# History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 2/Chapter 34

Table of Contents
CHAPTER XXXIV.
CLOSE OF THE CENTURY.
1589-1600.
Rumored Insurrection — Fears of Velasco, the New Viceroy — Reception — City Improvements — The Chichimecs — The Mines of Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas — Founding of Towns — Philip Wants More Money — Velasco's Astute Measure — Conde de Monterey, Viceroy — Futile Efforts to Move the Indian — Race Intermixtures — Nuevo Leon — Occupation of the Northern Country — Governor Carabajal — Review of the Century — Bibliographical — Writers Subsequent to the Conquest — Torquemada among Others.
It was some time during the month of December 1589, that Luis de Velasco, conde de Santiago and son of the second viceroy, cautiously approached the shores of New Spain as its eighth viceroy. First he touched at the port of Tameagua, afraid to proceed at once to San Juan de Ulua on account of rumored disturbances in the country. Either Mexico had been taken by the audiencia of Guadalajara, or Villamanrique had revolted; there were dire and uncertain ebullitions in the land, and it behooved this son of his father to be circumspect. Assured at his first landingplace that the rumors of political troubles which had reached Spain were unfounded, Velasco proceeded to Vera Cruz, and on the 25th of January 1590, he entered the capital.
The city put on its brightest smile of welcome. The new viceroy was no stranger to the inhabitants. ​He had been there with his father; had indeed resided in the country many years, filling various important positions, particularly those of alférez real of the ayuntamiento of Mexico and regidor of Cempoala. He was more one of themselves than any who had hitherto represented the crown in New Spain; and as he was popular, well beloved for himself, and came with all the prestige of rank and worthy performance, all that wealth and warm hearts and high anticipation could do was done to make his reception befitting. Shortly before his present appointment he had been employed in the diplomatic service of the king.
A better selection for the rulership of New Spain could not have been made at this juncture. There had been troubles throughout the land, some real and some imaginary, the latter usually the hardest to bear; now all were in the humor for a reign of prosperity and rejoicing. Gold and silver were plentiful, the fruits of the earth abundant, the native nations throughout their broad area for the most part at peace; now might the sons of the conquerors rest; they might put on gay attire and become fat and effeminate. Velasco possessed ability and energy; he was intelligent and learned. Above all he was loyal, not to the king alone, but to the people. He was honest upon instinct. One of his first endeavors was to elevate the condition of the people, white and red. He was wise enough to know that the best thing for them was work, which manifested, indeed, great intelligence as coming from a Spaniard. Among other beneficent measures, he decreed on June 1, 1590, the reopening and operating of the extensive wool and cotton ​factories, established by the first viceroy, and which had been closed. This gave employment to hundreds of idle persons, and the benefits flowing from this industry were soon felt throughout the country. The consumers paid less for the home-made article, and the money remained in the country.
Then he thought it would be well to beautify the capital, one of the results of which was the alameda, for centuries the favorite resort of all classes in search of relaxation and recreation, and remaining such to-day, a beautiful certificate to the taste and liberality of this ruler. The city now contained about three thousand Spanish families, besides a numerous Indian and mixed population. During the successive decades it had slowly unfolded into magnificent proportions from the ruins of old Tenochtitlan. There were broad streets bordered by fine dwellings, with here and there temples and public buildings presenting a yet more imposing aspect.
Velasco also put laborers at work to strengthen the fortifications at San Juan de Ulua, and to erect new forts for the better protection of the harbor and approaches to Vera Cruz. This was but a preliminary step to the transfer of the city itself, in 1599, to its immediate vicinity, upon the very site where Cortés had nominally founded Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz four-score years before. The transfer had been several times recommended, owing to the unhealthiness of the site, its inconvenience for trade, and its exposure to floods and attacks. Few people indeed lived there ​permanently, and it was only during the presence of the fleet, from September to March, that it assumed the appearance of the leading seaport of New Spain. After that all who could removed to the interior, notably to the beautiful Jalapa. The new site of Vera Cruz, if by no means healthy, was certainly better than the former, and the city made rapid strides under its alcaldes mayores.
Another matter of importance was brought to a successful issue. While the conquerors had from the first grasped at vast areas, they really occupied few other than mining districts, at least in the north. Thus population was distributed without order, and with wide distances between one settlement and another, to the obvious jeopardy of the invading race. When the natives had recovered from their first surprise at the Spanish entry, and were relieved from the superstitious awe of sorcery supposed to be exercised by the new-comers, perceiving that their sole object was to rule them, many abandoned the towns where they had temporarily submitted to the Spaniards, and betook themselves to the mountains, thence to sally forth and harass the settlers. More particularly was this the case with regard to the roving barbarous Chichimecs, who, gathering into strong bands, would suddenly burst from their strongholds, and as quickly return to them after their raids. Much had been done toward pacifying them, during the government of Enriquez, by the establishment of presidios along the northern borders. Though that ruler was greatly assisted in his efforts at pacification by Luis de ​Carabajal, subsequently governor of Nuevo Leon, their joint labors proved but partially and temporarily successful.
Nevertheless, spells of comparative quiet were obtained, affording the sorely distressed settlements round the mines of Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas the opportunity to develop their wealth, and attract much needed immigration. Zacatecas, which since its discovery in 1546 had been exposed to repeated ravages, received such an impetus that in 1585 it was raised to the rank of a city.
Twenty years before the Franciscan order had proved sufficiently numerous to form here a custodia, the beginning of the later provincia de Guadalupe de Zacatecas, which became so famous for its missionary labors throughout the vast north. Most of the settlements in this region also owed their origin to Zacatecas, whose alcaldes mayores, subject to Nueva Galicia, sent forth or promoted numerous expeditions to open mines, among them San Martin. This was made the seat of a new alcaldía mayor, which extended and controlled settlements far into Durango, where Nombre de ​Dios soon became a leading settlement. The records concerning the population and yield of the Zacatecas region are meagre, but it appears that while it at one time drew settlers away from the Guadalajara districts, and became the most populous settlement in New Spain, next to Mexico, the more northern discoveries of Ibarra created a reaction, as did the new foundations to the south, such as Aguascalientes, so named after its springs, and the mining districts eastward, centring round Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí.
With the conquest of Querétaro and the founding of Zacatecas the regions intermediate and eastward were soon occupied. Silao was settled in 1553 by seven Spaniards, attended by a number of Otomís, and to the following year is ascribed the founding of Guanajuato, the most famous of mining towns. San Miguel el Grande, the later Allende, rose six years afterward, and in 1562 San Felipe was founded by the brother of Viceroy Velasco, as a frontier presidio or advance post against the Chichimecs, the adjoining ​town being formed by a few Spanish settlers assisted by a number of allies. Celaya and other towns also sprang up, and by 1680 the district claimed six hundred Spaniards. In 1576 Luis de Leixa had penetrated north-eastward, and on the slope of a metal-bearing mountain he founded the town of San Luis Potosí, which became the seat of the alcaldía mayor controlling for a time the whole region northward, and promoting thence its settlement.
Very naturally these rich and promising districts were objects of parental solicitude to the government, and as armed measures availed so little against the inroads of the savages, Velasco determined to try concession. In 1591, while seeking to devise the best means for the accomplishment of his purpose, he was gladdened by the arrival of an embassy from the hostile tribes, desirous to sue for peace. The Indians had been persuaded to this step by the mestizo, Captain Caldera, whose mother was a Chichimec. Caldera was a brave soldier, and a person of influence among his mother’s people. He had been able to convince them that continued war against the stronger race was useless, and they had now decided to make a treaty. The ambassadors were cordially received by the viceroy, and when, in return for their allegiance, ​they demanded an annual supply of cattle and clothes, although it was quite reversing the orthodox order of things, under the circumstances the viceroy did not hesitate to agree to the terms. But toimsure the permanency of the pacificacion, he asked permission to send among the Chichimecs a number of christianized Indian families, to assist them in forming settlements, and encourage them to change their mode of life. This was granted and the treaty concluded.
An additional measure was the founding of special colonies by christianized allies to serve as nuclei and patterns for Chichimec towns, and as a protection to missionaries. The Tlascaltecs had from the beginning been the friends of the Spaniards. They were at the same time the most tractable of the natives, and enjoyed certain immunities from taxes and tributes for loyal conduct. From these Velasco selected four hundred families to colonize among the Chichimecs, and under the direction of the Franciscan frairs and Captain Caldera the measure was accomplished, and four new colonies were founded. Here the Tlascaltecs and Chichimecs continued to live in peaceful community, though they would never intermarry nor dwell together in the same house. Otomís and Aztecs also joined these colonies, one of which, San Luis de la Paz, was founded by Jesuits, who made rapid strides toward converting and settling the roaming natives, and thus promoted the pacification of the country.
Yet another and more disagreeable and thankless — task demanded the attention of the viceroy. King Philip wanted money. He was engaged in ruinous European wars, which so drained his coffers that the enormous treasures constantly pouring in from the New World were not sufficient to meet the ​necessities. The ordinary means for levying taxes were exhausted, and recourse must be had to forced loans. A revenue system, covering internal, import, and export duties, had been introduced by Viceroy Enriquez in 1574, pursuant to royal decree of 1571, which the merchants, however, strenuously opposed. They claimed that commerce, then in a flourishing state, would greatly suffer by the system, as by exemption only could the merchants of the mother country make it profitable to bring hither their merchandise. Nevertheless Enriquez remained inflexible, alleging that the commerce of the country was so widely extended and permanently established that its interests could not be prejudiced. It appeared to him unjust that Mexico, whose commerce was the most important of any of the New World provinces, should alone enjoy such exemption.
These forced loans of the Spanish king fell heavily on the natives, who neither knew nor cared about wars on the other side of the globe. Their tribute before this had been four reals, and it was eight reals that each must now pay. No mention is made of refunding this difference on the part of the king. It was with reluctance that the viceroy proceeded to impose this tax, knowing how difficult it was to collect even the ordinary tribute. An astute plan, however, was devised which would greatly relieve the red tax-payer from the infliction. For gold and silver one must dig, but beasts and birds grow of themselves. That this European fight in which the ​can aboriginal could not take a hand might be less burdensome, it was decreed by the viceroy that of the four additional reals demanded by the king, only three should be required in money, a fowl being held equivalent to one real. It was intended as a masterstroke, and might have been called "the raising of revenue made easy." Unfortunately for the Indian, who usually neglected to provide himself with the required fowl, and who was predestined to be cheated even in the payment of an imposition, Spanish speculators bought up the fowls, and advanced the price two hundred or three hundred per cent, so that to obtain a fowl, which in his Majesty's forced loan was to take the place of one real m money, the red subject must pay perhaps three reals in money.
But for all this the country made steady progress in every branch of industry during Velasco's rule; political, commercial, and social conditions were improved, and prosperity prevailed. Under this government were also begun the first preparations for the conquest of New Mexico, which were not wholly completed when the present term was brought to a close. The eminent services of Velasco were duly acknowledged by the crown, many favors being bestowed on him and his family; and on June 7, 1595, he was appointed viceroy for Peru.
On September 18, 1595, the ninth viceroy of New Spain, Gaspar de Zuñiga y Acebedo, count of Monterey, landed at Vera Cruz, and on the fifth of the following month, after observing the usual formalities with respect to the departing viceroy he entered the ​city of Mexico and took charge of the government. Monterey was reputed to be a man of austere disposition, sound judgment, and great probity, but lacking the urbane qualities so prominent in his predecessor. He was, therefore, looked upon in the beginning with some feelings of distrust, as to how he might conduct himself. There was at this juncture more than the usual speculation upon the question of his future policy, as the people were now enjoying the fruits of the felicitous rule of Luis de Velasco.
Monterey, however, was in no haste to gratify curiosity, or determine a policy prematurely. Some gathered from this that he was either weak or indifferent; but the truth is, he was simply cautious. He could not see how one could rule wisely without knowing something of the country and the necessities of the people. More particularly would he sound the vexed Indian question, which so far had baffled successful solution; it did not take him long to abolish the infamous fowl tax. He saw that the natives had greatly diminished in number, and were still rapidly diminishing, notwithstanding the claim set up by Christianity and civilization that they were better now than formerly, when under their own religion and rulers.
It was now estimated that since the coming of the Spaniards the native population had fallen off three fourths. The causes of this decline were obvious. Aside from war and pestilence many were deprived of their lands, and so rendered homeless in their own country. They appealed to the tribunals, only to invite greater evil by alluring more despoilers. Their opponents generally managed by false evidence or bribery to obtain such decision as they desired, and thus with the addition of grants, usurpation, and other means, the Spaniards soon obtained possession of nearly all the choice land in the country.The ​untillable lands, and those located at great distances from Spanish settlements, were alone left the natives.
What the officials, descendants of the conquerors, and other Spanish settlers did not possess, was held by the friars, who through bestowals, testaments, or endowments had in time succeeded in obtaining possession of large areas of the finest land. This had been a comparatively easy task for the friars, though it was done in violation of the law, which forbade their holding lands or other property.
Like those of some other countries Spain's Indian regulations were good enough in theory. Indians must not be conquered, but they may be pacified; they must not be enslaved, but they may be forced to work all their lives in the mines at half a real a day; the provincial council might place their soul and body on an equal footing with those of the conqueror, even permitting them to take orders and become priests, yet there was ever present the iron heel beneath which it is the destiny of the weaker to be around to dust. How were the tender consciences of Isabella, of Charles, and of Philip appeased! Was there not a cédula of December 29, 1593, which required the audiencia to punish Spaniards who ​maltreated Indians, with the same punishment applied to those who had offended Spaniards? And was there not a cedula forbidding officials to capture Indians in war or peace? and were there not a hundred other laws against outrages which could never be prevented?
A law had long since been issued requiring Indians to collect in towns, and Velasco, the previous viceroy, after his successful negotiation with the wild Chichimecs, determined to carry out this law with regard to all dispersed natives within the settled regions. He met with much more opposition, however, than had been anticipated, and with some heart-rending scenes that affected even the most callous among the officials. An Otomí, for instance, who was to be forcibly removed from his miserable hovel, evinced his attachment for home by killing his wife and children, and cattle, and then hanging himself. This occurrence, with others like it, made a deep impression on Velasco, and he directed his officials to stop further attempts to remove the natives.
Monterey thought that by a little judicious severity in the beginning, most beneficial results must accrue, and he proceeded energetically to carry out this scheme. One hundred commissioners, accompanied by as many missionaries, were appointed to decide upon sites for new towns, with instructions to examine every promising locality in each province, and report thereon under oath. The Spanish ​settlers, however, were on the alert, and when a location was decided on which the Spaniards desired for themselves, as it happened in most cases, they bribed the commissioners to oppose the selection, and a less favorable or even wholly unfit locality was chosen. The charge of bribery is positively maintained by Torquemada, who says that for this reason "the Indians suffered and the Spaniards prevailed," protesting that he speaks not at random, but of well-known facts. This author, himself a prominent friar, dwells with a sigh upon the circumstance that those missionaries had so little influence in the matter, "because now, when the religious and ecclesiastics in these Indies do speak the truth, it is looked upon with suspicion by those who govern, on account of our great sins."
When the different locations were finally determined, another commission was appointed by the viceroy to enforce the actual migration of the natives and the formation of the new towns. These being entirely new men, they were also desirous of profiting by their office. A new series of abuses sprang up; and so matters continued; for every device by government for the protection of the natives there were twenty by the settlers for their undoing.
It was, indeed, sorrowful when the commissioner came to drive the Indian from the home of his ancestors, evermore with his family to dwell in strange parts. They were gathered like a flock of sheep, their dwellings burned, their fields destroyed, and lamenting they were driven away. Those who complained were not heeded, and those who bore their misfortune in silence were treated like beasts. And though it was provided by the crown that when Indians were removed to other localities none of the land thus vacated should be taken from them and given to Spaniards, the command was but temporarily respected, and soon ​all the ancient possessions yielded to the avarice of the conqueror.
Monterey was not immediately aware of the atrocities committed by his officials, but imagined that he was performing a pious duty. Complaints grew finally so loud and so frequent that no doubt was left; he therefore countermanded the worst part of his orders, and reported to the king the impracticability of the undertaking.
In answer came a cédula prohibiting further steps in the matter, and it was proclaimed that all Indians who desired might return to their original homes. A few took advantage of the permission, but the majority, reduced to poverty and helplessness, had not the courage nor the means to return to their destroyed homes and begin anew the cultivation of their fields; "and most pernicious damage," as we are told by Torquemada, resulted from the formation of these settlements.
New races and race intermixtures were springing up, however, to fill the widening gaps in native ranks, and among them the negroes and Indian zambos, the latter offspring of Indians and negroes, appeared conspicuous, not alone from their number, but from them vicious tendencies, which were regarded as dangerous. The Indian zambos in particular would not apply themselves to mechanical trades nor cultivate the soil. Their favorite occupation was herding cattle, in which they could lead a free and roving life; they were particularly fond of living among the Indians, an association dangerous to the Spaniards in case of revolt, and incentive to troubles. Besides, they as well as fugitive slaves were constantly committing ​depredations in Vera Cruz and its environs, between the city of Antequera and Huatulco, in the province of Pánuco and other places; and to stop this evil the government had been obliged to pursue and punish the criminals; after which, such of them as were slaves were restored to their masters.
With each year the introduction of negro slaves increased, as their services were needed for the mines, and no better laborers for that purpose could be obtained. The natives were poor workmen, being naturally lazy, and encouraged in this vice by knowledge of existing laws against their enforced labor. Marriages between negro men and Indian women were common, the latter preferring negroes to Indians, and the negro males being more fond of Indian women. The cause of this reciprocal feeling may perhaps be found in a wise and humane law, which provided that all offspring of these unions should be born free.
Alarmed at the great number of zambo children born in the country. Viceroy Enriquez had asked the king to decree that the latter should be born slaves. And the pope was requested to forbid future marriages between the two races, but the proposals failed. Meanwhile an officer was appointed to keep a record of all zambos of both sexes, to watch over them, and see that they were engaged in honest pursuits, and to punish vagrants.
But if Count Monterey failed in some particulars, in others he was eminently successful — instance the state of affairs in Michoacan, which under the energetic and beneficent rule of Quiroga, first as visitador and then as bishop, had been sent forward on a ​broad road of peace and prosperity, broken only by occasional disturbance on the eastern border.
As a province subject to the audiencia of Mexico, it was ruled by alcaldes mayores, to whom were answerable a number of lieutenants and chiefs, controlling different towns and tribes. Their residence
Tzintzuntzan appears to have suffered less from this
​last change than from the previous, for it prospered sufficiently to be endowed in 1593 with the title of city. There were four other Spanish towns in the province and about three hundred native towns and villages. The population suffered much less here from the epidemics of 1563 and 1575-6, thanks to the many hospitals erected by friars, and to which Quiroga had given impulse by his establishment at Santa Fé.The memory of this good bishop is to this day venerated throughout the province for his
many beneficent acts and fatherly supervision, continued until his death in 1565, the fruits remaining as a bright example to his successors. Of gigantic ​stature, great strength and endurance, and swarthy complexion, the prelate was indefatigable in his efforts for the advancement of Christianity, particularly among the Indians, who alluded to him affectionately as Tata Vasco. He visited even the remotest parts of his vast diocese, setting his hand personally to rude tasks, erecting churches and schools for children and artisans, and giving to all the example of a humane and moral life.
Monterey's administration was also marked by the extension of Spanish settlements in the north, particularly in the region then called the Nuevo Reino de Leon, whose conquest and settlement proper fall within this period, though earlier attempts more or less successful had been made. The territory was inhabited partially by some of those wild tribes coming under the general name of Chichimecs with whom Viceroy Velasco had concluded a treaty, and by others properly belonging to the adjoining province of Tamaulipas.
We are told that in the year 1580 Franciscan missionaries came from Jalisco to Nuevo Leon in charge of Fray Lorenzo de Gavira; and after preaching for some time in different places, they retired to Saltillo, where in 1582 they founded the convent of San Estévan. Gavira then returned to Jalisco. Two years later we find established in the territory Diego de Montemayor, said to have come to Saltillo in 1575, whence he petitioned Gaspar de Castaño, alcalde ​mayor of San Luis Potosí, who controlled all this region, for a grant of the lands and water of the hacienda San Francisco. This petition was signed by Montemayor as royal treasurer, showing that even then he was a prominent personage.
The favorable features and resources of the region soon became known, and Luis de Carabajal y de la Cueva, a frontiersman, made a contract to effectually colonize it at his own expense, in consideration for the appointment of governor. His original jurisdiction under the name of Nuevo Reino de Leon was to comprise a vaguely defined territory, from the port of Tampico along the River Pánuco as a basis, thence extending northward, but not to exceed two hundred leagues either way, which would seem to have included all of Tamaulipas. To pacify and colonize the new territory Carobajal was allowed to employ one hundred soldiers and take with him sixty married laborers, including their wives and children. Armed with this concession he appeared at Mexico in the early autumn of 1580, and began to prepare for occupying his territory. But the allurements of the rich mining districts of San Luis Potosi and Guanajuato tended to eclipse the more pastoral vistas offered by New Leon, and the enrolment proved slow. In 1584, however, he appears to have set out, and on reaching the Spanish settlement already established at Santa Lucía, in Estremadura Valley, he determined there to plant his colony, changing the name of the place to ​that of City of Leon; and segregating the territory from the jurisdiction of the alcalde mayor of San Luis Potosí, he established the New Kingdom of Leon, by
virtue of his contract with the crown. At this place he must have fallen in with Diego de Montemayor, ​for we find that on the 16th of August, 1585, the grants extended to the latter by the alcalde referred to were confirmed and amplified by Governor Carabajal.
The new city of Leon does not appear to have made much progress under Governor Carabajal. But we have no further data concerning the province at this time, except that in 1591 Gaspar de Castaño, who seems to have acted as lieutenant-governor of New Leon, marched with about two hundred men through that territory and Coahuila, on his way to New Mexico.
Two years later the first Franciscans obtained a permanent foothold in the province, under Father Andrés de Leon, who was accompanied by fathers Diego de Arcaya and Antonio Zalduende. These friars were of the number who accompanied the expedition despatched by Velasco, with the Tlascaltec families, to colonize the Chichimec country. Having reached Saltillo, where they founded the village of San Estévan, adjoining the convent of that name, they penetrated to the valley of Estremadura, and founded a large mission at a place known to-day as Piedra Parada, distant about a league from Leon. Father Zalduende then returned and continued his missionary labors in the interior of Coahuila.
Governor Carabajal died about 1595, and Pedro Rodriguez, who may have been an alcalde, was left in charge of the government when the colony was struggling for existence. In 1596 Diego de Montemayor was made lieutenant-governor and captain-general of ​New Leon, and by special commission from Viceroy Monterey he proceeded to reorganize the government and settle the province. It is claimed that for this purpose he brought thirty-four Spanish families, but it seems more probable that he undertook the task with those he may have brought thither at the beginning, or those who remained of Carabajal's colony, and the Indians gathered at the mission by Father Andrés de Leon. There is no evidence that Montemayor ever left the province after his first arrival.
On the 20th of September, 1596, the lieutenant-governor solemnly incorporated the capital of the province, changing the name of Leon to the City of Our Lady of Monterey, in honor of the ruling viceroy; but the province retained the name of New Leon. This act of incorporation shows that Montemayor himself was the first to introduce disorder, and lay the foundation of future discontent, by giving to the ayuntamiento and the church of the new city six Indian tribes in encomienda.
The civil and judicial affairs of New Leon continued subject to the government of Mexico, while ecclesiastical matters were under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Guadalajara. Father Andrés de Leon was the first to receive the appointment to the curateship proper of Monterey. Of the general progress of that city during the latter part of the sixteenth century little is known. During the early years of the next century more Franciscans arrived from Zacatecas, who founded a convent in Monterey. Then Father Andrés ​was better enabled to follow up his religious labors, so that in 1603 thirty-five thousand Indians had been baptized, besides three thousand who had died in the mean time. These numbers Arlegui claims to have taken from a public document. Thus the permanent colonization of New Leon became one of the successful undertakings of Count Monterey, the capital of which province perpetuates his name to this day.
Many other attempts were made during the las quarter of this century to explore and populate the north-western and more northerly regions of New Spain as far as the interior of New Mexico, a fuller account of which is given in my History of the North Mexican States. After the expedition of Vasquez de Coronado in 1540-2 and his subsequent retreat, this vast region was almost forgotten for forty years. In 1581 the ill-fated priest, Agustin Rodriguez, penetrated north, over two hundred leagues, into the Tiguas province,on the Rio del Norte. Then came, in the following year, the expedition of Antonio de Espejo and Father Bernardino Beltran, which advanced through the valley of Rio Conchos up the valley of the Rio Grande to the Pueblo territory and beyond, in a north-westerly direction. There they found traces of the Coronado expedition, and after some exploring in the vicinity they returned in safety. The next Spaniards to explore in that direction were those under Gaspar de Castaiio, in 1590, mentioned in this chapter. He set out probably from New Leon, and was subsequently arrested by order of Velasco. Then came the expedition, in 1594 to 1596, under Bonilla and Humañia, in search of Quivira, which came to such on unfortunate end that but one Spaniard and a mulatto girl are said to have escaped.
Meanwhile arrangements for the conquest of New Mexico had been completed between Viceroy Velasco and Juan de Oñate, on August 24, 1595. Many and serious difficulties arose about the matter between ​Monterey and the principal leaders of the enterprise, so that several years elapsed before the expedition was fairly under way. Finally, in the autumn of 1597, Oñate set out with four hundred men, one hundred and thirty of whom had families. Many were the hardships, reverses, and successes of this important expedition, until formal possession of the newly conquered territory was taken in the name of the crown, by Juan de Oñate, on April 30, 1598, thus adding another important province to the rapidly expanding boundaries of New Spain.
Thus terminated the sixteenth century in New Spain, the opening of which had beheld at the zenith of its glory the most advanced and powerful empire in America, as yet undreamed of by the Spanish adventurers who were scouring the western seas in search of India. Within two brief years it fell, thereafter to serve as a base for the extension of a new power. The ancient capital of the Aztecs was made the metropolis of yet vaster domains. The decade following the fall of Mexico saw these Spaniards spreading in small but irresistible bands southward over Chiapas and Guatemala, until, stayed in Honduras by the current of invasion from the Isthmian capital, they turned to subjugate the still untrodden north, advancing on the one side beyond Pánuco, on the other to the borders of Sinaloa, nearly opposite Lower California. Another decade saw the conquest of the peninsula of Yucatan in the east, while in the north exploring expeditions disclosed the other great peninsula, that of California, entering the gulf by its side, and passing through Sonora and Arizona into the land of Cíbola, and beyond, to the borders of Kansas. Meanwhile a few wanderers had crossed their track and traversed the broad expanse of continent from Florida to the shores of the gulf of California. The following ​decades witness the mining excitement which confines exploration within the latitudes of Querétaro and Chihuahua, and the coast ranges east and west. Here a number of metalliferous districts and towns sprang up under the protecting wing of presidios and armed camps, most of which still exist as famous mining centres and state and county capitals.
Then the long and fitful dream of treasures which had danced the early adventurers hither and thither, bringing blood-hounds and fire-tortures on many a luckless chief, had become fixed and realized. And although for a time the numerous mines discovered proved the chief attraction and the more immediate source of wealth, gradually attention was turned to the more enduring forms of prosperity, agriculture and manufactures, which will more clearly be brought to light in the succeeding volumes of this history.
And all along through the century we have seen explorers and conquerors, city-builders and miners, side by side with self-denying and exemplary friars, who, while replacing a cruel and debasing worship with a gentler faith, sought to ameliorate the condition of their charge, ever mysteriously fading into the immaterial before their pitying eyes.
Meanwhile able men appear at the head of ecclesiastical affairs, and the church rises into power, gaining for the millions lost in the Old World millions in the New. Government becomes organized; conquerors give way to encomenderos; adelantados to audiencias and viceroys, who by mutual aid and restraint form an administration which with a few exceptions may be called beneficial. Society improves, wealth and refinement come, education advances, and the aboriginal culture is replaced by a higher civilization. As with increasing age the conscience of Philip becomes yet more tender, gradually fall the shackles of an enslaved people; sympathizers of the superior class born upon the soil come to their support, and from ​this union springs a new people destined in time to revive the faded glories of the past.
Mexican history during the viceregal rule has one attraction not possessed. by the preceding annals of the conquest, that of novelty; since, as I have intimated, no narratives of this period exist in English beyond vague generalizations and bare fragmentary outlines, in connection with treatises on modern Mexico and its resources. Even the works in Spanish, by Cavo, Ribera, and Zamacois, are most unsatisfactory, especially for the sixteenth century, which is treated in a brief, uneven, and fragmentary manner. This is chiefly owing to their neglect of, and want of access to, the voluminous documents in different ancient and modern collections, and even in a number of quite attainable chronicles and histories. The lack of research is augmented by a neglect of generalization, of institutional topics, of local annals, and of the critical and philosophical treatment of subjects so essential to proper history.
The sources for material on the period subsequent to the fall of Mexico change as the din of battle ceases, and the cross takes possession of the field opened for its labors, For a while it advances side by side with the sword; at times it even becomes the precursor, and finally the peaceful symbol becomes dominant. Yet soldier-chroniclers continue for some years as leading narrators of events, notably Cortés, in his clear, concise Cartas, supplemented by Oviedo with testimony from different sources, while Las Casas furnishes views from the other side, exaggerated though they may be from excess of zeal. Gossipy Bernal Diaz, so full and thorough for the earlier period, becomes fragmentary and less reliable, describing now this expedition from personal experience, now a number of others from vague hearsay; or he jots down events as they occur to his fading memory. Gomara concentrates his coloring upon the closing achievements of his patron, while disclosing many important points. But Herrera, who so far had followed him pretty closely, maintains an even tenor, borrowing now from more varied sources wherewith to fill his bald and stulted decades. Despite his false method, want of breadth, and pronounced Castilian tendencies, he stands forth brimful of facts, the most complete general writer on American events for the first half of the century. Elegant Solís, like philosophic Clavigero, stops with dramatic tact at the fall, but a successor arises in Salazar y Olarte, a man who, in undertaking to continue his narrative from the material offered in a few printed versions, seeks also to clothe it in florid language befitting the original, only to degenerate into a verbose and spiritless declaimer whose word-painting excites derision. Robertson's attractive outline dwindles into a brief philosophic review of progress in Spanish-American colonies, and Prescott becomes after the fall merely the biographer of his hero, and his allusions to contemporary history do not pretend to be more than a culling from a few accessible authors.
The places gradually vacated by soldier-chroniclers and their followers are occupied by civilians, visitadores, judges, viceroys, and municipal bodies, who in voluminous reports or less complete letters disclose political unfoldings and factions, dwell on the development of settlements and mines, and discourse on local affairs and social features. Singly they furnish but ​fragmentary evidence, jointly they cover their field satisfactorily, as will be found bly the investigator who patiently searches through the many and voluminous collections into which their writings have been gathered, as Coleccion de Documentos Inéditos, in over 50 volumes; Pacheco and Cárdenas, Coleccion de Documentos, in over 40;Documentos para Historia de Mexico, in over 20; Ternauz-Compans, Voyages, and other issues, in more than 20; the even more bulky Sociedad Mexicana de Geografía, Boletin, the collections of Navarrete, Ieazbalceta, Ramirez, Hakluyt, Purchas, Cartas de Indias, Archivo, Mexicano, Florida Coleccion de Documentos, the unique Squier's MSS., in over 20 volumes; the original minutes and records in Concilios Provinciales, MS., and Papeles Franciscanos, MS.; the curious material in Monumentos de la Dominacion Española, MS.; Id., Históricos y Políticos, MS., and Libro de Cabildo, MS.; the collections and summaries of laws in Puga, Cédulario, Órdenes de la Corona, MS., and Reales Órdenes, both in a number of volumes, in Recopilacion de Indias Montemayor, and Zamora, and so forth.
Nevertheless there remain many features not touched by civilians, such as the wide-spread labors of religious, who to a great extent acted also as peaceful conquerors of vast provinces, and as rulers in their districts, guiding the destinies of millions. The labors and observations of these men were incorporated in monk-chronicles, written in many instances by themselves, and the better known by formally appointed historians for the orders and provinces concerned. While their attention is bent chiefly on religious topics, miracles, and biographies of friars, they narrate also political and kindred topics, although not with much connection, thoroughness, or impartiality. They nevertheless form a check on statements from the opposite side, and in this their very antagonism becomes valuable to the student in sifting the truth from varied testimony. Among the earliest of chroniclers stands Motolinia, whose Historia de los Indios relates in rambling and naive manner the personal experience of a founder of the Franciscan order in New Spain, and dwells also upon the relation between church, friars, and state, and the tfeatment of his native portégés. His follower, Mendieta, was an equally ardent defender both of his order and of the natives, yet more talented as a writer, so much so that he was appointed official historian of his province, and gained great distinction. His Historia Eclesiástica gives the most thorough account of religious labors for the greater part of the sixteenth century. Neither of these histories was published, however, till of late, and Torquemada stepped forward to avail himself of them, in connection with a mass of other material in print and manuscript, presenting in his Monarquia Indiana the most complete general history for the century of ecclesiastical, political, and Indian affairs. He is consequently copied by a number of both general and local writers, such as Vetancurt, who, while less full, adds a mass of information on orders, churches, cities, and other topics, in his numerous histories and treatises. Beaumont figures in his Crónica de Michoacan as the historian of a western province, yet he covers in a very complete manner all general affairs of New Spain that lead up to or are connected with his district. Tello and Mota Padilla write on the farther north-west, New Galicia, though adhering more closely to their particular sections, and Arricivita and Arlegui continue the link eastward. Cogolludo in the same manner stands forward ​as a very thorough historian of Yucatan, the farthest east, while Villagutierre, Remesal, and Burgoa complete the circle in the south, for Itza, Chiapas, and Oajaca, respectively. Remesal represents also the Dominican order, which in Chiapas held sway, and other orders have their special historians, such as Grijalva, the Augustinian chronicler; Garcia, who records Bethlehemite deeds; Philoponus, the Benedictine; Alegre and Florencia, the Jesuit annalists, and so forth; while the church itself found historians in Fernandez, Gonzalez Dávila, and Hazart.
In connection with the monks figures a new class of writers, natives and mestizos, who were educated at the convents or became members of orders, and imbibed from teachers the love of writing. Repelled to a certain extent by the proud Spaniard, they cling more closely to their own race, and, while seeking in its glorious records a balm for their sorrow, they feel a yearning to preserve them and to advocate the claims of their people. Among these writers I have already spoken of Camargo, who in connection with material on aboriginal history and customs gives a brief sketch of events during Spanish rule. There is also Chimalpain, who besides his translation of Gomara, to which he adds several valuable features, is credited with works on ancient and conquest times. Ixtlilxochitl, the native Cicero, writes more fully on the coming of the Spaniards, with which the achievements of his own family, the main topic of his works, are so closely bound up, and he frequently ventures to throw light on incidents wherein the conquerors appear to little advantage. His son Manuel Alva issued several translations of Vega's comedies together with platicas against native superstitions. The native Jesuit Juan Tovar wrote on ancient history, but the works of the mestizo friar Duran, so largely used by Acosta, have been wrongly credited to Tovar by hasty modern historians. Antonio Tovar, Cano Montezuma, Franciseo Pimentel Ixtlilxochitl, the mestizo Cristóbal Castillo, Saavedra Guzman, the author of El Peregrino Indiano, 1599, Pedro Gutierrez de Santa Clara, Pedro Ponce, Tezozomoc, Juan Bautista Pomar, Tadeo de Niza, Gabriel de Ayala in his Comentarios, Cristóbal Castañeda, who wrote on Michoacan, and Jaun Ventura Zapata y Mendoza, the Tlascaltec annalist, are among the noted writers of native or mixed origin, whose productions on ancient and conquest periods have either been published or incorporated in the works of Torquemada, Vetancurt, Clavigero, and others.
Torquemada, as I have shown, must be regarded as the leading chronicler of New Spain for the sixteenth century, giving as he does a comprehensive account of political as well as ecclesiastical and aboriginal affairs, compiled for the first half of the century from a number of versions extant in manuscript and print, and the remainder written toa great extent from personal observations. For this work he was particularly well fitted by his training, attainments, and position. Born in Spain, he came at an early age to Mexico, where he assumed. the Franciscan robe and studied philosophy and theology under the famous Juan Bautista, whose love for the Mexican language, history, and antiquities he readily imbibed. His ability was early recognized, and he became definidor, guardian of Tlatelulco college and of Tlascala convent, and provincial of his order in Mexico, holding the latter office from 1614 to 1617. To this position, or to the influence which gained it, may be due ​the success which so many predecessors failed to achieve, the publication of his great work, Los Veinte i un Libros Rituales i Monarchia Indiana, con el origen y guerras de los Indios Ocidentales, de sus Poblaciones, etc., first issued at Seville 1615, in 3 folio volumes. Antonio, Bib. Hist. Nova, iii. 788. Pinelo, followed by Ternaux-Compans, says 1613; but this is an error, as shown by the fact that the permission to print was issued only in May 1513. The issue of these bulky volumes, full of notations, must have taken some time. The greater part of the edition was lost in a shipwreck, and the remaining copies disappeared so rapidly that Solis could not obtain one. Indeed, a century after the imprint date only three copies could be traced. The importance of the work had meanwhile become so appreciated that a new edition was issued at Madrid in 1723, corrected from the original manuscript which had been discovered in Gonzalez de Barcia's library. Several parts had, however, been cut out by the censor, such as the first chapter to the second book, containing the 'key to the idea' of the migration, which is similar to that given in Garcia, Origen. As indicated by the title, the work consists of 21 books, in three volumes, of which the first book treats of cosmogony and origin of Indlans, the second and third of aboriginal history, the fourth of the conquest, and the fifth of the events in New Spain from the fall of Mexico to 1612. This last book is unevenly treated, the middle period being very brief as compared with later decades. The second volume, with nine books, is devoted to aboriginal mythology and customs; the third, with seven books, to the progress of conversion, the condition of the natives under the new rule, the history of the church, and particularly of the Franciscans in New Spain, with a number of chapters on affairs in the Antilles, Philippines, and elsewhere.
The instructions issued to Torquemada in 1609 directed him to collect and use all existing material for the work in question, and he certainly showed no hesitation in obeying the order to the letter. Indeed, Motolinia, Sahagun, Mendieta, Acosta, Herrera, and others, have been literally copied to a great extent. The conquest and subsequent events for several decades are almost wholly from the last named, while Mendieta is called upon to supply the religious history. According to Juan Bautista, Adviento, prologue, to whom Mendieta had intrusted his manuscript, it had been decided at one time that Torquemada should embellish it with his lore and arguments. As it was, he absorbed the contents, softening the condemnatory language so freely poured forth by the fearless Mendieta wherever he thought it necessary. Besides the sources mentioned, Torquemada used several narratives by writers of Indian extraction, a mass of material from public and private archives, together with his own diaries and observations. He had spent over fourteen years in gathering this material, and seven in preparing for his work, calle-1 to it by a literary taste, and a sympathy for the subject, stimulated by his predecessors, so that his volumes were already well advanced before the official order came for him to write them. His superiors evidently examined the work beforehand, and recognized his fitness to undertake it; a fitness already made manifest in a previous publication, the Vida del Santo Fr. Sebastian de Aparicio, 1605, Pinelo, Epitome, ii. 829, and in his vast store of biblical and classical lore, which he scatters throughout the pages in lavish profusion, and frequently with little regard for the appropriate. While more prudent ​than the hot-headed Mendieta, he is less clear-sighted, and easily led into errors; he fairly revels in miracles and saintly dissertations, and loses himself in wordy arguments for his theme and cloth, often with striking simplicity. Nevertheless, his work merits admiration for its laborious thoroughness, which has deservedly made it the standard history for its period and field, for its comparatively excellent plan and order, and for its clearness of style; in all of which Torquemada stands preëminent among contemporaries, justly entitled to what a modern Mexican writer calls him, the Livy of New Spain. The claim of the Monarquia Indiana as a standard authority is conceded in the frequent and copious use made of it by general and local writers; and by the absence till Cavo's time of a comprehensive history for the century. Yet the latter is brief and unsatisfactory, giving in his volume on the three centuries of Spanish rule but one seventh to this earlier and more important period. A little fuller, yet equally unsatisfactory, as before remarked, is the more modern Ribera, while Zamacois, who dwells on the Spanish colonial period, 1521-1821, in seven respectable volumes, accords but a little more than one of them to the sixteenth century. This unevenness applies also to the subject-matter, which is compiled, and carelessly so, from a few of the most accessible books and records, so that a number of interesting periods and incidents are either wholly overlooked, or treated in bare outline.
Besides these general works, a number of treatises on special episodes and states have been edited or written by such Mexican writers as Alaman, Ramirez, Icazbalceta, Orozco y Berra, Bustamante, Romero, Gil, Prieto, and a number of others whose names figure in the voluminous Boletin of the Mexican Geographical Society. Still another class of contributions is to be found in the narratives of travellers and navigators, who report not only on affairs, society, and resources as observed by them in the countries visited, but add much to the knowledge of their earlier history from hearsay or research. This material is scattered throughout a vast number of collections of voyages, a class of books to which Ramusio may properly claim title as founder, as I have shown elsewhere.
* ↑ 'Torquemada, i. 652, Cavo, Tres Siglos, ii. 219, and others, agree upon this date, while Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, i. 76, gives January 29th; Lorenzana, Viage, in Cortés' Hist. N. Espiñosa, 18; Zamacois, Hist. Méj., v. 198, the 27th; and Vetancurt, Trat. Mex., 11, the 26th.
* ↑ Alaman, Disert., iii. app. 18, and Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, 76, assert that Velasco was a native of Mexico. This is an error. He came to New Spain with his father in 1550, when 11 years of age, and was married in 1556 at the age of 17. During a subsequent trip to Spain he received many favors at the hands of the king. When Villamanrique arrived he was at first on friendly terms with Velasco, but enmity arising the latter again went to Spain. There he was appointed ambassador to Florence, whence he was recalled to assume the present position. He was at present a widower, 51 years of age, and had four children, who resided in Mexico. Torquemada, i. 651; Cavo, Tres Siglos, ii. 217.
* ↑ The alameda was laid out by the viceroy in 1593, the name coming originally from álamo, poplar, and applying to a peculiar grouping of trees, of a promenade. Vetancvrt, Trat. Mex., 11; Panes, Vireyes, in Mon. Dom. Esp., MS., 90-1.
* ↑ A contemporary religious narrator, extolling the fine houses and streets of Mexico, gravely affirms that 'beautiful children and fine horses grew there.' Ponce, Relacion, in Col. Doc. Inéd., lvii. 174-9.
* ↑ In 1568 a garrison of 50 men were stationed there, with about 150 negro laborers. It now became quite populous.
* ↑ This was forcibly represented by the episcopal council of November 1555, wherein it was termed a 'sepoltura de vivos.' Lencero was suggested for a new site. Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iii. 524-6. English travellers also bear witness to its unhealthiness. Infants generally died there, and women on finding themselves enceinte went to the country 'to avoid the perill of the infected aire.' Chilton, in Haklvyt's Voy., iii. 456. See also Tomson and Hawks, in Id., 453, 462; Moreri, Gran. Dicc., ix. 108, x. 475. In June 1589, a storm assisted the swollen river to create immense damage among the buildings and shipping. Ponce, Rel., in Col. Doc. Inéd., lviii. 535-6.
* ↑ Cortés there founded a Franciscan convent, which was finished in 1555. Perote, on the route to Mexico, had quite a settlement in 1568.
* ↑ Calle, Mem. y Not., 68; Clavigero, iii. 30; Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 276-7; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, i. 27-8. Panes confounds the date of transfer with those of later cédulas granting favors. Coat of arms was conferred June 20, 1618. Veracruz, MS., 1-2. See also Hist. Mex., i. 154, this series.
* ↑ In 1581 Viceroy Suarez complained much of the continued hostilities of the Chichimecs, 'tan lebantado y con tanto numero y desberguença.' Coruña, Carta al Rey, in Cartas de Indias, 340.
* ↑ To which was added in 1588 the title of 'muy noble y leal,' together with a coat of arms. Arlegui, Cron. Zac., 43-4. This was due to the effort of Baltasar Tremiño. Berghes, Zac., 3. Rivera Bemardez confounds the two dates. Zac., 27-8, 35. The population was at first settled toward the north, where the earlier mines were discovered, and there the first church was built on the hacienda of Domingo Tagle Bracho. Afterward, on the coming of two images of Christ, imported by Alonso Guerrero Villaseca, and placed on his two haciendas, the population settled where it now is. Frejes, Hist. Breve, 208-9. Subject to it was a settlement of Mexicans named Mejicalpa, now corrupted to Mejicapa. The municipal houses of Zacatecas were built in 1559. The first minister was the Franciscan friar, Gerónimo de Mendoza, from Mexico. Arlegui, Cron. Zac., 13-14; Mier y Campa, Muralla, Zac., in Revista Cient., ii. 111-12; Museo Mex., iv. 118. The first parish was founded in 1567, with Fernando Maldonado for curate, according to the municipal records reproduced in Dicc. Univ., x. 1033, 1078-82. At the time the title of city was bestowed the actual settlers numbered about 400, not counting women and children. There were fully as many traders and others of a floating character, and a large number of slaves and native workers. The first corregidor was Félix Guzman y Avellaneda.
* ↑ Under Juan Vazquez de Ulua, the alcalde mayor then ruling at Zacatecas was Gaspar de Tapia. One of his successors, Hernan Martel, in 1563 founded Santa María de los Lagos, as a check upon the Huaehipiles, like Jerez de la Frontera. Beaumont, Crón. Mich., v. 233, 552-7; Parra, Conq. Xal., MS., 31. Ulua speedily became unpopular, and was replaced in 1562 by Captain Garcia Colio or Celio. Francisco de Ibarra claimed the discovery of several of the most important mines. Rel., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xv. 464. A report on their condition in 1575 is given in Miranda, Rel., in Id., xvi. 563-70, and shows even then a decline among many.
* ↑ Fresnillo also assumed prominence, becoming a presidio and seat of an alcalde mayor. Sombrerete also said to have been discovered by Juan de Tolosa in 1555 or 1558, was made a villa in 1570. Arlegui, Cron. Zac., 64; García, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, viii. 23; Dicc. Univ., x. 1035. Among other mines are named Aviño, San Lúcas, Pinos, Indé, Parral, Santa Bárbara, and Mazapil.
* ↑ As will be shown in Hist. North. Mex., i., this series. In 1550 it contained 160 Spaniards, 60 of prominence, working 75 veins of metal, and possessing 45 reduction works and 5 churches, says Marcha, in Ternaux-Compans, Recueil, 197-8. Bernardez assumes that in 1562 there were only 35 reduction works. Zac., 42. In 1569 the region had 800 male Spaniards, 150 being occupied on the mines within 30 leagues of the town. Informe del Cabildo, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 494. Estimates of yield, partly from Humboldt, are given in Dicc. Univ., x. 1034; Museo Mex., iv. 115-19, and others. See also Beaumont, Crón. Mich., MS., 805, 814, 1088, and Alegre, Hist. Comp. Jesus, i. 83-4.
* ↑ Juan de Montoro, Gerónimo de la Cueva, and Alonso de Alarcon were commissioned on October 22, 1575, to found it as a villa, and although the title never was formally confirmed, yet its ayuntamiento was ever after addressed as 'muy ilustre.' Parra, Conq. Xal., MS., 30-1. Medina, Chrón. S. Diego, i. 257, gives it the religious name of 'Assupcion.' Aguirre, Doc. Antiguos, in Soc. Mex. Geog., 2da ép., iii. 17-19; Beltrami, Mex., i. 174.
* ↑ At this place existed a relic venerated generally under the name of Señor de la Conquista, and also a crucifix spotted with the blood of Father Francisco Doncel, the minister of Chamacuero in the same district, who with Frair Pedro Burgense had been murdered by Indians. With the pacification of Indians San Felipe declined. Torquemada, i. 640-2; Mex., Informes, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xv. 247; Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, ix. 110, 143.
* ↑ It was named after Leixa, Potosí being added because of its similarity in rich veins and site to the Peruvian city. Frair Diego de la Magdalena is also claimed as the founder. Its alcalde mayor in 1584 was Gaspar de Castaño. In 1656 it was made a city, and so confirmed by cédula of Aug. 17, 1658. In 1787 it had 22,000 inhabitants. Among the settlements founded in this region are Matechula, 1550; San Gerónimo de Agua Hedionda, 1552; Charcas Viejas, formerly Real Natividad, 1564, whose site was changed in 1583; and San Pedro mines, about 1586. The Tlascaltec towns of Tlascalilla, Mezquitic, and El Venado, 1580 to 1595; Santa María del Rio, whose site was afterward changed, 1589. See Torquemada, i. 640; Arlegui, Cron. Zac., 73 et seq.; Alegre, Hist. Comp. Jesus, i. 280; Castillo, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 3da ép., v. 497, 503-8; Iturribarria, in Museo Mex., iv. 12; Gonzalez, Col. Doc. N. Leon, p. vi.
* ↑ Ribas, Triumphos de la Fé, 723-6; Alegre, Hist. Comp. Jesus, 1. 280-1, 356-8. Cavo places the introduction of Tlascaltecs in 1591, Tres Siglos, 1. 220-1, in which year 60 were massacred at San Andrés. Torquemada, 11. 351. Orozco y Berra, Geog., 285, intimates hastily that the settlement occurred in 1588. Among the towns formed by them are Colotlan, Venado, San Miguel, Mezquitic, and suburbs near Saltillo and other Spanish settlements.
* ↑ The tax imposed at first was 2 per cent on everything sold or exchanged. Then 3 per cent was collected on all importations; 4 per cent on real and personal property; 6 per cent on goods confiscated and on negroes imported, who were valued at $150 each. Exempt were ecclesiastical communities; the clergy in particular, and all that pertained to divine service, churches, convents, and monasteries, including their income from whatever source; property sold for religious uses; mining utensils and machinery; printing material, and a limited list of other articles and products of the soil. Disposiciones Varias, i. 45-50; Fonseca y Urrutia, Real Hacienda, ii. 5-118; Alaman, Hist. Mej., 1. app. 7; Rivera, Governantes, i. 47. The second custom-house according to seniority was at Acapulco. The treasury officials in Mexico had charge of the collection of duties, but this ceased in 1597, and the port was placed on the same footing as Vera Cruz. Mex., Mem. Hacienda, 1825, i. 4.
* ↑ The act was subsequently revoked by the succeeding viceroy, Monterey. Torquemada, i. 653.
* ↑ In 1603 he was assigned a pension of 6,000 ducats, and after his death 4,000 ducats to his eldest son for life; 2,000 ducats to his daughter for life, and the same after death to her daughter. Besides these pensions, when Velasco returned from Peru, he was assigned 20,000 ducats from the treasury of Mexico. See Real Cédula, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xviii. 256-9; Calle, Mem. y Not., 55-6. In 1607 we shall meet with Velasco, then marqués de Salinas, again as viceroy of Mexico.
* ↑ This assertion is made in Memorial, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., vi. 183-4.
* ↑ An Austin friar, Pedro Juarez de Escobar, writing from New Spain to the king, among other wise suggestions for the good government of the Indies, speaks of the necessity of providing that there should be only one lawyer, one proctor, and one interpreter to attend to Indian affairs, as the natives were constantly victimized by pettifoggers. He also urges that the chiefs be protected in their possessions, for they were often swindled out of them. The masses of the native population should be relieved of taxes, and their ignorance be considered in the imposition of penalties for offences; their imprisonment or detention for debts should be done away with. Escobar, Gob., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, xi. 197-200.
* ↑ A complete list of these descendants with brief remarks may be found in Mem. de los Hijos de Conquist. en 1590, in Monumentos Hist. y Polit., MS., preface. As the more prominent of these are mentioned in the course of this history, I do not deem it desirable here to repeat their names.
* ↑ Nor could the Indians legally transfer what they did not legally own; their lands were deemed the property of the crown, except the patrimony of chiefs, who were the only natives having property in land, and the right of disposal. See Memorial, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., vi. 185. It was recommended that the king should institute an examination of the titles to lands held by Spaniards and friars; and that all possessions not held under legal tenure should revert to the crown. Also, among various other measures, that future grants should be prohibited; tributes to be assessed according to the value of the lands.
* ↑ For an account of the abuses of Indians, and also of the efforts made in their behalf, and recommendations to the king to abolish the system of repartimientos, and to improve their condition in general, see Concilios Prov., MS., i. 39-46, 78-96, 120; Id., iii. 255; iv. 17, 35-50, 113-56, 210-26; Larenaudière, Mex. et Guat., 148; Repartimientos, 73-5, in Prov. S. Evang., MS., i.; Informe, 149, in Id., viii.; Silua, Advert. Import. Gov. Ind., 1-110; Arricivita, Crón. Seráfica, 346; Hazart, Kirchen-Geschichte, ii. 538-41; Gil, Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, viii. 493; Leyes, Varias Anot., MS., 153-62, 210; Dávila, Continuacion, MS., 125-6; Mena, Gob., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xi. 186-93; Figueroa, Vindicias, MS., 47.
* ↑ 'Verdad sea, que aunque al Conde le movió buen celo, fue apretando mucho la Cedula, y añadiendo inteligencias á racones, que venian en ella bien claras, y manifiestas.' Torquemada, i. 687-8.
* ↑ From these preliminaries we may judge of the importance Monterey attached to the matter, particularly as every one of these commissioners received a salary of 2,000 pieces in advance. 'Son docientos mil Pesos, los que de ante mano se gastaron en esta Comision, para sola la vista de los Sitios, y Pueblos, donde avia de ser la Gente congregada.' Torquemada, i. 687.
* ↑ I have preferred to follow the statements of Torquemada, who has given us the fairest account of all the steps taken in the matter, and the results. He had the best opportunity of knowing, as he lived in Mexico at the time, and in company with other friars took a prominent part in the endeavors to protect the natives from the lawless acts of the commissioners.
* ↑ 'Zambo de indio.' The matter of race intermixtures and terms is more fully given in Hist. Mex., iii., this series.
* ↑ A law of 1557 forbade the landing from any vessel of negroes without a license of the king's officers, who were to keep account of every negro landed. Masters convicted of violating the law were to be punished with forfeiture of their vessels, and imprisonment. It was a crime under the laws of 1568-73 for any negro, mulatto, mestizo, or other of mixed breed to carry weapons. Recop., Ind., ii. 361, 363; Zamora, Leg. Ult., iii. 109, iv. 461-2.
* ↑ See Enriquez, Carta al Rey, in Cartas de Indias, 298-300.
* ↑ At Yuririapúndaro are still to be seen in the convent garden three trees, called 'Trompon y de las mujeres libertadas,' and planted in commemoration of the rescue by the Indian chief Trompon of two women who in 1588 had been carried off from the town by Chichimec raiders. Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, ix. 163.
* ↑ The first person whose name is preserved to us by the records is Juan del Hierro, who in 1581 was succeeded by Doctor Alonso Martinez. For subsequent rulers, see Linares, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da ép., iv. 637-8.
* ↑ Among these chiefs were descendants of the unfortunate Tangaxoan, one of whose blood, Diego Tomás, was made captain-general of the Chichimec frontier and principal chief of the Tarascan cacique, receiving also the title of hijodalgo, together with the grant of Panjamo. A letter from the audiencia in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série ii. tom. v. 206, alludes to several sons of Tangaxoan. Beaumont refers only to the career of Antonio, and his son Pablo, married to a Spanish lady, and enjoying an annuity from the crown. Crón. Mich., iii, 361. Brasseur de Bourbourg mentions also Fernando, and a government in Orozco y Berra, Hist. Ant., ii. 207, speaks of Constantino as a son of Antonio. See also Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, ix. 133-4.
* ↑ The royal order to this effect had been obtained by Quiroga while in Spain, the papal approval being dated July 8, 1550. Nueva Esp., Breve Res., MS., ii. 250-74. Beaumont gives a native painting which I reproduce on p. 773, recording the transfer. Crón. Mich., MS., app. A description of the arms of Patzcuaro is given in the same book.
* ↑ Florencia states that but for the Jesuits the Indians would have forcibly resisted the transfer. They were appeased by the grant of a venerated bell. Hist. Prov. Jesus, 225-7. The protest of Tzintzuntzan appears in Mich. Carta, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 244-7; Alegre, Hist. Comp. Jesus, ii. 128-9; Mich., Prov. S. Nicolás, 42. The objection to Patzcuaro was that the centre of business had moved away from its district, and that it suffered from heavy rains in summer. Villa Señor, Theatro, ii. 8. It had at this time 100 Spanish households, two convents, and a Jesuit college.
* ↑ Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 139. According to Tello, it received a coat of arms in 1563. With the transfer it received great impulse, and a. costly cathedral added to its attractions. Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iv. 450, 460: v. 548. The coat of arms given above is a fac-simile from Id., MS., app.; Mex. Col. Leyes, i., p. xlvii.; Romero, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, viii. 540.
* ↑ The above cut is from Beaumont, Crón. Mich., MS., app. Government buildings had been projected there as early as 1531. Salmeron, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xv. 451.
* ↑ With over 40,000 tribute-payers. The Spanish towns were San Miguel, San Felipe, Zacatula, and Colima. The last was made a villa in 1554, with the name of Santiago de los Caballeros. It suffered severely from a hurricane and earthquake on November 14, 1573. Ships were built at Salagua or Manzamillo. Cajitlan is also spoken of as a prominent town. Colima, Representacion, 5-7; Informe por Cabildo de Guad., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 507; Mota Padilla, Conq. N. Gal., 237.
* ↑ He left an income to support-it, with instructions for its management. Beaumont, Crón. Mich., v. 579-81.
* ↑ He died aged 95, March 14, 1565, at Uruapan, whilst on a pastoral tour, and was buried in his favorite town of Patzcuaro, where he had endowed the college of San Nicolas. At the time the cathedral was removed to Valladolid the chapter attempted to take away the bishop's remains, but the Indians of Patzcuaro prevented it; the bones were preserved in silk bags in the church which had been placed in charge of the Jesuits. Valladolid, now Morelia, possessed the staff wherewith, according to tradition, he struck the rock from which sprang the potable water used in that city; also his hat bearing the marks of perspiration. Several portraits exist in Michoacan, and represent him as of dark complexion and gigantic stature. Villa Señor, Theatro, ii. 7 et seq.; Romero, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, viii. 538-40; Florencia, Hist. Prov. Jesus, 210, 226-7; Alegre, ii.; Hist. Comp. Jesus, 132-3. The fullest account of his life is given in Moreno, Fragmentos de la Vida ... de Quiroga, Mex. 1766, 202, 30, written by a canon of Guadalajara, and containing also interesting matter on the history of the province.
* ↑ The present town of San Francisco de Apodaca. Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 3da ép. i. 231.
* ↑ This capitulation was dated May 31, 1579. Calle, Mem. 4 Not., 104-8. Gonzalez, Col. N. Leon, p. xvii. 6, the historian of the province, followed by a writer in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 3da ép. i. 224-5, argues strenuously that Carabajal was appointed in 1569, but this date is disproved not only by Calle's document, but by the admitted fact that Carabajal did not enter the province till 1584-5.
* ↑ An appeal must have been made to the king, for by a cédula of April 19, 1583, the viceroy was charged to promote the undertaking in every way. See also Instruccione, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 480-99.
* ↑ Founded probably by Father Gavira and Diego de Montemayor. Yet some assume that General Urdiñola senior may have brought the settlers here established.
* ↑ 'Este auto de revalidacion está puesto en la ciudad de Leon, del Nuevo Reyno de Leon.' Gonzalez, Col. N. Leon, p. vi. 5. 'He hallado aqui un documento . . . que prueba que el año de 1584 San Luis era villa, y capital de la provincia, regida por un alcalde Mayor, que lo era Gaspar de Castaño, cuya jurisdiccion se estendia hasta el Nuevo Reyno de Leon.' No mention is made of the proceedings of Carabajal after this, but it is not improbable he employed several years in completing his project.
* ↑ Sosa, Mem., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iv. 283-354; also Id., xv. 191-261.
* ↑ Calle, Mem. y Not., 105. The exact time of his death is not given.
* ↑ The document of incorporation, or carta de fundacion, preserved in the municipal archives of Monterey, bears date, 'en el valle de Estremadura Ojos de Santa Lucía, Jurisdiccion del Nuevo Reyno de Leon,' September 20, 1596, signed by Diego de Montemayor. The first municipal officers were Alonso de Berreda and Pedro Iñigo, alcaldes ordinaries; Juan Perez de los Rios, Diego Diaz de Verlanga, and Diego Maldonado, regidores; Diego de Montemayor, procurador general; the regidor Verlanga acting at the same time as notary of the cabildo. Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 3da ép., i. 225; Gonzalez, Col. N. Leon, 8-11. The following authorities erroneously place the founding of Monterey in the year 1599. Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 231; Villa Señor, Theatre, ii. 295; Mayer, Mex. Aztec, i. 175; Dicc. Univ., ix. 884. The article on 'Nuevo Leon' in the latter work is replete with errors in facts and dates. Mota Padilla gives the year 1602, and Arlegui 1603.
* ↑ For particulars and full narrative of these various expeditions, some of which are absolutely ignored by modern writers, see Hist. North Mex. States, i., and Hist. Ariz. and New Mex., this series.