Came Men on Horses: The Conquistador Expeditions of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and Don Juan de Oñate

12. Renegade Conquistadors

147 12 Renegade Conquistadors So great was the hardship endured before we reached water that only those of our people who witnessed the ordeal will believe how much we suffered. Captain Castaño de sosa 1 Even as Antonio de Espejo was exploring in present New Mexico, King Philip II had issued his decree authorizing the viceroy in Mexico to search for the proper person to lead a colonization effort into Tierra Nueva. It was mandatory that the person have his own wealth to finance the venture .The Spanish Crown was far from having any interest in backing such excursions, as historian Stafford Poole states: “Royal finances in Spain throughout the sixteenth century were precarious at best, but during the forty-two year reign of Philip II the crown lurched from one fiscal crisis to another.”2 In November 1584, Espejo made a substantial offer to lead another expedition to settle New Mexico, to include 24 Franciscan friars; 400 men, 100 with their wives and children; 4 army captains and 100 soldiers ; 1,000 mares and “the necessary number of stallions”; 4,000 cows and bulls; 800 horses; 50 pack animals laden with provisions; 1,000 sheep, 148 R e n e g a d e C o n q u i s t a d o R s male and female; 50 boxes of iron objects; dried beef from 500 cows; a supply of iron bars; and bellows and pipes for metal work and tools.3 The selection of members for an official expedition came slowly. Espejo’s offer was still pending in 1586 when he died in Havana on his way to Spain. Death thus likely denied him the honor of becoming the conqueror of New Mexico, and the opportunity was left open to other men of ambition.4 Even as the viceroy was considering possible candidates for an approved colonization effort, other, illegal intrusions into the north were being conducted. The call of New Spain’s northern frontier was simply too strong for some Spanish men to resist. One such person was Gaspar Castaño de Sosa, lieutenant governor of Nuevo León province on the northeastern frontier. An aggressive, tough-minded man, he had been involved in founding several cities in the province,as well as in developing silver mining. But things had not gone well. The mines were not producing enough, settlement was stagnant, and the governor of the province, Luis de Carbajal, had been arrested on charges of heresy—that is, his refusal to obey the viceroy’s order to abandon the lucrative enterprise of Indian slave trading. Carbajal and others had found that the scattered tribes to the north offered an abundant supply of slave labor for Mexico’s rancherías and mines. Raiding parties ventured beyond the Rio Grande, often capturing 800 to 1,000 hapless victims—both male and female—to sell in Mexico.Though Indian slavery had been expressly forbidden by the Spanish Colonization Law in 1573, northern Mexico was frontier country where legalities were often ignored and infractions seldom punished. But Carbajal’s violations had been too severe to ignore, and he was arrested and jailed. Even from prison, he appointed Castaño de Sosa as his lieutenant to carry on the nefarious trade.5 With the province’s economy suffering badly,the tales of great potential wealth to the north told by the Chamuscado and Espejo parties were heard loud and clear by the ambitious and energetic Castaño. He began recruiting a colony to lead to the new country. Word of his plan reached the viceroy in Mexico City, and Captain Juan Morlete was dispatched to visit Castaño and order him not to leave for Tierra Nueva without official authorization. Further, he was to abstain from his Indian slave activities. Castaño considered going to Mexico City himself to plead his case, but in the end he sent four men led by army captains Francisco Salgado 149 R e n e g a d e C o n q u i s t a d o R s and Manuel de Mederos to Mexico City to make his plea.Then, ignoring the orders Morlete had delivered, he plunged full speed ahead with his plans.6 On July 27, 1590, Castaño set out from the village of Almadén (Monclova today) at the lead of his colony of soldiers, settlers with their families, and...