138 THE CLIMATIC FACTOR AS ILLUSTRATED IN ARID AMERICA. 



prosperous, so far as their prosperity depended upon good crops. Under such circumstances 

 the ignorant Pueblo Indians would naturally look upon the coming of the Spaniards as a 

 blessing. A decrease in rainfall begins to be apparent between 1650 and 1G60, but it is un- 

 important at first, as we infer from the fact that the growth of the trees (and impliedly of the 

 crops) continues to be well above the normal until about 1 665. Thereafter a rapid deteriora- 

 tion takes place, which culminates about 1680 or soon after. During that period a widespread 

 uprising took place against the Spaniards, the Pueblo rebellion which ousted the Europeans 

 for some years. Doubtless its immediate cause was the arrogance and cruelty of some of 

 the Spaniards, but back of that there probably lay a deep-seated discontent. Want and 

 famine must have prevailed, and if the Indians were hke the rest of mankind they doubtless 

 ascribed their misfortunes to their conquerors. 



The further elucidation of the causes of the Pueblo rebellion is an historical matter 

 which can not be discussed at this time. It is worth while, however, to mention a single 

 piece of corroborative evidence. Mr. E. E. Free has called my attention to an account 

 of an old census given by Mr. J. W. Curd in the El Paso Times. In this document there 

 appears an interesting reference to bad crops. El Paso, although in Texas, lies almost at 

 the middle of the southern boundary of New Mexico. The document is a census of that 

 town dated September 11, 1684, and contains a list of 109 Spanish families living near El 

 Paso. It is signed by the Spanish governor. To quote Mr. Curd: 



"While the document is nothing more than a dry and uninteresting census roll, it is illuminative 

 of the terrible devastation and suffering that resulted from the Indian revolt in 1680. This 

 revolt destroyed some 42 presidios and missions in New Mexico north of El Paso, and the remnant 

 of Spaniards and friendly Indians took refuge in Guadalupe del Passo (El Paso). While the 

 Mission Guadalupe was a rich one and additional supplies were forwarded from Mexico City 

 the people still suffered much from lack of clothing and food. The census shows that what crops 

 were planted that year consisted only of maize, which, owing to drought, was an almost total 

 failure. What maize was grown was eaten green, so that there was no supply for winter." 



The full investigation of tliis famine and its effects must be left to the historians. The 

 coincidence, however, between the curve of the trees, an extraordinary drought and famine, 

 the last and worst stages of the Pueblo rebelUon, and the final abandonment of places like 

 Gran Quivira can not be passed unnoticed. After 1680 conditions appear to have improved ; 

 the eighteenth century, although a period of less rainfall than during the time of the early 

 Spanish occupation, was more propitious than the century which has just closed. 



