IV 
Introductory Note 
royal cédulas relating to the Oñate episode which were copied in Seville. 
In spite however of all the deficiencies resulting from Dr. Bandelier’s 
lamented illness and death, the collection as a whole contains much valu¬ 
able material which is not restricted, as was his original plan, to a subject 
so limited as the “ Documentary History of the Rio Grande Pueblos ”. 
Indeed the material is of such range that to understand it one must keep 
in mind the outlines of Spanish achievements in North America from the 
very beginning, as a glance at the table of contents will show. Yet the 
majority of the documents, as was to be expected, relate to the Spanish 
provinces of New Mexico and Nueva Vizcaya and the Rio Grande region 
in general. 
In the conviction that, however far from completeness or perfection, 
the collection as it stood deserved publication as a valuable contribution 
to an important part of American history, the Executive Committee of the 
Board of Trustees, by vote in 1917, approved a series of recommenda¬ 
tions submitted at their request by the undersigned, director of the Depart¬ 
ment of Historical Research, for preparing the collection for publication. 
In pursuance of these recommendations, the task of preparation was 
placed in the hands of Dr. Charles W. Hackett, then connected with the 
University of California, now associate professor of Latin American 
history in the University of Texas, to whom we are indebted for the 
editing of the volumes now presented. 
The instructions under which Dr. Hackett was invited to act called for 
the making of a transcript of the texts, suitable for the printer, the prepa¬ 
ration of a proper translation of them into English, and the provision of 
such introductions and annotations as might be required for their proper 
understanding. It was expected that he would omit from his volumes 
all documents that had already been printed, or of which good English 
translations were already in print, and such few as were of insignificant 
value. On the other hand, in cases where a given group of the documents ” 
could be directly supplemented or completed by the addition of analogous 
documents from among those previously collected by Dr. Bandelier in 
New Mexico and Mexico, or by others, it was desired that such reinforce¬ 
ment should, within restricted limits, be effected. The source chiefly 
had in mind was the Bandelier collection preserved in the Peabody Mu¬ 
seum at Cambridge, whose trustees kindly gave their permission for the 
use desired. With similar generosity, also, Mr. Edward E. Ayer of 
Chicago, the authorities of the Bancroft Library at the University 
of California, and Professor Herbert E. Bolton of that institution, per¬ 
mitted the use of transcripts in the Newberry Library, the Bancroft 
Library, and Dr. Bolton’s private possession. From all these sources, 
additions amounting to somewhat more than one-tenth were made to the 
original collection, rounding it out by filling gaps and otherwise. Foot¬ 
notes to these additional documents indicate their derivation. 
