The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, July 1923 - April, 1924 Page: 330
344 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
thorities to grant some substantial reward to men who had spent
their fortunes in the king's service in discovery or exploration.
For example, such men as Francisco Vasquez Coronado, one time
governor of Nueva Galicia, who in 1540 undertook the discovery
and exploration of Cibola and Quivira; and Cabeza de Vaca, whose
exploits as one of the four survivors of the Narviez expedition in
1527 are well known., and who later went to the province of
La Plata to win glory; and Crist6bal Mendez, who served under
Crist6bal de Ofiate in the Mixton war of 1541; and Bernal Diaz
del Castillo, whose son Diego appealed to the king for pecuniary
assistance on the strength of his father's distinguished services;
and of numerous others, many of whom had been with Coronado
in the expedition of 1540 and had wasted their fortunes.
The next group of documents consists of fourteen cedulas and
letters relating primarily to Indian affairs in Nueva Galicia and
Nueva Vizcaya and cover the period between 1562 and 1597. Five
were written by Diego de Ibarra in 1582, four of them to the king,
giving information of the condition of the latter province, not
only in regard to Indian affairs, but especially in regard to the
discovery of mines.
The third section is composed of documents relating to the
early administration of the colonies and contains much of in-
terest. There is a lengthy petition of the procuradores of New
Spain which asked the king to suspend the New Laws of 1542
abolishing encomiendas and making other reforms. Furthermore
they requested that encomiendas be granted in perpetuity. It ex-
plained the terrible consequences that would follow unless the
latter was immediately done, for: the Spanish settlers would emi-
grate; the royal revenue would decrease; the Christianized Indians
would relapse into their old ways; and commerce would decay.
All these evils would be averted if encomiendas were granted in
perpetuity, in addition to rewarding the settlers who had lost
their relatives or wasted their fortunes in winning new lands for
the glory of God and his Majesty. A member of the Council of
the Indies in summing up the matter objected strongly to the
encomienda system as practiced in the past, but felt that it was
the best means of caring for the Indians provided that encomen-
deros of better character were chosen in the future.330
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, July 1923 - April, 1924, periodical, 1924; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101086/m1/336/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.