The Coconino sun., 1925-10-16

an insignificant community In the
light of popular anticipation that the
soldiers turned upon Fray Marcos,
deriding and abusing him for having
led them on wild goose chase. The
poor friar, wounded by the gibes Of
the soldiers and fearful that he had
unwittingly been the occasion Of a
tremendous biunder, asked and was
granted permission to return to Mexi-
co. He retraced his steps once more,
and gave the rest of his life to work
among the natives of Mexico, dying
in the capital city March %, 1858.
Marcos de NiZZa was probably the
first white man to breathe the air of
Arizona and New Mexico. He accom-
plished much, for it was no small
thing to have pointed the way to that
vast expanse of country comprising
the sister territories of Arizona and
New Mexico.
We left Coronado with his army,
two priests and lay brother, in sight
of one of the cities Of Cibola An
hours work placed him in possession
Of the pueblo, and he lost no time in
preparing to push his conquest far.
ther. He had heard from the Indians
Of another group of pueblos in the
province Of Fusayan, about 100 miles
20 the northwest of Cibola. This
group is the one known as Moqui He
sent Pedro de Tobar with an escort
of II men and Fray Juan de Padilla
TO add this province to his conquest.
They completed their task and heard
from the Indians of great river
about 70 miles westward. This news
was reported to Coronado, who at
once detailed Captain Cardenas with
small force to verify the report In
due time, Cardenas reached the
mighty river, and for the first time
in history, in the year 1540, white
men stood on the brink of that mar
yelous ckasm, the Grand Canyon Of
Arizona. Who can describe the awe
and astonishment that must have
swept the souls of these men as they
peered into the depth of that colossal
gorge? No wonder that they and
their companions to whom they told
their wonderful experience, were fired
anew by the desire for exploration.
1t is probable that Fray Juan de
Padilla, whose course we shall now
follow, did not accompany the party
to the Grand Canyon. He remained
with the main body of the expedition,
caring for its spiritual wants and la
boring with zeal among the natives.
After minor excursions, Coronado,
not finding any great interest in the
surrounding country, decided to set
out for Mexico But Padilla and Juan
de la Cruz opposed this course. They
asked permission to stay behind, so
that they might christianize the In
dians in the boundless wilds of the
north. The request was granted and
after assigning to them a negro, a
Portuguese soldier named De Campo
and some Mexican Indians as com
panions, with few sheep, mules and
a horse, Coronado and his adventur-
Gus band started on the homeward
march.
Left practically alone in this
savage country, with nearly 1000
miles between him and the first yes
tige of civilization, Juan de Padilla
started his work Of evahgelization
among the Indians, in the land Of
QaiviPa, while Rather Juan de la Cruz
decided to remain at Bernalille, Bro
ther Escalona going to Pecos. Father
Padilla did not work long in this new
field, called the land of Quivira.
TreacheIous savages, led by their
medicine men, fell upon him one night
and murdered him. His was the first
martyr blood shed in the great west.
1t is said that his body was brought
back from the land of Quivira to
Isleta, south of Albuquerque, and the
Indians of lsleta> have a tradition
which persists to the present day that
the sacred remains Of Padilla rest be-
meath the actual chapel Of their
pueblo.
Father Juan de la Cruz and the lay
brother, LUZ de Escalona, his COM
panion, were also murdered by the
indians and with their disappearance
from the present American territory
the last vestige of Coronado's i'll
starred expedition was removed.
The next expedition TO accomplish
anything of permanence was led by
Onate, who came into New Mexico in
1896, bringing with him eight priests
and two lay brothers. Towns ana
missions were founded, more priests
were sent for, the Indians were re-
duced to submission, explorations
were made to Auni and MoquB and the
Colorado river was traced to its
mouth. In 1905 or 1906, Onate found
ed the present city of Santa F'e, and
by 1908, the missionaries had re
ported upward to 5000 baptis1ns. 'In
1917 says Lummis, three years be
fore Plymouth Rock, there were al
ready II churches IN use in New
Mexico"
The padres made wonderful pro-
gress until in the year 1850 prac-
tically all the pueblo Indians of New
Mexico and Arizona were christian
lied. In that year great uprising
occurred, involving all the pueblos.
Time is lacking to discuss its causes.
1t is sufficient to say that those US
ually assigned, the exactions of the
padres, have no foundation in fact.
The rebellion was well planned and
mercilessly executed, and in short
time destroyed the Spanish work Of
so years, civil and religious In it, IS
priests were massacred, and innumer-
able churches, chapcis and schools
we've destroyed. 1t was not until 1896
that order was restored and effective
missionary work resumed.
come. now to the two great pio-