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The Deportation of Barbarian Indians from the Internal Provinces of New Spain, 1789-1810

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Christon I. Archer
Christon I. Archer*
Affiliation:
The University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
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Extract

Indian warfare was general in the Internal Provinces of New Spain in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Spain was militarily weak in these frontier provinces so far from Mexico City and, to make matters even more difficult, the barbarian Indian tribes refused to recognize rules of good conduct in war and peace. Where weakness seemed likely to lead to defeat, the Indians thought nothing of employing abject submission, approaching the Spanish authorities with humble requests for peace, conversion, and a place where they might be permitted to settle into a quiet productive existence. Often the Spanish, either exhausted by combat or hopeful of Indian sincerity in such declarations, convinced themselves that the enemy would settle into a sedentary life under the gentle guidance of the friars. Unfortunately for the success of frontier policy, a treaty was only as valid as the number of presidial troops prepared to enforce it. Without force, the Indians, epecially the Apaches, returned to traditional pursuits of rustling livestock and attacks on weakly defended ranches or travellers. A continual history of incidents of this nature brought Spanish governors and frontier soldiers to a state of complete frustration.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , January 1973 , pp. 376 - 385
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1973

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References

1 Moorhead, Max L., The Apache Frontier: Jacobo Ugarte and Spanish Indian Relations in Northern New Spain, 1769–1791 (Norman, 1968), p. 50.Google Scholar

2 Ibid., pp. 72–73.

3 Archivo General de Indias, Sevilla, Sección 5 Audiencia de Méjico (hereafter cited as AGI, Mexico), leg. 1446, José Miguel de Azanza to José Alvarez, no. 128, October 27, 1798.

4 Ibid.

5 AGI, Sección 11A Cuba (hereafter cited as AGI, Cuba), leg. 1429, Conde de Revillagigedo to Captain General Cabello, October 27, 1789.

6 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1429, Cabello to Revillagigedo, January 14, 1790.

7 AGI, Mexico, leg. 1444, Marqués de Branciforte to Alvarez, June 30, 1797.

8 AGI, Mexico, leg. 1532, Revillagigedo to Conde del Campo de Alange, July 27, 1790.

9 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1473, Revillagigedo to Cabello, August 12, 1790.

10 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1473, Revillagigedo to Cabello, August 12, 1790.

Ibid.

12 Ibid.

13 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1473, Cabello to Revillagigedo, October 5, 1790.

14 AGI, Mexico, leg. 1446, Azanza to Alvarez, October 27, 1798.

15 Ibid.

16 Ibid.

17 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1517B, Azanza to the Marqués de Santa Clara, October 27, 1798.

18 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1517B, Branciforte to Santa Clara, January 1, 1798.

19 Archivo General de Simancas, Simancas, Guerra Moderna (hereafter cited as AGS, Guerra Moderna) leg. 6980, Azanza to Alvarez, July 27, 1799.

20 AGS, Guerra Moderna, leg. 7029, Aranjuez, April 11, 1799.

21 AGS, Guerra Moderna, leg. 7029, San Lorenzo, November 17, 1799.

22 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1716, January 18, 1802. This bundle contains various letters from private individuals to the Captain General requesting Indians.

23 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1488, Luis de las Casas to Campo de Alange, November 12, 1794. Reports from Santo Domingo and the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada caused rumors of slave uprising in Havana. These appeared to be confirmed when on October 20th, a Negro ran amuck in the Escuela de Niñas wounding 10 girls and an old man and a girl who went to their aid. This isolated act caused women of the city to be thrown into panic, rushing to their homes and bolting doors. Other rumors circulated through the city, fanning the atmosphere of fear. Also see Foner, Philip S., A History of Cuba and its Relations with the United States (2 vols.; New York, 1962) 1, p. 63.Google Scholar

24 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1489, Las Casas to Campo de Alange, December 16, 1795. The most important case was that of the Negro General Jean Francois, who wanted to move to Havana with 700 warlike supporters. Las Casas refused to allow any Negroes to land at Havana, forcing them to seek alternative destinations to Cádiz, Campeche, Trinidad, Truxillo and Portobelo.

25 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Correspondencia de los Virreyes (hereafter cited as AGN, CV.) Tomo 215, no. 26, Iturrigaray to Caballero, February 26, 1803.

26 Ibid.

27 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1711, Iturrigaray to Someruelos, December 2, 1803

28 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1716, Madrid, Caballero to Someruelos, July 16, 1803.

29 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1716, January 18, 1804.

30 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1716, Iturrigaray to Someruelos,July 16, 1803.

31 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1711, Someruelos to Iturrigaray, December 30, 1803.

32 AGI, Cuba, leg. 1711, Iturrigaray to Someruelos,October 18, 1804.

33 AGN, CV., Tomo 225, no. 862, Iturrigaray to Caballero, July 12, 1805.

34 Ibid.