In 1546, natives showed the Spanish several previously unknown silver deposits in the deserts to the northwest of Mexico City. The Spanish, being rather into silver, of course went all out crazy over the find, with hundreds racing northward to get rich quick. This turn of events was not exactly to the liking of the Chichimeca peoples who lived in the area, especially once the Spanish started doing raids to force them to work in the newly dug mines. The Chichimeca were nomadic hunter gatherers. Unlike their conquered neighbors to the south, they did not have cities or empires, but rather lived as scattered tribes across north-central Mexico. Tiring of the general Spanish assholery, the Chichimeca declared all out war, attacking the caravans moving supplies to the mines. Having conquered the Aztecs and many other advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, the Spanish thought subduing the Chichimeca would be easy, but oh boy were they ever wrong.
For the next fifty years, the Chichimeca waged a devastating guerilla campaign. At first the Spanish and their native allies responded with brute force, building forts throughout the area and enslaving, torturing, and slaughtering any Chichimeca they found. However, this only resulted in increased Chichimeca attacks, which grew even worse when the Chichimeca started to steal and ride horses. The war did not come into an end until the Spanish basically bought the tribes off by halting military operations, stopping the slave raids, and handing out food and other goods. The Spanish also gave away special privileges to native allies willing to relocate to the area, which acted as role models to help teach the Chichimeca farming and convert them to Catholicism. The strategy was surprisingly effective. Hostilities ended in 1590, and over the next several decades the Chichimeca became fully assimilated into the society and culture of New Spain.
The war with the Chichimeca made it difficult for the Spanish to expand northwards, but not impossible. Spurred on by the myth of the seven cities of gold, various expeditions made their way north starting in the late 1560s, establishing scattered silver mines across what is today northwestern Mexico. Further expeditions in the 1580s reached as far as present day New Mexico. Some returned home, reporting there being nothing of interest, while others spread rumors of likely sources of silver and gold, reviving old rumors of the mythical seven cities of gold. This prompted the departure of several unauthorized expeditions at the end of the Chichimeca war, one which was forced to turn back and one which moved eastward onto the Great Plains where all of its members were slaughtered by the Wichita, a Caddoan tribe with large settlements throughout the area. It was at this point, that the leaders of New Spain decided to officially take control of the territory known as New Mexico. Two reasons were given for this decision, the first being to secure any possible sources of gold or silver, and the second being to convert the natives to Christianity. The person they chose to lead the expedition, Juan de Onate, did neither of these things.
Departing in 1598, Onate marched around one thousand would be Spanish and native settlers and thousands of livestock to northern New Mexico where they forcibly took over a Puebloan village, renaming it San Juan and declaring it the territories new capital. He then proceeded to march around to the neighboring villages, demanding food and supplies. At first the locals just went along with it, but after about a year of such crap some started to refuse, which led to an argument where several Spaniards were killed. Onate responded by massacring a village of several thousand and chopping off the toes of the survivors for some reason. This did not really help the relationship. Facing growing hostility from the Puebloans, Onate next took what soldiers he had on an expedition eastward across the Great Plains in 1601 in search of the mythical seven city’s of gold. Finding nothing in present day Texas, Oklahoma, or Kansas, he returned home after pissing off and getting attacked by the Wichita. Returning to New Mexico, he found that the would be settlers were now pissed off at him as well for having taken nearly all the soldiers, leaving them vulnerable to attack by the still pissed off Puebloans. Onate responded by threatening anyone who questioned him and then leaving on an expedition to explore the length of the Colorado River to the ocean in 1604. Having enough of such shit, the leaders of New Spain ordered him to return to Mexico City in 1606.
After the departure of Onate, a new governor of New Spain got things back in order. A new settlement named Santa Fe was established in 1610, better relations were established with the local native tribes, and offers of free land drew more settlers northward. The new governor also invited more Catholic friars north to better convert the natives to Christianity. These friars built missions across New Mexico, which brought the new religion to the various Puebloan peoples, but also unfortunately a number of Old World diseases. Between 1620 and 1645, 70% of the native population died in outbreaks of small pox and measles, as well as the famines resulting from such a quick decline. Entire villages, inhabited for centuries, were left empty. Catholic friars, knowing little of disease, declared it God’s will.
