Excerpt from
“The Journey of Coronado”
by Pedro de Castaneda, et al. in the 16th century

last of Chapter XVIII
"You lie; five Christians are dead, including a captain." And as Cervantes knew that he told the truth, he confessed it so as to find out who had told him about it, and the Turk said he kneww it all by himself and that he did not need to have anyone tell him in order to know it. And it was on account of this that he watched him and saw him speaking to the devil in the pitcher, as I have said.
While all this was going on, preparations were being made to start from Tiguex. At this time people came from Cibola to see the general) and he charged them to take good care of the Spaniards who were coming from Senora with Don Pedro de Tovar. He gave them letters to give to Don Pedro, informing him what he ought to do and how he should go to find the army, and that he would find letters under the crosses which the army would put up along the way. The army left Tiguex on the 5th of May5 and returned to Cicuye, which, as I have said, is twenty-five marches, which means leagues, from there, taking Whiskers with them. Arrived there, he gave them their captain, who already went about freely with a guard. The village was very glad to see him, and the people were peaceful and offered food. The governor and Whiskers gave the general a young fellow named Xabe, a native of Quivira who could give them information about the country. This fellow said that there was gold and silver, but not so much of it as the Turk had said. The Turk, however, continued to declare that it was as he had said. He went as a guide, and thus the army started off from here.

CHAPTER XIX. Qf how they started in search of Quivia and of what happened on the way.
The army started from Cicuye, leaving the village at peace and, as it seemed, contented, & under obligations to maintain the friendship because their governor and captain had been restored to them. Proceeding toward the plains, which are all on the other side of the mountains, after four days journey they came to a river with a large, deep current, which flowed down from toward Cicuye, and they named this the Cicuye river.1 They had to stop here to make a bridge so as to cross it. It was finished in four days, by much diligence and rapid work, and as soon as it was done the whole army and the animals crossed. After ten days more they came to some settlements of people who lived like Arabs and who are called Querechos (Apache) in that region.2 They had seen the cows for two days. These folks live in tents made of the tanned skins of the cows. They travel around near the cows, killing them for food. They did nothing unusual when they saw our army, except to come out of their tents to look at us, after which they came to talk with the advance guard, and asked who we were. The general talked with them, but as they had already talked with the Turk, who was with the advance guard, they agreed with what he had said. That they were very intelligent is evident from the fact that although they conversed by means of signs they made themselves understood so well that there was no need of an interpreter. They said there was a very large river over toward where the sun came from, and that one could go along this river through an inhabited region for ninety days without a break from settlement to settlement. They said that the first of these settlements was called Haxa, and that the river was more than a league wide and that there were many canoes on it. These folk started off from here next day with a lot of dogs which dragged their possessions.

For two days, during which the army marched in the same direction as that in which they had come from the settlements—that is, between north and east, but more toward the north—they saw other roaming Querechos and such great numbers of cows that it already seemed something incredible. These people gave a great deal of information about settlements, all toward the east from where we were. Here Don Garcia broke his arm and a Spaniard got lost who went off hunting so far that he was unable to return to the camp, because the country is very level. The Turk said it was one or two days to Haya (Haxa). The general sent Captain Diego Lopez with ten companions lightly equipped & a guide to go at full speed toward the sunrise for two days and discover Haxa, and then return to meet the army, which set out in the same direction next day. They came across so many animals that those who were on the advance guard killed a large number of bulls. As these fled they trampled one another in their haste until they came to a ravine. So many of the animals foil into this that they filled it up, and the rest went on across the top of them. The men who were chasing them on horseback fell in among the animals without noticing where they were going. Three of the horses that fell in among the cows, all saddled and bridled, were lost sight of completely.

As it seemed to the general that Diego Lopez ought to be on his way back, he sent six of his companions to follow up the banks of the little river, and as many more down the banks, to look for traces of the horses at the trails to and from the river. It was impossible to find tracks in this country, because the grass straightened up again as soon as it was trodden down. They were found by some Indians from the army who had gone to look for fruit. These got track of them a good league off, and soon came up with them. They followed the river down to the camp, and told the general that in the twenty leagues they had been over they had seen nothing but cows and the sky. There was another native of Quivira with the army, a tattooed Indian named Ysopete. This Indian had always declared that the Turk was lying, and on account of this the army paid no attention to him, and even now, although he said that the Querechos had consulted with him.Ysopete was not believed.3

The general sent Don Rodrigo Maldonado, with his company, forward from here. He traveled four days and reached a large ravine like those of Colima/ in the bottom of which he found a large settlement of people. Cabeza deVaca and Dorantes had passed through this place, so that they presented Don Rodrigo with a pile of tanned skins and other things, and a tent as big as a house, which he directed them to keep until the army came up. He sent some of his companions to guide the army to that place, so that they should not get lost, although he had been making piles of stones and cow dung for the army to follow. This was the way in which the army was guided by the advance guard.

When the general came up with the army and saw the great quantity of skins, he thought he would divide them among the men, &C placed guards so that they could look at them. But when the men arrived and saw that the general was sending some of his companions with orders for the guards to give them some of the skins, & that these were to select the best) they were angry because they were not going to be divided evenly, & made a rush, & in less than a quarter of an hour nothing was left but the empty ground.

The natives who happened to see this also took a hand in it. The women and some others were left crying, because they thought that the strangers were not going to take anything, but would bless them as Cabeza deVaca and Dorantes had done when they passed through here. They found an Indian girl here who was as white as a Castilian lady, except that she had her chin tattooed like a Moorish woman. In general they all tattoo themselves in this way here, and they decorate their eyes.

CHAPTER XX. Of how great stones fell in the camp; & how they discovered a ravine, where the army divided into two parts.

WHILE the army was resting in this ravine, as we have related, a tempest came up one afternoon with a very high wind & hail, &: in a very short space of time a great quantity of hailstones, as big as bowls, or bigger, fell as thick as raindrops, so that in places they covered the ground two or three spans or more deep. And one hit the horse—or I should say, there was not a horse that did not breakaway, except two or three which the negroes protected by holding large sea nets over them, with the helmets and shields which all the rest wore; and some of them dashed up on to the sides of the ravine so that they got them down with great difficulty. If this had struck them while they were upon the plain, the army would have been in great danger of being left without its horses, as there were many which they were not able to cover. The hail broke many tents, and battered many helmets, and wounded many of the horses, and broke all the crockery of the army, and the gourds, which was no small loss, because they do not have any crockery in this region. They do not make gourds, nor sow corn, nor eat bread, but instead raw meat—or only half cooked—and fruit. From here the general sent out to explore the country, and they found another settlement four days from there.1... The country was well inhabited, and they had plenty of kidney beans and prunes like those of Castile, and tall vineyards. These village settlements extended for three days. This was called Cona. Some Teyas,2 as these people are called, went with the army from here and traveled as far as the end of the other settlements with their packs of dogs & women & children, and then they gave them guides to proceed to a large ravine where the army was. They did not let these guides speak with the Turk and did not receive the same statements from these as they had from the others. These said that Quivira was toward the north, and that we would not find any good road thither. After this they began to believe Ysopete. The ravine which the army had now reached was a league wide from one side to the other, with a little bit of a river at the bottom, and there were many groves of mulberry trees near it, and rosebushes with the same sort of fruit that they have in France. They made verjuice from the unripe grapes at this ravine, although there were ripe ones. There were walnuts and the same kind of fowls as in New Spain, and large quantities of prunes like those of Castile. During this journey a Teya was seen to shoot a bull right through both shoulders with an arrow, which would be a good shot for a musket. These people are very intelligent; the women are well made and modest. They cover their whole body. They wear shoes and buskins made of tanned skin. The women wear cloaks over their small under petticoats, with sleeves gathered up at the shoulders, all of skin, and some wore something like little sanbenitos3 with a fringe, which reached halfway down the thigh over the petticoat.

The army rested several days in this ravine and explored the country.
Up to this point they had made thirty-seven days' marches, traveling six or seven leagues a day. It had been the duty of one man to measure and count his steps. They found that it was 250 leagues to the settlements.4 When the general Francisco Vazquez realized this, and saw that they had been deceived by the Turk heretofore, &C as the provisions were giving out and there was no country around here where they could procure more, he called the captains and ensigns together to decide on what they thought ought to be done. They all agreed that the general should go in search of Quivira with thirty horsemen and half a dozen foot-soldiers, and that Don Tristan de Arellano should go back to Tiguex with all the army. When the men in the army learned of this decision, they begged their general not to leave them to conduct the further search, but declared that they all wanted to die with him and did not want to go back. This did not do any good, although the general agreed to send messengers to them within eight days saying whether it was best for them to follow him or not, and with this he set off with the guides he had and with Ysopete. The Turk was taken along in chains.

CHAPTER XXI. Of how the army returned to Tiguex and the general reached Quivira.

THE general started from the ravine with the guides that the Teyas had given him. He appointed the alderman Diego Lopez his army-master, and took with him the men who seemed to him to be most efficient, and the best horses. Thf
I army still had some hope that the general would send foi them, and sent two horsemen, lightly equipped and riding post, to repeat their petition.

The general arrived-I mean, the guides ran away during the first few days and Diego Lopez had to return to the army for guides, bringing orders for the army to return to Tiguex to find food an await there for the general. The Teyas, as before willingly furnished him with new guides. The army waited for its messengers and spent a fortnight here. Preparing jerked beef to take with tem. It was estimated that during this fortnight they killed 500 bulls. The number of these that were there without any cows was something incredible. Many fellows were lost at this time who went out hunting and did not get back to the army for two or three days, wandering about the country as if they were crazy, in one direction or another not knowing how to get back where they started from, although this

The general arrived—1 mean, the guides ran away during the first few
days and Diego Lopez had to return to the army for guides, bringing orders
for the army to return to Tiguex to find food and wait there for the general.
The Teyas, as before, willingly furnished him with new guides. The army
waited for its messengers and spent a fortnight here, preparing jerked beef
• to take with them. It was estimated that during this fortnight they killed
500 bulls. The number of these that were there without any cows was something incredible. Many fellows were lost at this time who went out hunting and did not get back to the army for two or three days, wandering about the country as if they were crazy, in one direction or another, not knowing how to get back where they started from, although this ravine extended in either direction so that they could find it. Every night they took account of who was missing, fired guns and blew trumpets and beat drums and built great fires, but yet some of them went off so far and wandered about so much that all this did not give them any help, although it helped others. The only way was to go back where they had killed an animal and start from there in one direction and another until they struck the ravine or foil in with somebody who could put them on the right road. It is worth noting that the country there is so level that at midday, after one has wandered about in one direction and another in pursuit of game, the only thing to do is to stay near the game quietly until sunset, so as to see where it goes down, and even then they have to be men who are practiced to do it. Those who are not, had to trust themselves to others.

The general followed his guides until he reached Quivira, which took 48 days' marching, on account of the great detour they had made toward Florida. He was received peacefully on account of the guides whom he had. They asked the Turk why he had lied and had guided them so far out of their way. He said that his country was in that direction and that, besides this, the people at Cicuye had asked him to lead them off on to the plains and lose them, so that the horses would die when their provisions gave out, and they would be so weak if they ever returned that they would be killed without any trouble, and thus they could take revenge for what had been done to them. This was the reason why he had led them astray, supposing that they did not know how to hunt or to live without corn, while as for the gold, he did not know where there was any of it. He said this like one who had given up hope and who found that he was being persecuted, since they had begun to believe Ysopete, who had guided them better than he had”,…..

NOTES:
First Part: Chapter xviii
1. The Keres pueblo of Sia, or Tsia, on the Rio Jernez 16 miles northwest of Bernalillo, the present population is 177.
2. This was the Queres, or Keres, group of pueblos which, in addition to Sia, now consists of Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Cochiti, and Santa Ana. Acoma and Laguna form the western group of the stock, but the latter village was not established until 1699. (H.)
3. These have been identified as the Pawnee and the Kansa, or Kansas, tribes respectively. (H.)
4. Or Cervantes. (W.)
5. Coronado says in his letter of October 20 that he started April 23. (W.)

First Part: Chapter xix
1. This was the Rio Pecos, on which the Pueblo of
Pecos, or Cicuye, was situated. (W.)
2. The Querechos were the Apache of the plains who transported their belongings by means of the travois. All references to "cows" of course mean the bison. The army was now on the Staked Plains of the present northwestern Texas. (H.)
3. This Indian was a Wichita of the Province of Quivira. The tattooing (pintado, or tattooed, in the Spanish text) referred to is characteristic of the
Wichita, whose tribal name is Ki'di ki desh, signifying "Raccoon Eyes," on account of the former practice of tattooing circles about the eyes, covering (both lids. The French called the Wichita "Pani Piques" by reason of the custom. (H.)
4. The reference is clearly to the district of Colima in western Mexico, where one of the earliest Spanish settlements was made. (W.)

First Part: Chapter xx

1. A manera de alixares. The margin reads Alex-
eres. The word means threshing floor. (W.)
2. "Among the tribes of eastern Texas the word texas (texias, thecas?, techan, teysas, techas?, etc., pronounced, there is reason to suspect, as indicated by the last spelling) had wide currency before the coming of the Spaniards. Its usual meaning there was 'friends,' or, more technically, 'allies,' and il was used, by the Hasinai at least (to whom th( word later became fastened as a name), to designate a large group of tribes, both Caddoan and others. . . ." H. E. Bolton in "Handbook of American Indians," pt. 2, p. 738,Washington, 1910. (H.
3. Capt. John Stevens's "New Dictionary" says til sanbenito was "the badge put upon converted Jev brought out by the Inquisition, being in the natu: of a scapula or broad piece of cloth hanging befo and behind, with a large Saint Andrew's cross < it, red and yellow. The name corrupted from Sa Benito, answerable to the sackcloth worn by peltents in the primitive church." (W.)
4. The Tiguex country is often referred to as I
region where the settlements were. (W.)
First Part: Chapter xxi
1. These, of course, were prairie dogs. (H.)
2. The Mississippi is referred to. (H.)

MATCHLOCKS (we found lead balls that match the Buck and Ball load of an arquebus/harquebus matchlock……..

By the late 15th century the matchlock was a subsidiary of the crossbow and by 1550 it had supplanted it as the main weapon on European battlefields and in the New World. It held its predominance until the 1620's, and by the fourth quarter of the 17th century it had virtually disappeared from use.

Matchlock terminology is confusing because it was known by three separate terms: 1) harquebus or arquebus, 2) caliver and, 3) musket.

The harquebus or arquebus was the most used firearm in the mid-16th century. During the 16th century, it was synonymous with the caliver, which meant that they were small match lock muskets NOT requiring the use of a rest to support the weight of the gun. In the 17th century, the term harquebus was used to identify a wheel lock firearm.

The musket was the largest matchlock requiring the use of a rest to support its weight of 20 pounds. It is believed the Duke of Alba introduced the matchlock musket into Spanish service in the mid-16th century. By the 17th century, the English matchlock musket weighed 16 pounds and was 10 gauge. (Gauge is the diameter of a gun barrel as determined by the number of lead balls in a pound that exactly fit the barrel.) Its point blank range was 30 yards.

All matchlocks were based on the same firing principle; a matchcord (a loosely braided cord of hemp or flax soaked in a salt petre solution, allowed to dry, which burned at a slow rate of four to five inches an hour), held by a serpentine, a metal lock or arm, attached to a sear (inside the lock plate) which was attached to the trigger bar (which was later changed to a true trigger). Upward pressure on the trigger bar, or pulling the trigger, acted through the sear to depress the serpentine/matchcord onto the flashpan causing the ignition process. A light spring attached to the lock plate forced the serpentine back to its original position away from the flashpan. For safety, the flashpan was covered by a hinged plate which was pulled back from the flashpan by the firer prior to pulling the trigger.

The loading procedure was slow. The rate of fire was two times a minute, and it required great caution because the lighted match was always in close proximity to the powder.