Cuartocentennial of the Colonization of New Mexico
June 21-June 30, 1598
Gaspar Perez de Villagrá had returned from his journey to gather maize and Don Juan de Zaldívar and another man who explored the pueblos of Abó returned. Although the group had rested since June 15th, once the three men who had separated from the lead group returned the caravan eagerly set out again on June 21st. During this time the expedition passed many pueblos. Although the expedition found many pueblos along the banks of the Rio Grande all but two were abandoned.
On June 21st the expedition left Nueva Sevilla and traveled twelve miles. They passed the future sites of La Joyita, the Hacienda de Felipe Romero and the Estancia de Barrancas (the latter two towns were both abandoned in the Pueblo revolt of 1680). The caravan stopped in an area they named San Juan Baustita, opposite the present town of Jarales, on the west side of the Rio Grande. They rested here for four days. They held mass and celebrated the Feast of Saint John the Baptist. They celebrated by staging a battle among themselves to show off their fighting abilities. They had Indians from all around come to watch the spectacle. The Spaniards gave the Indians an eyeful; and at the same time a visual warning as to the power which the explorers and colonists possessed.
Although the Indians were welcomed by most colonists some people were still suspicious; they feared that the Indians were conducting reconnaissance missions to discover the Spaniards weaknesses. Among the Indians the colonists found two men, known only as Tomás and Cristóbal, who spoke both Spanish and "the Mexican tongue." One of the men uttered the words for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Although this is the only Spanish the man seemed to know, Oñate took this as a positive sign that future communication with the Indians might not be as difficult as in the pueblos they just passed. The men were Christians who had been there since the time of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa. Castaño de Sosa was the Lieutenant-Governor of Nuevo Leon. In 1590, he found out about a Spanish law that permitted governors in New Spain to colonize lands already discovered. Without waiting for permission Castaño de Sosa led an expedition into New Mexico to search for gold mines. Castaño de Sosa's expedition reached the area near Santo Domingo, south of present day Santa Fe. Tomás and Cristóbal remained in New Mexico after Castaño de Sosa was called back to Nuevo Leon. The two men had lived among the Indians and had married Indian women. In an effort to create a peaceful situation, Tomás and Cristóbal acted as interpreters between the Spaniards and the Indians.
After the celebration, the caravan left San Juan Baustita on June 25th. They set out in search of the village of Puaray. On their northward journey, the expedition passed many pueblos and farms. Most of the settlements were abandoned because the Indians feared the Spanish. As they traveled along the banks of the Rio Grande, the people in the expedition saw planted crops along both sides of the river.
On June 26th, the caravan marched fifteen miles. Don Gaspar Perez de Villagrá's journal does not note anything unusual on the 26th except that it rained and they kept heading northward along the banks of the river. The next day the expedition once again traveled fifteen miles. Oñate got stuck in a field of maize, but he got out. On the evening of June 27th the caravan camped just north of what is now Albuquerque (the village of Albuquerque was established in 1706). The caravan finally had reached the village of Puaray. This was the site of the deaths of two priests, Father Augustín and Father Francisco, seventeen years earlier. When the expedition stopped for the day, Oñate and another man left in search of two scouts. The expedition camped here for three days. On June 30th the caravan passed several villages and entered the Keres pueblo of San Felipe, approximately 9 miles north of Puaray. They continued to the edge of the Keres nation at a spot they called Santo Domingo.