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89 c h a p t e r 3 Picuris Pueblo Spanish Encroachment and Pueblo Resurgence P icuris, located on the western slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in southern Taos County, was the largest northern pueblo at the time of Spanish contact, with a population of about two thousand Indians. Juan de Oñate visited what he called “the great pueblo” of Picuris on 13 July 1598, soon after arriving in New Mexico. The thirteenth of July was the feast day of San Buenaventura, so Oñate chose that saint as patron for the pueblo, but the name did not stick. When a mission was established at Picuris in 1620, it was under the patronage of San Lorenzo, whose feast day the Picuris people still celebrate every year on 10 August.1 Oñate was not the first Spaniard to see the large pueblo of Picuris, although he was the first to mention the existence of minerals near the pueblo. Oñate reported that he found “a large quantity of ore which had accumulated in the riffles [small valleys between little ridges formed by flood water, where minerals might collect] of an arroyo.”2 The mineral referred to is unknown, but Picuris continued to be associated with mines or the possibility of mines for the next four centuries down to the present day. Although the 1540 expedition of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado apparently reached Taos, Picuris remained untouched by Coronado because of its isolated location. It was not until Castaño de Sosa’s unauthorized expedition fifty years later that the first known Spanish contact with Picuris took place, but the chapter 3 90 reception “was one of the coldest in southwestern history, both in climate and in human relations.”3 Castaño de Sosa arrived at Picuris an hour before sunset to find house blocks seven to eight stories high, making the pueblo the tallest recorded by any Spaniard. No one came out to meet him, not even the Indian he sent ahead from the pueblos he had previously visited. Eventually, Castaño de Sosa spoke to a few of the Picuris Indians, but the reception they provided was decidedly unfriendly. He opted to spend the night at the houses of nearby Plains Indians and asked the Picuris people to bring them corn, tortillas, and firewood, but “they brought [only] a little, almost nothing.”4 The next morning Castaño de Sosa and his men saw the Picuris warriors preparing to do battle. The lieutenant in charge ordered his men to make ready two small bronze cannons but thought better of it after discussing the matter with his troops. Snow to the depth of three feet and the fierce reputation of the Picuris warriors decided the matter. “The men said . . . they should not go to the pueblo because the Indians were a bad sort,” so the expedition departed from Picuris without trying to enter the pueblo. Castaño de Sosa’s men got close enough, however, to take note of the large amount of jewelry set with turquoise and other “rich stones” that pueblo members wore. This piqued the interest of one of the leaders of the expedition, who sent word to the wearer of an armband of precious and semiprecious stones that he liked the jewelry and would like to look at it. The wearer declined, even after the Spaniard made clear that he only wanted to examine it. The Picuris people clearly mistrusted and were hostile toward the Spaniards from the moment of first contact.5 The Picuris Indians refer to themselves and their ancestors as the “p’ inwél ené” (the mountain people; the mountain warrior people). Picuris is called “the mountain pass place” in Tiwa, referring to its location on the west end of the mountain pass leading to the Great Plains. Like Pecos, its proximity to the Great Plains meant that Picuris had a close relationship with Plains Indians such as Apaches and Comanches. Initially Picuris was one of the most traditional pueblos in its resistance to Christianization, and in 1609 it allied with Taos, Pecos, and some Apache bands against the Tewa pueblos near San Gabriel that had “shown so much friendship for the Spaniards.”6 Fray Francisco de Zamora was the first priest assigned to Picuris. Zamora was also posted to Taos and the neighboring Apache tribes on 9 September 1598 when Picuris, along with the other pueblos, rendered their obedience to [3.145.12.242] Project MUSE (2024...

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