The Colonization Of North America Part 5

Development of Nueva Vizcaya.--Shortly after Ibarra left Sinaloa the Indians of San Juan revolted, drove out the encomenderos, and murdered the friars; the settlement was therefore moved to the Petatlan (Sinaloa) River, and named San Felipe. In the last decade of the century a presidio and an Aztec-Tlascaltec colony were founded at San Felipe, and Jesuit missions were planted in the vicinity. East of the mountains, in Durango and southern Chihuahua, mining, stock raising, and agriculture developed side by side. In 1586, for example, Diego de Ibarra branded 33,000 head of cattle, and Rodrigo del Rio, then governor, 42,000 head.

Several new mining districts were opened before the end of the century.

In 1574 Nueva Galicia and Nueva Vizcaya (including Zacatecas and Sinaloa) had a population of 1500 Spanish families, perhaps 10,000 persons living in some thirty settlements, about half of which were mining camps. Guadalajara had a population of one hundred and fifty families and Culiacan about thirty. The Franciscan missionaries had played an important part in the founding of Nueva Vizcaya. They accompanied or went before the explorers and established themselves at the princ.i.p.al mining camps and towns. In 1590 the custodia of San Francisco de Zacatecas embraced ten monasteries east of the Sierras. In 1591 the Jesuits entered the province.

Queretaro, Guanajuato, and Aguas Calientes.--For twenty years after the battle at Queretaro (1531) the Chichimec border was left practically unsettled, under the control of native leaders. But the need of communication with the Zacatecas veins made its complete subjugation necessary, and Viceroy Velasco undertook the task. In or about 1550 the town of Queretaro was founded, and Silao three years later. The marvelous Guanajuato mines were now opened; in 1554 the city of Santa Fe de Guanajuato was founded; and shortly afterward rich veins were opened at Aguas Calientes. These "strikes" caused "rushes," just as those in Zacatecas had done, but they were offset by others in Durango, where Ibarra was operating. To secure further the roads to the mines, new towns and presidios were established along the way, and thus San Miguel el Grande (Allende), San Felipe, Santa Maria de Lagos, Aguas Calientes, Ojuelos, Portezuelos, Jerez, and Celaya came into being. To supplement the presidios, strong houses (_casas fuertes_) were provided as camping stations for travelers and silver trains, and parties were equipped with fortified wagons or movable strong houses.

San Luis Potosi and Southern Coahuila.--For some time the region of Charcas, now called San Luis Potosi, was a sort of No-man's-land between the westward, eastward, and northward moving columns of frontiersmen. It was the home of the powerful but savage Guachichiles. The definite conquest of the region, already known to explorers and missionaries, was begun about 1550 by Francisco de Urdinola, who operated under Velasco's orders, and who is said to have reached the vicinity of Saltillo and Monterey. The settlement of the district soon followed. Matehuala was founded in 1550, San Geronimo in 1552, Charcas in 1564, and the San Pedro mines about 1568. By 1576 San Luis Potosi, the site of rich ores, had become a villa, and before long was the seat of an _alcaldia mayor_.

Mining developments spread northeastward from Zacatecas to Mazapil and Saltillo. By 1568 Mazapil was the seat of an _alcaldia mayor_, under the Audiencia of Nueva Galicia. In that year Francisco del Cano, sent by the "very magnificent alcalde mayor," went north and discovered the "Lake of New Mexico," perhaps Laguna de Parras. In 1575 Francisco de Urdinola, son of the former conqueror, is said to have settled sixty families at Saltillo, within the jurisdiction of Nueva Vizcaya. As early as 1582 a Franciscan monastery was established there, and in 1592 Saltillo was created a villa.

The Tlascaltecan colonies.--Queretaro had been the scene of one interesting experiment in utilizing the natives as agents of control; in San Luis Potosi another was now tried. As a means of reducing the great central region, the plan was devised of planting in it colonies of Tlascaltecan Indians, to defend the settlers and to teach the rude tribes the elements of civilization. The Tlascaltecans had proved their loyalty in the days of Cortes, and this loyalty was insured by their exemption from tribute and by other privileges. The practice of using them as colonists in San Luis Potosi seems to have been begun as early as 1580. In 1591 four hundred families were sent northward, most of them being distributed at various places in modern San Luis Potosi, but eighty families were established at Saltillo in a separate pueblo called San Esteban. Thence in later days little colonies were detached to all parts of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Texas.

Parras; Urdinola the Younger.--In 1594 Jesuits from Durango founded the mission of Santa Maria de Parras, and shortly afterward a colony of Spaniards and Tlascaltecans was established there. Of this district Urdinola the Younger, lieutenant-governor of Nueva Vizcaya, became the magnate. He opened mines, subdued Indians, established immense ranches, and was veritable feudal lord. His princ.i.p.al hacienda was at Patos, but he had others, as at Parras and Bonanza. In 1594 he secured a commission to conquer New Mexico which was subsequently rescinded. A female descendant of his became the wife of the first Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo, a t.i.tle created in 1682 and long held by the leading men of the northeastern frontier.

Nuevo Leon.--A new jurisdiction was now carved out on the Gulf coast. In 1579 Luis de Carabajal, a Portuguese of Jewish extraction, secured a patent naming him governor and captain-general of the Kingdom of Nuevo Leon, a region extending two hundred leagues north and west from Panuco, and delimiting Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Galicia on the north and east.

Carabajal's was the first conquistador's patent issued for New Spain based on the general ordinance of 1573 regulating new conquests. He was made governor and alguacil-mayor "for two lives," with a salary of 20,000 pesos and two encomiendas for himself. He had authority to grant encomiendas, and was obligated to make new conquests and settlements.

Raising two hundred men in Spain and Mexico, he established headquarters for a time at Panuco, whence he made exploring, gold hunting, and slave hunting expeditions.

Leon and Monterey.--Discovering minerals in the Sierra de San Gregorio, near the Rio Grande, in (or by) 1583, Carabajal founded there the city of Leon (now Cerralvo). Securing other families from Saltillo, in 1584 he founded San Luis, near the later Monterey, and appointed Castano de Sosa alcalde mayor. Slave hunting expeditions from Leon proved so profitable that soon two hundred or more adventurers were attracted to the place, for the slaves found ready market at the mines of the interior. When the viceroy checked the abuse, Leon was gradually abandoned. With another colony from Saltillo, Carabajal founded Nuevo Almaden, near the present Monclova. While thus engaged he was charged with heresy, arrested, and condemned by the Inquisition together with almost his entire family. In 1596 Luis de Montemayor, lieutenant-governor of the province, founded Monterey with families from Leon and Saltillo. Three years later Montemayor was made governor, directly under the viceroy. In 1603 a Franciscan monastery was founded at Monterey, and became a new missionary center. Conflicts of jurisdiction between Nuevo Leon and Nueva Vizcaya became chronic and a serious hindrance to prosperity.

THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD

Fray Luis Cancer.--Meanwhile Florida and the Philippines had been conquered and colonized. Shortly after Coronado returned from New Mexico, the Moscoso party reached Panuco. Viceroy Mendoza, in spite of previous failures, was willing to try his hand in ill-fated Florida, and he offered to equip Moscoso and his men for another attempt, but they declined. Florida had been "running with the blood of Indians," but Fray Luis Cancer, a disciple of Las Casas, offered to try to subdue it by peaceful methods. With a royal license he equipped a vessel at Vera Cruz, and with a few companions went in 1549 to Florida to convert the natives. He was murdered by them, however, and his companions returned.

De Luna and Villafane.--But Florida was thought to be rich, especially at Coca, in northern Alabama, and new attempts at settlement were made.

In 1558 the new viceroy was ordered to colonize Santa Elena, the scene of Ayllon's failure on the Carolina coast, and some other point not specified, the missionary work to be entrusted to the Dominicans. In the following year, therefore, Velasco sent Tristan de Luna, Coronado's second in command, from Vera Cruz with thirteen vessels and 1500 soldiers and colonists. Of the six captains three had been with De Soto, a fact which indicates the continuity of frontier interests.

The expedition landed at Pensacola Bay. Three vessels sent on to Santa Elena were storm-driven and returned to Vera Cruz. Establis.h.i.+ng a garrison at Pensacola (Ichuse), De Luna moved about a thousand colonists inland to Nanipacna on the Alabama River, whence an expedition was sent north to Coca. In 1560 the colony returned to Pensacola, where De Luna was replaced by Villafane, who had been sent with supplies from Mexico.

In the following year Villafane went with most of his colony to Santa Elena, but failed to make a settlement, and the Pensacola garrison was soon withdrawn. In view of these repeated disasters, in 1561 Philip II declared that for the present no further attempt should be made to colonize Florida.

The French in Florida.--Notwithstanding this decision, there were reasons why Florida should be occupied. The route of the treasure and merchant s.h.i.+ps lay through the Bahama channel, and French and English pirates had begun to attack them. To lessen the danger, vessels were ordered to go in company, and as early as 1552 a fleet of war vessels was sent to escort them to Havana. But a port was needed to give aid against the pirates, as well as to provide refuge from the violent storms on the Florida coast. Moreover, the French were operating on the northern Atlantic, and it was feared that they would occupy this region.

This fear was realized in 1562 when Jean Ribaut led a French Huguenot colony to Port Royal, South Carolina. The colony miserably failed, but in 1564 another, led by Laudonniere, settled on St. John's River and built Fort Caroline. Just as Laudonniere was about to abandon the place, Ribaut arrived with a third colony, bearing instructions to fortify a position that would enable him to command the route of the Spanish treasure fleets.

Menendez de Aviles, and the expulsion of the French.--Philip decided now to eject the French and colonize Florida, and entrusted the task to Menendez de Aviles, a great naval officer. He was made adelantado of Florida, and promised a private estate twenty-five leagues square, or some 300,000 acres. In return he agreed to take a colony of five hundred persons to Florida, build at least two fortified towns, and expel foreign "settlers and corsairs." In September, 1565, Menendez reached Florida and founded St. Augustine. Ten days later he marched overland against Fort Caroline, surprised and captured it, and mercilessly slew most of its defenders. On the spot the garrison of San Mateo was established.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Spanish Florida.]

Menendez's relentless deed caused an outburst of indignation in France, and perhaps only Catherine's reliance on Philip in her troubles with the Huguenots prevented war. Vengeance was left to a private individual, Dominique de Gourgues. Getting up an expedition ostensibly to trade, in 1567 he went to Florida, and slew the garrison at San Mateo. The prisoners taken were hanged "not as Spaniards" but "as traitors, robbers, and murderers."

New settlements in Florida.--Menendez planned great things. He would fortify the Bahama Channel, occupy Santa Elena and Chesapeake Bay, and in the latter seek the northern strait. As a base for expanding toward Panuco, he would occupy the Bay of Juan Ponce, and he had great hopes of agricultural prosperity.

To carry out these plans, active steps were taken. Before Menendez returned to Spain in 1567, several new Spanish posts were founded between the point of the peninsula and South Carolina. San Mateo was reoccupied. At Charlotte Bay Menendez made an alliance with the much-feared Chief Carlos by marrying his sister, and founded there the presidio of San Antonio. Other garrisons were established on the peninsula at Ays, Santa Lucia, Tocobaga, and Tegesta. At Santa Elena, in South Carolina, Menendez founded the colony of San Felipe, and in Guale (northern Georgia) he founded a presidio.

Explorations in the Alleghanies.--In November, 1566, Menendez sent Juan Pardo from Santa Elena "to discover and conquer the interior country from there to Mexico," to join the two frontiers. Going northwest, he reached the snow covered Alleghanies in western North Carolina, established two garrisons on the way, and returned. Boyano, left at one of the garrisons, made expeditions into the mountains, and in 1567 marched southwest to Chiaha near Rome, Georgia. Being joined there by Pardo, they set out "in the direction of Zacatecas and the mines of San Martin," in Mexico, but were turned back by Indian hostility. On his way to San Felipe Pardo left two garrisons, which were soon ma.s.sacred by Indians.

The Jesuit missions in Florida.--In 1566 Menendez secured three Jesuit missionaries for Florida. Another band arrived in 1568, and went to Santa Elena, Orista, and Guale, where they founded missions. At first they were successful, but in 1570 they were driven out by native opposition. By this time the garrison at Tocobaga had been ma.s.sacred and those at San Antonio and Tegesta withdrawn on account of Indian hostility.

The Virginia mission.--Father Segura, the Jesuit superior, now transferred his efforts to Chesapeake Bay, whither he went in 1570 with six missionaries. They founded a mission, perhaps on the Rappahannock, but soon all were slain. In 1571 Menendez went in person to avenge the outrage. Two years later his nephew explored the entire coast from the Florida Keys to Chesapeake Bay. In 1573, the year before his death, Menendez's grant was extended west to Panuco.

Franciscans on the Georgia coast.--The martyrdom of Father Segura and his band caused the Jesuits to abandon the field for Mexico, but in 1573 Franciscans began work in the province. Twenty years later (1593) twelve more arrived under Father Juan de Silva. From the central monastery at St. Augustine they set forth and founded island missions all up the Florida and Georgia coast, on Amelia, c.u.mberland, St. Simon, San Pedro and Ossabua islands. Fray Pedro Chozas made inland explorations, and Father Pareja began his famous work on the Indian languages. Owing to an Indian uprising in 1597 the missions were abandoned for a time, but were soon restored as a check against the English, who now entered Virginia.

FOREIGN INTRUSIONS IN THE ATLANTIC

The Spanish trade monopoly.--The French had been expelled from Florida, and the coast occupied up to Port Royal Sound, but freebooters continued to prey on treasure and merchant vessels. Spain undertook to preserve the trade and wealth of the Indies as an absolute monopoly. All trade must be conducted by Spaniards in Spanish vessels, from specified Spanish ports to specified American ports. This monopoly was objectionable not only to the traders of other nations but to the Spanish colonists as well. To this economic grievance was added the bitter hatred felt by Protestant Frenchmen, Englishmen and Dutchmen for Catholic Spain, whose subjects were regarded as lawful prey.

The merchant fleets.--To prevent the plundering of commerce in the Indies, by French, English, and Dutch, Spain was forced to adopt a system of fleets sailing periodically and protected by convoys of armed galleons. After 1561 it became unlawful for vessels to sail alone to the Indies, except under special circ.u.mstances. Two fleets left Spain each year, one for Tierra Firme and Nombre de Dios (later Porto Bello) and the other for Vera Cruz. In the later sixteenth century the Nombre de Dios fleet comprised as many as forty armed galleons, but thereafter the number was much smaller, as foreigners cut into Spanish trade. The Vera Cruz fleet comprised fifteen or twenty merchantmen convoyed by two galleons. At Nombre de Dios goods and treasure from Peru and Chile were taken on. At Vera Cruz were gathered the exports from New Spain, the cargo from the Manila galleon brought overland from Acapulco, and the ten or twelve million dollars of royal revenues from the mines and taxes.

The freebooters.--This arrangement was an improvement, but French, Dutch, and English freebooters hung in the wake of the fleets to plunder any vessel which fell behind the galleons, while smuggling and town-sacking grew in frequency with the growing jealousy and hatred of Spain. The prototype of the English freebooters was John Hawkins, whose fleet was destroyed by the Spaniards at Vera Cruz in 1567. More famous was Francis Drake, who in 1585, during his third marauding expedition, went to the West Indies with twenty-five vessels, captured Santo Domingo, held Cartagena for ransom, and in May, 1586, sacked and burned St. Augustine, Florida. Hawkins and Drake were only two of a score of English freebooters who in the later sixteenth century harried Spanish commerce and plundered the coast towns. In the list are the names of Oxenham. Raleigh. Grenville. Clifford, Knollys, Winter, and Barker. The last exploit of the century was Clifford's capture of San Juan, Porto Rico, in 1598.

The English in the north Atlantic.--The voyages of Frobisher. Davis, and Gilbert in the northern Atlantic between 1576 and 1587, in search of the northwest pa.s.sage, caused uneasiness for the security of Florida and of the northern strait. Equally disturbing were the efforts of Raleigh and his a.s.sociates to colonize Roanoke Island and Guiana.

Decline of the West Indies.---The raids of the freebooters, the restrictions placed on commerce, the decline of mining and of the native population, and the superior attractions of Peru, Central America, and Mexico, had greatly reduced the prosperity of the West Indies. In 1574 Espanola had ten towns with 1000 Spanish families, and 12,000 negro slaves. The native population had dwindled to two villages. Santo Domingo, seat of the Audiencia and of the archdiocese, had seven hundred families. Cuba was less prosperous than Espanola, and population was still declining. The island had eight Spanish towns with a total population of some three hundred families and about an equal number of Indians. Santiago, once with a population of one thousand families, now had thirty. Havana, somewhat larger, was the residence of governor and bishop. Jamaica had three Spanish settlements and no Indians. Porto Rico, with three Spanish towns, had a population of some two hundred and eighty families, of whom two hundred lived at San Juan. The princ.i.p.al industries in all of the islands were sugar and cattle raising. There being no Indians in the West Indies now, there were no encomiendas.

THE PHILIPPINES AND CALIFORNIA

A new attempt in the East.--At the same time that Menendez was establis.h.i.+ng the province of Florida, the right wing of the Indies, Legazpi was conquering the Philippines, the left wing. The princ.i.p.al result of the Villalobos expedition (1542) had been to give the name of the Philippines to the Lazarus, or Western Islands. For nearly two decades thereafter nothing was done to advance the interests of Spain in the Far East, but Portuguese profits in the spice trade were tempting to both sovereign and subject, and the king set about making a new effort to share in these advantages.

The obvious base for such a trade was Mexico, and in 1559 Philip ordered Velasco to equip two vessels for discovery in the western islands, to test the chance for profits and the possibility of a return voyage across the Pacific. This order was issued just at the time when Spain was attempting to occupy the Carolina coasts, with a view, in part, to finding a northern strait leading to the Spice Islands. Thus were all these widely separated enterprises unified.

The Legazpi expedition.--To lead the expedition, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was chosen, with Fray Andres de Urdaneta as chief navigator. The spiritual work was entrusted to Urdaneta and a band of Augustinians.

Owing to many delays it was November, 1564, when the fleet left Navidad.

In February, 1565, seven months before Menendez reached Florida, Legazpi reached the Philippines. Three of the vessels were sent back with Urdaneta on board to discover a return route to New Spain. Instead of sailing east against wind and current, he turned northward beyond the trade belt, and entered that of the westerly winds. After a long and hard voyage he reached the American continent off the northern California coast, which he descended to Mexico. At last the Spaniards had discovered a way to return from the East safe from the Portuguese attacks.

Meanwhile Legazpi had occupied Cebu. Portuguese resistance caused a removal to Panay, but in 1571 Cebu was reoccupied and Manila founded. In the previous year Legazpi had received a commission as adelantado of the Islands, subject to the viceroy of Mexico. When Legazpi died in 1572 the conquest of the princ.i.p.al islands had been effected and with little bloodshed. In 1583 the Audiencia of Manila was established, subordinate to Mexico.

The Manila galleon.--In 1580 Portugal was united with Spain, and, until 1640, when Portugal regained her independence, Manila was an important center for the commerce of the combined Spanish and Portuguese colonies.

A regular trade was established from Manila to Mexico and Spain, but was restricted to one or two annual galleons each way between Manila and Acapulco.

New interest in the California coast.--The development of the Philippine trade, the necessity of protecting it from other nations, continued interest in the Northern Mystery, and the opening of pearl fisheries in the Gulf of California, led to renewed exploration of the northern Pacific coasts and to renewed attempts to settle and develop California.

The regular course of the east-bound Manila galleon lay along the path marked out by Urdaneta northeastward from Manila to about lat.i.tude 42, thence across the Pacific to the American continent off Cape Mendocino, and down the coast to Acapulco. The voyage was arduous. By the time the vessels reached the American coast half of the scurvy-afflicted crew and pa.s.sengers were dead, and the vessels needed repairs. Hence a port of call was gravely needed for the Manila galleons.

The Strait of Anian.--Moreover, Spanish interests in the Pacific, were insecure. The Portuguese were no longer rivals, but French and English freebooters were active on the Atlantic and might venture upon the Pacific. Besides, there was the fear that the French, English, or Dutch, operating in the northern Atlantic, would discover the Strait of Anian and secure control of the direct route to the Spice Islands, just as Portugal had monopolized the African route.

Drake and Cavendish.--These fears were made realities in 1579 when Drake appeared on the California coast. In 1577 he had pa.s.sed through the Straits of Magellan. Reaching the Pacific with only one vessel of the five with which he had started, he proceeded up the coast of South America, plundering as he went. In the harbour now known as Drake's Bay, just north of San Francisco, he refitted, claiming the country for England and calling it New Albion. Drake then sailed to the East Indies, obtained a cargo of spices, crossed the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and reached Plymouth in November, 1580. He claimed to have discovered the Strait of Anian, and this further disturbed the minds of the Spaniards. For his daring voyage he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.

In 1586 Thomas Cavendish followed Drake's course. Reaching the point of California, he plundered the Manila galleon, the Santa Ana, and burned it to the water's edge. The voyages of Drake and Cavendish were soon followed by the formation of the British East India Company (1600) and by conflicts with the Spanish merchants in the Orient. In the wake of the English came the Dutch, who had pa.s.sed the Straits of Magellan before the end of the sixteenth century.

Gali and Cermeno.--With the needs of the Pacific coast in, view. Viceroy Moya Contreras (1584-1585) instructed Francisco de Gali to explore the northwestern coasts of America on his return from Manila in the galleon.

Nothing came of Gali's orders, and Moya's successor discouraged further exploration. The second Viceroy Velasco (1590-1595), however, took up Moya's plan, and in 1595 Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno undertook to carry out the project on his return from Manila. He was wrecked at Drake's Bay, however, and his crew made their way to Mexico in an improvised craft. The plan of reconnoitering the coast with laden Manila galleons was now given up for one of exploring in light vessels sent out from the ports of Mexico.

Vizcaino's colony.--Royal interest in the protection of California was now combined with private interest in the pearl-fisheries of the Gulf of California. Occasional expeditions had been made for this purpose since the days of Cortes and Alarcon. In 1595 Sebastian Vizcaino, who had been engaged in the Manila trade, and, indeed, had been on the _Santa Ana_ when it was captured by Cavendish, secured a contract authorizing him to gather pearls, in return for subduing and colonizing California. Leaving Acapulco late in 1596 with three vessels and a good-sized company, he established a colony at La Paz and explored some distance up the Gulf.

But disaster soon followed, and early in 1597 the survivors returned to Mexico.

Vizcaino's exploring expedition.--Vizcaino attributed his failure to ignorance of the seasons, and proposed making another attempt at settlement and pearl fis.h.i.+ng. While this question was being discussed, the king in 1599 ordered the outer coast of California explored again, with a view to finding a port for the Manila galleons. To conduct the expedition Vizcaino was chosen. Leaving Acapulco in May, 1602, with three vessels, he ran all the coasts covered by Cabrillo and Ferrelo sixty years before. At Magdalena Bay, Cerros Island, San Diego Bay, and Santa Catalina Island extensive explorations were made. The capital event of the expedition, however, was the exploration of the Bay of Monterey (probably entered by Cermeno) and its designation as the desired port. One of the vessels reached Cape Blanco, but San Francis...o...b..y was missed, as before.