Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-08-22
FIRST AMERICAN MARTYR.
History Relating to Friar Padilla
and His Tragic Fate.
DIsinterring His BOncs-FRte which
Overlook the Man Who Decided
to Search the skeleton for
Poisoned Arrow.

COwan, in the Los Angeles Nnes, "ds
the progress Of the cross marked by more
subltme and heroic self-sacnnce than was
shown by the early missionaries OF the
Southwest n the Spanish conquerors
bore tho sword in one hand, they also
carried the cross In the other. AS a result
OF their labors, a full century before the
United States was born, there were IN
New Mexico alone one hundred churches,
nearly all Of stone, and some of astonish-
ing size. Three years before the landing
of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Roch. eleven
OF these monuments to the devotion of
the Spanish missona ries had been COM
pletcd and were occupied.
IT must be confessed that the zeal of
the Spanlards to convert the native peo-
pie led them to habitu1lly practice meth
DDS strangely ut variance with the teach
inEs of Christianity. Their haste In the
erection Of great or adobe churches, the
violence and oppression sometimes used
to compel the Pueblo Indians to perform
the labor, and tho hardships consequently
imposed upon the Indians, frequently
caused the latter to seek relief or revenge
by killing the missionaries. The dscon-
tent Of the New Mexican Pueblos culmin-
ated in 1880, when twenty-one priests and
about four hundred laysncn We're mass
acred, nearly all the churches sacked and
partly demolished, and tho Spaniards
driven for the time being from the terri
tory. Up to the year 100 at least forty OF
tho Fra nciscan missionaries are known TO
have been killed by the Apache and
Pueblo within the present limits of New
Mexico.
no IF ~ a. =
mot his fate long before the building of
the first church on what is now American
soil, and only little more than fifty
years after the landing of Columbus.
Fray Juan dc Padilla was the youngest
Of the four Franciscan missionaries who
accompanied Coronado on his historic
Journey c. exploration that stopped not
! until spot somewhere near the present
site of Kansas City was rea ched. Part Of
his force was left at the Pueblo of Tig-
ucx. tho ruins Of which may still be- seen
where the town of Barnalillo now stands,
sixteen miles northeast of Albuquerque.
Padlla accompanied him on his search
for the mythical golden city of "Quivira, -
and became Interested in the nomadic
| Indians of the plains determining to de-
vote his life TO the endeavor to convert
them to the true faltI-not by the harsh
methods OF compulSon employed by the
soldiers. hut by the centlcr arts of per-
suasion. He returned with the exploring
! party TO Tiguex, where he babe them a
| final farewell.
! In 1912 he set out from Tiguex to re-
turn to tho region Of the Buffalo Plains,
accompanied by a Spaniard, two Mexican
half-bred and several Indians. He seems
| to have won the good will Of the Indians
| among whom he cast his lot, but one day
he started to visit another tribe with
| whom his friends were at war. ArEered
| by this doscrtion, Of perhaps believing
that ne intended to lend assistance to
| their enemies, the treachcrous savaEos
shot him in the back with n poisoned
arrow. The body was, then buried by the
| Indians who had accompanied him from
! Tiguex.
The Friars Spanish and Merican com
panlons fed, but were recaptured and en-
! shaved. After ten months OF servit,Ido
they escaped. and for eight weary heart
breaking years wandered through tho
awful deserts and wilderness Of the
Southwest, lnally reaching an outpost of
civilization on the Gulf coast. near
whore Tampico now stands From them
the story of the martyrlom Of Fra,
| Padila was first heard.
Now comes tho much discussed Iselta
tradition. which Church dignitaries and
scholarly scoffers have labored in vain to
either thoroughly dsprove or establish
The Iseltans. however appear To have
made out a good case, and as their tradi-
ton dovetails into the recorded facts
| be
any sound reason for doubling it's sub
stantial accuracy.
Isleta is one Of the largest and most
populous of the Pueblo communities tina,
yet remain, havir population Of about
600 1t is located thirteen miles south
west Of Albuquerque, and Is Identical
with the 'Tutahaco." mentioned by the
"a rly explorers. The great adobe church
is one of the oldest In America. The exac,
date when It was built is not known. but
II was standing in 1879. and the mission
had probably been established with a re-
.!dent priest before the close OF the six
teenth century. Tho Isletants probably
knew something OF Fr,ar Padilla during
tho brief period Of hts sojourn at Tlguex
less than thirty miles distant They were
In constant communication with the In
dams OF the plains. carrying on rude
commerce with them. II Is not unreason
able to believe that they soon learned a
the murder of the priest--perhaps from
the Indians. who accompanied him from
TEuex and who laid away his body. II
any event the tradition Is to the effec
that messengers were sent from Isleta Il
secure the body and tO bear It through
the hundreds of miles OF intervening
deserts and mountains to their own town
where il was buried with respect an,
reverence due to the piety, bravery an,
self-sacrihce OF the slain missionary
| When their church was finally bull
and they became converts to Chrstiauit!
it is claimed that the body was lifted anl
reinforced Just within the altar rail.
That the pagan Isletan would send
thousand miles or more to secure m
body of an almost unknown priest OF
TRANCE religion. carry 1t with infnit
labor to their homes and there bury I
with honor seems hardly credible Never
theless, the tradition was SO widely be
eved and so circumstant in its dc
tails that few years ago a promnen
Roman Catholic ecclesiastic engaged II
writing a history OF the New Mexican
missions. wrote to the Rev. Father Doch
err and asked him TO investigate the stor,
thoroughly and see of he could prov
either IT'S truth or its falsity
Father Docher. a drol but intelliger
, little Frenchman. is still pa stor Of II
, nock at Isleta He doesn't like to tai
about the Investigations that nearly Coz
, him his life; but occasionally be can |