniclers, and the appalling expositions of Las Casas, Zamacois, Hist. Méj., iv. 669-72, stubbornly defends the Spaniards. He slurs Las Casas and the writers who credit such statements, and in a verbose and fallacious argument seeks to prove that the uprising took place because the natives would not accept the rites and customs of the Catholic faith; they refused above all to discard polygamy. He quotes from Beaumont to sustain his view, but the citation has no bearing on the revolt whatever, merely on the zeal of the missionaries to induce the reluctant neophytes to leave their wives. On the contrary, Beaumont affirms positively 'que el motivo principal que movió á estos indios á rebelarse fué la dureza de algunos encomenderos.' Crón. Mich., iv. 236. An occurrence during one of their savage feasts, interpreted as a good omen by their sorcerers, strengthened the belief of the natives in success, and probably hastened the outbreak.
* ↑ It seems that during his visit to Compostela, Oñate changed the site of the place from near Tepic to the Cactlan Valley, for greater safety. Mota-Padilla, Cong. N. Gal., 112; Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iv. 235.
* ↑ In the Mendoza, Visita, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 106-8, it is stated that Ibarra was sent out with the friar Coruña, who heard of the revolt at Purificacion and came in person to Guadalajara. The same document mentions an expedition prior to that of Alvarado, in which Oñate with 50 Spaniards was defeated after a battle of four hours. Herrera, dec. vii. lib. ii. cap. x., also makes Oñate command the defeated party, consisting of 40 horse and as many foot, and a few Indian allies. A note by Muñoz in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iii. 377, also states that Mendoza was in Guadalajara in the early part of 1541.
* ↑ According to a contract made with the crown. See Hist. Cent. Am., ii. this series. Alvarado landed at Navidad for water and provisions, Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 382; Remesal, Hist. Chyapa., 161; Torquemada, i. 323. At Purificacion. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 236; Vazquez, Chron. Gvat., i. 159. Most authors agree that he came to Navidad direct, though it appears he touched at several ports south before his arrival at this place.
* ↑ The forces of Alvarado are variously given as from 300 to 600.
* ↑ Cortés never resented this ingratitude, but complained of Mendoza's conduct in the matter, and the cunning and avarice he displayed toward Alvarado. According to his testimony the adelantado anchored his magnificent fleet, composed of 12 or 13 ships, at Huatulco in Tehuantepec, to take in provisions. He was prevented, however, by the viceroy's agents, who in their turn offered him provisions in the name of their master, demanding in exchange an interest in the fleet and in the enterprise. Alvarado refused, and sailed for Navidad. But the viceroy's emissaries had foreseen this and arrived there soon after the fleet. Alvarado had no alternative now but to submit to the viceroy's conditions, lest his starving forces should desert him; and thus it came about that Mendoza obtained a half ownership in the fleet. After the death of Alvarado the viceroy seized all the ships and even then claimed that Alvarado was still his debtor. Cortés, Memorial, in Escritos Sueltos, 134-5. Bishop Marroquin, writing to the emperor in 1545, refers to his services in arranging the difficulties which had existed between Mendoza and Alvarado. Squier's MSS., xxii. 139.
* ↑ Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 389, and other authors here say 'St James,' which would be July 25th; Alvarado's disastrous defeat occured June 24th, or on St John's day.
* ↑ According to Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 391, who has left us the most accurate account of the Mixton war. A somewhat different version of Alvarado's attack is given by Herrera, dec. vii. lib. ii. cap. xi., who says that the combined forces of Oñate and the adelantado marched on Nochistlan. See also Vega, Crón. Mich., MS., lib. iv. cap. vii.
* ↑ The clumsy coward lived to the age of 105 years. Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 392.
* ↑ The first words Alvarado spoke after recovering his senses were: 'Esto merece quien trae consigo tales hombres como Montoya.' Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 92.
* ↑ His remains were deposited in the chapel of Our Lady in Guadalajara; subsequently transferred to Tiripitio, thence to Mexico, and finally to Guatemala, Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 395-6, rightly remarks: 'Torquemada and Remesal erred when, speaking of Alvarado's death, they say it occurred at Etzatlan, or on the height of Mochitiltic, between Guadalajara and Compostela, and that the adelantado was buried at Etzatlan; and that Bernal Diaz errs still more, saying that it happened on some peñoles called Cochitlan, near Purificacion.' The sad fate which overtook Alvarado's wife, Doña Beatriz de la Cueva, during the destruction of the city of Guatemala, and the biographical sketch of Alvarado, are given in Hist. Cent. Am., ii., this series.
* ↑ Sept. 6, 1541. Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 399.
* ↑ Whereupon ‘de pura rabia volvió la trasera y alzó las faldas, diciendo: Perros, besadme aquí, que no os veréis en ese espejo, sino en este y cuando lo estaba diciendo se arrojaron una flecha que le clavó las faldas con el tejado, en las vigas del techo, por estar baja.' Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 406.
* ↑ Here again Beatriz Hernandez displayed her strength of mind. It was through her resolute and determined decision that the new site of the city was agreed upon. Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 415-16.
* ↑ There was some evidence of a plot for revolt between the natives of Michoacan and the Tlascaltecs, as explained by Lopez in a letter to the emperor Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 141-7. He gives this plot as a reason for the opposition to arming the Indians, while Herrera, dec. vii. lib. ii. cap. xii., and others regard it as one of the incentives to Mendoza's campaign. Lopez says Mendoza's army included one half the citizens of Mexico and from 40,000 to 50,000 natives; Herrera, 450 Spaniards and same number of Indians, dec. vii. lib. ii. cap. v.; Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iv. 387-8; Tello, 10,000 Indians, Hist. N. Gal., 396-8, 417-19; Mendoza, Visita, 180 horsemen and a number of Indian volunteers, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., 110-12. The date of departure was Sept. 22d, according to Lopez, and Sept. 29th, according to Acazitli, Rel., in Id., 307. Tello says Mendoza left Mexico 'á los principios de Enero 1542,' having prepared the expedition 'á los fines de 1541.'
* ↑ Navarrete, Hist. Jal., 75-7, mentions four other places in this region, one of them on the author's own estate, where bones and blood-stained stones showed battles to have taken place. Mota Padilla, Conq. N. Gal., 142, implies that there was no assault until after the stratagem. According to Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iv. 390-1, 4,000 Indians killed themselves and 10,000 were slain. Herrera, dec. vii. lib. ii. cap. v., tells us the place fell easily and no slaves were made. In Mendoza, Visita, Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 112-14, it appears that 248 slaves were made and distributed among the auxiliaries. Tello affirms that 4,000, besides women and children, killed themselves; 2.000 were killed by Spaniards, and 2,000 slaves taken. Acazitli calls this the battle of Tototlan, and represents it as having been fought Oct. 26, 1541.
* ↑ The Spaniards were 15 days bombarding the place without results. The population was 60,000; 2,000 were killed and 1,000 enslaved. Mota Padilla, Conq. N. Gal., 146-7; Tello, Hist. N. Gal., i. 422-5. They fought from eight A.M. to four P.M., when the place was taken after considerable loss. The battle occurred November 12th, and four Spaniards were killed. Acazitli, Rel., 312; Mendoza, Visita, 114. Number of Spaniards 1,000; auxiliaries 60,000 to 70,000. Navarrete, Hist. Jal., 80-2. There were 6,000 killed, and 10,000 enslaved, but subsequently released by Ibarra. Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iv. 398. Frejes, Hist. Breve., 154, speaks of a twenty days' siege; 6,000 killed; 1,000 slaves; the natives surrendered for want of water and owing to the defection of a cacique. The Spanish soldiers were exceedingly loath to relinquish the slaves, but Mendoza seems to have approved of Ibarra's act. Tello and Mota Padilla say the people of Nochistlan were allowed to escape before the final surrender and not after their capture.
* ↑ Mixton, 'subida de gatos' or 'cats' ascent;' thus named because of the difficult access to the summit.
* ↑ Just before the attack on Mixton there was a day's discussion between the leaders and the iriars about the justice of the war. Mota Padilla, Cong. N. Gal., 149. According to Herrera, dec. vii. lib. v. cap. ii., Mixton surrendered without a struggle. The statements in regard to the number of killed and captured vary greatly.
* ↑ After the fall of Mixton, during Christmas festivities, they were near Jalpa. At Ahuacatlan, February 2d. Acazitli, Rel., 318-27. At Tequila January 23d. Hernandez y Dávalos, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da ép. ii. 481-2.
* ↑ According to Torquemada, iii. 607-9, the friar Calero was killed June 10, 1541, and was the first martyr of Nueva Galicia; Father Cuellar perished at the hands of the savages in the following August. Fernandez, Hist. Ecles., ree mentions another, Fray Juan Padilla, as having been killed here about that time.
* ↑ See Mota Padilla, Cong. N. Gal., 154. Says Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iv. 420: 'Llevando en trofeo y en señal de triunfo como unos cinco mil indios cautivos' See also Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 433-6. This campaign cost Mendoza over 30,000 pesos; the loss and suffering among the anxiliaries was slight; the slaves were branded and distributed by Oniate after deducting the royal fifth, but they were so few that the soldiers did not receive one fourth of what would have been the regular pay. Mendoza, Vista, 115-18. Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 136, dates this campaign in 1543, and says no slaves or spoils were taken. Cortés charged that the cost and losses of Mendoza's campaign were greater than those of the conquest of New Spain, and that after all Nneva Galicia was not subdued. Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 63-4. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 236, disposed of this final campaign by stating that Maldonado was sent out, and subdued the rebels.
* ↑ For most of the events of this rebellion we are indebted to the three early chroniclers, Tello, List. N. Gal., 362-438; Mota Padilla, Cong. N. Gal., 111-54, and Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iv. 59-66, 235-9, 386-421; MS. 300-3, 422-8, 550-80. Herrera, dec. vii. lib. ii. cap. xii., lib. v. cap. ii., also speaks of these events at some length. From these authorities Navarrete, Hist. Jai., 64-85, Frejes, Hist. Breve, 78-97, and Bustamante, in Gomara, Hist. Mex. (ed. 1826), 11. supl., 1-38, have prepared somewhat extended sketches. Original documents on the subject are few. The Relacion de la Jornada que hizo Don Francisco de Sandoval Acazitli, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 307-32, was written by Gabriel Castaneda at the order of Acazitli, a native chieftain who with his subjects accompanied Mendoza. It is a diary purporting to record the events of the march from day to day; however, it throws but little light on the subject, even in respect to dates, its statements being contradictory among themselves. The Mendoza, Visita, in Id., 102-18, contains what may be regarded as Mendoza's statements about many points, especially the treatment of Indian captives and auxiliaries. A Peticion Contra Mendoza, in Id., 63-4, gives Cortés' views of the causes which led to the revolt. The Carta de Gerónimo López al Emperador, Oct. 20, 1541, in Id., 141-54, speaks of Mendoza's start and of the evidence of intended revolt near Mexico. The Requerimiento made to the rebels by the friars sent out by the viceroy, is given in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iii. 369-77. Other references are, Oviedo, iv. 26; Torquemada, iii. 604-9; Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nvovo, 106-7; Salazar y Olarte, Hist. Cong. Mex., 453-7; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 236; Ramirez, Proceso, pp. xix. — xxiii., 278-82; Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 132-3, 136; Gil, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, viii. 478; Hernandez y Dávalos, in Id., 2da ép. ii. 481-2, iii. 188; Dicc. Univ., i. 173-4; x. 1039; West-und Ost-Indischer Lusigart, i. 391-2; Gottfriedt, Newe Welt, 285-6; Burney's Hist. Discov. South Sea, i. 220; Garcilaso de la Vega, Comentarios Reales, ii. 80-1. Monumentos Domin. Esp., MS., 242-3. Parra, Cong. Xalisco, MS., 433-47, written in verse, is correct in some parts as to dates and events; but as for the poetry, the less said of it the better.
* ↑ For full particulars of this expedition, see Hist. North Mex. States, i., and Hist. Cal., i., this series.
* ↑ Juan Fernandez de Ladrillero declared in 1574 that he and a company were in California until called back to join the expedition of Villalobos. Sutil y Mex., Viage, pp. xlii.-iv. This, if not pure invention, may allude vaguely to Ulloa or Alarcon.
* ↑ With details of the route followed and the discoveries made on this expedition I have little to do, and therefore make but a slight mention in the text. The original authorities on the matter are vague and confusing. The best authorities are Grijalua, Cron. S. August., 51-60: Gaetan, Relatione, in Ramusio, i. 416 et seq.; Galvano's Discov., 231-9; Herrera, dec. vii. lib. v. The best English authority is Burney's Hist. Discov. South Sea, i, 226-43. Two original reports of the expedition, more or less full, but everywhere conflicting, are Villalobos, Viaje, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., v. 118 et seq., and Santisteban, Carta, in Id., xiv. 151-65. Other authorities are Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i. tom. x. 259-65; Gomara, Hist. Ind., 1353 Torquemada, i. 608; Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 135.
* ↑ In honor of the prince of Asturias. Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 135.
* ↑ Mendoza complained that after spending all his patrimony and running in debt to carry out his projects of discovery and conquest for his sovereign, he found himself estopped by the new law and by the acts of a visitador, which had alienated from him the credit and reputation he had formerly enjoyed for the execution of those plans. Mendoza, Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iii. 510-11.
* ↑ Full particulars of the expedition may be found in Garcilaso de la Vega, La Florida, 255 et seq.; Robertson's Hist. Am., ii. 1005; Monette's Hist. Discov. Miss., 1. 63-4; Biedma, Narr., in French's Hist. Louisiana, 97-220.