Great Cruelties Have Been Reported: The 1544 Investigation of the Coronado Expedition

CHAPTER 13 PEDRO DE LEDESMA, THE ELEVENTH DE OFICIO WITNESS

Chapter 13 Pedro de Ledesma, the Eleventh de Oficio Witness A Member ofVázquez de Coronado's Household tiative of Zamora in the jurisdiction of Vázquez de Coronados tiometown of Salamanca, the eleven- or twelve-year-old Pedro de Ledesma knew the íuture captain general at least seven years before they both sailed for Nueva España in the company of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza in ISSS^From the time of their embarkation for the New World, Ledesma served in Vázquez de Coronado s household, accompanying him to Nueva Galicia to take up the governorship in 1538. He was still serving the former governor and captain general in 1545.2 As a member of Vázquez de Coronado s household, Ledesma was included in the advanceparty that went ahead of the main body of the expedition to Tierra Nueva from Culiacán to Cíbola. His status asa henchman of the captain general is apparent in the five horses he took with him on the expedition.3 Following disbanding of the expedition, Ledesma remained in service to Vázquez de Coronado, in which capacity he was when questioned by Tejada in Guadalajara in August 1544. When Vázquez de Coronado was stripped of his governorship as a result of the residencia conducted by Tejada simultaneA Pedro de Ledesma 231 ously with the investigation into treatment of Indians, Ledesma returned to México City with his patrón. He was resident there until at least 1547.4 By 1552, though, he had returned to Nueva Galicia and was avecino and deputy treasurer at Compostela.5 It was evidendy during this interval that he became the son-in-law of Melchor Pérez, marrying his daughter Catalina Mejía, who brought with her as dowry the encomienda of the pueblo of Cuyupuzdán, southwest of Guadalajara.6 In 1560, Ledesma identified himself as a vecino of Guadalajara and said that he had much contact with fellow witness during the 1544 investigation Juan Gómez de Paradinas and his wife María Maldonado.7 Five years later, now about 50, he was a regidor or city councilman in the Guadalajaracabildo.8 But in 1566, he and his father-in-law were both said to be vecinos of Colima.9 As a witness before oidor Tejada, Ledesma, like so many other de oficio witnesses, made long unsolicited statements, the gist of which was that FIGURE 9. Pueblo del Arenal, burning victim striking out at Spaniards, montage of images írom the Lienzo de Tlaxcala 232 Chapter 13 Vázquez de Coronado had done everything properly on the expedition, reading the requerimiento at Cíbola, for instance, and ordering the sieges of the Rio Grande pueblos made with as litde harm as possible to the Indians. Like the other witnesses and probably most members of sixteenth-century Spanish expeditions of conquest in general, Ledesma expressed surprise and outrage that the native peoples did not immediately capitúlate and eagerly become royal subjects. And he explained the warfare between Pueblos and the expedition during the winter of 1540-1541 as occasioned by the anger of the Pueblos overbeing asked for clothing to keep manymembers of the expedition from freezing, an anger Ledesma implied was illegitimate. In Ledesmas view, none of the Spaniards, except for Diego de Alcaraz at San Gerónimo, had anything to regret or to be held accountable for with regard to treatment of the Indians, a pervasive position among all the witnesses. He testified, though, as an eyewitness, to the lancing of up to 40 natives of Cíbola and to the burning of captives at Pueblo del Arenal, despite a guarantee of safety from the maestre de campo. Pedro de Ledesma 233 FIGURE 10. Facsímile of Palo de la leña or firebrand, AGÍ,Justicia, 267, N.3, fol. 89r 234 Chapter 13 A TRANSLATION OF THE TESTIMONY Eleventh de Oficio Witness (Pedro de Ledesma)™ [82r contcl] After the aforesaid in the city of Guadalajara, the lord [82v] judge licenciado Tejada ordered Pedro de Ledesma, a native of Zamora and a resident of the city of Guadalajara, to appear before him, and he received his oath in the form prescribed by law, by God, Santa María, and the sign of the cross. Having promised to tell the truth under this obligation, he was asked the following questions. {1} He was asked whether he knows Francisco Vázquez...