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Lone survivor of Bonilla expedition found
On this day in 1599, Jusepe Guitiérrez, the lone survivor of the Bonilla
expedition, was found by Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate. Francisco Leyva
de Bonilla, a Portuguese captain in the service of Spain, was dispatched
in 1594 by Governor Diego de Velasco of Nueva Vizcaya to pursue beyond
the frontiers of that state a rebellious band of Indians that had
committed acts of theft. Once across the border, Bonilla and his party
determined to explore New Mexico and the plains beyond and to search for
the fabled treasure of Quivira. They spent about a year at the upper Rio
Grande pueblos, making Bove (San Ildefonso) their principal
headquarters. They then explored into Arkansas and Nebraska. According
to the statement of Gutiérrez, a Mexican Indian who was with the party,
Bonilla was stabbed to death after a quarrel with his lieutenant,
Antonio Gutiérrez de Humaña, who then assumed command. Sometime after
the murder, Jusepe and five other Indians deserted the party and
retraced their steps toward New Mexico. On the way, four were lost and a
fifth was killed. Jusepe was taken captive by Apache and Vaquero Indians
and kept for a year. At the end of that period, he made his way to
Cicuyé and in 1599 was found at Picuris by Oñate, who secured his
services as a guide and interpreter. When Oñate arrived at Quivira in
the summer of 1601, he learned that hostile Indians had attacked and
wiped out Humaña and nearly all his followers on their return journey,
by setting fire to the grass at a place on the High Plains subsequently
called La Matanza.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- BONILLA, FRANCISCO LEYVA DE
- GUTIERREZ, JUSEPE
- ONATE, JUAN DE
- GUTIERREZ DE HUMANA, ANTONIO
- QUIVIRA
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Longoria given hero's burial (1949)
- First archbishop of San Antonio consecrated (1927)
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