progress when all weapons for the butchery of human beings are laid aside?
At it they went with hands, feet, and teeth, only with the understanding that the conquered should remain subject to the victors.[1] The struggle which followed was as savage and sanguinary as the nature of it was exceptional, and lasted from early dawn till sunset. As exhausted combatants sank to the ground, others pressed fiercely forward. Among the mutilated forms and blood-covered faces it was often impossible to distinguish friend from foe. Among these ferocious fighters the two leaders of the Chichimecs, Lobo and Coyote, were conspicuous for their strength; and when late in the day victory was with the invaders, they alone escaped, shouting their defiance with threats to return in half a moon with a fresh force.[2] The chief of the Chichimecs and many of his people were baptized by Padre Juan Bautista, who had accompanied the army.[3] Such is the account of the Indian chronicler, San Luis, who states furthermore that the city of Querétaro was founded at that time. But the narrative is full of obvious errors; the author's confusion of thought is evidenced by his confusion of words; so that after all we cannot learn much from him, save that from 1522 te 1531 he made various incursions into the Chichimec regions, and that during the latter part of the war he and his principal officers were provided with arquebuses and horses.[4]
An account given by Espinosa is as follows: When Fuenleal was president of the audiencia he sought to extend conquest and promote conversion. The cacique
- ↑ 'Miéntras se hizo la guerra á puñetes y patadas y á merdidas como gallos.' Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iv. 559.
- ↑ Alegre, on the authority of Father Vega's MS. existing then in the Franciscan convent at Mexico, places this event in 1531, when, as he states, the site of the city of Querétaro was conquered by Fernando de Tapia with a force of Mexicans. Espinosa's account is similar. Chrón. Apost., i. 1.
- ↑ The Chichimec chief received the name of the Priest, who is mentioned by San Luis as the bachiller Don Juan Bautista.
- ↑ Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iv. 560. 'Dispararon los Cazíques Christianos armas de fuego.' Espinosa, Chron. Apost., i. 3.
