Luis Potosí were founded toward the close of the sixteenth and during the early part of the seventeenth century, and there is nothing that requires record concerning their progress. The capital of the same name is situated on the eastern declivity of the great plateau of Anáhuac, in a fertile and extensive valley, bounded on the west by the mountains of San Luis. The oldest records of the town council date back to 1612, the title of city being awarded by the king in 1656. The population in 1604 consisted of eight hundred Spaniards and some three thousand Indians; and about the middle of the eighteenth century, Villa-Señor states it at sixteen hundred families. Most of the natives were distributed among the mines of San Pedro and the neighboring haciendas, and from this time forward the population seems to have increased rapidly.30

29

San Pedro, Charcas, Villa del Valle, Guadalcázar, Pánuco, and other towns were also in a flourishing condition. The mining town of Catorce, so named on account of the murder of fourteen soldiers by savages in ancient times, appears to have been founded in 1772,32 though some place the date as early as 1738.

29 Iturribarria, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, vii. 300. According to Arlegui, 57, in 1666.

30 Statistics concerning the population of San Luis Potosí run widely apart. Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 57, gives for 1793 in the city 8,571, and in the province 242,280; for 1803, 12,000 and 334,900 respectively. Castillo, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 3d ep.v. 497, gives 22,000 for the city in 1787-an absurd statement. Taladez, Not., in Id., 58, 61, in 1794 for the province 168,002. Not. de Exp., in Id., ii. 19, for 1805, 186,503; so Trib. Consul, in Id., 16; see for population at different periods Id., Id., ix. 272; for 1808. Cancelada, Ruina, 73-5, gives 311,503. Navarro, in Soc. Mex. Grog., Boletin, 2d ep. i. 291, gives for the intendencia of San Luis in 1810: 2,357 square leagues, with 22,609 Spaniards, 88,949 Indians, 62,007 of mixed race, a total of 173,651. There were 10 partidos, 23 curacies, and 19 missions; one city, 2 villas, 49 pueblos, 15 reales de minas, 124 haciendas, 431 ranchos, and 18 cattle ranchos. Properly there were 14 partidos, 10 under the viceroy, and four under the commander-general of the provincias orientales. See also Hassel, Handbuch, Mex. and Guat., 224-9.

31 In 1740 San Pedro had 100 families of Spaniards, mestizos, and mulattoes, with some 2,000 Indians in the vicinity; Charcas, 40 or 50, and Villa del Valle 240 Spanish families. Villa-Señor, Theatro, i. 54-9.

32 See Campo, Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2d ep. iv. 374. Five thousand inhabitants are given for the year 1776, in Ward's Mex., ii. 132-3, which seems exaggerated. According to Hassel, Handbuch, the mines were discovered in

PROGRESS IN SAN LUIS POTOSŤ.

309

Cedral was established in 1780, and became a doctrina in 1790.33

The alcalde mayor of San Luis Potosí held the title of lieutenant captain-general, the appointment being made on account of the proximity of that province to the Chichimec frontier, where, however, the friars were actively engaged in the work of conversion. The ayuntamiento of the capital consisted of twelve regidores, alcaldes, alguaciles, and other necessary officials. The title of city was granted by viceroy Alburquerque in 1656, and was confirmed by Felipe III. August 17, 1658. On the 25th of October 1787 the province was made an intendencia.

Of the mining and other industries I shall have occasion to speak later. The only disturbances which seem to have occurred in San Luis Potosí are those on the occasion of the Jesuit expulsion in 1767. When these were suppressed, the province made extraordinary progress, remaining free from political convulsions until in 1810 the country was aroused by the revolution of Dolores.3

36

33 See article on San Luis Potosí, in Dicc. Univ., x. 321, and Iturribarria, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, vii. 304.

At an early date the city had five convents and a Jesuit college. Calle, Mem. y Not., 77; Santos, Chron., 467.

35 The first intendente was Bruno Diaz Salcedo, who took possession on the same day. Castillo, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 3d ep. v. 497. See also in Id., ii. 19-20, 96-110; Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 282-5; Zuñiga y O., Calend., 117; Gazeta Mex., i.-xvi., passim.

36 Besides Mota-Padilla the following authorities have been consulted for matters treated in this chapter: Torquemada, iii. 333-4, 342, 384; Apostolicos Afanes, passim; Villa-Señor y Sanchez, Theatro, ii. 204-26; Zacatecas, Rel., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ix., 179-91; Alegre, Hist. Comp., i. 20529, 440; ii. 24-5, 52–3, 81-2, 156-9, 241, 416 et seq.; iii. 20-1, 64–9, 91-2, 191–2; Arlegui, Cron. Zac., passim; Bernardız, Zac., 26–90; Michoacan, Prov., 95, 115-16; Arricivita, Crón. Seráf., 92, 590; Espinosa, Crón. Apost., 415, 499507; Ayeta, Defensa Verdad, passim; Ribas, Hist. Triumphos, 729; Margil de Jesus, Notizie, passim; Venegas, Not. Cal., ii. 515-16; Dicc. Univ., iv. 375-9; ix. 860-2; x. 168, 1032-88; Instruccion Vireyes, 3, 12, 126; Iglesias, Rel., 289-316; Jalisco, Not., 16–23, 66, 141; Mofras, Explor., i. 266; Lazcano, Vida de Oviedo, 149-56; Alfaro y Piña, Cat. de Guad., 5-14; Castilla, Espejo, 1-297; Revista, Scien., ii. 110-11; Morfi, Diario, 329; Jacob's Hist. Ing., ii. 153; Dampier's Voy., i. 257--72; Salvador, in Doc. Hist. Mex., 3d series, iv. 653; Caro, Tres Siglos, ii. 163-4; Museo Mex., 2d ep. i. 2; Funnell's Voy., 91; Gil, in Soc. Mex. Geog., viii. 493.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE CONQUEST OF NAYARIT.

1701-1722.

THE LAST REFUGE OF IDOLATRY IN NUEVA GALICIA-GEOGRAPHY OF NAYARIT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NATIVES-PARTIAL SUCCESS OF ARISBABA IN 1618-TROUBLE AT ACAPONETA-MASSACRE OF BRACAMONTE AND HIS PARTY IN 1701-REVOLT AT COLOTLAN-THE BAREFOOT FRIARS-MENDIOLA'S EXPEDITION AND THE FIRST JESUIT ATTEMPT-THE TONATI VISITS MEXICO-HIS TREATY AND HIS FLIGHT-PREPARATIONS AND OBSTACLES AT ZACATECAS-CAMP AT PEYOTLAN-FLORES IN COMMANDASSAULT ON THE MESA-THE NAYARITS SUBDUED AND CONQUEST ACHIEVED-PROGRESS OF THE MISSIONS.

AFTER the conclusion of the Mixton war1 it was believed that the powerful blow administered by Viceroy Mendoza to the revolted savages of Nueva Galicia had been final. The utter defeat and rout of the Chichimees, who then made a last heroic effort to throw off the Spanish yoke, had been decisive. The Spaniards enjoyed the peaceful possession of the territory in the firm belief that no further attempts would ever be made by the scattered natives to assert their ancient rights. The Indians had not been finally subdued, however, and two centuries later the struggle was to be renewed. Many of the natives who had escaped death or captivity at Cuiná, Nochistlan, and Mixton had taken refuge in what was later known as the sierra of Nayarit."

2

1 See Hist. Mex., ii. 490-515, this series.

2 The region so called is situated in modern Jalisco, north of the Tololotlan, on and south of the Durango boundary, east of the coast province of Acaponeta, west of Zacatecas, on and near the river San Pedro. In Nayaritas, Rel., 4-5, Nayarit is described as a province of 22 pueblos, lying within a triangle formed by the towns of Zacatecas, Huajuquilla, and Guazamota. It included a valley enclosed by high mountains broken only by the Rio Vara

Very little has been learned about the country since its so-called conquest in the first quarter of the last century. It is still inhabited for the most part by aborigines seemingly but little under the control of Mexican authority, and has become famous of late years as the central stronghold from which the native chieftain Lozada attempted valiantly, but in vain, to restore the independence of his nation. One or two

difficult passes, easily defended against a superior invading force, lead to a succession of wooded peaks, arid mesas, huge chasms, and small valleys of considerable fertility. The natives inhabiting this region became known to the Spaniards as Nayarits, Coras, and Tecualmes; there were also other minor tribes, who together with them claimed descent from the

nia-by which may be meant the Tololotlan. The entrance is ten leagues from Guazamota. According to Apostólicos Afanes, 173, the chief river is the Jesus María y Joseph, probably the modern San Pedro, which is tributary to the Tololotlan. Mota-Padilla and Alegre content themselves with giving latitude and longitude, with general bearings from well known points. It is evident that the early writers knew nothing of Nayarit geography.

Aztecs, a claim supported to some extent by their language.3

In the central parts of Nayarit are two plateaus, known as the mesas del Tonati and del Cangrejo, on the former of which were the nation's sacred temples. The people were a bold race of mountaineers, for the most part savages, their Aztec forefathers having handed down to them only a few religious forms, and a knowledge of agriculture. They enjoyed a fine and healthy climate. In their territory was an abundance of wild fruits, and no lack of game. They dwelt in security under the protection of their own gods, with whom they were content; but what they seem to have prized above all was their long immunity from Spanish and christian intermeddling. Nevertheless they beheld with distrust the progress of the Spaniards, and gradually found themselves entirely surrounded by numerous missions. From their observations and the reports of fugitives they had ample opportunities to study the effects of the new institutions that had encircled their retreat; but their conclusion was that their old gods, customs, and rulers were good enough. Like most other natives, they doubted not their ability to resist, with the aid of their natural defences, notwithstanding their small numbers-perhaps never more than three or four thousand. Circumstances contributed to strengthen their self-confidence as the Spaniards long delayed active measures to subdue them.

The Indians in their visits to the coast, where they were wont to obtain salt in large quantities for barter with inland tribes, or to the Zacatecan towns, came often into friendly contact with the friars and soldiers, always declining their invitations to become christians, and gradually forming the idea that submission was to

3 See Native Races of the Pacific States, iii. 719-20. The region is often called sierra de los Coras. According to Apostólicos Afanes, 8-9, the Nayarits were there when the Mexicans marched south in search of homes, and the long lines of intrenchments by which they defended their land were still visible in 1752.