Francisco Tenamaztle - The Mixton War

The Mixton War

The spark which set off the war was apparently the arrest of 18 rebellious Indian leaders and the hanging of nine of them in mid 1540. Later in the same year the Indians rose up to kill the encomendero Juan de Arze. Spanish authorities also became aware that the Indians were participating in “devilish” dances. After killing two Catholic priests, many Indians fled the encomiendas and took refuge in the mountains, especially on the hill fortress of Mixton. Acting Governor Cristobal de Oñate led a Spanish and Indian force to quell the rebellion. The Caxcanes killed a peace delegation of one priest and ten Spanish soldiers. Oñate attempted to storm Mixtón, but the Indians on the summit repelled his attack. Oñate then requested reinforcements from the capital, Mexico City.

The Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza called upon the experienced conquistador Pedro de Alvarado to assist in putting down the revolt. Alvarado declined to await reinforcements and attacked Mixton in June 1541 with four hundred Spaniards and an unknown number of Indian allies. He was met there by an Indian army, estimated by the Spanish to number 15,000, under Tenamaztle and Don Diego, a Zacateco. The first attack of the Spanish was repulsed with ten Spaniards and many Indian allies killed. Subsequent attacks by Alvarado were also unsuccessful and on June 24 he was crushed when a horse fell on him. He subsequently died on July 4.

Emboldened, the Indians led by Tenamaztle attacked Guadalajara in September but were repulsed. The Indian army retired to Nochistlan and other strongpoints. The Spanish authorities were now thoroughly alarmed and feared that the revolt would spread. They assembled a force of 450 Spaniards and 30 to 60 thousand Aztec, Tlaxcalan and other Indians and under Viceroy Mendoza invaded the land of the Caxcanes. With his overwhelming force, Mendoza reduced the Indian strongholds one-by-one in a war of no quarter. On November 9, 1541, he captured the city of Nochistlan and Tenamaztle—but the Indian leader later escaped. In early 1542 the stronghold of Mixton fell to the Spaniards and the rebellion was over. The aftermath of the Caxcan's defeat was that “thousands were dragged off in chains to the mines, and many of the survivors (mostly women and children) were transported from their homelands to work on Spanish farms and haciendas. By the viceroy's order men, women and children were seized and executed, some by cannon fire, some torn apart by dogs, and others stabbed. The reports of the excessive violence against civilian Indians caused the Council of the Indies to undertake a secret investigation into the conduct of the viceroy.

With the defeat, Tenamaztle and Guaxicar, another leader, and their followers retreated into the mountains of Nayarit where they lived in hiding for nine years. This area, primarily occupied by the Cora people, did not come under the complete control of the Spanish until 1722, the last bastion of Indian opposition to Spanish rule in Nueva Galicia. In 1551, Tenamaztle voluntarily surrendered to the Bishop of Nueva Galicia who brought him to Mexico City. After an investigation, on August 12, 1552 Spanish authorities established his identity as the leader of the Caxcanes in the Mixton War and on November 17 he was ordered to be sent for trial to Spain.