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

CHAPTER 18 THE MAESTRE DE CAMPO HELD RESPONSIBLE

Chapter 18 The Maestre de Campo Held Responsible t en days before fiscal Benavente filed charges against Vázquez de Coronado for mistreatment of Indians in Tierra Nueva, licenciado Tejada issued an opinión that the maestre de campo of the expedition , García López de Cárdenas, was culpable for some of that mistreatment. Therefore, Tejada ordered that a copy of the pesquisa record be prepared and sent to the Council of the Indies in Spain, so that proceedings could be instituted against López de Cárdenas, if the Council saw fit. Prosecution of the former maestre de campo could not be carried out by the audienciain México City because López de Cárdenas, now known as Ramírez de Cárdenas,1 had returned to his home in Madrid to take possession of the entail held by his older brother who had died while the expedition had been in Tierra Nueva.2 López de Cárdenas had received a license to travel to the Indies in May 1535, Perú his planned destination.3 It is possible that he crossed to the New World in the samefleetthat carried ViceroyMendoza and Vázquez de Coronado , but he spent ayear in Cuba and Santa Marta before making his way to Nueva España. There the viceroy was delivered a royal cédula directing him The Penalty Paid by García López de Cárdenas T The Maestre de Campo Held Responsible 337 to favor López de Cárdenas with an official position "because he has served us in Spain, Italy, and other places."4 According to López de Cárdenas himself , he was in Oaxaca for three years at Mendozas behest, setding disputes between Indians and Spaniards.5 Then, in 1538, he was appointed alguacil mayor of the audiencia.6 Sometime after Vázquez de Coronado had begun preparations for the expedition to Tierra Nueva, the viceroy ordered López de Cárdenas to join him as captain of a company of horsemen.7 His high status within the expedition is evident in the 12 horses, many servants, muleteer, and black slaves he took with him, as well as in his position as captain.8 Only a few days into the expeditions northward journey, Lope de Samaniego, who had been designated maestre de campo by the viceroy, was killed while attempting to obtain provisions from Indians at Chiameda.9 Feeling certain that the viceroys approval would be forthcoming, as indeed it was,Vázquez de Coronado appointed López de Cárdenas as maestre de campo in Samaniegos place. He was not anxious to occupy the office and was said to havebeen burdened by it when he acquiesced to the captain general s nomination.10 Nevertheless , he served as maestre de campo for more than a year, until he broke or dislocated his arm badly in May 1541 while the expedition was on the Southern Great Plains. He was therefore present at the battle of Cíbola/Hawikkuh, oversaw occupation of the Tiguex pueblo Coofor as winter quarters for the expedition, commanded the siege of Pueblo del Arenal, and was in charge of at least some of the requisitioning and purchase of clothing from Pueblo Indians during the winter of 1540-1541, all events involving alleged misdeeds toward indigenous people. After the end of the Tierra Nueva expedition, López de Cárdenas had litde time to enjoy his increased wealth and status before, onJanuary 7,1546, licenciadoJuan de Villalobos, fiscal of the Council of the Indies, after a review of Tejadas investigation record sent from México City, ordered him imprisoned and lodged formal complaints against him. He was charged with rapes, robbery, burnings, unleashing dogs, and other brutality committed against the natives of Tierra Nueva. The fiscal asserted that the people of Tiguex had 338 ChapteriS risen up in self defense because of the maestre de campos actions and that he had broken his solemn oath of security by burning Indians who surrendered at Pueblo del Arenal.11 For several months, while the fiscals investigation got under way, Ramírez de Cárdenas was confined to the Torre de Homenaje in the town of Pinto south of Madrid.12 There, his sworn statement was taken in February 1546. In this statement the former maestre de campo presented himself and the other Spaniards as long-suffering and slow to anger...