For the facts in this general summary of New Mexican history from 1540 to 1680 I am indebted largely to the following works: Bancroft, Arizona and New Mexico; Bandelier, “Contributions to the History of the Southwestern Portion of the United States,” in Papers of the Archaeological Institute of America, American Series, V; Bandelier, “Historical Introduction to Studies Among the Sedentary Indians of New Mexico,” in Ibid., American Series, I; Davis, The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico; Hakluyt, Early English Voyages to America, III; Lowery, Spanish Settlements in the United States; Winship, “The Coronado Expedition,” in Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, part I; Vetancur, Chronica de la Provincia del Santo Evangelio de Mexico. Quarta parte del Teatro Mexicano de los successos Religiosos. Compuesta, etc. En Mexico. Año de 1697.
Concerning the spelling of the name of this author there is some confusion. On the title-page, and also in the “Dedicatoria” of the edition of the Crónica cited above, the author's name is given as Vetancur. In the same volume the Menologio Franciscano is printed, but with a separate title-page, undated, and with separate pagination. On this title-page, and also in the “Protesta” of the Menologio the name is given as Vetancurt. In 1698 the first, second and third parts of the Teatro Mexicano were published inone volume; on the title-page, and in the “Dedicatoria” of this volume the form Vetancurt is found again. In 1871 the Teatro Mexicano and the Menologio were reprinted in Mexico as volumes VII, VIII, IX and X of the Biblioteca Historica de la Iberia, and as volumes I, II, III and IV of Vetancurt's works. The first two volumes (volumes VII and VIII of the Biblioteca) contain the first, second and third parts of the Teatro. The third volume (volume IX of the Biblioteca) contains the Crónica . . . Cuarta Parte del Teatro Mexicano, while the fourth volume (volume X of the Biblioteca) contains the Menologio. In all four of these volumes, on the title-page and elsewhere, the author's name is spelled Vetancurt. In the “Noticia sobre el Padre Vetancurt,” published in the first volume of the 1871 edition, the editor states that the writer in question himself signed his name with the final “t.” From the foregoing, therefore, it seems that his name was Vetancurt. Inasmuch as all the citations in this article are to the 1697 edition of the Crónica, I have consistently spelled the author's name as it appears in that book. Bancroft, in the list of authorities given in his Arizona and New Mexico, spells the name Vetancurt, but in the text and footnotes Vetancur.
Misleading statements in regard to the Teatro Mexicano have appeared in the works of other modern writers. For instance, Bandelier says, “Sixty-eight years after Benavides' time the Teatro Mexicano of the Franciscan Fray Agustin de Vetancurt was published. The third and fourth parts of this important work, namely the Cronica de la Provincia del Santo Evangelio de Mexico and the Menologio Franciscano are of the highest value.” (Papers of the American School of Archaeology, Number 13: Documentary History of the Rio Grande Pueblos, Bibliographical Introduction, p. 19.) As a matter of fact the whole of the Teatro was not published in 1698, but only the first three parts; the fourth part, the Crónica, as is pointed out above, was published in 1697. Moreover, the Menologio is not a part of the Teatro, although it is bound with the 1697 edition of the Crónica. Hodge (Handbook of American Indians, Part II, p. 1219) repeats the mistake by Bandelier just pointed out. I may add that my knowledge of the Teatro Mexicano and the Menologio Franciscano is based on an examination of the 1697, 1698 and 1871 editions of these works.
