The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 15, July 1911 - April, 1912 Page: 103
382 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Revolt of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico in, 1680 103
2. The Arrangement of the Date, and the Notification of the
Pueblos
With the plans for the rebellion formulated, and with practi-
cally all the natives of the entire province ready to obey his com-
mands, Pope had now only to name the day. Acting, as he said,
under the orders of the three infernal spirits in the estufa of
Taos,' he sent out a cord with some knots tied in it to represent
the number of days that should intervene before the revolt.
Davis2 erroneously states that these knots designated the 10th as
the day for the uprising, while Bancroft" is under the impression
that the 13th was meant. The evidence shows conclusively, how-
ever, that the knots indicated the 11th of August as the date set
for the outbreak of the revolt.4 The cord was carried from pueblo
x"Declarasion de Pedro naranjo de nagion queres," in Autos Pertene-
cientes, 27.
2The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, 288-290.
*Arizona and New Mexico, 176.
'Regarding the date originally arranged for the revolt, and the date
which the knotted cord signified, there is some confusion. The original
plan seems to have been to rise on the 13th, for on the 9th Otermin
in Santa Fe i eceived three reports to that effect from three different
and widely separated sources. The first one of these was from the Father
Visitor Fray Juan Bernal at Galisteo, the second from the Father
Preacher Fray Fernando de Velasco at Pecos, and the third from the
alcalde mayor Marcos de Dehezas at Taos. On the same day, moreover,
the Indian governors and captains of the Tanos pueblos, and those of San
Marcos and La Ci6nega, who were all unwilling to agree to the plans as
presented to them by the representatives from Tesuque, named Catua and
Omtua, betrayed these plans to the Governor, stating to him that the
13th was the day set, but they made no reference to a knotted cord.
However, Catua and Omtua, on being arrested and brought before Oter-
mfn, testified, also on the 9th, that they had been given a cord with two
knots in it, to carry to the Tanos, San Marcos, and La Cisnega chiefs,
and that this signified that only two days remained before they were
all to revolt. ( . . . "dandoles dos nudos en vna correa de gamusa
que significaban los dos dias que faltaban pa. la execusion de su traision.")
This would make the 11th the date settled upon, and that date is further
established by the testimony of a Queres Indian, named Pedro Naranjo,
who was examined by Otermin in 1681, when the latter was attempting a
reconquest of the province, and who testified definitely that Catua and
Omtua were captured two days before the time set for the revolt.
( . . . "y tteniendolo assi dispuesto dos dias antes de la ejecucion
por Tener noticia su ssa, y auer presso dos Yndios Conplices del pueblo
de tesuque.")
The question now arises, why did the Tanos chiefs who had just been
visited by Catua and Omtua tell Otermin that the date agreed upon was
the 13th? The following answer is suggested: As has already been
stated the original date agreed upon seems to have been the 13th, but
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 15, July 1911 - April, 1912, periodical, 1912; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101056/m1/108/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.