In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

303 introduction t oward the end of August 1540, a trading or diplomatic party of seven or eight people from cicuique pueblo arrived at the newly renamed pueblo of Granada. 1 this may have been just after vázquez de coronado had dispatched García López de cárdenas west, to follow up pedro de tovar’s brief reconnaissance of tusayán. 2 the party from cicuique had made the 70-league trip, in castañeda de nájera’s words, “because of the report they had been given,” and “they were coming to be of service to [the captain general].” 3 the principal cicuique spokesman , a man the spaniards nicknamed Bigotes, said that “[the people of cicuique] would consider [the spaniards] allies” and offered to guide the expedition through the eastern pueblos. 4 so, on August 29, within two or three days of the arrival of the emissaries, captain Hernando de Alvarado departed from Granada with some 20 horsemen, led by Bigotes. 5 Among the europeans included in the party were melchior pérez, Juan Jaramillo, Juan troyano, and possibly Juan cordero. very likely this group was accompanied by a contingent of indios amigos from what is now central and western mexico. their reconnaissance commission was for a period of 80 days. During that time the newcomers and their native guides toured much of the río de tiguex/rio Grande pueblo area. As melchior pérez recalled later, Bigotes “went ahead, making sure that the indians of those pueblos came out in peace.” 6 And as a result of Bigotes’s diplomacy, it was said that “all [of the people] came forth in peace.” 7 Along the río de tiguex, for instance, Alvarado’s own report has it that “the principales and people came from twelve pueblos. [they came] in order, those from one [pueblo] behind the other.” 8 not all the pueblo people, however, may have been as acquiescent as these statements indicate. for example, the expeditionary rodrigo de frías testified in 1544 that the people of all the pueblos “had come out to [Alvarado] in peace, with the exception of two pueblos where they came forth in war and which he had pacified.” 9 Despite such hostilities, Alvarado “made a report to francisco vázquez about this river” and “sent word to the general to come to that land to spend the winter.” 10 As castañeda de nájera told it later, “the general relaxed more than a little with news that the land was improving,” and he “sent don García López de cárdenas to tiguex with a troop to prepare quarters, in order to take the expedition there to spend the winter.” 11 it is a contemporaneous copy of a fragment of that report that is published here. the author of the original, though not named in the document, was almost certainly Hernando de Alvarado himself. in the report the author writes that “[the indians] came into the tent and presented me with food, mantas, and hides they were carrying. i gave them a few small items.” 12 such a statement could have been made only by the leader of the reconnaissance party, captain Document 24 Hernando de Alvarado’s Narrative, 1540 AGi, patronato, 26, r.23 304 DocuMent 24 Alvarado, who would have been the person with authority to carry out a formal gift exchange. Alvarado had been born in 1517 in the small town of Las montañas in the municipality of torrelavega in the provincia of santander in the modern spanish comunidad of cantabria. He had arrived in nueva españa in 1528, at the age of only 11, with the returning Hernán cortés and went with him on a reconnaissance of the mar del sur. As a caballero of the order of santiago, Alvarado was an elite person, whom vázquez de coronado, in consultation with the viceroy, appointed captain of artillery for the expedition to tierra nueva. it was he who was first told the story of gold in Quivira by el turco shortly after the events narrated in the letter that follows. He imprisoned the native leader Bigotes and transported him to tiguex to be examined there. that examination involved physical intimidation and torture of the erstwhile ally. charges stemming from the resulting dog attack against Bigotes were later recommended against Alvarado. However, none is known to have been filed. He was a vecino of the ciudad de méxico...

Share