Edward Fitzgerald Beale (February 4, 1822 – April 22, 1893) was a national figure in the 19th-century United States. He was a naval officer, military general, explorer, frontiersman, Indian affairs superintendent, California rancher, diplomat, and friend of Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill Cody and Ulysses S. Grant.
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Side 2
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In the 16th century, after the conquest of Mexico, Spaniards sought another empire such as the Aztecs had rules. Stories of gold-filled cities lured them to the Pueblo County. Their "new Mexico did not match the old, but in 1598, Don Juan de Onate brought settlers & priests to found a colony.
During the 1600s, church & state vied for dominance in New Mexico. The wrangling weakened Spanish control & encouraged the Pueblos to think of freedom.
After some abortive plots, the Indians finally united under a single leader & rose in revolt in 1680. Surviving Spaniards fled south.
For 12 years, the Pueblos again ruled their land.
By 1692, when Don Diego de Vargas led an army back into New Mexico, the Indians had lost their unity. As defect followed defect, some submitted while others fled to the free tribes. New Mexico was once again under the yoke of Spain.
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Franciscan priests came to the Pueblos as agents of both God & state. They sought to convert the Indians to Christianity & to make them obedient to the Spanish king. They enlisted Indians to build mission churches & to join the Spaniards in wars against unconquered tribes.
The priests taught new skills & tried to shield the Indians from harsh government policies.
Submitting to Spanish power, the Pueblos found the new domestic animals & food plants desirable & the church ritual good but were confused & dismayed to be punished for practicing their own religion.
Some Indians met the Spainards with friendship, others with hostility. In 1598, the Acoma attacked Captain Gasper de Villagra. Losing his horse, he fled on foot & reached El Morro. In his epic poem, The History of New Mexico, he wrote:
By great effort I arrived at some lofty cliffs.
At which place I saw a tank of cold water,
above whose crystalline waters, almost blind,
I barely overcame the fury of the insatiable
thirst which overwhelmed me,
When trembling , all exhausted,
I drank eagerly of the wet liquid.
A few days later, the Acoma ambushed a Spanish detachment. The Whites responded with the sword, killing hundreds of Indians & destroying Acoma Pueblo. Many Indians were captured & given severe punishment, but they eventually returned & rebuilt their homes.
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