Part 5 (1/2)
Development of Nueva Vizcaya.--Shortly after Ibarra left Sinaloa the Indians of San Juan revolted, drove out the encomenderos, and murdered the friars; the settlement was therefore moved to the Petatlan (Sinaloa) River, and named San Felipe. In the last decade of the century a presidio and an Aztec-Tlascaltec colony were founded at San Felipe, and Jesuit missions were planted in the vicinity. East of the mountains, in Durango and southern Chihuahua, mining, stock raising, and agriculture developed side by side. In 1586, for example, Diego de Ibarra branded 33,000 head of cattle, and Rodrigo del Rio, then governor, 42,000 head.
Several new mining districts were opened before the end of the century.
In 1574 Nueva Galicia and Nueva Vizcaya (including Zacatecas and Sinaloa) had a population of 1500 Spanish families, perhaps 10,000 persons living in some thirty settlements, about half of which were mining camps. Guadalajara had a population of one hundred and fifty families and Culiacan about thirty. The Franciscan missionaries had played an important part in the founding of Nueva Vizcaya. They accompanied or went before the explorers and established themselves at the princ.i.p.al mining camps and towns. In 1590 the custodia of San Francisco de Zacatecas embraced ten monasteries east of the Sierras. In 1591 the Jesuits entered the province.
Queretaro, Guanajuato, and Aguas Calientes.--For twenty years after the battle at Queretaro (1531) the Chichimec border was left practically unsettled, under the control of native leaders. But the need of communication with the Zacatecas veins made its complete subjugation necessary, and Viceroy Velasco undertook the task. In or about 1550 the town of Queretaro was founded, and Silao three years later. The marvelous Guanajuato mines were now opened; in 1554 the city of Santa Fe de Guanajuato was founded; and shortly afterward rich veins were opened at Aguas Calientes. These ”strikes” caused ”rushes,” just as those in Zacatecas had done, but they were offset by others in Durango, where Ibarra was operating. To secure further the roads to the mines, new towns and presidios were established along the way, and thus San Miguel el Grande (Allende), San Felipe, Santa Maria de Lagos, Aguas Calientes, Ojuelos, Portezuelos, Jerez, and Celaya came into being. To supplement the presidios, strong houses (_casas fuertes_) were provided as camping stations for travelers and silver trains, and parties were equipped with fortified wagons or movable strong houses.
San Luis Potosi and Southern Coahuila.--For some time the region of Charcas, now called San Luis Potosi, was a sort of No-man's-land between the westward, eastward, and northward moving columns of frontiersmen. It was the home of the powerful but savage Guachichiles. The definite conquest of the region, already known to explorers and missionaries, was begun about 1550 by Francisco de Urdinola, who operated under Velasco's orders, and who is said to have reached the vicinity of Saltillo and Monterey. The settlement of the district soon followed. Matehuala was founded in 1550, San Geronimo in 1552, Charcas in 1564, and the San Pedro mines about 1568. By 1576 San Luis Potosi, the site of rich ores, had become a villa, and before long was the seat of an _alcaldia mayor_.
Mining developments spread northeastward from Zacatecas to Mazapil and Saltillo. By 1568 Mazapil was the seat of an _alcaldia mayor_, under the Audiencia of Nueva Galicia. In that year Francisco del Cano, sent by the ”very magnificent alcalde mayor,” went north and discovered the ”Lake of New Mexico,” perhaps Laguna de Parras. In 1575 Francisco de Urdinola, son of the former conqueror, is said to have settled sixty families at Saltillo, within the jurisdiction of Nueva Vizcaya. As early as 1582 a Franciscan monastery was established there, and in 1592 Saltillo was created a villa.
The Tlascaltecan colonies.--Queretaro had been the scene of one interesting experiment in utilizing the natives as agents of control; in San Luis Potosi another was now tried. As a means of reducing the great central region, the plan was devised of planting in it colonies of Tlascaltecan Indians, to defend the settlers and to teach the rude tribes the elements of civilization. The Tlascaltecans had proved their loyalty in the days of Cortes, and this loyalty was insured by their exemption from tribute and by other privileges. The practice of using them as colonists in San Luis Potosi seems to have been begun as early as 1580. In 1591 four hundred families were sent northward, most of them being distributed at various places in modern San Luis Potosi, but eighty families were established at Saltillo in a separate pueblo called San Esteban. Thence in later days little colonies were detached to all parts of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Texas.
Parras; Urdinola the Younger.--In 1594 Jesuits from Durango founded the mission of Santa Maria de Parras, and shortly afterward a colony of Spaniards and Tlascaltecans was established there. Of this district Urdinola the Younger, lieutenant-governor of Nueva Vizcaya, became the magnate. He opened mines, subdued Indians, established immense ranches, and was veritable feudal lord. His princ.i.p.al hacienda was at Patos, but he had others, as at Parras and Bonanza. In 1594 he secured a commission to conquer New Mexico which was subsequently rescinded. A female descendant of his became the wife of the first Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo, a t.i.tle created in 1682 and long held by the leading men of the northeastern frontier.
Nuevo Leon.--A new jurisdiction was now carved out on the Gulf coast. In 1579 Luis de Carabajal, a Portuguese of Jewish extraction, secured a patent naming him governor and captain-general of the Kingdom of Nuevo Leon, a region extending two hundred leagues north and west from Panuco, and delimiting Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Galicia on the north and east.
Carabajal's was the first conquistador's patent issued for New Spain based on the general ordinance of 1573 regulating new conquests. He was made governor and alguacil-mayor ”for two lives,” with a salary of 20,000 pesos and two encomiendas for himself. He had authority to grant encomiendas, and was obligated to make new conquests and settlements.
Raising two hundred men in Spain and Mexico, he established headquarters for a time at Panuco, whence he made exploring, gold hunting, and slave hunting expeditions.
Leon and Monterey.--Discovering minerals in the Sierra de San Gregorio, near the Rio Grande, in (or by) 1583, Carabajal founded there the city of Leon (now Cerralvo). Securing other families from Saltillo, in 1584 he founded San Luis, near the later Monterey, and appointed Castano de Sosa alcalde mayor. Slave hunting expeditions from Leon proved so profitable that soon two hundred or more adventurers were attracted to the place, for the slaves found ready market at the mines of the interior. When the viceroy checked the abuse, Leon was gradually abandoned. With another colony from Saltillo, Carabajal founded Nuevo Almaden, near the present Monclova. While thus engaged he was charged with heresy, arrested, and condemned by the Inquisition together with almost his entire family. In 1596 Luis de Montemayor, lieutenant-governor of the province, founded Monterey with families from Leon and Saltillo. Three years later Montemayor was made governor, directly under the viceroy. In 1603 a Franciscan monastery was founded at Monterey, and became a new missionary center. Conflicts of jurisdiction between Nuevo Leon and Nueva Vizcaya became chronic and a serious hindrance to prosperity.
THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD
Fray Luis Cancer.--Meanwhile Florida and the Philippines had been conquered and colonized. Shortly after Coronado returned from New Mexico, the Moscoso party reached Panuco. Viceroy Mendoza, in spite of previous failures, was willing to try his hand in ill-fated Florida, and he offered to equip Moscoso and his men for another attempt, but they declined. Florida had been ”running with the blood of Indians,” but Fray Luis Cancer, a disciple of Las Casas, offered to try to subdue it by peaceful methods. With a royal license he equipped a vessel at Vera Cruz, and with a few companions went in 1549 to Florida to convert the natives. He was murdered by them, however, and his companions returned.
De Luna and Villafane.--But Florida was thought to be rich, especially at Coca, in northern Alabama, and new attempts at settlement were made.
In 1558 the new viceroy was ordered to colonize Santa Elena, the scene of Ayllon's failure on the Carolina coast, and some other point not specified, the missionary work to be entrusted to the Dominicans. In the following year, therefore, Velasco sent Tristan de Luna, Coronado's second in command, from Vera Cruz with thirteen vessels and 1500 soldiers and colonists. Of the six captains three had been with De Soto, a fact which indicates the continuity of frontier interests.
The expedition landed at Pensacola Bay. Three vessels sent on to Santa Elena were storm-driven and returned to Vera Cruz. Establis.h.i.+ng a garrison at Pensacola (Ichuse), De Luna moved about a thousand colonists inland to Nanipacna on the Alabama River, whence an expedition was sent north to Coca. In 1560 the colony returned to Pensacola, where De Luna was replaced by Villafane, who had been sent with supplies from Mexico.
In the following year Villafane went with most of his colony to Santa Elena, but failed to make a settlement, and the Pensacola garrison was soon withdrawn. In view of these repeated disasters, in 1561 Philip II declared that for the present no further attempt should be made to colonize Florida.
The French in Florida.--Notwithstanding this decision, there were reasons why Florida should be occupied. The route of the treasure and merchant s.h.i.+ps lay through the Bahama channel, and French and English pirates had begun to attack them. To lessen the danger, vessels were ordered to go in company, and as early as 1552 a fleet of war vessels was sent to escort them to Havana. But a port was needed to give aid against the pirates, as well as to provide refuge from the violent storms on the Florida coast. Moreover, the French were operating on the northern Atlantic, and it was feared that they would occupy this region.
This fear was realized in 1562 when Jean Ribaut led a French Huguenot colony to Port Royal, South Carolina. The colony miserably failed, but in 1564 another, led by Laudonniere, settled on St. John's River and built Fort Caroline. Just as Laudonniere was about to abandon the place, Ribaut arrived with a third colony, bearing instructions to fortify a position that would enable him to command the route of the Spanish treasure fleets.
Menendez de Aviles, and the expulsion of the French.--Philip decided now to eject the French and colonize Florida, and entrusted the task to Menendez de Aviles, a great naval officer. He was made adelantado of Florida, and promised a private estate twenty-five leagues square, or some 300,000 acres. In return he agreed to take a colony of five hundred persons to Florida, build at least two fortified towns, and expel foreign ”settlers and corsairs.” In September, 1565, Menendez reached Florida and founded St. Augustine. Ten days later he marched overland against Fort Caroline, surprised and captured it, and mercilessly slew most of its defenders. On the spot the garrison of San Mateo was established.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Spanish Florida.]
Menendez's relentless deed caused an outburst of indignation in France, and perhaps only Catherine's reliance on Philip in her troubles with the Huguenots prevented war. Vengeance was left to a private individual, Dominique de Gourgues. Getting up an expedition ostensibly to trade, in 1567 he went to Florida, and slew the garrison at San Mateo. The prisoners taken were hanged ”not as Spaniards” but ”as traitors, robbers, and murderers.”
New settlements in Florida.--Menendez planned great things. He would fortify the Bahama Channel, occupy Santa Elena and Chesapeake Bay, and in the latter seek the northern strait. As a base for expanding toward Panuco, he would occupy the Bay of Juan Ponce, and he had great hopes of agricultural prosperity.
To carry out these plans, active steps were taken. Before Menendez returned to Spain in 1567, several new Spanish posts were founded between the point of the peninsula and South Carolina. San Mateo was reoccupied. At Charlotte Bay Menendez made an alliance with the much-feared Chief Carlos by marrying his sister, and founded there the presidio of San Antonio. Other garrisons were established on the peninsula at Ays, Santa Lucia, Tocobaga, and Tegesta. At Santa Elena, in South Carolina, Menendez founded the colony of San Felipe, and in Guale (northern Georgia) he founded a presidio.
Explorations in the Alleghanies.--In November, 1566, Menendez sent Juan Pardo from Santa Elena ”to discover and conquer the interior country from there to Mexico,” to join the two frontiers. Going northwest, he reached the snow covered Alleghanies in western North Carolina, established two garrisons on the way, and returned. Boyano, left at one of the garrisons, made expeditions into the mountains, and in 1567 marched southwest to Chiaha near Rome, Georgia. Being joined there by Pardo, they set out ”in the direction of Zacatecas and the mines of San Martin,” in Mexico, but were turned back by Indian hostility. On his way to San Felipe Pardo left two garrisons, which were soon ma.s.sacred by Indians.
The Jesuit missions in Florida.--In 1566 Menendez secured three Jesuit missionaries for Florida. Another band arrived in 1568, and went to Santa Elena, Orista, and Guale, where they founded missions. At first they were successful, but in 1570 they were driven out by native opposition. By this time the garrison at Tocobaga had been ma.s.sacred and those at San Antonio and Tegesta withdrawn on account of Indian hostility.
The Virginia mission.--Father Segura, the Jesuit superior, now transferred his efforts to Chesapeake Bay, whither he went in 1570 with six missionaries. They founded a mission, perhaps on the Rappahannock, but soon all were slain. In 1571 Menendez went in person to avenge the outrage. Two years later his nephew explored the entire coast from the Florida Keys to Chesapeake Bay. In 1573, the year before his death, Menendez's grant was extended west to Panuco.