Spanish Exploration in Southeastern Colorado, 1590–1790

The Spanish effort to conquer and control the lands that would become southeastern Colorado tended to be slow and methodical. The lands claimed by New Spain extended from Panama to the Arctic, although the capital was located in Mexico City. Rumors of riches in the area of present-day New Mexico and Colorado spread south to Mexico City during the early 1500s. Several attempts to find the riches were made, including that of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado.

Coronado Expedition

In 1540, Coronado began his exploration of the American Southwest. Marching northward with seventy-five men, he found mud pueblos inhabited by Native Americans. The Spanish subdued the natives, established bases, and sent out smaller exploration parties. Coronado’s expedition failed in its search for wealth, but it brought about the first contact between Europeans and the Native American population. Native Americans eventually gained two valuable merchandise from following contact with Europeans: the horse and the gun. The Spaniards reported on Native Americans, the absence of cities of gold, and land they considered worthless.

When the Spaniards first arrived in the American Southwest, Native American groups already had detailed trade networks that included a vast communication system, as well as more traditional trading relationships. The Spaniards and their New Mexican descendants understood the economic successes of these trading relationships and adopted many of the Native Americans’ trade patterns and customs. This resulted in the development of cultural and economic traditions adaptable to the environment of the Southwest. The arid semidesert environment required creative innovation in terms of water usage, crops, and livestock-raising techniques.

Development of trade with Native Americans allowed the aboriginal inhabitants access to European material culture, such as iron and other metals, as early as the mid-eighteenth century. The many friars and padres sent to bring the Roman Catholic religion to the inhabitants also brought European goods to the Native Americans of the Southwest.

Summary of Other Expeditions

At least twelve recorded expeditions into present-day Colorado occurred between 1593 and 1780 (table 1). Several lack documentation; however, they are mentioned by later expeditions. The initial visit to the region of present-day Colorado was an unauthorized expedition led by Francisco Leyva de Bonilla and Antonio Gutiérrez de Humana in 1593. During the expedition, Humana murdered Bonilla, and all but one of the remaining members of the group were killed somewhere in the vicinity of the Purgatoire River. In 1601, Juan de Oñate explored the region in an effort to locate evidence of the earlier Humana and Bonilla expedition and discovered the Arkansas River, which he named El Río de San Francisco. The most significant expedition, in terms of being the first to map eastern Colorado, was the one led by Juan de Ulibarri in 1706—100 years before the famed Zebulon Pike expedition.

Gradually, Spanish settlement efforts expanded farther and farther north. These settlements were slow to form, as inhabitants lived in constant danger of attack. Raids by Comanche and Ute bands were a constant and disruptive threat to the  newly formed outposts. In response, the Spanish were supposed to have established an outpost at the site of El Cuartelejo (the Far Quarter) in 1709. The plan was abandoned after the killing of Pedro de Villasur in 1720. The exact location is unknown, although according to several historians, the site was located in present-day southeastern Colorado or western Kansas.

Table 1: Spanish Expeditions into Southeastern Colorado (1590–1790)

Adapted from Gray and Lewis (1999–2007); History Colorado 1999–2013; Public Lands Interpretive Association 2006–14; Sangres.com, n.d.

El Cuartelejo in the Seventeenth Century

In the early seventeenth century, prior to the 1680 Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico, religious persecution inspired local pueblos to lead a series of minirebellions against the Spanish. Pueblo spiritual leaders faced whipping, imprisonment, slavery, or death by hanging. In 1640, ongoing revolts in Taos and the death of the mission priest Fray Pedro de Miranda led a number of Taos residents to flee to the plains to live with the Apache. The Taos fugitives went to a place that came to be called El Cuartelejo, a site north of the Arkansas River where they lived with other Pueblo refugees and Apaches.

In 1642, Juan de Archuleta led an expedition to the high plains to pacify the rebellious Pueblos. Although Archuleta’s journal has not been found, accounts of his expeditions taken from other sources indicate that he journeyed onto the plains prior to 1642 with twenty soldiers and a group of allied Pueblos.

The location of this place remains in dispute because historical evidence seems to place it near the junction of the Purgatoire and Arkansas Rivers in present-day Colorado, near the famous Bent’s Old Fort. Archaeological evidence places it a considerable distance to the east, in what is now Scott State Park in Kansas. According to several historians, both locations may be correct.

The disastrous Villasur expedition, in 1779, was the last of the expeditions that had started at the end of the sixteenth century with the intent of finding the fabled Cibola, or Seven Cities of Gold, and protecting New Spain’s northern boundary from French invasions. The point of this expedition was to confront the Comanche who had been raiding New Mexico since the early eighteenth century. The subsequent treaty between the Spanish and the Comanche in 1787 opened up the plains of eastern Colorado to trade for nearly 100 years.

The Spanish effort to control the lands that would become southeastern Colorado tended to be slow. The lands claimed by New Spain extended from Panama to the Arctic, although the capital was located in Mexico City. Rumors of riches in what is now New Mexico and Colorado spread south to Mexico City during the early 1500s. Several attempts to find the riches were made, including that of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado.

Coronado Expedition

In 1540, Coronado began his exploration of the American Southwest. Marching northward with seventy-five men, he found mud pueblos inhabited by Native Americans. The Spanish established bases and sent out smaller exploration parties. Coronado’s expedition failed in its search for wealth, but it brought about the first contact between Europeans and Native Americans. Native Americans gained two valuable items from contact with Europeans: the horse and the gun. The Spaniards reported on Native Americans, the absence of cities of gold, and land they considered worthless.

At the time the Spaniards first arrived in the American Southwest, Native American groups already had detailed trade networks that included a vast communication system, as well as more traditional trading relationships. The Spaniards and their New Mexican descendants understood the economic successes of these trading relationships and adopted many of the Native Americans’ trade patterns and customs. This outcome was the development of cultural and economic traditions adaptable to the environment of the Southwest. The arid semidesert environment needed creative innovation in terms of water usage, crops, and livestock-raising techniques.

Development of trade with Native Americans gave Indians access to European goods made of iron and other metals. The many friars and padres sent to bring the Roman Catholic religion to the inhabitants also brought European goods to the Native Americans of the Southwest.

Summary of Other Expeditions

At least twelve recorded expeditions into present-day Colorado occurred between 1593 and 1780 (table 1). The first visit to the region of present-day Colorado was led by Francisco Leyva de Bonilla and Antonio Gutiérrez de Humana in 1593. During the expedition, Humana murdered Bonilla, and all but one of the remaining members of the group were killed somewhere in the vicinity of the Purgatoire River. In 1601, Juan de Oñate explored the region in an effort to locate evidence of the earlier Humana and Bonilla expedition and discovered the Arkansas River, which he named El Río de San Francisco. The most important expedition, in terms of mapping eastern Colorado, was led by Juan de Ulibarri in 1706—100 years before the famous Zebulon Pike expedition.

Over time, Spanish settlement efforts expanded farther and farther north. These settlements were slow to form, as inhabitants lived in constant danger of attack. Raids by Comanche and Ute bands were a threat to the newly formed outposts. In response, the Spanish were supposed to have established an outpost at the site of El Cuartelejo (the Far Quarter) in 1709. The plan was abandoned after the killing of Pedro de Villasur in 1720. The exact location is unknown, although according to several historians, the site was located in present-day southeastern Colorado or western Kansas.

Table 1: Spanish Expeditions into Southeastern Colorado (1590–1790)

Adapted from Gray and Lewis (1999–2007); History Colorado 1999–2013; Public Lands Interpretive Association 2006–14; Sangres.com, n.d.

El Cuartelejo in the Seventeenth Century

In the early 1600s, before the 1680 Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico, religious bullying encouraged local pueblos to lead a series of minirebellions against the Spanish. Pueblo spiritual leaders faced whipping, imprisonment, slavery, or death by hanging. In 1640, ongoing revolts in Taos and the death of the mission priest Fray Pedro de Miranda led a number of Taos residents to flee to the plains to live with the Apache. The Taos fugitives went to a place that came to be called El Cuartelejo, a site north of the Arkansas River where they lived with other Pueblo refugees and Apaches.

In 1642, Juan de Archuleta led an expedition to the high plains to calm the rebellious Pueblos. Although Archuleta’s journal has not been found, accounts of his expeditions taken from other sources indicate that he journeyed onto the plains prior to 1642 with twenty soldiers and a group of allied Pueblos.

The location of this place remains in dispute because historical evidence seems to place it near the junction of the Purgatoire and Arkansas Rivers in present-day Colorado, near the famous Bent’s Old Fort. Archaeological evidence places it a considerable distance to the east, in what is now Scott State Park in Kansas. According to several historians, both locations may be correct.

The disastrous Villasur expedition, in 1779, was the last of the expeditions that had started at the end of the 1500s with the aim of finding the fabled Cibola, or Seven Cities of Gold, and protecting New Spain’s northern boundary from French invasions. The goal of the expedition was to confront the Comanche who had been raiding New Mexico since the early 1700s. A treaty between the Spanish and the Comanche in 1787 opened up the plains of eastern Colorado to trade for nearly 100 years.

Coronado Expedition

In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado began to explore the American Southwest. He found mud pueblos occupied by Native Americans. The Spanish set up bases and sent out smaller parties to explore. Coronado’s expedition was the first meeting of Europeans and Native Americans. Native Americans got two important things from the Europeans: the horse and the gun.

By the time the Spaniards came to the American Southwest, Native American groups already had trade networks with each other. The Spaniards copied many of the Native Americans’ trade patterns and customs. Trading between the Spanish and Native Americans gave the Indians European goods made of iron and other metals.

Other Expeditions

At least twelve expeditions into present-day Colorado took place between 1593 and 1780. In 1601, Juan de Oñate explored the region near the Purgatoire River and discovered the Arkansas River, which he named El Rio de San Francisco. An important expedition led by Juan de Ulibarri in 1706, mapped eastern Colorado, one hundred years before the famous Zebulon Pike expedition.

The Villasur expedition started at the end of the 1500s. The expedition went in search of the famous Cibola, or Seven Cities of Gold. One last expedition, in 1779, resulted in treaty between the Spanish and the Comanche in 1787. It opened up the plains of eastern Colorado to trade for nearly 100 years.