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FEBRUARY 12:

February 12, 1599:  Of the seventy Acomas tried for battling with the Spaniards on December 4,       1598, all seventy are found guilty. Today, Juan de Oñate orders their punishment. All men over twenty-five years old have one foot cut off and serve as slaves for twenty years. Everyone from twelve to twenty-five only have a foot cut off.
 

BACKGROUND:

From
 

By 1598, the Spanish administration had come to recognize that they were not going to find great riches in the wild lands north of their settlements in Mexico. As their population grew, the administration in New Spain decided that they needed to expand. Colonizing missions were to be sent to the open territories to the north, and an administration was to be set up. Juan de Onate was appointed as the new Governor, and he led another expedition into the region. This time, the Spaniards were here to stay, although the Black Mesa was minimally affected, initially.

The de Onate expedition introduced 1,100 cattle, 4,000 sheep, 1,000 goats, 150 colts and 150 mares into the region. This was to prove to be a monumental event in the natural history of the area, and would, ultimately, change the dominant indigenous lifestyles of the peoples of the Southwest. These animals were intended for use by Spanish colonists, exclusively, and were to be denied to the native populace, but, eventually, their descendants would pass into the hands of the natives. Their release led to radical changes in the world of the Pueblo/Hopi, Navajo, and a number of neighboring tribes.

De Onate first went on a multi-year exploration of his new territory. He would eventually travel through Oklahoma, almost to Missouri, on the East, and to the Gulf of California, on the West. In general, this was to be a relatively peaceful mission. There was one notable exception, however, at Acoma, which was to suffer a second time at the hands of the Spaniards. De Onate was tasked with the mission of receiving the "submission" to the King of Spain of the native peoples that he met on his route. This route had been laid out, in part, to visit the largest of the known settlements in the Southwest.

De Onate had little trouble with convincing the Pueblo and other nations to agree to render their submission, just as long as de Onate agreed to leave quickly, once they had done so. As with other towns, the residents of Acoma did submit, but, at Acoma, de Onate did not totally withdraw. Acoma was an impressive site, a larger settlement, and de Onate decided to leave a nephew with a party of 12 soldiers at Acoma, after the ceremony. The cause has been lost in the mists of time, but the Pueblo killed this party. De Onate quickly returned and took vengeance on the community. Over 100 Acoma warriors died, and sixty maidens were seized from the town and transported back to Mexico, where they served as slaves. When de Onate eventually arrived at the Black Mesa, he was traveling in the wake of the various massacres by Coronado and de Espejo, and of his own actions at Acoma. Nonetheless, the Hopi recognized the wisdom of negotiating with de Onate. They gave their formal submission to the King of Spain, a relatively meaningless gesture in the absence of any Spaniards in the region. Once again, the Spaniards quickly moved on, and the Hopi went back to their world on top of the Mesa.

De Onate eventually proved to be better at exploring than he was at governing. Under his administration, the lands north of the Rio Grande became more of a headache than they were a benefit. By 1607, he was removed as governor due to mistreatment of the peoples and lands under his administration. Reports were filed of the confiscation of corn from the pueblos, beyond their ability to deliver, causing starvation in some pueblos. The villages complained about horses and livestock grazing in their fields and of periodic levies and of pillage of supplies, including the taking of cloth, leaving the natives naked. Slavery was common, and rape was a continuing problem with soldiers who had been away from Europe and family for years.
 

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>From http://web.nmsu.edu/~publhist/ccconc~1.html
 

Oñate and his small band of explorers arrived at the San Juan pueblo on July 11, 1598 and began preliminary preparations for establishing a colony across the Rio Grande from the pueblo. The town which was eventually built became the base of operations for the expedition. The town, named Yuque-Yunque, was built once the rest of the caravan arrived on August 18, 1598. However, the arrival at the site of Oñate's band was significant even prior to the building of the town. Additionally, once the Spanish established Yuque-Yunque, the problems which they had faced previously on the trail did not completely disappear.

When the Spanish explorers reached San Juan they accomplished more than deciding where to build a colony. Their arrival marked the end of the six hundred miles the expedition added to the Camino Real. This meant that the Camino Real spanned over two thousand miles, extending from Mexico City to upper New Mexico. It had the honor of being the longest road in North America for several hundred years. Additionally, many of the campsites which Oñate's crew established along the trail became the official campsites used by overland travelers on the Camino Real for the next three centuries. Nonetheless, the establishment of the colony also held significance.

It was from Yuque-Yunque that Oñate sent out numbers of small scouting parties. In fact, he himself often traveled to and from Yuque-Yunque in an effort to explore the surrounding areas. Much of what the Spanish learned about New Mexico and its people came from these exploratory missions. Some of the Indian groups which the Spanish encountered on these missions interacted peacefully with the Spanish; however, some of the Spanish/Indian encounters were not bloodless.

The Acoma Indian war is a prime example of one of the clashes which occurred between Oñate's group and the native population. From their first contact with the Acoma, Spanish relations with this Indian nation was strained at best. By December, 1598 that stress erupted into a full scale Indian rebellion. During one of the numerous bloody Spanish/Acoma encounters in the Fall of 1598 ten of Oñate's men, including his nephew Juan de Zaldivar, were slain. Oñate, upon hearing the news of his nephews death, called for an all out attack on the Acoma in the name of justice, and to crush the rebellion.

Whether one called it justice or revenge the results were the same. After much bloody fighting the Spanish eventually quelled the Acoma rebellion. Once Oñate claimed victory over the Acoma he set up a judicial court under the guise of trying the Acoma nation on murder charges. All those put on trial were, of course, found guilty. The sentences passed by Oñate on February 12, 1598 were among the harshest and most notorious of his decisions. The sentences were as follows:

Males over age twenty-five to have one foot cut off and condemned to twenty years of personal servitude. Males twelve to twenty-five years old condemned to twenty years of personal servitude. Women over twelve years of age condemned to twenty years of personal servitude. Two Moquis captured in the Acoma fight to have the right hand cut off and to be set free to take home news of their punishment. Children under twelve, whom Oñate ruled free of guilt, to be handed over to Father Martinez ... for a Christian upbringing. (Sixty of the small girls were ... sent to Mexico City for parceling among the convents there. None ever saw their homeland or relatives again.)

The sentences were carried out within various pueblos to ensure they had the maximum effect at deterring future rebellions.

COMMENT:  Within the past few years Labuquerque new Mexico has chosen to erect a statue honoring Onate despite Native protests.