Tiguex War

The Tiguex War was the first war between Europeans and Native Americans in what is now the American West. It was fought in the winter of 1540-41 by the army of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado against the twelve to twenty now disappeared pueblos of Tiwa Indians along both sides of the Rio Grande, north and south of present-day Bernalillo, New Mexico in what will be called the Tiguex complex of pueblos. The Coronado expedition, with the primary motivation of finding gold and silver, spent two winters utilizing the area as headquarters for different regional explorations.

After Coronado had conquered the pueblo of Hawikuh, also known as Cevola or Cibola, he sent messages to other pueblos that the Hispanic Christians desired friendly relations with them. In response, an eastern delegation arrived and extended an invitation to visit their land. One of the tall chieftans of this delegation, after exchanging gifts, offered to guide the expedition to his homeland. He had an unusually long mustache for a Native American, and so was called Bigotes (Whiskers) by the Spaniards. Coronado accepted the proposition and appointed Hernando de Alvarado as commander of the journey.^[1]

Alvarado was one of the two volunteer soldiers who had thrown their bodies over the fallen Coronado at the siege of Hawikuh and saved him from being bludgeoned to death by stones hurled by the defending Pueblo defenders. Bigotes led the small band of little more than twenty individuals east, past Acoma and into the Rio Grande valley, where they visited a cluster of pueblos they called the province of Tiguex, and then north into the upper valley. They possibly traveled as far as Taos, stopping at several pueblos. After a total month of travel they arrived at Bigotes' community of Pecos Pueblo (Cicuyé), in the area of the present town of Pecos, New Mexico. This was the easternmost of the pueblos with a location conducive to the well-developed commerce between pueblo and plains Indians and designed to resist attack. Alvarado journeyed another five days easterly, and viewed the plains buffalo that Bigotes had earlier described to Coronado, before returning to Tiguex.^[2]

The Tiguex complex was described as the most prosperous of the pueblos they had seen, with the river flowing through a wide, level, fertile land, planted with cornfields. Coronado was convinced by the messages he received about the area, to arrange for establishing a headquarters there. From this base, he would later lead a force back through Pecos and further east, eventually into Kansas, in search of the riches of Quivira. Spanish forces would also lay siege against Pecos Pueblo before Coronado's return to Tiguex, since factions within the Pueblo had decided that a true alliance with the Spanish was not in their best interest.^[3]

The expedition purchased much of the needed food and winter clothing for their stay in Tiguex, from the Tiguex pueblos, but under difficult conditions, commandeered the rest. At least one of the pueblo women was assaulted, and the expedition's livestock had consumed much of the post-harvest cornstalks normally used by the pueblos for cooking and heating fuel. These incidents were piled upon the insult that expedition forces had taken over an entire pueblo for living quarters, forcing its inhabitant to move to neighboring pueblos with only the clothes on their backs. Some of the people retaliated by killing 40 of the expedition's free-roaming horses and mules. As a result, the Spanish forces waged war, capturing one of the pueblos and punishing many of the people. All but two of the Tiguex pueblos were abandoned by their people in the face of such overwhelming forces. The Spanish laid siege to the strongest of all of the Tiquex pueblos through two mid-winter months. Finally, the inhabitants were forced out in an attempt fight their way to freedom in pre-morning darkness, with the men enclosing the women (they previously negotiated the release of children and some women) within a protected core. The Tiguex War ended in a slaughter, those Native Americans who escaped death or injury in this last incident were few. The Tiguex Pueblo people abandoned the area until the expedition left.^[4]

By the time of the Spanish colonization led by Juan de Oñate in 1598, the pueblo people in the Tiguex complex had reestablished themselves. But during the period of colonization, pueblo peoples were ravaged by disease, and the number of pueblos in the Tiguex area was reduced to five. Then, following the Pueblo Revolt all of these pueblos were abandoned.^[5] The Sandia Pueblo land grant was created in 1748 for mixed group of refugees from several areas and various pueblos,^[6] and is now the only pueblo existing within the site of original Tiguex complex.

References

1. ^ Holland Jr., F. Ross. "Hawikuh and the Seven Cities of Cibola". National park Service. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/zuci/zuci_seven_cities.pdf. Retrieved 5 November 2011. 
2. ^ Kessel, John L.. "Kiva, Cross and Crown the Pecos Indians and New Mexico". National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/kcc/chap1.htm. Retrieved 6 November 2011. 
3. ^ Kessel, John L.. "Kiva, Cross and Crown the Pecos Indians and New Mexico". National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/kcc/chap1.htm. Retrieved 6 November 2011. 
4. ^ Flint, Richard and Shirley C. "Tiguex". NM State Record Center & Archives. http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.php?fileID=492. Retrieved 5 November 2011. 
5. ^ Flint, Richard and Shirley C. "Tiguex". NM State Record Center & Archives. http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.php?fileID=492. Retrieved 5 November 2011. 
6. ^ Berthier-Foglar, Susanne. "Sandia’s New Buffalo Ideology: a casino, an old land grant, compromises and conservationism". 26th American Indian Workshop. http://www.american-indian-workshop.org/AIW26/papers/Berthier.pdf. Retrieved 6 November 2011.