THE REDISCOVERY OF NEW MEXICO 1580-1594, The Explorations of Chamuscado, Espejo, Castaño de Sosa, Morlete, and Leyva de Bonilla and Humaña [SOLD]

THE REDISCOVERY OF NEW MEXICO 1580-1594, The Explorations of Chamuscado, Espejo, Castaño de Sosa, Morlete, and Leyva de Bonilla and Humaña 

By George P. Hammond & Agapito Rey

Publisher: The University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1966; Coronado Cuarto Centennial Publications, 1540-1940

341 pages, First Edition, Hardback, quartos in red cloth lettered in gilt

FROM THE SLIPCOVER

Between the famous expeditions of Coronado and Oñate, five other, lesser known, reconnaissance’s entered the American Southwest.  But after the disheartening reports of the Coronado party forty years earlier, what induced soldiers and Franciscan friars to prospect the rumors of a better people, a better land somewhere in the distant north?  The reasons for the undertaking of each of these journeys were as various as the fates of each exploration.  Here, in miniature, the reader is provided with the entire spectrum of motives that impelled the Spanish to penetrate the vast reaches of an unknown land.

The Chamuscado-Rodríguez expedition departed for the northern frontier in 1581. It consisted of eight soldiers and two friars, and the purpose was to reconnoiter the area for possible mining ventures, and to convert the Indians to Christianity.  The expedition returned in 1582, but the two friars remained at Puaray to convert and instruct the Indians.  They were martyred.

1582 saw the founding and departure of the Espejo expedition.  Espejo, once wealthy, was a fugitive seeking refuge when the Chamuscado-Rodríguez expedition returned to northern Mexico.  Hearing about the two friars, Espejo took his party of fourteen soldiers and one priest north.  They covered nearly the entire Southwest, from Texas to the Hopi villages of Arizona.  They confirmed the deaths of the two friars who had accompanied Chamuscado and Rodríguez into the Pueblo country.

Castaño de Sosa was he next to leave for the north.  He uprooted his entire colony of one-hundred-seventy people, and without authorization, and against specific orders to the contrary, embarked upon a venture of colonization.

Morlete, who had delivered the original orders forbidding Castaño to depart, set off in pursuit.  Arriving at the pueblo of Santo Domingo, Morlete embraced Castaño, read him the viceroy’s orders, and promptly had Castaño put in chains.  In no hurry to return, Morlete explored the territory for about thirty days with his shackled captive.  On returning to Mexico, Castaño was found guilty of disobeying the orders of the viceroyalty. He was exiled to the Philippines and died at the hands of mutinous Chinese galley slaves.  His name was cleared after his death.

The last expedition was that of Leyva and Humaña.  This was a punitive expedition to put down and Indian revolt.  But Leyva decided to launch a full-scale invasion of New Mexico.  When a disagreement arose between the two men, Humaña called Leyva to the camp and murdered him with a butcher knife, thereafter rallying the men around himself.  This party journeyed to the Buffalo Plains, the same Quivira that Oñate later traveled to, believed to be located somewhere in southern Kansas.

Related Item:  A companion publication is REVOLT OF THE PUEBLO INDIANS OF NEW MEXICO AND OTERMIN’s ATTEMPTED RECONQUEST 1680-1682

Condition: excellent condition