The Escanjaques were an American Indian tribe who lived in the Southern Plains .
101-720: Juan de Oñate encountered the Escanjaque in 1601 during an expedition to the Great Plains of Texas , Oklahoma , and Kansas . The Escanjaques may have been identical with the Aguacane who lived along the tributaries of the Red River in western Oklahoma. If so, they were probably related to the people later known as the Wichita . Juan de Oñate, governor and founder of the newly created Spanish province of New Mexico , led
202-547: A reservation in southwest Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in the area where most of them continue to reside today. On June 4, 1891, the affiliated tribes signed an agreement with the Cherokee Commission for individual allotments. Wichita relationships were mostly harmonious and cooperative. The Wichita were allies with the Comanche and traded with them. However, they were enemies with groups such as
303-608: A Spanish expedition to the Great Plains in 1601. He followed the route taken by an unauthorized expedition in 1595, by Francisco Leyva de Bonilla and Antonio Gutierrez de Humana . A Mexican Indian named Jusepe Gutierrez , from Culiacan , Mexico , guided Oñate. Jusepe was a survivor of the Leyva and Humana expedition. Accompanied by Jusepe, more than 70 Spanish soldiers and priests, an unknown number of Indigenous soldiers and servants, and 700 horses and mules, Oñate journeyed across
404-495: A captain of the expedition, chronicled Oñate's conquest of New Mexico's indigenous peoples in his epic poem Historia de la Nueva México . Oñate granted land to colonists on the expedition, and empowered them to demand tribute from Native Americans. In October 1598, a skirmish erupted when a squad of Oñate's men stopped to trade for food supplies at the Acoma Pueblo . The Ácoma themselves needed their stored food to survive
505-473: A chief named Catarax ( Caddi was a Wichita title for a chief), the description of their granaries, and their location all are in accord with Coronado's earlier description of the Quivirans . However, they were probably not the same people Coronado met. Coronado found Quivira 120 miles north of Oñate's Rayados. The Rayados spoke of large settlements called Tancoa —perhaps the real name of Quivira—in an area to
606-465: A descendant of the noble house of Haro . Oñate's mother, Doña Catalina Salazar y de la Cadena, had among her ancestors Jewish-origin New Christians who "served in the royal court of Spanish monarchs from the late 1300s to the mid-1500s." She was of Spanish ancestry and descended from conversos , former Jews , on at least several branches of her family tree. Among these converso relatives
707-547: A final policy decision has not been made about the Oñate statue other than its removal today to protect it from damage or destruction. The County Commission welcomes a respectful and civil discussion from its residents about the future of the Oñate statue." A memorial for Oñate was created for the New Mexico Cuarto Centenario (the 400th anniversary of Oñate's 1598 settlement). The memorial was meant to be
808-642: A greeting. On meeting Oñate, they extended their hands toward the sun and returned it to their breasts saying "escanjaque." " Later, Miguel told the Spaniards that the Escanjaques were, in reality, a people called the Aguacane. His information enabled the Spanish to draw a map of the region in which the Aguacane seemed to be located in southwestern Oklahoma along the Red River and its tributaries. If so, it
909-459: A guide and hostage, although " treating him well. " Caratax led Oñate and the Escanjaques across the river to Etzanoa , a settlement on the eastern bank, one or two miles from the river. The settlement was deserted, the inhabitants having fled. It contained " about twelve hundred houses, all established along the bank of another good-sized river which flowed into the large one [the Arkansas]....
1010-471: A hill. The Rayados advanced, throwing dirt into the air as a sign that they were ready for war. Oñate quickly indicated that he did not wish to fight and made peace with this group of Rayados, who proved to be friendly and generous. Oñate liked the Rayados more than he did the Escanjaques. They were " united, peaceful, and settled. " They showed deference to their chief , named Caratax, whom Oñate detained as
1111-569: A history of intermarriage and alliance with other groups. Notably, the women of the Wichita worked with the Pueblo to harvest crops and engage in trade. Pueblo women were recorded to have intermarried with Wichita people and lived together in Wichita villages. The social structure was organized by ranking of each tribe. Tribes were also led by two chiefs. The Wichita tribes call themselves Kitikiti'sh or Kirikirish (" raccoon -eyed people"), because of
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#17327719101771212-679: A large equestrian statue of Oñate was erected in El Paso, Texas , in 2006. On June 15, 2020, the statue of Oñate in Alcalde, New Mexico was temporarily removed by Rio Arriba County workers at the direction of officials. Civic institutions will make the final decision on the statue's future. Oñate was born in 1550, at Zacatecas in New Spain (colonial México), to the Spanish-Basque conquistador and silver baron Cristóbal de Oñate ,
1313-465: A large river a few miles away and he became the first European to describe the tallgrass prairie . He spoke of fertile land, much better than that through which he had previously passed, and pastures " so good that in many places the grass was high enough to conceal a horse. " He found and tasted a fruit of good flavor, possibly the pawpaw . Near the river, Oñate's expedition party and their numerous Escanjaque guides saw three or four hundred Rayados on
1414-538: A large role in the Wichita people's lifestyle. Increased access to horses in the mid 17th century caused Wichita hunting styles and seasons to become longer and more community-oriented. The Wichita economy also focused on horticulture, root-gathering, and fruits and nuts. Wichita people wore clothing from tanned hides, which the women prepared and sewed. They often decorated their dresses with elk canine teeth . Both men and women tattooed their faces and bodies with solid and dotted lines and circles. Wichita people had
1515-597: A population of about 12,000. His description of the Etzanoa was similar to that of Coronado's description of Quivira. The homesteads were dispersed; the houses round, thatched with grass and surrounded by large granaries to store the corn, beans, and squash they grew in their fields. Oñate's Rayados were certainly Wichita, probably the sub-tribe later known as the Guichitas. What the Coronado and Oñate expeditions showed
1616-412: A symbolic reminder of the foot-amputating Acoma Massacre . A local filmmaker, Chris Eyre , was contacted by one of the two perpetrators, saying "I'm back on the scene to show people that Oñate and his supporters must be shamed." The sculptor responded that chopping feet "was the nature of discipline of 400 years ago." In 2017, the statue's left foot was painted red and the words "Remember 1680" (year of
1717-444: A tri-cultural collaboration (Hispanic, Anglo, and Tewa Pueblo Native American), with Reynaldo "Sonny" Rivera, Betty Sabo , and Nora Naranjo Morse . Because of the controversy surrounding Oñate, two separate memorials and perspectives were created. Rivera and Sabo did a series of bronze statues of Oñate leading the first group of Spanish settlers into New Mexico titled "La Jornada," while Naranjo-Morse created an abstract land art from
1818-399: A trial at Ohkay Owingeh , Oñate sentenced all men and women older than 12 to twenty years of forced "personal servitude". In addition, men older than 25 (24 individuals) were to have a foot amputated. According to recent research, there is no evidence of this happening and that, at most, the prisoners lost some toes. This latter theory makes sense, for losing toes rather than a whole foot left
1919-412: Is a 1991 bronze statue dedicated to Oñate. In 1998, New Mexico celebrated the 400th anniversary of his arrival. Shortly before (December 29, 1997), and the close dates are no coincidence, unknown perpetrator(s) cut off the statue's right foot and left a note saying, "Fair is fair." Sculptor Reynaldo Rivera recast the foot, but a seam is still visible. Some commentators suggested leaving the statue maimed as
2020-455: Is believed by many to be the site of the Rayado village. Extrapolating backwards a location near Tonkawa for the Escanjaque settlement fits with Oñate's account. Juan de O%C3%B1ate Juan de Oñate y Salazar ( Spanish: [ˈxwan de oˈɲate] ; 1550–1626) was a Spanish conquistador from New Spain , explorer, and viceroy of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in
2121-528: Is credited with founding the Province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México , and was the province's first colonial governor, acting from 1598 to 1610. He held his colonial government at Ohkay Owingeh , and renamed the pueblo there 'San Juan de los Caballeros'. In late 1595, the Viceroy Gaspar de Zúñiga followed his predecessor's advice, and in the summer of 1596 delayed Oñate's expedition in order to review
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#17327719101772222-749: Is in Caddo County, Oklahoma . The Wichitas are a self-governance tribe, who operate their own housing authority and issue tribal vehicle tags . The current tribal administration is as follows. The tribe owns the Sugar Creek Casino, several restaurants, the Sugar Creek Event Center, and Hinton Travel Inn in Hinton . It owns a smoke shop, travel plaza, and historical center in Anadarko. Their annual economic impact in 2010
2323-404: Is likely the Escanjaques (Aguacane) were speakers of a Caddoan language and probably akin to the Wichita. Given their geographic location, the Aguacane might also be identical or related to the people called Teyas by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado 60 years before Oñate. A few more references in the 16th century to the Escanjaques have survived. It has been suggested that their descendants were
2424-735: Is sometimes referred to as "the Last Conquistador ." Oñate is honored by some as an explorer but vilified by others for his cruelty to the Keres people of Acoma Pueblo . Oñate Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico was named after Juan de Oñate and is currently the only public school in New Mexico carrying Oñate's namesake. Oñate High School in Las Cruces, New Mexico was also named after Juan de Oñate, but in 2021,
2525-703: The Battle of the Twin Villages . The Spanish army suffered 19 dead and 14 wounded, leaving two cannons on the battlefield, although they claimed to have killed more than 100 Indians. The alliance between the Wichita, especially the Taovayas, and the Comanche began to break up in the 1770s as the Wichita sought a better relationship with the Spanish. Taovaya power in Texas declined sharply after an epidemic, probably smallpox , in 1777 and 1778 killed about one-third of
2626-594: The Canadian River into the modern state of Oklahoma . Leaving the river behind in a sandy area where his ox carts could not pass, he went across country, and the land became greener, with more water and groves of Black walnut ( Juglans nigra ) and bur oak ( Quercus macrocarpa ) trees. Jusepe probably led the Oñate party on the same route he had taken on the Umana and Leyba expedition six years earlier. They found an encampment of native people that Oñate called
2727-458: The Escanjaques . He estimated the population at more than 5,000 living in 600 houses. The Escanjaques lived in round houses as large as 90 feet (27 m) in diameter and covered with tanned buffalo robes . They were hunters, according to Oñate, depending upon the buffalo for their subsistence and planting no crops. The Escanjaques told Oñate that Etzanoa , a large city of their enemies,
2828-493: The Iscani , a Wichita tribe of the 18th century. The Escanjaque settlement Oñate found was probably a temporary camp. Its size, 600 tents and 5,000 people, precludes if from being a hunting camp. Perhaps the camp was large because the Escanjaques intended to go to war with the Rayados, or possibly it was formed to trade with the Rayados for Florence chert, a flint favored for arrowheads over much of Oklahoma and Kansas. The site of
2929-551: The Pueblo Revolt ) were written with paint on the monument's base. The county of Rio Arriba temporarily removed the statue on June 15, 2020, which followed wider efforts to remove controversial statues across the United States . It is unknown whether the statue will be returned to its place in the future, with a statement from Rio Arriba County Commission stating: "Rio Arriba County residents need to understand that
3030-481: The Rayado Indians , was located only about twenty miles away. It seems possible that the Escanjaques had gathered together in large numbers either out of fear of the Rayados or to undertake a war against them. They attempted to enlist the assistance of the Spanish and their firearms, alleging that the Rayados were responsible for the deaths of Humana and Leyva a few years before. The Escanjaques guided Oñate to
3131-677: The Rio Grande Valley in search of a rich land called Quivira . In Texas, probably in the Blanco River Canyon near Lubbock , Coronado met people he called Teyas who might have been related to the Wichita and the earlier Plains villagers. The Teyas, if in fact they were Wichita, were probably the ancestors of the Iscani and Waco, although they might also have been the Kichai , who spoke a different language but later joined
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3232-588: The Rio Grande Valley, with whom they interacted. In the late 15th century, most of these Washita River villages were abandoned for reasons that are not known today. Numerous archaeological sites in central Kansas near the Great Bend of the Arkansas River share common traits and are collectively known as the "Great Bend aspect." Radiocarbon dates from these sites range from AD 1450 to 1700. Great Bend aspect sites are generally accepted as ancestral to
3333-648: The Salton Sink . They mistakenly thought that the Gulf of California continued indefinitely to the northwest, giving rise to a belief that was common in the 17th century that the western coasts of an Island of California were what was seen by sailing expeditions in the Pacific. Native groups observed living on the lower Colorado River, were, from north to south, the Amacava (Mohave) , Bahacecha , Osera (Pima) , at
3434-603: The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire —and a retinue of 130 American Indian soldiers and servants. The expedition possessed 350 horses and mules. Oñate journeyed across the plains eastward from New Mexico in a renewed search for Quivira , the fabled "city of gold." As had the earlier Coronado Expedition in the 1540s, Oñate encountered Apaches in the Texas Panhandle region. Oñate proceeded eastward, following
3535-599: The Washita and South Canadian Rivers in present-day Oklahoma. The women of these 10th-century communities cultivated varieties of maize, beans, and squash (known as the Three Sisters ), marsh elder ( Iva annua ), and tobacco , which was important for religious purposes. The men hunted deer, rabbits, turkey, and, primarily, bison, and caught fish and harvested mussels from the rivers. These villagers lived in rectangular, thatched-roof houses. Archaeologists describe
3636-704: The Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma although the Tawakoni and Wacos still lived in Texas and were moved onto a reservation on the upper Brazos River . They were forced out of Texas to a reservation in Oklahoma in 1859. During the Civil War, the Wichita allied with the Union side. They moved to Kansas, where they established a village at the site of present-day Wichita, Kansas . In 1867 they were relocated to
3737-530: The Wichita language and Kichai language , both Caddoan languages . They are indigenous to Oklahoma , Texas , and Kansas . Today, Wichita tribes, which include the Kichai people , Waco , Taovaya , Tawakoni , and the Wichita proper (or Guichita), are federally recognized as the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco and Tawakoni) . The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes are headquartered in Anadarko, Oklahoma . Their tribal jurisdictional area
3838-845: The confluence of the Gila River with the Colorado, in a location later occupied by the Quechan , Alebdoma . Seen by Oñate below the Gila junction but subsequently reported upstream from there, in the area where Oñate had encountered the Coguana , or Kahwans, Agalle, and Agalecquamaya, or Halyikwamai , and the Cocopah . Concerning areas that the explorers had not observed directly, they gave fantastic reports about races of human and areas said to be rich in gold, silver, and pearls. In 1606, Oñate
3939-464: The pueblo. Much later, when King Philip III of Spain heard the news of the massacre, and the punishments, Oñate was banished from New Mexico for his cruelty to the natives, and exiled from Mexico for five years, convicted by the Spanish government of using "excessive force" against the Acoma people . Oñate later returned to Spain to live out the remainder of his life. Of the 500 or so survivors, at
4040-542: The Arkansas River east of Newkirk, Oklahoma . By 1757, however, it appears that all the Wichita had migrated south to the Red River . The most prominent of the Wichita sub-tribes were the Taovayas. In the 1720s they had moved south from Kansas to the Red River establishing a large village on the north side of the River at Petersburg, Oklahoma and on the south side at Spanish Fort, Texas . They adopted many traits of
4141-634: The Escanjaque settlement has not been found and the geographical details in Oñate's account of his journey do not permit a location to be determined with certainty. Two possible locations are suggested: the Ninnescah River about 20 miles south of the present site of Wichita, Kansas or the Salt Fork River near Tonkawa, Oklahoma . Archaeological data best supports the Tonkawa site. An extensive archaeological site at Arkansas City, Kansas ,
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4242-494: The Escanjaque settlement the next day, the Indians had turned unfriendly and he estimated that 1,500 men attacked him. Oñate fought a two-hour battle with them before retiring from the field and beginning his return to New Mexico. Oñate said that several Spaniards were wounded in the battle and claimed that a large number of Indians were killed. A cause of the battle may have been that Oñate kidnapped several women and children from
4343-468: The Escanjaques. Oñate released — or was forced to release — several of the women but he "took some boys upon the request of the religious, in order to instruct them in the matters of our holy Catholic faith." One of those kidnapped was named Miguel, a captive of the Escanjaques himself from a land he called Tancoa, possibly the Tonkawa of North Texas and Oklahoma. Miguel would later provide information for
4444-481: The French in the 19th century. French traders were eager to exchange their goods with Wichita settlements as they traveled from Louisiana to Santa Fe. The Wichita had a large population in the time of Coronado and Oñate. One scholar estimates their numbers at 200,000. Villages often contained around 1,000 to 1,250 people per village. Certainly they numbered in the tens of thousands. They appeared to be much reduced by
4545-618: The Osage and Pawnee", two other neighboring Indigenous groups. Historically, for much of the year, the Wichita lived in huts made of forked cedar poles covered by dry grasses. In the winter, they followed American bison (buffalo) in a seasonal hunt and lived in hunting camps. Wichita people relied heavily on bison, using all parts—for clothing, food and cooking fat, winter shelter, leather supplies, sinew, medicine, and even armor. Each spring, Wichita families settled in their villages for another season of cultivating crops. Eventually, horses played
4646-430: The Oñate expedition proceeded onward for another eight miles through heavily populated territory, although without seeing many Rayados. At this point, the Spaniards' courage deserted them. There were obviously many Rayados nearby and soon Oñate's men were warned that the Rayados were assembling an army. Discretion seemed the better part of valor. Oñate estimated that three hundred Spanish soldiers would be needed to confront
4747-555: The Panis Piqués or Panis Noirs are included into the listing of Wichita sub-tribes, but it seems that there were no known separate sub-tribe which can be identified by this name. One Pawnee splinter grouping known as Panismahas moved from what is now Nebraska to the Texas-Arkansas border regions where they lived with the Taovayas. The Wichita people had a unified language system with minor dialectical differences based on
4848-651: The Pawnee, the Missouri, and the Apache. The Apache were the Wichita's worst enemies, having driven them out of their homes before contact with Europeans. The Wichita people's relationship with the Osage is ambiguous. It is said to have been "cautiously hostile", but many Osage groups attacked them in the 18th century, eventually driving them out of the Arkansas River Basin. Due to geographical isolation, it
4949-445: The Rayados, and he turned his soldiers around to return to New Mexico. Oñate had worried about the Rayados hurting or attacking his expedition party, but it was instead the Escanjaques who repelled his men on their return to New Mexico. Oñate described a pitched battle with 1,500 Escanjaques, probably an exaggeration, but many Spaniards were wounded and many natives killed. After more than two hours of fighting, Oñate himself retired from
5050-585: The Spanish as the Norteños (Northerners). The Wichita people and the Comanche attacked a Spanish military expedition in 1759. Afterwards, in response to the destruction by the Norteños of the San Saba Mission the Spanish and their Apache allies undertook an expedition to punish the Indians. Their 500-man army attacked the twin villages on Red River, but was defeated by the Wichita and Comanche in
5151-445: The United States. These sites are terraced around the Red River in Oklahoma and Texas, and they contain artifacts such as pottery, arrows, knives, clay figurines, and European trade goods. Extensive excavation of these sites revealed large ritualistic and burial structures common in the territory and culture of the Wichita people. After the man and woman were made they dreamed that things were made for them, and when they woke they had
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#17327719101775252-546: The Walnut River site. A minority view would be that the Escanjaque encampment was on the Ninnescah River and the Rayado village was on the site of present-day Wichita, Kansas . Authorities have speculated that the Escanjaques were Apache, Tonkawa , Jumano , Quapaw , Kaw , or other tribes. Most likely they were Caddoan and spoke a Wichita dialect. We can be virtually certain that the Rayados were Caddoan Wichitas. Their grass houses, dispersed mode of settlement,
5353-414: The Washita River Phase from 1250 to 1450, when local populations grew and villages of up to 20 houses were spaced every two or so miles along the rivers. These farmers may have had contact with the Panhandle culture villages in the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles , farming villages along the Canadian River. The Panhandle villagers showed signs of adopting cultural characteristics of the Pueblo peoples of
5454-420: The West and the powerful Osage on the East. European diseases would also probably be responsible for a large decline in the Wichita population in the 17th century. In 1719, French explorers visited two groups of Wichita. Bernard de la Harpe found a large village near present-day Tulsa, Oklahoma and Claude Charles Du Tisne found two villages near Neodesha, Kansas . Regarding religion, La Harpe noticed that
5555-411: The Wichita people "had little of it". He did, however, gain knowledge on the presence of a Great Spirit that the Wichita worshipped. Coronado's Quivira was abandoned early in the 18th century, probably due to Apache attacks. The Rayados of Oñate were probably still living in about the same Walnut River location. Archaeologists have located a Wichita village at the Deer Creek Site dating from the 1750s on
5656-427: The Wichita peoples described by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and other early European explorers. The discovery of limited quantities of European artifacts, such as chain mail and iron axe heads at several Great Bend sites, suggests contact of these people with early Spanish explorers. Great Bend aspect peoples' subsistence economy included agriculture, hunting, gathering, and fishing. Villages were located on
5757-403: The Wichita tribe. Turning north, he found Quivira and the people later known as the Wichita near the town of Lyons, Kansas . He was disappointed in his search for gold as the Quivirans appear to have been prosperous farmers and good hunters but had no gold or silver. There were about 25 villages of up to 200 houses each in Quivira. Coronado said: "They were large people of very good build", and he
5858-513: The Yscani or Iscanis of earlier times), and Guichitas or Wichita Proper; smaller bands are listed as well: Akwits (also Akwesh, Asidahetsh, or Asidahesh, a former northern Pawnee splinter group, which joined the Wichita), Itaz, Kishkat, and Korishkitsu (the two latter names may be a Wichita name for the Kichai). The Taovaya were the most important in the 18th century. The French called the Wichita peoples Panis Piqués (Pawnee Picts) or Panis Noirs (Black Pawnees), because they practiced tattooing; sometimes
5959-445: The advantage over the others in their houses and in growing of maize ". The Quivirans apparently called their land Tancoa (which bears a resemblance to the later sub-tribe called Tawakoni) and a neighboring province on the Smoky Hill River was called Tabas (which bears a resemblance to the sub-tribe of Taovayas). Settlements existed here until the Wichita were driven away in the 18th century. Sixty years after Coronado's expedition
6060-490: The battlefield. The hostage Rayado chief Caratax was freed by a raid on Oñate and Oñate freed several women captives, but he retained several boys at the request of the Spanish priests for instruction in the Catholic faith. The attack may have arisen from Oñate's kidnapping of Caratax and the women and children. Oñate and his men returned to San Juan de los Caballeros , arriving there on November 24, 1601 without any further incidents of note. The path of Oñate's expedition and
6161-462: The better-known aim was to explore and colonize the unknown lands annexed into the New Kingdom of León y Castilla (present day New Mexico ) and the Viceroyalty of New Spain . His second goal was to capture Capt. Francisco Leyva de Bonilla (a traitor to the crown known to be in the region) as he already was transporting other criminals. His stated objective otherwise was to spread Catholicism by establishing new missions in Nuevo México . Oñate
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#17327719101776262-402: The coming winter. The Ácoma resisted and 11 Spaniards were ambushed and killed, including Oñate's nephew, Juan de Zaldívar . In January 1599, Oñate condemned the conflict as an insurrection and ordered the pueblo destroyed, a mandate carried out by Juan de Zaldívar's brother, Vicente de Zaldívar , in an offensive known as the Ácoma Massacre . An estimated 800–1,000 Ácoma died in the siege of
6363-475: The conqueror of the Triple Alliance , and the great-granddaughter of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin . They had two children: In response to a bid by Juan Bautista de Lomas y Colmenares, and subsequently rejected by the King, on September 21, 1595 Philip II 's Viceroy Luís de Velasco selected Oñate from two other candidates to organize the resources of the newly acquired territory. The agreement with Viceroy Velasco tasked Oñate with two goals;
6464-425: The desert itself of a large dirt spiral representing the Native American perspective titled "Numbe Whageh" (Tewa interpretation: Our Center Place). It is located at the Albuquerque Museum . In 1614, Oñate was exiled from what is now New Mexico and charged with mismanagement and excessive cruelty, especially at the Acoma massacre in Acoma . In 1599, after killing 500 warriors and 300 women and children, he ordered
6565-454: The eighteen ton , 34-foot-tall (10 m) statue in a ceremony on April 21, 2007. Oñate is mounted atop his Andalusian horse and holds the La Toma declaration in his right hand. It is one of the tallest statues in the United States. According to Houser, it is the largest and heaviest bronze equestrian statue in the world. The statue precipitated controversy due to Oñate being tried and convicted for many crimes including brutality against
6666-508: The expedition was to locate a port by which New Mexico could be supplied, as an alternative to the laborious overland route from New Spain. The expedition to the lower Colorado River was important as the only recorded European incursion into that region between the expeditions of Hernando de Alarcón and Melchior Díaz in 1540, and the visits of Eusebio Francisco Kino beginning in 1701. The explorers did not see evidence of prehistoric Lake Cahuilla , which must have arisen shortly afterwards in
6767-419: The first map of the region. Some authorities have identified the Escanjaques as Apache , but Oñate's account would seem to distinguish them from the Apache who were by this time well known to the Spanish. They have also been identified as the Kaw , although not persuasively as the Kaw are not known to be on the Great Plains in 1601. It is possible that "Escanjaques" was not the name of the Indians, but rather
6868-447: The founder of New Mexico Juan de Oñate visited Etzanoa , the Wichita city. Oñate journeyed east from New Mexico, crossing the Great Plains and encountering two large settlements of people he called Escanjaques (possibly Yscani) and Rayados, most certainly Wichita. The Rayado city was probably on the Walnut River near Arkansas City, Kansas . Oñate described the city as containing "more than twelve hundred houses" which would indicate
6969-531: The geography of unique tribes. Derived from the Caddoan language, much of the Wichita language was indistinguishable between tribes they shared close alliances with. In 2018, the Wichita Tribes opened the Wichita Tribal History Center in Anadarko, which shares Wichita history, archaeology, visual arts, and culture with the public. The Wichita Annual Dance, a powwow , is held at the Wichita Tribal Park on US-281 , north of Anadarko, every August. Several sites spanning across different time periods are spread around
7070-437: The hands of the Ácoma , including Oñate's nephew, Juan de Zaldívar , Oñate ordered a brutal retaliation against Acoma Pueblo . The pueblo was destroyed. Around 800–1000 Ácoma were killed. Today, Oñate remains a controversial figure in New Mexican history: in 1998, the right foot was cut off a statue of the conquistador that stands in Alcalde, New Mexico , in protest of the massacre, and significant controversy arose when
7171-455: The high school's name was changed to Organ Mountain High School. Juan de Oñate Elementary School in Gallup, New Mexico , was merged with another school to become Del Norte Elementary School in 2017. The street that runs through the historic central business district of Española, New Mexico , is named Paseo de Oñate. In the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Center (until 2017 the Oñate Monument and Visitor Center) in Alcalde, New Mexico ,
7272-614: The historical practice of tattooing marks around their eyes. The kindred Pawnee called them Kírikuuruks or Kírikuruks (" bear -eyed people") and the Arikara referred to them as Čirikuúnux (a reference to the Wichita practice of tattoos ). The Kiowa called them Thoe-Khoot (" tattoo faces"). Wichita people have been a loose confederation of related peoples on the Southern Plains, including such bands or sub-tribes as Taovayas (Tawehash) , Tawakonis , Wacos (who appear to have been
7373-516: The identity of the Escanjaques and the Rayados are much debated. Most authorities believe his route led down the Canadian River from Texas to Oklahoma, cross-country to the Salt Fork , where he found the Escanjaque encampment, and then to the Arkansas River and its tributary, the Walnut River at Arkansas City, Kansas where the Rayado settlement was located. Archaeological evidence favors
7474-551: The nomadic Plains Indians and were noted for raiding, trading. They had a close alliance with the French, and in 1746 a French brokered alliance with the Comanche revived the fortunes of the Wichita. The village at Petersburg was "a lively emporium where Comanches brought Apache slaves, horses and mules to trade for French packs of powder, balls, knives, and textiles and for Taovaya-grown maize, melons, pumpkins, squash, and tobacco." The Wichita and their Comanche allies were known to
7575-477: The north. Thus, the Rayados were related culturally and linguistically to the Quivirans but not part of the same political entity. The Wichita at this time were not unified, but rather a large number of related tribes scattered over most of Kansas and Oklahoma, so it is not implausible that the Rayados and Escanjaques spoke the same language, but were nevertheless enemies. Oñate's last major expedition went to
7676-569: The party in prayer, as he claimed all of the territory across the river for the Spanish Empire . Oñate's original terms would have made this land a separate viceroyalty to the crown in New Spain; this move failed to stand after de Zúñiga reviewed the agreement. All summer, Oñate's expedition party followed the middle Rio Grande Valley to present-day northern New Mexico , where he engaged with Pueblo Indians . Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá ,
7777-480: The plains eastward from New Mexico. Departing June 23, 1601, he followed the Canadian River through the Texas panhandle into Oklahoma. Turning away from the Canadian River, he journeyed cross-country in a northerly direction. The land further north was greener, with more water and groves of walnut and oak trees. Near a small river, Oñate found a large encampment of people he called Escanjaques. He estimated
7878-482: The population at more than 5,000 living in 600 houses. The Escanjaques lived in round houses as large as ninety feet in diameter and covered with tanned buffalo hides—similar in form to the grass houses of Quivira . = "They were not a people who sowed or reaped, but they lived solely on the cattle [bison]. They were ruled by chiefs ... [but] they obeyed their chiefs but little. They had large quantities of hides which, wrapped around their bodies, served them as clothing, but
7979-573: The pre-Contact Plains. Several village sites contain the remains of unusual structures called "council circles," located at the center of settlements. Archaeological excavations suggest they consist of a central patio surrounded by four semi-subterranean structures. The function of the council circles is unclear. Archaeologist Waldo Wedel suggested in 1967 that they may be ceremonial structures, possibly associated with solstice observations. Recent analysis suggests that many non-local artifacts occur exclusively or primarily within council circles, implying
8080-465: The prisoners useful as servants. In Onate's personal journal, he specifically refers to the punishment of the Acoma warriors as cutting off "las puntas del pie" (the points of the foot, the toes). In 1601, Oñate undertook a large expedition east to the Great Plains region of central North America. The expedition party included 130 Spanish soldiers and 12 Franciscan priests—similar to the expedition of
8181-598: The remainder of his life. 2014 marked the 400th anniversary of Juan de Oñate's exile from New Mexico. Despite his atrocities, Oñate is still celebrated today at the Española Valley Fiestas. In 1997 the City of El Paso hired the sculptor John Sherrill Houser to create an equestrian statue of the conquistador. In reaction to protests, two city council members retracted their support for the project. The $ 2,000,000 statue took nearly nine years to build and
8282-414: The right foot be chopped off of all surviving 24 Acoma warriors. Males between the ages of 12 and 25 were also enslaved for 20 years, along with all of the females above the age of 12. When King Phillip of Spain heard the news from Acoma, Oñate was brought up on 30 charges of mismanagement and excessive cruelty. He was found guilty of cruelty, immorality, and false reporting and was exiled to Spain to live out
8383-466: The settlement of the Rayados seemed typical of those seen by Coronado in Quivira in the 1540s. The homesteads were dispersed; the houses round, thatched with grass, large enough to sleep ten persons each, and surrounded by large granaries to store the corn, beans, and squash they grew in their fields." With difficulty Oñate restrained the Escanjaques from looting the town and sent them home. The next day
8484-430: The south to Great Bend, Kansas , in the north. A semi-sedentary people, they occupied northern Texas in the early 18th century. They traded with other Southern Plains Indians on both sides of the Red River and south to Waco . The Wichita made much of their own art, including ceramic pottery that greatly fascinated French and Spanish traders. To the untrained eye Wichita pottery was "virtually indistinguishable from
8585-448: The structures were occupied by political and/or ritual leaders of the Great Bend aspect peoples. Other archaeologists leave open the possibility that the council circle earthworks served a defensive role. One of these sites was the city Etzanoa , located in present-day Arkansas City, Kansas , near the Arkansas River , that flourished between 1450 and 1700. In 1541 Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado journeyed east from
8686-587: The terms of the original agreement, signed before the previous Viceroy had left office. In March 1598, Oñate's expedition moved out and forded the Rio Grande (Río del Norte) south of present-day El Paso and Ciudad Juárez in late April. On the Catholic calendar day of Ascension , April 30, 1598, the exploration party assembled on the south bank of the Rio Grande. In an Ascension Day ceremony, Oñate led
8787-652: The things of which they had dreamed... The woman was given an ear of corn... It was to be the food of the people that should exist in the future, to be used generation after generation. —Tawakoni Jim in The Mythology of the Wichita , 1904 The Ancestral Wichita people lived in the eastern Great Plains from the Red River in Arkansas north to Nebraska for at least 2,000 years. Early Wichita people were hunters and gatherers who gradually adopted agriculture. Farming villages were developed about 900 CE on terraces above
8888-405: The time of the first French contacts with them in 1719, probably due in large part to epidemics of infectious disease to which they had no immunity . In 1790, it was estimated there were about 3,200 total Wichita. Conflict with Texans in the early 19th century and Americans in the mid 19th century led to a major decline in population, leading to the eventual merging of Wichita settlements. By 1868,
8989-470: The tribe. After the United States took over their territory as a result of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the independence of Texas in 1836, all the related tribes were increasingly lumped together and dubbed "Wichita". That designation also included the Kichai of northern Texas, who spoke a different although a related language. The principal village of the Wichita in the 1830s was near
9090-488: The upper terraces of rivers, and crops appear to have been grown on the fertile floodplains below. Primary crops were maize , beans, squash, and sunflowers, cultivated for their seeds. Gathered foods included walnut and hickory nuts, and the fruits of plum, hackberry , and grape. Remains of animal bones in Great Aspect sites include bison , elk , deer , pronghorn , and dog, one of the few domesticated animals in
9191-480: The viceroyalty of New Spain . He led early Spanish expeditions to the Great Plains and Lower Colorado River Valley, encountering numerous indigenous tribes in their homelands there. Oñate founded settlements in the province, now in the Southwestern United States . Oñate is notorious for the 1599 Ácoma Massacre . Following a dispute that led to the ambush and death of thirteen Spaniards at
9292-526: The weather being hot, all the men went about nearly naked, the women being clothed from the waist down. Men and women alike used bows and arrows, with which they were very dexterous." The Escanjaques led Oñate to a large settlement of their enemies, the Rayados , about 30 miles away. The Rayados abandoned their settlement and Oñate restrained with difficulty the Escanjaques from looting it. He sent them back to their own settlement. However, when Oñate returned to
9393-779: The west, from New Mexico to the lower valley of the Colorado River . The party of about three dozen men set out from the Rio Grande valley in October 1604. They traveled by way of Zuñi , the Hopi pueblos , and the Bill Williams River to the Colorado River, and descended that river to its mouth in the Gulf of California in January 1605, before returning along the same route to New Mexico. The evident purpose of
9494-464: The Ácoma Pueblo tribe, and was protested by groups such as the Ácoma tribe during the development of the project as well as at the inauguration. To defuse some of the controversy, the statue was renamed "The Equestrian". The statue was vandalized in June 2020. Iscani The Wichita people, or Kitikiti'sh , are a confederation of Southern Plains Native American tribes . Historically they spoke
9595-538: Was $ 4.5 million. The Wichita language is one of the Caddoan languages . They are related by language and culture to the Pawnee , with whom they have close relations. The Wichita lived in settled villages with domed-shaped, grass lodges, sometimes up to 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter. The Wichita were successful hunters, farmers, traders, and negotiators. Their historical homelands stretched from San Antonio, Texas , in
9696-437: Was difficult for the French and Spanish to trade with the Wichita. The French traded with the Wichita primarily for their horses during the 16th century. The Wichita sensed that trading with the French would be ideal. Their migration in 1714 was partly motivated by their desire to move closer to European traders. The Wichita first gained their European commodities in the mid 18th century, inspiring them to maintain close ties with
9797-429: Was her paternal grandfather, the royal physician Doctor Guadalupe de Salazar. Other family members became Christians in the 1390s, around 160 years before Oñate's birth. Her father was Gonzalo de Salazar , leader of several councils that governed New Spain while Hernán Cortés was traveling to Honduras in 1525–26. Juan de Oñate married Isabel de Tolosa Cortés de Moctezuma , who was the granddaughter of Hernán Cortés ,
9898-539: Was impressed with the land, which was "fat and black." Though Coronado was impressed with Wichita society, he often treated the Wichita poorly in his expedition. Even after Wichita migration, some settlements were thought to have remained in northern Quivira in 1680. It was also noted: "They eat meat raw/ jerky like the Querechos [the Apache ] and Teyas . They are enemies of one another...These people of Quivira have
9999-410: Was kept in the sculptor's Mexico City warehouse. The statue was completed in early 2006, transported in pieces on flatbed trailers to El Paso during the summer, and installed in October. The controversy over the statue prior to its installation was the subject of the documentary film The Last Conquistador , presented in 2008 as part of PBS 's P.O.V. television series. The City of El Paso unveiled
10100-493: Was recalled to Mexico City for a hearing regarding his conduct. After finishing plans for the founding of the town of Santa Fe , he resigned his post and was tried and convicted of cruelty to both natives and colonists. He was banished from New Mexico for life and exiled from Mexico City for five years. Eventually Oñate went to Spain, where the king appointed him head of all mining inspectors in Spain. He died in Spain in 1626. He
10201-404: Was that the Wichita people of the 16th century were numerous and widespread. They were not, however, a single tribe at this time but rather a group of several related tribes speaking a common language. The dispersed nature of their villages probably indicated that they were not seriously threatened by attack by enemies, although that would change as they would soon be squeezed between the Apache on
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