The Pueblo Revolt Pueblo (PRP) at the Palace of Governors
- The foundations of the Palace of Governors is all that is original 12to the original building
- Aug. 11, 1680 was the first time the pueblo Indians came together
- Aug. 21 all of the inhabitants of the Palace of Governors left Santa Fe – to Isleta Pueblo then to El Paso
Historiography
-History of Translations, Twitchell, Hackett and Shelby, Espinosa, Kessell, and Dodge-a progression of improvement in accuracy and consistent use of descriptive terms.
-Translation and Terminology-Descriptions of the villa/casas reales and the walled fortress derived from the Spanish reports and correspondence. 4 cuarteles -European military terms to describe pueblo architecture - entrenchments, towers, bulwarks, loopholes, ramparts – relational description of location and layout and use of arquebus as a distance measure - terms and descriptions reflect Vargas’ first look at the villa and pueblo and experience gained from seeing and describing other villages during his campaigns.
Archaeology
-Over100 years of archaeological investigation on the north side of the Plaza has yielded the bulk of the material evidence of 17th century Spanish and Pueblo Revolt occupations.
-Dr. Robert Preucel with others published seminal volume focused on three site types: mission, refuge or mesa top, and pueblito Pre- and Pueblo Revolt era villages. Fourth class is Spanish sites, of which the villa of Santa Fe was the centerpiece with remnants of Pre-Hispanic, Pueblo Revolt, Spanish Colonial, and Reconquest occupations. The Pueblo Revolt Pueblo and 12 years of pueblo settlement have not been revisited in detail for more than 25 years.
-Jesse Nusbaum in the Palace and at the Fine Arts Museum 1909-1918 found possible evidence of the 17th century governor’s house and quarters and Pueblo Revolt Pueblo – (Details provided in El Palacio) He found double adobe walls that were “puddled”, differing from Spanish bricks. At excavations of the Art Museum he found Territorial to ancestral Pueblo floors that may have been part of the Pueblo Revolt Pueblo.
-Alexander excavations in 19656; Room 13, east End and south half of the Palace - Undatable, but intriguing cobble and jacal foundations and probable Pueblo Revolt era burials.
-Dedie Snow 1974-1975 West End of the Palace – finding of 17th century floors and foundations and Pueblo Revolt rooms and domestic features and burials in four rooms where Sant Fe Found is housed today.
Steve Post in 2002-2007 New Mexico History Museum- Many 17th century pit features from the Palace activities, maybe one Pueblo Revolt era pit and no architecture.
Descriptive Models of Plaza and Palace of Governors
and the Pueblo Revolt Pueblo
-From 1914 to 1991 many models proposed by Twitchell 1914, C.T. Snow 1974 and 1988, Ellis 1976, Arnold 1982, Hordes 1990, and Pratt 1990
-Derived from their interpretation of Twitchell, Hackett and Shelby, and Espinosa and their own translations of Otermin’s and Vargas’ accounts of Revolt and Reconquest.
Evaluating Previous Models
-Evaluate a selection of models proposed by historians. Apply standardized room dimensions from Nelson’s excavations of historic pueblo components at Galisteo Basin Pueblos to proposed Pueblo Revolt Pueblo layouts to calculate room counts for the village described by Vargas in 1692 and 1693 as a 3 to 4 story pueblo enclosing two plazas, each with a kiva. Standardized room size 8 x 12 ft-Assuming 1.25 ratio for ground to combined 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floor room counts. The different models are overlaid on the 1767 Joseph de Urrutia map of Santa Fe.
Natural and Manmade Features
-Cienega covering the area east and north of the Palace -Mentioned by Vargas and an important factor in determining location and extent of governor’s quarters and casa reales. Described by Vargas after his September 1692 siege, as shaded by the foothills in the morning and the walled fortress in the afternoon.
-Milpas of San Miquel to the south and across the river-Initial battlefield attacked and occupied by Puebloan combatants before laying siege to the casas reales. Location of Vargas’ plaza de armas from December 15-29, 1693. Waged his assault on the Puebloan village from the south.
Ralph E. Twitchell 1915 (drawing) Pueblo Revolt Pueblo overlaying Governor’s quarter’s-Similar to 1791 Presidio-880 x 1,000; 20.20 ac-4,056 room pueblo.
Carrie Forman Arnold in 1982 suggested Plaza close to current site, possibly twice e-w as n-s; Pueblo Revolt Pueblo with south plaza in plaza and north plaza enclosed by Governor’s quarters, north limit of PRP (Pueblo Revolt Pueblo) unspecified; 700 x 400; 6.4 acres; 1,552 rooms.
B. Ellis1976-N-S from plaza incorporating governor’s quarters; 400 x 625, 5.7 acres; 1,419 rooms; 1 set north limit based on long-term governor’s land tenure; Plaza twice e-w as n-s, consistent with C.T Snow.
Dedie Snow -Plaza 713 by 486 ft. 8.2 acres-suggests plaza was enclosed and fortified by casa reales providing room for the 1,000 refugees and about 400 head of livestock claimed by Otermin by Aug. 20, 1680. Governors quarters were too small. PRP (Pueblo Revolt Pueblo) incorporated much of CR enclosing plaza possibly forming an E-shaped layout of 4 cuarteles. -1,890 rooms with east end enclosed by wall. No plaza for Vargas to stage 1692 siege and 1693 siege and assault on the PRP.
Architecture of Ancestral and Pueblo Revolt Pueblos
-drawings of Ancestral Jemez and Keres dual-plaza pueblos of the revolt era – A) Potokwa; B) Boletsakwa, C) Kotyiti (from Liebmann and Preucel 2007)
-The Galisteo Basin Pueblos
-Pueblo San Cristobal historic pueblo 330 x 233ft. 1.8 acres; 142 x 285 and 178 x 164 ft. plazas
-Pueblo San Lazaro historic pueblo 330 x 262 ft., 2 acres; 150 x 200, 254 x 254 ft. plazas
-Pueblo Galisteo historic pueblo 540 x 384 ft., 515 x 292, 184 x 313, and 192 x 208 ft. plazas
- Pueblo She historic pueblo – plazas range from 140 x 140 to 350 x 333ft.
15-16th Century Pueblos
-Poshuouingue - 2 plazas-north 275 x 230, south 500 x 360ft.; 8.6 acres
-Sapawe- 6 plazas- 500 x 400, 485 x 170, 365 x 170, 270 x 275, 305 x 190, 210 x 145 ft.; 9 acres and 4
acres
Pueblo Revolt East-West model – 500 e-w x 235 n-s, 2.7 acres; 2 plazas; 185 x 170; 1,065 rooms; Pueblo Revolt Pueblo was north of plaza; was supplied water from acequias on Palace Avenue and Cienega to the east; south room block coincided with south rooms in POG. North half was plaza.
Pueblo Revolt Pueblo North-South model- 400n-s x 365e-w, 3.35 acres; 2 plazas 330 x 130; 1,144 rooms
Building the Pueblo
The construction of a 1,000-room village was an enormous communal effort, even if salvaged buildings and materials accounted for 25 or 30 percent of the whole. Raw material requirements are mindboggling.
Puddled adobe walls, 1 ft thick and 4 courses, 7 ft high required around 5,000 cubic yards of mud or eight 80 x 74 ft pits dug three feet deep
Beams or vigas of cottonwood, pinion, juniper, and ponderosa pine 4-8” x 12 ft; Latillas of mostly same wood species 1-3” x 8 ft. long; 75,504 latillas reduced by 25% by salvaging, 4,290 vigas and 56,628 latillas
Organization and Cooperation
The village was a monumental structure built by men and women organized into efficient, skilled, and cooperative work groups. While rapid construction of the PRP is consistent with the organization and cooperation seen at other Pueblo Revolt era villages along the Rio Grande and in the Jemez Mountains, its physical size and estimated number of residents may be unique. In a relatively short time, a new village was built on ancestral lands ending Spanish rule and signaling Pueblo independence and sovereignty.
-Florescence of traditional ways and worship and returning balance to their world
-Establishment of new sacred places or refurbishment of ancestral sacred places
-Initiation and perpetuation of alliances and inter-village relationships
-Integration of European technologies and foodways- horses, goats, orchard crops, metal-working
Final Thoughts
-On December 30, 1693, Vargas, his military force, and the resettlers moved into the Pueblo Revolt Pueblo. Vargas continued to use it as the place where new settlers could transition into new locations in northern New Mexico, a plaza de armas and presidio, and a place of refuge until he was replaced by Governor Pedro Rodriquez de Cubero in 1697.
-Cubero found the Pueblo Revolt Pueblo inadequate and unsuitable as a government compound and razed it. He integrated an intact portion of the original governor’s quarter intact into the new casas reales compound.
-In 1704, an exonerated Vargas returned and accused Cubero of building an inadequate military/administrative compound saying the Puebloan walled fortress was far better. He died before he could change it.
-Elements of the 17th century Palace likely continued in use well into the 1700’s and maybe even in 1800’s. Today we believe remains of the 17th century Palace are beneath its floors as foundations and wall stubs. No doubt there is more of the Pueblo Revolt Pueblo and 17th century Palace preserved for future historians and archaeologists.
After Thoughts
-4 pueblo rooms would fit in one Spanish room
-4 pueblo rooms evident in the POG; 996 rooms gone
-cinega in 1710 was wet and grassy place where the government grazed horses; included Bishop
Lamy’ pond; was drained in 1890’s
-4,056 room in too many for the PRP
-by 1610 there were no pueblos in Santa Fe, but the Pueblo people still considered it an ancestral
home; LA-1051 (1200-1425) Oke Pague? at the Civic Center was ancestral home of Tesuque pueblo
people
-Flow of battle for Vargas
He ordered some
70 of the Pueblo men killed. Women and children were distributed as servants to
the colonists; some
went back to other pueblos – Ohkay Owingeh, Tesuque and Santa Clara