The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, a watershed moment in the history of the American Southwest, stands as a testament to the resilience and determination of the Pueblo people. Also known as Popé’s Rebellion, this meticulously planned and executed uprising saw a coalition of Pueblo tribes rise up against the oppressive Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, now present-day New Mexico. The revolt resulted in the deaths of approximately 400 Spanish settlers and the expulsion of the remaining 2,000 from the region, marking a temporary but significant victory for the Pueblo people and a profound disruption of Spanish colonial power. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 reshaped the cultural and political landscape of the Southwest, leaving a lasting legacy that continues to resonate today.
Seeds of Discontent: The Spanish Entradas and Colonial Policies
The arrival of the Spanish in the late 16th century marked the beginning of a period of profound change and upheaval for the Pueblo people. In 1598, Juan de Oñate led an expedition of 129 soldiers, 10 Franciscan Catholic priests, and a large contingent of women, children, servants, slaves, and livestock into the Rio Grande valley, the heartland of Pueblo civilization. At the time, an estimated 40,000 Pueblo Indians inhabited the region, living in independent villages, each with its own distinct customs and traditions.
The initial encounters between the Spanish and the Pueblos were fraught with tension and violence. Oñate’s brutal suppression of a revolt at Acoma Pueblo, known as the Acoma Massacre, served as a stark example of Spanish ruthlessness. Hundreds of Acoma Indians were killed or enslaved, and 24 men were subjected to the horrific punishment of having their right foot severed. This act of barbarity instilled fear throughout the region, casting a long shadow over Pueblo-Spanish relations.
From 1540 to 1600, the Pueblos endured seven successive waves of Spanish incursions, known as the Entradas. These encounters were frequently characterized by violent clashes and misunderstandings, as the Spanish sought to assert their authority and exploit the resources of the region. The Tiwa War, or Tiguex War, fought during the winter of 1540-41 between Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s expedition and the twelve or thirteen pueblos of the Tiwa Indians, proved particularly devastating, further straining relations between the two cultures.
The establishment of the first permanent Spanish settlement in 1598 brought about a new era of colonial exploitation. The Pueblos were forced to provide tribute to the colonists in the form of labor, ground corn, and textiles. The Spanish Crown implemented the encomienda system, granting individual Spaniards control over the labor of a specified number of Native Americans as a reward for their service. These encomiendas were quickly established along the Rio Grande, restricting Pueblo access to fertile farmlands and vital water sources, and placing an immense burden on Pueblo labor.
Assault on Tradition: Religious Persecution and Cultural Suppression
Perhaps the most deeply resented aspect of Spanish rule was the systematic assault on Pueblo traditional religion and cultural practices. Franciscan priests established missions in numerous Pueblo villages, aiming to convert the indigenous population to Christianity and integrate them into the Spanish colonial system. While the Franciscans initially tolerated some outward manifestations of traditional religion, as long as the Pueblo people attended mass and maintained a public facade of Catholicism, this tolerance soon eroded.
In 1608, the Franciscans, fearing abandonment of the province by Spain, baptized seven thousand Pueblos in an attempt to demonstrate the success of their missionary efforts. However, under the zealous leadership of figures like Fray Alonso de Posada, who served in New Mexico from 1656 to 1665, the suppression of Pueblo religious practices intensified. Kachina dances, central to Pueblo spiritual life, were outlawed, and missionaries were ordered to seize and burn sacred objects such as masks, prayer sticks, and effigies. The use of entheogenic drugs, crucial to traditional religious ceremonies, was also strictly forbidden.
Spanish officials who dared to challenge the authority of the Franciscans, such as Nicolas de Aguilar, faced accusations of heresy and were subjected to the scrutiny of the Inquisition. This climate of religious persecution fueled resentment and resistance among the Pueblo people, who saw their spiritual heritage under threat of extinction.
Drought, Famine, and the Rise of Popé
The 1670s brought further hardship to the Pueblo people in the form of a severe drought, leading to widespread famine and increased raids by Apache tribes, which the Spanish and Pueblo soldiers were unable to effectively counter. Fray Alonso de Benavides documented the dire conditions in letters to the King of Spain, describing how both Spanish inhabitants and Indians were reduced to eating hides and cart straps to survive.
This period of crisis culminated in 1675 when Governor Juan Francisco Treviño ordered the arrest of forty-seven Pueblo medicine men, accusing them of practicing "sorcery." Four were sentenced to death by hanging, and three of those sentences were carried out, while the fourth prisoner committed suicide. The remaining men were publicly whipped and imprisoned.
The Pueblo leaders responded with a show of force, marching on Santa Fe, where the prisoners were held. With many Spanish soldiers away fighting the Apache, Governor Treviño was compelled to release the prisoners to avoid further conflict. Among those released was a San Juan Indian named Popé, who would become the key leader of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
Following his release, Popé retreated to Taos Pueblo, far from the Spanish capital, and spent the next five years meticulously planning and orchestrating a revolt against Spanish rule. He garnered support from the Northern Tiwa, Tewa, Towa, Tano, and Keres-speaking Pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley, as well as the more distant Pecos, Zuni, and Hopi Pueblos. Only the four southern Tiwa (Tiguex) towns near Santa Fe and the Piro Pueblos south of the main Pueblo population centers declined to join the rebellion, having become more integrated into Spanish culture.
The Spark of Rebellion: Planning and Execution
The Spanish population in the region numbered approximately 2,400, including mestizos (people of mixed Spanish and indigenous ancestry) and Indian servants and retainers. Santa Fe was the only settlement that resembled a town, and the Spanish could only muster around 170 armed men. In contrast, the Pueblos who joined the revolt could field an estimated 2,000 or more adult men capable of wielding native weapons such as bows and arrows. Some Apache and Navajo warriors may have also participated in the uprising.
Popé promised that once the Spanish were killed or expelled, the ancient Pueblo gods would reward them with health and prosperity. The plan was for each Pueblo to rise up and kill the Spanish in their area, then converge on Santa Fe to eliminate the remaining Spanish presence.
The date set for the uprising was August 11, 1680. Popé dispatched runners to all the Pueblos carrying knotted cords, each knot representing a day. Each morning, the Pueblo leadership was to untie one knot, and when the last knot was untied, it would signal the start of the revolt.
However, on August 9, the Spanish were warned of the impending revolt by southern Tiwa leaders and captured two Tesuque Pueblo youths carrying the message. Under torture, the youths revealed the significance of the knotted cord. Popé, realizing that the element of surprise had been compromised, ordered the revolt to begin a day early. The Hopi pueblos, located on the remote Hopi Mesas of Arizona, did not receive the revised instructions and followed the original schedule.
The Pueblo Uprising: A Moment of Triumph
On August 10, the Pueblos rose up in coordinated attacks, stealing Spanish horses to prevent escape, sealing off roads to Santa Fe, and pillaging Spanish settlements. A total of 400 people, including men, women, children, and 21 of the 33 Franciscan missionaries in New Mexico, were killed.
Survivors fled to Santa Fe and Isleta Pueblo, one of the pueblos that did not participate in the rebellion. By August 13, all the Spanish settlements in New Mexico had been destroyed, and Santa Fe was under siege.
The Pueblo forces surrounded the city and cut off its water supply. On August 21, Governor Antonio de Otermín, barricaded in the Governor’s Palace, led a desperate sally with his available men, forcing the Pueblo to retreat with heavy losses. He then led the remaining Spaniards out of the city and retreated southward along the Rio Grande toward El Paso del Norte (present-day Ciudad Juárez, Mexico).
The Pueblos shadowed the retreating Spaniards but did not attack. The Spanish refugees who had taken refuge in Isleta also retreated southward on August 15, and on September 6, the two groups of survivors, numbering 1,946, met at Socorro. About 500 of the survivors were Indian slaves. They were escorted to El Paso by a Spanish supply train, their passage out of New Mexico uncontested by the Pueblos.
The Aftermath: Division and Reconquest
With the retreat of the Spanish, New Mexico was once again under the control of the Pueblo people. Popé and his lieutenants ordered a return to the "state of their antiquity," with all crosses, churches, and Christian images to be destroyed. The people were ordered to cleanse themselves in ritual baths, use their Pueblo names, and eliminate all vestiges of Spanish culture, including Spanish livestock and fruit trees. Popé reportedly forbade the planting of wheat and barley and commanded those who had been married according to Catholic rites to dismiss their wives and take others according to native tradition.
However, the Pueblo people had no tradition of political unity. Each pueblo was self-governing, and some resisted Popé’s radical demands for a complete return to a pre-Spanish existence. The promised paradise did not materialize, as drought continued, crops failed, and raids by Apache and Navajo tribes intensified. Popé was eventually deposed as leader about a year after the revolt and disappeared from history, believed to have died shortly before the Spanish reconquest.
The Spanish return to New Mexico was motivated by fears of French expansion into the Mississippi Valley and the desire to create a defensive frontier against nomadic Indian tribes. In August 1692, Diego de Vargas marched to Santa Fe unopposed. On September 14, he proclaimed a formal act of repossession, but faced resistance from the Pueblo people. It was followed by the second Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 gained the Pueblo Indians a measure of freedom from future Spanish efforts to eradicate their culture and religion following the reconquest.