The Tiguex War stands as a somber and pivotal event in the history of the American Southwest, marking the first documented large-scale conflict between Europeans and Native Americans within the present-day United States. This brutal confrontation unfolded during the winter months of 1540 and 1541, triggered by the ambitious expedition led by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. Coronado’s quest for wealth and glory brought him and his forces into direct conflict with the indigenous Tiwa people and other Puebloan tribes residing along the fertile Rio Grande valley, in a region then known as the Tiguex Province. This province encompassed the lands north and south of what is now Bernalillo, New Mexico.
The narrative of the Tiguex War is one of cultural collision, misunderstanding, and ultimately, tragic violence. It is a story woven with threads of exploration, conquest, and the desperate struggle for survival by the native inhabitants of the land. While historical accounts offer fragmented perspectives, they paint a vivid picture of the events that transpired, leaving an indelible mark on the region’s history.
The Coronado Expedition: A Force of Conquest
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s expedition was an undertaking of considerable scale and ambition. Driven by rumors of vast riches and fabled cities of gold, Coronado assembled a formidable force to explore and claim the lands north of New Spain (present-day Mexico). The expedition comprised approximately 350 European soldiers, a substantial number of accompanying Spanish spouses, slaves, and servants. In addition, Coronado enlisted the support of as many as 2,000 Mexican Indian allies, primarily warriors from Aztec, Tarascan, and other tribes from central and western Mexico. These indigenous allies played a crucial role in the expedition’s military strength and logistical support.
The expedition’s arrival in the Southwest was not only marked by a significant number of people but also by the introduction of European livestock on a massive scale. Thousands of animals, including horses, mules, sheep, cattle, and possibly pigs, accompanied the expedition, forever changing the landscape and ecological balance of the region. These animals would become a source of sustenance for the Spanish but also a point of contention with the Puebloan people, who relied on the land for their own survival.
Coronado’s initial encounter with the Puebloan people occurred at the Zuni pueblo of Hawikuh, also known as Hawikku, Cíbola, or Cibola. Fueled by the belief that this pueblo was one of the legendary "Seven Cities of Gold," Coronado launched an attack, conquering the Zuni after a fierce resistance. This initial act of aggression set the tone for future interactions between the Spanish and the Puebloan tribes.
Shortly after the conquest of Hawikuh, Coronado received a visit from a delegation from Pecos Pueblo (now Pecos National Historical Park). Among the leaders of this delegation was a man who stood out due to his unusual mustache, a rare feature among Native Americans. The Spanish dubbed him "Bigotes," meaning "mustaches" in Spanish. Recognizing the potential value of Bigotes’s knowledge, Coronado dispatched Hernando de Alvarado, one of his trusted officers, to explore the lands to the east, guided by Bigotes.
Alvarado’s journey, accompanied by twenty-three other Spaniards and an unknown number of Mexican Indian allies, led them past the formidable Acoma Pueblo and into the heart of the Rio Grande valley. This marked the beginning of the Spanish incursion into the Tiguex Province, the stage for the impending conflict.
The Tiguex Province: A Land of Plenty
The Tiguex Province, named after the Tiwa Puebloans who inhabited the region, was a cluster of twelve or thirteen pueblos strategically located along both sides of the Rio Grande. The Spanish chroniclers described the province as the most prosperous area they had encountered in the region. The fertile land, nourished by the Rio Grande, supported extensive irrigated cornfields, providing sustenance for the Puebloan people.
Alvarado’s expedition continued north along the Rio Grande, reaching as far as Taos Pueblo. Along the way, the Spanish claimed the land for Spain, asserting their dominion over the Puebloan communities. Eventually, Alvarado and his party arrived at Bigotes’s community of Pecos, the easternmost of the pueblos with established trade connections with the Plains Indians.
Intrigued by Bigotes’s descriptions of vast buffalo herds, Alvarado journeyed five days east to witness the spectacle for himself. Upon his return to Tiguex, he was joined by an advance party led by Field Master García López de Cárdenas. The reports from Alvarado and Cárdenas painted a picture of a land ripe for settlement, prompting Coronado to decide to move the entire expedition to the Tiguex Province for the approaching winter.
Seeds of Conflict: Exploitation and Abuse
The decision to establish a winter headquarters in the Tiguex Province proved to be a fatal turning point in the relationship between the Spanish and the Puebloan people. To secure a suitable base of operations, Cárdenas commandeered the pueblo that the Spaniards renamed Coofor (likely referring to the Tiwa pueblo of Ghufoor, also called Coofor or Alcanfor), forcibly evicting its inhabitants with only the clothes on their backs. While Spanish accounts attempted to portray this displacement as voluntary, archaeological evidence uncovered in the 1930s revealed signs of a violent battle, suggesting a far more brutal reality.
Coronado used Coofor as a military base from which to demand supplies from the Tiwa, Keres, and Tewa pueblos in the surrounding area. Initially, the Spanish traded beads and trinkets for food and clothing. However, as resources became scarce, the Puebloans resisted further trades. Coronado responded by ordering his men to simply take what they needed, escalating tensions and resentment.
The winter of 1540-41 brought further hardship and abuse. Spanish soldiers committed acts of violence against Puebloan women, including rape. The expedition’s livestock consumed vast quantities of post-harvest cornstalks, a crucial source of cooking and heating fuel for the Puebloans during the harsh winter months. These actions fueled the growing animosity and resentment among the Tiwa people.
The Tiguex War: A Conflict of "Fire and Blood"
In December 1540, the Tiwa retaliated for the abuses by killing 40 to 60 of the expedition’s horses and mules. This act of defiance prompted Coronado to declare a war of "fire and blood" against the Tiwa, igniting the Tiguex War.
Coronado dispatched Cárdenas with a large force of European and Mexican Indian allies to conquer a Tiwa pueblo the Spaniards called Arenal. The ensuing battle resulted in the complete destruction of the pueblo, with all its defenders killed. According to historical accounts, the Spanish burned an estimated 30 Tiwas alive at the stake, a horrific act that exemplified the brutality of the conflict.
Faced with overwhelming force, the Tiwa abandoned their riverside pueblos and sought refuge in mesa-top strongholds. The Spanish accounts mention one such stronghold, called Moho. Coronado laid siege to Moho for approximately 80 days, from January to March 1541. Deprived of water, the defenders of Moho attempted a desperate escape under the cover of night. However, the Spanish discovered their attempt and launched a devastating attack, killing nearly all the men and capturing the remaining women, who were forced into slavery.
The Tiguex War ended in a tragic slaughter, leaving the Tiwa people decimated and their pueblos in ruins. The conflict served as a stark illustration of the devastating consequences of cultural collision and the brutal realities of conquest.
Aftermath and Legacy
Following the Tiguex War, Coronado embarked on his ill-fated expedition across the Great Plains to central Kansas in search of the fabled riches of Quivira. Upon his return, he found that the Towa Indians of Jemez and the people of Pecos Pueblo had also turned hostile, leading to further conflict.
The Tiwa, scattered and demoralized, abandoned their pueblos, returning only briefly before fleeing again upon Coronado’s return from the plains. They waged guerilla warfare from their mountain sanctuaries throughout the second winter. Coronado, disillusioned and defeated, withdrew back to Mexico in April 1542, marking the end of the initial Spanish presence in the region.
The Spanish did not return to the area for 39 years. When they did, led by Juan de Oñate in 1598, they found that the Puebloan people in the Tiguex Province had begun to reestablish themselves. However, the period of Spanish colonization brought new challenges, including devastating diseases and the forced consolidation of pueblos by Franciscan missionaries.
By the time of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and the subsequent Spanish reconquest in the 1690s, only two Tiwa pueblos remained in the old Tiguex Province: Alameda and Isleta. The Sandia Pueblo land grant was created in 1748 for Puebloan refugees who had sought refuge with the Hopi in western Arizona, fleeing Spanish domination.
Today, Sandia Pueblo stands as the only Tiwa community within the boundaries of the Tiguex Province where the Tiguex War was fought. While the landscape has changed over the centuries, the legacy of the conflict remains a significant part of the region’s history, a reminder of the complex and often tragic interactions between cultures in the American Southwest. Fifteen other Tiwa, Keres, Tewa, and Towa pueblos still remain on or near the same sites where Coronado found them in 1540, testaments to the resilience and enduring spirit of the Puebloan people.