The First Spanish Period in New Mexico: A Tour of the Pueblo Revolt
The first Spanish period in New Mexico, starting with the Acoma Massacre by Juan de Oñate in 1599 and ending with Governor Otermin’s expulsion from Santa Fe during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, saw much conflict as the Pueblo people adapted to the Spanish presence while Spaniards attempted to rule over the Pueblos both spiritually and physically. Additionally, territorial governors often battled Franciscan missionaries, as they shared few goals for colonization in New Mexico. The governors were concerned with keeping order and making the colony profitable, while the Franciscans cared little for Pueblo public sentiment as long as their orders were being followed and more Pueblos became Catholic. This conflict saw several governors excommunicated and sent to answer to the Mexican Inquisition, and several priests arrested by territorial forces. The Puebloan peoples ultimately ended these conflicts when the Spanish pushed too far while attempting to eradicate Pueblo religion.
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 has been called the First American Revolution by Pueblo historian Joe Sando. This conflict linked many pueblos, as geographically disparate as Taos and Hopi, to band together to overthrow the Spanish regime. Even when Diego de Vargas reconquered the territory for Spain in 1692, the Franciscans never again wielded the power that they had before, and evangelism assumed a secondary role to military and pacification concerns. With the growth in power of nomadic raiders like the Comanche and the Navajo, the Spanish government, and later the Mexican one, could not afford to intrude into the lives of the Puebloan peoples like the Franciscans in the first period.
This tour will discuss the reasons for the Pueblo Revolt, while also analyzing the outcomes and discussing the pueblos and buildings depicted within. While the buildings and pueblos will have independent discussions, the bulk of the tour will be about the Pueblo Revolt and how it linked all of these sites.
Acoma Pueblo and the Spanish Arrival to New Mexico
The Spanish actions at Acoma Pueblo on January 22, 1599, heralded a new era of Spanish hegemony in the New Mexico region. The Acoma Massacre, as it would later be known, brutally established a Spanish presence that remained until the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
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Jemez Pueblo and Resistance to Spanish Rule
Smoldering Tensions
The Pueblo Revolt took place in 1680, but Spanish power was questioned in New Mexico before that date. Jemez Pueblo in particular was a fierce opponent for Spanish hegemony, even during the periods of solid Spanish power in New Mexico.
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Santa Fe Plaza and Religious Repression
Cracks in the Spanish Walls
In 1775, Governor Juan Francisco Treviño’s first year in office, he ordered the arrest of forty-seven Puebloan religious leaders and had them stand trial for witchcraft. Santa Fe was shortly surrounded by a force of angry and armed Puebloan men, forcing the governor to release the Pueblo religious leaders. Among those released was a shaman from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo named Popé, who later became the…
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Taos Pueblo and the Beginning of a Revolution
Popé, a religious leader from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, retreated to Taos Pueblo after he and his fity fellow Pueblo shamans were released by the Spanish following a tense standoff with a rapidly assembled Pueblo retaliatory force. Once there, he began to hatch a plot to remove the Spanish and their oppressive faith from the Rio Grande Pueblos once and for all.
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El Palacio de los Gobernadores
The First American Revolution
The late 17th century saw drought, increased nomadic raiding, and religious repression for Rio Grande Puebloan peoples. The arrest of forty-seven Pueblo religious leaders was the last straw. After planning his rebellion for five years, Popé and the Rio Grande Pueblo warriors converged around Santa Fe, but not before executing twenty-one of the thirty-three Franciscan missionaries in New Mexico.
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