Coyame a History of the American Settler

By Dr. Francisco Javier Morales Natera

Coyame is the wide-ranging account of a small town in Mexico. The author provides readers with a panoramic view of history from the Mayans to the Villa revolutionaries and beyond. The history of the region is brought into stark detail with the inclusion of the tales, legends, and family histories of Coyames colorful residents. Morales presents the information with great care and passion; both historians and casual readers will benefit from the candor and whimsy that mark this unique contribution.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479734542

Book preview

Pre-European Occupation

The location of the town of Coyame didn’t happen by accident. The valley where the town is nestled has farm rich soil and is located in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. This town has the three best qualities of real estate: location, location, location. The land is very fertile and the water is abundant. This valley is a stark contrast to the rough desert that surrounds it. A few miles east of the town is the Conchos River. This river was the main route used by millions of people throughout the exploration of the Americas for hundreds of years. Native Americans first used it for thousands of years, and later the Europeans moved up and down it. As we know from the first Europeans that documented the tribes living in this area, this land was never abandoned or unoccupied. According to William Foster, nearly 65 tribes have lived in the area around Coyame 1. The natives occupied these lands through various migrations between 32,000 to 13,000 years before the Europeans arrived 6. The tribes the European explorers encountered in the area of northern Chihuahua and southwest Texas were probably distant relatives to the Aztecs. The Aztecs migrated south from the northern part of present day Mexico in 1100 AD. By 1420 they had a mighty empire which dominated Mesoamerica (where present day North and South America join).

The tribes of northern Mexico-southwest Texas were highly organized. They had a complex network of trails for finding their way around this vast desert and for trading with other tribes. The farming tribes started to organize and settle in this area around 1000 AD. By the 1400s, North America consisted of about 300 different Indian tribes with a population close to 3 million. Natives like the Jumanos, Sumas, and Conchos were among the main occupants of the area adjacent to Coyame when the first Europeans arrived in the 1500s.

Around the late 1400s, on the other side of the world, European imperialism emerged as a movement fueled by God and riches. Spain was the most Catholic European country of that time. In January of 1492 under the leadership of the Catholic King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castilla, Spain finally expelled the Moors and Jews after about 750 years of occupation. Their Portuguese neighbors led by Prince Henrique (1394-1460) and his trained mariners ventured out into the Atlantic Ocean looking for a route to the immense riches of the orient. In their quest they discovered and started to lay claim to new lands and laid claim to the slave trade in West Africa. The tenacious Spanish explorers soon followed and were instrumental in making Spain one of the largest global empires in world history. Christopher Columbus commanded the first voyage across the Atlantic. Queen Isabella funded his trip which was intended in find a shorter route to Asia. Instead of finding the Far East, he discovered the American continent. The new world, America, was named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci who, in 1499, explored the northeast coastline of South America. After returning, word spread in Spain of this new world. The Spanish King and Queen now had the opportunity to continue the expansion of their faith into this new world. The Spanish explorers and later conquistadors came from Castile, the wildest part of Spain 4. These men had experienced the war with the Moors. They were the toughest Spaniards of their time.

Hernan Cortes de Monroy y Pizarro was 7 years old at the time of the discovery of the new world. By the age of 18 he had heard countless stories of the land of riches across the Atlantic and decided to move to the island of Hispaniola. Hispaniola, which is modern day Haiti and the Dominican Republic, was governed by a distant relative of Hernan, Nicolas de Ovando y Caceres. Hernan had studied a few years of law and Latin and had served as a notary in Seville. The schooling and the help of his distant relative entitled him to land and Indian slaves and the title of town notary. Many assignments followed where he served as leader of expeditions into Hispaniola and Cuba. At the age of 26, Cortez was made clerk of the treasurer assigned to provide one-fifth of the profits of expeditions in return to the Spanish Crown (El Quinto). His land holdings, Indian slaves, and power grew as governors of the new colonies took notice of this fearless leader. After about 15 years in the Indies, Cortes had amassed land, mines, cattle, and with this came power. This land the conquistadors had conquered though had been greatly unbalanced. Now these lands had been decimated by disease and the greed of the newcomers. He worked hard during his years in the new world. Hernan, listening for the possibility of more land available to the west, became uneasy.

The new world was a great mystery to the Europeans. Of course they could not grasp the vast size of the American continent at first, but their curiosity drove them to explore and survey the new world in order to determine if there was land suitable for colonization. Around 1508-1517, documented sightings of the mainland American continent created confusion: were these merely glimpses of more islands or were they glimpses of China itself? Exploration began throughout the entire southern half of the American continent. Spanish explorer Vicente Pinzon in January 1500 names a river Santa Maria de la Mar Dulce which is the present day Amazon River. In 1509, Princess Papantzin, the ruling Aztec Emperor’s sister, had a dream of floating cities (ships) with black crosses coming to conquer the Aztec Empire. The superstitious Emperor began to predict the overthrow of his empire, but the conquistadors wouldn’t make contact with the Aztecs for another decade. During this period, Juan Ponce de Leon was looking for Bimini, land of the magic fountain of youth. Led by a native Puerto Rican Indian he called La Vieja(the old lady), he discovered present day Florida, which he named Pascua Florida (Easter of Flowers) on March 1513 5. Later in 1565 Saint Augustine, Florida was established and became the oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in the continental United States. Ponce de Leon brought back news of a land mass to the north that was probably an island larger than Cuba. He also mentioned that he did not recieve a warm welcome by the native tribe, the Calusas 6. He was attacked numerous times with arrows when his men made landfall. He was also attacked by warriors in 80 canoes as they sailed through what is now known as the Gulf of Mexico.

Back in Cuba, Hernan began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Not only was Hernan now keenly aware of the unwelcome reception Ponce de Leon experienced, but he also knew that the island of Hispaniola was also experiencing Indian revolts and attacks. His view of the natives started to grow through his personal experiences and the reports coming in from explorers. More reports started coming in about a land mass to the west. All these accounts only fueled the curiosity of the Cuban-Spanish settlers. In September 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa made his way through present day Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean. In 1517, the Spanish explorer Grijalva discovered an unknown civilization in the present day Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. That same year Captain Cordoba took 110 men and 4 ships into the Mayan territory where he was greeted warmly by this highly civilized group of Indians. The Mayans gave Cordoba and his men gold pieces the Mayans had received from trading with natives to the north in a place they called Mexico. They saw magnificent pyramids and named the place "El Gran Cairo" 4. The Spanish explorers moved farther inland. The inland Indian tribes, having received word from the Caribbean islands to the east of the Spanish conquistador intensions, attacked the group. Only half the group led by Captain Cordoba made it back to Cuba.

It was now apparent the natives of this new land would not be conquered easily. In April 1518, the current governor of Cuba, Diego Velasquez, sent Juan de Grijalva to explore the area. After extensive surveying, Grijalva concluded that the land mass must be a continent. This started a rush of conquistadors all over the American continent. In 1519, Spaniard Alonso Alvarez de Pineda arrived with his men in the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall. He named the area Corpus Christi (Body of Christ), which is the present town of Corpus Christi, Texas 138.

In February 1519 Hernan had risen to Chief Magistrate of Cuba. News of the new land motivated him to embark on an unauthorized conquest of this large land mass. Spanish soldiers Juan de Morales, Martin Lopez, and Miguel de Morales were among those who eagerly accompanied him 16, 18. Many soldiers accompanying Cortes were not Spanish. Gaspar and Lorenzo Juarez were originally from Portugal and arrived in Cuba in 1514 and later in New Spain with Cortes. Cortes also had veteran explorers with him as well. Inigo Lopez de Zuniga had arrived with Columbus in 1492. Later in 1512, he served as Captain of the Spanish Armada in Puerto Rico. Fearless Captain Lopez also came to New Spain with Cortes 18. Cortez set off with 11 ships, 530 men, 16 horses, and various attack dogs. Imagine the surprise and confusion of the natives who had never seen these floating cities (ships); the physical appearance of the Spaniards; and the animals they brought, which they had also never seen. The Spaniards did not understand the ways of the Indians, and the Indians as well were fascinated with the new arrivals from Europe. One huge difference were the names of the Spaniards. An example of this was the Spanish Military Commander named Diego de Vargas Zapata y Lujan Ponce de Leon. Long names were a demonstration of the Spanish pride in their blood lines. If we contrast this with Native Indians many didn’t have a surname, or were named with a mother nature association.

New Spain (Mexico) is born

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In March 1519 Cortes laid official claim to Mexico on behalf of the Spanish Crown. Arriving in Mayan territory he met Franciscan Priest Geronimo de Aguilar, who was a survivor of the failed expedition led by Spanish explorer Valdivia in 1511 when his ship wrecked off the coast of Yucatan. The only other survivor, Gonzalo Guerrero, had married a Mayan and had children, the first mestizos of the American Continent. He had become a Mayan warrior and announced that he would now fight against the Spaniards 4. Gonzalo educated the local natives of the intentions of the Spanish and made sure they knew the Spanish were not gods but mortals. As a result, Cortes and his entourage immediately encountered hostilities with the Indians, but Cortes realized very quickly the superiority of his armor and his guns. At the Tabasco River Cortes met a Mayan woman who could speak Nahuatl, the Aztec tongue. La Malinche, as was later known as, was as beautiful as a goddess 4. Cortes and La Malinche became inseparable. She was Cortes his interpreter, guide and later gave birth to his son Martin (later becoming his favorite son) 19. Hernan and his men met the Aztecs in April 1519 and exchanged gifts. Hernan also showed off his cannon power and guns. The Aztecs literally fell to the floor shaking in fear when they heard the incredible boom produced by the gun powder. Hernan took this opportunity to not only flex his killing military might but to ask the natives for gold. My men suffer from a disease of the heart that can only be assuaged by gold Cortes explained 4.

The Aztecs believed Cortes may have been sent by or was the Aztec God Quetzalcoatl who had left eastward and would later return to claim his kingdom 4. That God was to return on 1-Reed, which in the Aztec calendar coincided with 1519 4. It is not for certain what was going through the minds of the Aztecs. The Aztecs were strong believers in the cosmos and they believed this event, the arrival of the Spaniards did not happen by chance. As Cortes made his way to the capital of the Aztec empire, he began reclaiming the current native towns by changing the names and educating the natives on Christianity. Most of the towns were already established Indian settlements. As he traveled more inland he learned of the native enemies of the Aztecs and made them his allies. Cortes then sank his own ships to send a clear message to his men: either win the land or die in the attempt. Hernan Cortes met the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II on November 8, 1519 in Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Aztec empire. The most beautiful thing in the world marveled Cortes 4. He sent word back to Spain declaring This great city is more spectacular than Venice 4. The Aztec empire population was approximately 15 million at this time and was divided into 38 provinces 142. Cortes was set on conquering this new land. He may have had some internal conflict due not only to the way in which he was raised in Europe, but due to his Christian beliefs that made it hard for him to consider these Indians as human beings like the Spaniards. Did these people who had made this great civilization come from the same Christian God? Did they have souls? Did their religious beliefs come from the devil? Months went on and numerous bloody battles followed between the Spaniards and the Aztecs. The Spaniards received re-enforcements from Cuba and close to 200,000 native Indians who hated the Aztecs joined Cortes. In 1520, Spanish soldier Francisco de Morales arrived with Panfilo de Narvaez another Spanish Conquistador as part of the re-enforcements from Cuba and Spain. By August 1521, the mighty Aztec empire was under the control of Cortes. Many soldiers were rewarded in many ways by Cortes for their contributions to the conquest. Martin Lopez was awarded three coats of Arms for his ship building abilities in the battles against the Aztecs 18. During the next few years Cortes would become the governor of Mexico. Cortes was an ambitious force needed for colonization of this vastly different land. He also carried the fierce and perhaps misguided power of the Spanish Christianity. Cortes unauthorized struggle now made New Spain of the Ocean Sea to be born.

Missionaries and the New Religion of New Spain

The conquest was not accomplished by the fearless Spanish Conquistadors alone. Much of the assimilation of the Indians to Spanish Catholic ways was due to two groups of missionaries: the Franciscan Friars and the Jesuits who arrived with the European explorers. The new Mexicans born out of these two clashing cultures were guided and educated by these missionaries. The Spanish crown realized that the missionaries’ work was a lot cheaper than the soldiers’ and their relationship with the Indians lasted much longer. In 1537 the missionaries helped pass the Papal Bull of 1537 and the New Laws which essentially called for Indians to be treated as humans and Christians 11. Skin color was not an issue in the conversion to Christianity. It was common for the missionaries to establish the first contact with the Indians, and they were also the first to explore the new areas of the American continent. Before the start of the 1600s, the missionaries had baptized approximately 9 million Indians 11. The missionaries had certain objectives with the new converts. They believed they were giving the Indians many life-altering benefits: civility, Catholic faith, and Spanish—the language of God.

The Society of Jesus, also called Jesuits, were a group of men who had given their vows of obedience to the Pope. The group which included St. Francis Xavier and 5 other men was founded in 1534. The order spread rapidly in the following years throughout the world, to include India, China, Japan and Tibet. Jesuits had a lot of preparation in the Jesuit Colleges. This preparation teamed with their tough-minded vow of poverty and service made them the ideal partners to the conquest. New Spain was so vast and mysterious to the new explorers, and the Franciscan missionaries that were there needed help. When Jesuit missionaries arrived in New Spain they were given a great welcome. The settlers cheered and praised the missionaries’ courage and the support provided to the new world. Arriving in New Spain they were very influential in not only setting up Christian Indian towns called Reducciones but in educating, converting and assimilating the Indians to the European ways. Another important characteristic of the Jesuits was to protect the Indians from the cruel Spanish conquistadors. The Jesuits and Franciscans must be given credit for establishing and building of most of the first missions of New Spain.

The Jesuits, called the Black Robes by the natives, were a tough group. Their faith guided them to the mysterious north on many occasions simply walking from place to place, unlike the Spaniard soldiers looking for gold or glory. Manpower was a big problem for the new Spanish explorers. These missionaries were spread very thin in the new world, and most were martyrs of the cause. The Jesuits were also given massive obligations by the Spanish leaders. Since faith was central to the conquest, keeping the faith alive was their main obligation. Founding colleges, missions, and basically helping settle the new land were among their huge responsibilities. In 1574, the Franciscans established a convent in the Valle de San Bartolome (southern part of the state of Chihuahua). This area would become one of the oldest settled areas in not only the northern part of Mexico but the state of Chihuahua 108. New Spain was divided into east and west with current El Paso, Texas being the center. The east was given to the Franciscans, and the west was given to the Jesuits. The Jesuits were seen in the new world as being too politically involved in the affairs of the Spanish explorers. In the year 1767, the King ordered all of the Jesuits to be deported out of New Spain. Thousands were sent into exile and removed from all operating missions. These missions were now replaced with Franciscan Friars who commonly wore gray robes 7. The Franciscans were a group of men who had vowed apostolic poverty; the order was founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1200 AD. The Franciscans arrived side by side with the Spanish explorers. The Franciscans established colleges in New Spain with the main goal to educate the Aztec nobles and their offspring on academics and religion. The Franciscans demonstrated a multilingual ease and were fluent in Indian dialects, Latin and Spanish. The first missionaries were also entrusted with the duty of giving written guides on how to Christianize the natives to the later missionaries. These missionaries also wrote everything they encountered in their voyages, making them the de facto historians of the colonization of the new world. These men became experts with not only on the geography of the land they had discovered, but they were highly knowledgeable about the Indians and the Indian customs they encountered. With this knowledge they also became advisers to new arrivals from Europe. Since most of the missionaries traveled with the Spanish explorers, their accounts of the expeditions became valuable information. However, not all missionaries adapted well to the harsh environments. Many died due to the shock of the tough new lifestyle they had to endure and because of the remotely isolated areas of the missions. The missionaries that did survive were talented and made the new found missions self-sustaining.

An entire book can be written over the Inquisition. I will not go into great detail but only touch on its social and cultural influence of the new world. First, to completely understand the life these colonists lived is very difficult. The settlers had no freedom as people do today in the present United States. After Spain freed itself from hundreds of years of Muslim domination, they didn’t allow either Muslims or Jews to live in their territories. That was part of the reason for the Spanish Inquisition. Inquisition doctors examined males for any signs of circumsions. Officers of the Inquisition guarded the Jews and Muslims carefully because they did not want them to be allowed to return and take over the country of Spain. Therefore, the Catholic religion was the only religion people could practice in Spain. The fervor with which Muslim and Jewish suppression took place spawned a sense of fanatic obsession with Catholicism which overtook Spain during the 1500’s. Everything a person did was for the advancement of God through the King. Therefore, the military was for the use of not only the King of Spain but for use as an instrument of the Spanish Inquisition. An example of this was Juan Antonio De Trasvina y Retis who was Sergeant Major of the military, Major Constable of the Holy Office of the Spanish Inquisition, and Lieutenant General of the Crown of Nueva Viscaya 9. So the military was tied directly to the church and the governing leaders from crown to the smallest of towns. The citizens’ names given were decided by the church as well. Pagan names and pagan god names were outlawed. One could only choose from biblical names and saints. African slaves, which numbered few in New Spain, were given random names by their masters and were given no last name. When the slaves and Indians were baptized into Catholicism, it was common for the sponsors or godparents to give them their last name.

The dogma of the Inquisition was carried to New Spain. Many people in Spain and in New Spain rejected the cruelty and torture practiced by those in charge of enforcing the aims of the Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition used very painful, public tortures to demonstrate the importance of following the King’s orders in obedience of the church’s teachings. The Inquisition lasted about 350 years and many thousands were tortured or killed in Spain and its colonies. Therefore, over the span of hundreds of years of this type of total domination in the colony of New Spain, its people became predominately Catholic and very obedient to the clergy. The names given have also endured hundreds of years. Added to that, the Catholic church was the single largest landowner on the continent. The influence of the Spanish Inquisition of hundreds of years ago can still be seen today in the Hispanic culture worldwide 138.

New Spain and

Hernan Cortes

Cortes now took on the task of constructing the new colony/country. Cortes destroyed the Aztec palaces, including the Palace of Moctezuma and built El Palacio Nacional (the national palace) on top of it. This building would later become the residence of the Viceroys of New Spain 11. A flood of Spanish newcomers now came over to the new colony. One of them was Francisco Franco Estrada arriving in 1524. His brother, Alonso Martin Astruiano, was an artilleryman with Cortes and had given him word about New Spain 18. Cortes sent a request to also send more missionaries to help with the conquest. The Aztec aristocracy and elite were allowed to keep their status and estates. They would now convert to Christianity and mix with the newcomers. Shortly after the arrival of Cortes, Mexico City came alive with European cathedrals, plazas, hospitals, and universities. The Yucatan Peninsula conquest continued. From 1526-1546 was led by Conquistador Montejo. Some of the men that arrived with their surnames that accompanied him were: Zarco Lopez, Alonso Lopez, Francisco Lopez, and Juan Lopez de Mena. Juan Morales would accompany Nuno de Guzman and settle in central Mexico and most would become wealthy land owners 18.

The Spaniards not only brought with them the drive and ambition to settle the new world but also European diseases (smallpox, measles and typhus). These mysterious and alien diseases to America started to appear in December of 1518 on the island of Hispaniola and eventually made their way to the mainland of Mexico by 1520 4. As of 1550 the Mesoamerican Indian population was approximately 4 million. By 1581, due to forced slavery, smallpox, measles and typhus, it had shrunk to about 2 million. The remaining Aztecs had deep hurt in their hearts, a sadness about the new world they lived in. Hernan was a conquistador. They were not good people in a certain way. They took everything by robbing, killing, and raping and eventually destroying the culture! Finding a new continent didn’t give them the right to absolute power over the natives, and completely change their lives Heriberto Amavisca Morales, current Mexican professor explains 186. Cortes appointed Spaniards to create and govern new cities. Spaniard Juan Juarez came with Cortes, settled in New Spain, and was given land to administer. 18 Cortes was also the person responsible for the encomiendas, land tenure which started in 1524. The encomienda was a responsibility given to a Spaniard to manage huge amounts of land grants and to govern the people. This gave rise not only new explorations of the new found world but also to the conversion of all indigenous people to Christianity. During this time period the town which would later be known as Coyame was mainly inhabited by native Indians who were farmers. This tribe was later called the Cholomes by the Spaniards. They had chosen the location because of the perfect combination of fertile clay soil and a plentiful supply of water. Word traveled to these northern Mexican tribes of what had happened to the great Aztec empire and rumors about the different appearance of these new men in power and their god-like ties.

During the next few years Cortes used a tremendous amount of energy to expand and explore. Mining was also of great interest to the newly arriving Europeans. New leadership sent over by Charles V, the current king of Spain, propelled New Spain into the colonial era 2.

The Aztec Indians who survived the conquest quickly adapted and came to the realization that it was a new world now in Mexico. The new conquerors who looked so different and had god-like qualities were indeed in control now. Slavery was a fact of this new world. African slaves now joined Native American slaves under the orders of the new blue-eyed masters. Interracial mixing began to occur. This new race would later to be called Mexican. The new children were a mix of Spanish blood, Aztec and Malinche (mixed) blood. Now that the Spanish crown claimed the new found land, the tenacious Spaniards drove northward. Their belief was the North was where the riches were. Many stories of golden cities and vast land to be claimed were told of the northern land. The newly formed empire fueled by gold and Christian conversion gave rise to even more land encomiendas ordered by Cortes. The driven explorers were aware of the Indian tribes which would need to be converted to Christianity and of the potential of vast natural resources motivated them to settle this new world. The conquest was achieved by the sword of the Spanish soldiers and the cross of the missionaries. The encomiendas consisted of not only the authorized explorations but of manpower to go and survey the new lands and bring back accounts of what lay ahead. The leadership of New Spain wanted to know not only how big this new land really was but, if it was suitable for farming and mining.

Virgin of Guadalupe

In the late 1950s, the mission church in Coyame was in bad need of repairs. Its age was showing, and it became an unsafe structure. A new church was built in Coyame in the 1960s and named the temple of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The name given to this new church in Coyame has deep roots in Mexican identity and history. The apparition of the Virgin de Guadalupe was the single event that would convert the most native Indians to Christians in world history. I will give now a brief summary of this event. To put into a modern perspective, currently, its seventy million dollar temple in Mexico city can seat 10,000 people, and five million people visit the temple each December 12th, the anniversary of the apparition.

Juan Zumarraga became the first bishop of New Spain in December 1528. The Indian convertion was a huge problem for the new Spanish leadership. Converting the Aztecs had become a very arduous task. Many had converted but over a few years many Aztecs were congregating for a full war with the new European settlers. A huge Aztec Indian uprising was eminent, and he prayed to the Virgin Mary for help. He asked the Virgin Mary to send Spanish roses as a sign that she had heard his pleas. On December 9, 1531, Juan Diego a faithful Aztec Christian was making his thirty mile round trip journey on foot to attend mass. Juan had become a childless widower and had made it his lifelong goal to care for his uncle and to practice his new Christian faith. As he walked up the hill of Tepeyac he heard beautiful music and a lady’s voice calling to him: Juanito, Juan Diegito. She identified herself as the Mother of the true God. Speaking in his native Aztec tongue, she explained that she wanted a temple built on that particular hilltop and for him to go and speak with the bishop and give him her message. Juan agreed. Juan was faced a difficult conflict as he walked toward Mexico City. The Spaniards were known for their cruelty to common Indians. The bishop would probably believe he was crazy. Although he was at first rebuffed, he was finally was allowed to meet with the bishop who brushed him off and, unconvincingly told him that his request would be considered. The Virgin Mary was waiting for him to return. He explained to her that he had given the message but that the noble lady should send someone of more importance to deliver the message. She reassured him that he was the chosen one and that he needed to return and speak with the bishop again. Juan made his long walk back to Mexico City the next day. After being humiliated by the bishops’ assistants for hours outside in the cold of winter he was allowed to enter. This time Juan broke down and fell to his knees crying for the bishop to believe him. This time the bishop interviewed him a little more closely; no contradictions ever occurred in his story. The bishop then told Juan to ask the apparition to send a sign from heaven so he could believe Juan.

Juan returned and explained the bishop’s request to the Virgin Mary and she agreed. When Juan returned to his home he discovered there had been an Indian revolt and that his uncle (his only living relative) had been attacked and gravely injured by an arrow for being Christian. On December 12, 1531, Juan returned to the hill of Tepeyac even though he was reluctant to leave his injured uncle back at home and met with the Virgin Mary again. She comforted Juan by reiterating the fact that she was his mother and not to worry. He was ordered to put the Castilian roses that were on the plants in front of him in his apron. Juan was very confused when he looked at these Spanish roses in full bloom in the frozen soil in the winter. The Virgin Mary personally arranged the flowers in his apron and made it clear he should only show the bishop the sign. Arriving at the bishop’s home, the servants again denied his request to see the bishop. Displaying the roses granted him access to see the bishop. The bishop was meeting with Don Sebastian Ramirez y Fuenlean the governor of Mexico when Juan entered the room. Juan dropped his apron to show them the roses he was carrying and a full size portrait of the image of the Virgin Mary appeared on his apron. Everyone gasped and fell to their knees. The bishop immediately recalled his prayer request of Castilian roses as a sign of peace to come to New Spain. The name the Virgin Mary requested to be called was The Ever Virgin, Holy Mary of Guadalupe. This name caused even more astonishment among the Spaniards because that was the name of a famous shrine to the Virgin Mary in Spain. This shrine was where Christopher Columbus prayed for protection on his voyage to the Americas. According to Aztec scholars, the true name she said to give her in the Nahuatl tongue was "te coatlaxopeuh which means The Entirely Perfect Virgin who will crush, tamp out, abolish or eradicate the stone serpent". Juan Diego became a national hero overnight. The bishop pleaded with Juan for forgiveness and made him an honorable guest. On Juan’s trip back home he had a personal Spanish military honor guard at his side. The full-size portrait of the Virgin Mary was paraded through the town causing immediate conversion for most of the Aztec population. The Aztec Indians came to see the appearance of the white man’s Mother of God. At their amazement she looked like the Indians. Aztecs would shoot arrows in the sky accompanied by cheerful cries to show their joyous celebrations. Within weeks hundreds of volunteers built a small chapel for the devout Indians who would come to the miraculous site. Juan was treated as royalty from then on by the bishop and priests. He was given a home next to the new shrine and dedicated the remainder of his life to taking care of it. Juan was now considered a holy man by Spaniards and Aztecs alike and became an ambassador for Christianity. Up to 6,000 Indians would present themselves to be baptized per day by the overwhelmed missionaries. 142

New Spain’s Expansion

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In 1535, the king of Spain, Charles V, officially organized New Spain and appointed Don Antonio de Mendoza as the first Viceroy (vice-king) of New Spain. Cortes was not chosen since he didn’t have noble lineage. 11 The newly formed Viceroyalty of New Spain covered the territories of present day California, Florida, Texas, the entire southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The printing press arrived shortly after in 1537. Around this same time, Spaniard Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca along with a few companions became lost in the area around present day Presidio, Texas becoming the first Europeans to visit the area of present day Northern Chihuahua and southwest Texas. These Spaniards were the sole survivors of a failed 1528, 300 man Florida expedition led by explorer Panfilo Narvaez. The group had ship wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico. Nunez’s later accounts of this area of northern New Spain would lead to future expeditions of the area. 1,20, 191.

Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza authorized Francisco Vasquez de Coronado from Salamanca, Spain with 336 Spaniards, and about 800 Indian auxiliaries to explore the north part of New Spain. In 1540 Vasquez de Coronado made it through present day Arizona and as far north to the present day state of Kansas making this the first authorized Spanish/ European exploration of the American Southwest. Spanish explorers were being watched by the natives not only living in Coyame, but in the northern area of Mexico and the southwestern U.S. Just in the state of Chihuahua there was more than 200 different Indian groups living there191.The Teyas (Tejas) Indians were encountered by these first Spanish Explorers. Texas would later get its name from these Indians. The explorers’ encomiendas could not be missed, consisting not only of all their provisions for months of travel but of hundreds of livestock and hundreds of families of settlers and Indian slaves. Encomiendas would not be complete without the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries to perform the blessings and masses and to help with convert the savage infidels (what they called the Native Indians) that they encountered. By 1560 there were about 20,000 Spaniard settlers in New Spain 11. The colonial period had begun. This is the start of pueblos (civilian towns) and missions (missions) that began to appear in New Spain.

In 1562, during his exploration of the northern part of New Spain, Captain Francisco De Ibarra named the present day New Mexico and the Mexican states of Durango, Coahuila, Chihuahua as the territory of Nueva Viscaya. He brought with him Captain Rodrigo Del Rio Y de la Loza, an expert miner, and Gabriel De Ontiveros, an expert cattle raiser. These would be considered the pioneers for what would be the future mining and cattle industry in the state of Chihuahua and therefore the American southwest. Rodrigo Del Rio discovered silver and therefore a silver mine was established in Santa Barbara in the southern most part of present day Chihuahua 12, 13, 138. This area was established in 1567 and was considered the northern most post of New Spain at the time191. Captain Rodrigo Del Rio would serve as Governor and Captain General of this area. He would also make a request to the Viceroy to send missionaries to this area. The Spanish explorers used the trails that the natives established, which would lead the curious explorers to find more Indian settlements 253. The tribes found in that area were the Chichimecas and the Tepehuanes 108. The Spaniards used these Indians, part of the 200 tribal groups inhabiting the territory, as free labor 138, 191. A huge influx of people moved to this town where mines still remain 450 years later and still produce lead, silver, gold, zinc and fluorite.

In 1581, three missionaries curious about where the Conchos River ended went northward exploring from the Southern part of the state of Chihuahua. Agustin Rodriguez, Francisco Lopez and Juan de Santa Maria explored the area where the Rio Grande and Conchos river join. This area is present day Presidio, Texas. They encountered Indian tribes which they documented 22, 138. Juan de Miranda sends a report to the Viceroy that the Indians living in the area of Coyame were hard to communicate with due to no interpreter 257. Many Spaniards hearing of the Indian settlements in that area latter followed. These Spaniards were looking for slaves to work the mines of the state of Chihuahua. Many Indians around the area of Coyame were captured and brought to the mines to work