WHITE] HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ACOMA 27 



It was decided to send Don Vicente Zaldivar, the brother of Don 

 Juan, to piniish the Aconias. Not only was revenge in order but 

 other pueblos must not see Acoma remain victorious. So on the 

 21st of Januarj', 1599, Captain Vicente de Zaldivar arrived at Acoma 

 with 70 men, including Villagrd. It is said that Zutucapan was very 

 defiant. Other leaders, especially one Chumpo, urged the removal 

 of women and children from the mesa before any fighting began. 

 Zutucapan and his followers were very confident, however, and 

 everj'one remained in the pueblo. 



The fight began. Zaldivar sent most of his men to engage the 

 Indians at the trail, while 12 men stealthily ascended the south mesa, 

 xmnoticed by the Indians, and gained the summit. The fight lasted 

 two or three days. According to Villagrd the siege must have resem- 

 bled the siege of Troy; great struggles of great heroes rocked the 

 mesa. As a matter of fact, the Spaniards lost only one man. When 

 they finally gained the village they killed many Indians and burned 

 their houses. Chumpo, he who had counseled caution, was allowed 

 to settle on the plain below with his followers.'^ 



It is said that the Acomas saw Santiago hovering over the Span- 

 iards on a white horse during the fight. The Spaniards were as 

 ready to believe this as were the Indians.''^ 



The Acoma people were soon back on the top of their mesa. And 

 they were far from friendly. Father Zili'ate Salmeron is said to have 

 "pacified" the Acomas about 1620. In his Relaci6n he states that 

 one Capt. Gerdnimo Marquez had told him that he had once seen 

 on the walls of an estufa at Acoma some pictui'es of Aztecs. The 

 Acomas said that these people had come from the west some years 

 previous; and since they had never seen any people like them, they 

 had painted their likeness on the walls of their estufa. When they 

 left, the Aztecs went toward the Rio Grande pueblos. Father Zarate 

 made inquiry at some of the Rio Grande pueblos; and although he 

 was frequently told about these strangers, he never succeeded in 

 absolutelj" identifying them as people from Mexico.'^ 



In 1629 (appro.ximately) Father Juan Ramirez went to Acoma. 

 He chose this pueblo because he had heard that they were the most 

 rebellious of all the tribes. Upon (or shortly after) his arrival he 

 restored a child, who had just expired, with holy water and appro- 



'= It is said that COO accompanied Chumpo. The total population was estimated at 6,000, which is at 

 least four times too large, 1 believe. 



'•' In a letter to the viceroy, the Count o( Monterey, dated Mar. 2, 1599, Onate wrote as follows: 

 ". . . because my maese de campo was not as cautious as he should have been, they killed him with 12 

 companions in a great pueblo and fortress called Acoma, which must contain about 3,000 Indians. As 

 punishment tor its crime and its treason against its majesty to whom it has already rendered submission 

 by a public instrument (!), and as a warning to the rest (of the pueblos), I razed it and burned it com- 

 pletely." This is without doubt a great exaggeration, I believe. (See Bolton, Spanish E.vploration ic 

 the .Southwest, p. 218.) 



" See bis Relacion, translated in Land of Sunshine, vol. xii. 



