You are all invited to ride... It is the intent of the Raton Hispano Chamber of Commerce to invite all to participate in reenacting the entrada or introduction of the Spanish culture into America. You are all invited to ride your horses along the planned route of Expedición de 1598 . Along portions of the route a short cattle drive will be staged by real vaqueros and cowboys. In January 26, 1598, Don Juan de Oñate left Zacatecas, Mexico to establish a settlement in the New Mexico Kingdom. The muster formed a four-mile long procession and counted 400 Spanish and Mexican men of whom 130 took wives and children. In addition a larger contingent of Native Americans accomanied the Spanish and acted interpreters plus eight seraphic apostolic, preaching priests with two lay brothers and friars. Plus 7000 head of livestock "as meals on wheels". The pioneers arrived at the banks of the Rio Grande on April 20, 1598 and crossed into what is now the USA at El Paso, Texas. El Paso originally was named "El Paso del Norte" meaning "the Passageway to the North". On April 30 the colonists gathered together for a meal, blessing, and proclamation in what is arguably the first Thanksgiving, 22 years before the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock. The settlers traveled up the Rio Grande 400 miles, past the present capitol of Santa Fe, to the American Indian pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh meaning "the place of the strong people". There they christened their settlement "San Juan de los Caballeros" meaning "Saint John in honor of the Cowboys" to tribute the horseman for helping make the first European settlement of the west possible. In 1610 the capitol was moved to Santa Fe. Santa Fe was originally named for it’s patron saint "La Villa Real del Santa Fe de San Francisco de Assisi" or "The Royal City of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi". The push to settle the American Southwest was slow following the expeditions in 1528 and 1540, but were speeded up by the desire to counter the threat of the English who would eventually establish their first permanent settlement of Jamestown in 1607. At that time period the American west was of little mineral value to Spain. Mexico at that time was flush with gold and silver mines. The prize in the mind of Europe was the riches of the Caribbean, control of which was hard fought by England, France and Spain. For this reason Spain placed strategic importance in establishing a settlement at Saint Augustine, Florida in 1565 to protect it’s Caribbean ports from the English. The American cattle industry started with the arrival of the Spanish. Cattle did not exist in the Americas, nor the horse or sheep. The Spanish brought horse and cattle to Saint Augustine, Florida in 1565 but the cattle did not flourish. In the west the Spanish established 506 "Encomenderos" or feudal estates from which several current cities developed in the Sonoran Desert between 1521 and 1555. At Vera Cruz in Mexico Gregorio Villalobos imported a handful of cattle from Spain and the cattle industry was born in North America. It is when the American cowboy was born... The ranches and cattle spread to the American Southwest. From each of those first expeditions and settlements the Corriente breed of cattle would be allowed to graze on the open plains and they flourished in the American southwest. By the 1860's it was estimated that 6 million head of cattle were in Texas alone. The English and French method of managing cattle prior to the Spanish was on foot with a dog within a fenced enclosure, as the cattle ate the grasses in one field they would be led to a new pasture while the grass recovered, the English term is "Drover". With the cattle grazing unimpeded in the open grasslands the Spanish skill of managing the cattle was developed over the next 200 years and was unique to Mexico and the American Southwest. It is when the American cowboy was born along with the design of the western saddle, necessary roping skills and most of the terms we associate with the southwest such as "corral", "lasso", etc, all derived from the Spanish terms. Lariat for instance is derived from "La Reata" or "the rope". In a sense the reported death of the Cowboy empire parallels the decline of the Spanish empire and was due to the adoption of the American invention of barbed wire fences. The Spanish introduced the American Indians to sheep and the wheel. The sheep transformed the Navaho Indians from a nomadic, warring culture to a ranching culture. The Navaho prior to the Spanish would raid the farming cultures of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. The name Navaho originates from the Pueblo name, "Apache Nabahu". Apache meaning, "enemy" and Nabahu meaning "cultivated fields", or the "raiders of the fields". The Spanish spelled this as Navaho since in Spanish "v" is pronounced sort of like a "b". The cattle prospered so much in the Southwest a shortage of vaqueros (cowboys) developed. The settlements taught the Native American converts how to cowboy. Teaching the American Indian how to ride and cowboy was strictly forbidden by the Spanish laws, but the distances to the governing cities in Mexico were so great and the families felt so isolated they did what they needed to survive. The American Indians proved themselves exceptionally skilled. The adaptable Corriente cattle allowed loose on the prairies in the 1600’s evolved by the 1800’s from the natural forces of the land into a breed which is now termed "Texas Longhorn". The Longhorns, more massive than the Corriente, are unique to the American Southwest and are truly an animal fashioned by the nature of the Southwest. The Texas Longhorn, end product of "survival of the fittest", because of its hardiness and aggressiveness, became the foundation stock for the American cattle industry. The extremely long horns were used in the manner of a saber as the animal would sweep it’s head side to side for defense against the wolf predators of the area. The longer the horn, the greater the distance the wolves were kept at bay. The Spanish absorbed the Native culture as part of our own. With an overabundance of Longhorns the Spanish recruited Americans to ranch in Texas, actually pronounced ‘teh-hos‘, or Tejas. The intentions of the American Colonists immigrating to the Spanish territory of Texas in the 1800's was to farm, ranching was an unknown foreign culture and had to be taught. The best recruits were from the south who had been introduced earlier to the Spanish culture and cattle. Before cotton was king in the South the largest industry was cattle, ergo the strong Southern culture in Texas. The meeting of the Native American, Spanish, and American cultures borrowed from each other and produced what is the Southwest and cowboy culture of today. The Native American culture is the foundation for the Southwest culture, influencing the later cultures in ways which are forgotten. The Spanish absorbed the Native culture as part of our own. One of the Spanish contributions are the written records of events, customs which existed in the United States from 1503 are carefully logged in the diaries and official documents of the early Spanish pioneers. At that time period a Spanish widow could not obtain a divorce until proof was submitted to the Spanish court that her husband had indeed been killed in the Americas. Divorce documents still in existence provide us with detailed accounts of the expeditions of the pioneers who landed on the Florida coast on June 16, 1503 and walked across the South arriving in Mexico City in 1512. The pioneers were highly regarded as healers and medicine men by the Natives. Their accounts provide us with a description of the Native customs of the Southern United States 100 years prior to other European documents. When the Santa Fe trail opened trade from St Louis, Missouri in the 1820’s the American colonists discovered in Santa Fe a new animal which was faster than an Ox, more sure footed, and with more stamina than a horse. The mule is a hybrid, the offspring of a mare (female horse) and a jack (male donkey). The mule gained popularity in Missouri and a great deal of trade with Santa Fe in the early days was for the mule. The "Missouri Mule" should actually be termed the "New Mexico mule". The mule would eventually spread from Missouri to all corners of the American Colonies and was instrumental in developing the railroads for opening the West to settlement. The cattle drive is more than a celebration of place or event it is recognition for the origin of a new culture. The ceremonial cattle drive will emphasize the role of those first horsemen in developing the American cattle industry and the cowboy culture. It is our intent to honor the vaqueros of 1598 and the cowboys of today and illustrate the link between the two.
Southwest for its ability to handle heat and long summers. The drive will forge it's way up the Rio Grande Valley near the original route "El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro" (The Road Royal of Lands Interior). El Camino is considered by most historians as the most important of all the national historic trails. It was the first highway introducing European culture to what is now the United States. It connected Mexico City to Santa Fe, New Mexico over a distance of 1800 miles. By decree from the Spanish Crown the term Camino Real carried royal status, transport and tax privileges granted to villas and capitals it connected as opposed to the other trails used in 1500’s. El Camino overlaps ancient trails used by the American Indians for trade with the cultures of Mesoamerica to dates earlier than A.D. 1000. The original settlers moved at the rate of 6 to 7 miles per day. We will not be burdened with the need for ox carts and should be able to travel 7 to 10 miles per day. The man made obstacles which did not exist 400 years ago are Elephant Butte Lake, Caballo (Horse) Lake and fences. Alternate routes are being determined. Raton Hispano Chamber of Commerce, Arthur Cruz, President Francisco Serna Osuna Author
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