CHAPTER XVIII.

PROGRESS IN NUEVO LEON, AND CONQUEST OF SIERRA GORDA AND TAMAULIPAS.

1601-1803.

GOVERNORS AGUSTIN DE ZAVALA, JUAN RUIZ, AND MARTIN DE ZAVALACONGREGAS-UPRISING OF NATIVES-AND FINAL SUBJECTION-POLITICAL DIVISION-SECULARIZATION OF MISSIONS-AND CONSEQUENT GENERAL INSURRECTION-GOVERNOR BARBADILLO-HIS PRUDENT MEASURES— MORE DIFFICULTIES-POPULATION OF PROVINCE-SIERRA GORDA-DEATH OF ZARAZA--GOVERNOR JOSÉ DE ESCANDON-HIS PACIFICATION AND CONQUEST OF SIERRA GORDA-CONDITION OF TAMAULIPAS-ESCANDON IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR-HE FOUNDS NUEVO SANTANDER-NUMEROUS TOWNS AND MISSIONS ARE FOUNDED-STATISTICS FOR 1757-GENERAL PROGRESS OF THE COLONIES.

Ar the close of the sixteenth century Nuevo Leon, as will be remembered, was ruled by the lieutenantgovernor, Diego de Montemayor. The records tell us little or nothing about the progress of the country during his term of office, and after 1611 his name disappears. It is uncertain whether he left the province or died there, and only the names of his two sons, Diego and Miguel, are mentioned. Meanwhile, the Spanish settlers seem to have increased in number, spreading toward the adjoining province of Coahuila, where an active trade was carried on with the aborigines. From this time also until 1628,' when Martin de Zavala was appointed to office, nothing worthy of note is recorded concerning the province. This ruler

1 In 1613 Agustin de Zavala appears upon the scene as governor, appointed by Viceroy Guadalcázar. He is said to have been a wise ruler, his prudent measures serving to check the occasional aggressions of the natives. He was succeeded in 1625 by lieutenant-governor and captain-general Juan Ruiz, attorney of the audiencia of Mexico.

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made himself conspicuous by his harsh treatment of the natives, forcing them as soon as converted, or even before, into the congregas, or congregations, established by Montemayor. The laws regarding the formation of encomiendas were now so stringently enforced that of necessity some means had to be devised to elude them in order to retain the benefits derived from compulsory Indian labor. The difference between the congrega and encomienda existed only in name, but under the former system the law was evaded, while an attempt was thus made to delude the natives by the abolition of the obnoxious appellation formerly

in use.

The immediate result of Zavala's policy was a general uprising of the natives, which it required more than eight years to master. A decisive battle in 1637 restored peace to the country for a time; but a great number of natives had taken refuge in the sierras of Tamaulipas whence at intervals they continued to harass the Spanish settlers. During two centuries Nuevo Leon was seldom free from alarm. The missionaries in vain exerted themselves to restore peace; in vain did the viceroys send troops, settlers, and money; in vain did the venerable Margil de Jesus labor to check the outrages of the Spaniards and to bring the Indians into subjection. The strife continued; and though the natives were the greatest sufferers, in course of time, especially during the second half of the seventeenth and the early part of the eighteenth century, many of the Spanish settlements were destroyed by the natives or abandoned by

the colonists.2

2Such was the fate of Tanguanchin, Laxa, Jaumave, Palmillas, Monte Alverne, Santa Clara, Buenaventura, Bernardino, and others. Prieto, Hist. Tamaul., 84-5. Some friars who subsequently investigated the matter found that all this ruin had been caused by the iniquities of the Spaniards. Among the settlements which had sprung up before the middle of the 18th century were Pesqueira, Santo Catarina, Salinas, Boca de Leones, the presidio of Serralvo, Sabinas, the Tablas, and Agualeguas missions, Cadereita, Huajuco, Pilon, the Mota mission, Linares, San Antonio de los Llanos, the presidios of Santa Engracia and Lampazos, Labradores, and others.

MISSION SECULARIZATION.

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In 1700 there were in Nuevo Leon five ayuntamientos, fourteen alcaldías mayores, and the same number of capitanías. After a season of comparative quiet, affairs were brought to a climax in 1712 by the secularization of the missions and curacies by order of Bishop Diego Camacho y Ávila. In consequence of this impolitic measure the natives rose, and the insurrection assumed such a general character that it spread not only over Nuevo Leon, but over all the neighboring provinces, carrying devastation even far into Querétaro. From 1709 to 1715 the Indians in those regions are said to have killed over a thousand Spanish settlers. It was conceded by this time that the whole system of colonization in Nuevo Leon was a failure.

In 1715 Francisco Barbadillo was appointed governor of the province by Viceroy Linares, and commissioned to investigate the causes of the disturbance. On his arrival at Monterey this officer, who is highly commended by the chroniclers of his time, proceeded to organize a company of mounted militia, for the protection of the settlers. His next step was to strike at the root of the evil by abolishing the congregas, though he was bitterly opposed in this measure by the Spanish settlers; at the same time he founded with some five thousand Indian families from the western sierra of Tamaulipas-to-day known by the name of San Carlos-independent native settlements and missions. The settlers were provided with cattle, farming

5

In April 1713 Governor Francisco Mier y Torre commissioned the exgovernor, Treviño, to enter into negotiations for peace with the Indians, but while thus engaged his whole party was massacred. More stringent measures were then dictated by a council of war, but they were also ineffectual. Gonzalez, Col. Doc. N. Leon, 38-40.

This was a light cavalry troop recruited from among the settlers, and maintained by pro rata contributions of the colonists. This was the first instance in which the settlers were required to pay any tax for the expenses of government. See Prieto, Ilist. Tamaul., 85-6.

Among them Guadalupe, near Monterey, with 1,000 families; Concepcion and Purificacion on the margins of the Pilon, with 600 families each. A great number of families was also apportioned to the different settlements already established. Gonzalez, Col. Doc. N. Leon, 46-7; Prieto, Hist. Tamaul.,

implements, and everything needed to establish them on their farms, and salaried protectors were appointed to guard their interests. Barbadillo enforced a strict compliance with his orders, and his plan, for the time being, proved a complete success.

The services of such men as Barbadillo, however, were also required in Mexico, and scarcely had order and peace been restored in Nuevo Leon, when he was recalled. This was the signal for the colonists, who had suffered by his policy, to revenge themselves on the natives. Contributions were refused to maintain the militia, which was soon disbanded; the defenseless natives in the settlements were again subjected to extortions and maletreatment of every kind, which abuses the protectors were powerless to check, and thousands of them again sought refuge in their mountain homes. Linares had died in the mean time, and his successor, the Marquis Valero, ordered Barbadillo to undertake the task of restoring order in the province. He at once set forth for Monterey, and we are told that at his mere presence the colonists ceased from their iniquities, and the natives, mindful of past favors received at his hands, returned in flocks to their abandoned settlements. Barbadillo remained in Nuevo Leon for four years, when he was recalled to Mexico by Viceroy Casafuerte, and the government of the province was bestowed on Pedro de Zaravia Cortés. The incapacity of this ruler soon produced the same disorders which had occurred twice before in that region, and on this occasion they spread to the Sierra Gorda as far as to Huasteca. Revolts and insurrections became more frequent, and more disastrous than ever in their ef fects, and the governors and officials of several provinces with their combined forces were unable to restore quiet.

It now became evident to the government of New Spain that more decisive measures must be inaugurated. In the Sierra Gorda districts and in Ta

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MINES AND MISSIONS.

maulipas the bands of marauding savages always found a safe retreat. Moreover, those regions were suspected to possess rich mines and other wealth; and for these reasons the definite conquest of the

coast region from the river Pánuco to the borders of Texas was decided upon.

In 1810 the province of Nuevo Leon comprised 2,621 square leagues of territory, consisting of one partido; there were 13 curacies, 1 mission, 2 cities, HIST. MEX., VOL. III. 22