To the Royal Crown Restored
To the Royal Crown Restored
The Journals of don Diego de Vargas, New Mexico, 1692-1694
On 4 October 1693 don Diego de Vargas left El Paso with eight hundred settlers and soldiers to reoccupy New Mexico. His account of organizing the colonizing expedition, leading the march up the Rio Grande valley, and eventually conquering Santa Fe is presented in this volume, the third of six drawn from his reports.
Vargas’s journal gives immediacy to the themes of reoccupation and pacification. Many of those he led into New Mexico were survivors of the Pueblo Revolt, and all, he noted, were now reduced to "abject poverty and nakedness." To organize the expedition, Vargas spent eight months in northern Mexico recruiting settlers and attempting to secure financing from the royal treasury.
When no funds were forthcoming, Vargas and the settlers nevertheless departed for Santa Fe before winter arrived. On their march north they survived by trading livestock for foodstuffs, and by the end of December they successfully reached the colonial capital and defeated the Pueblo Indians occupying it.
This documentary history in English translation is a key resource on New Mexico’s cultural and political history. Its extensive annotation will be useful to genealogists as well.
"…sustains the standard of excellence set with the first two of this valuable series.…Happily for readers, the documents prove fascinating as well as informative."—The Journal of Arizona
"Here is another gem…Carefully edited translations of the original documents bring this story to life.…Altogether, this is a wonderful reference, and an interesting read."—Ayer Y Hoy
Historian John L. Kessell, professor emeritus of history at the University of New Mexico, has devoted nearly two decades compiling, translating, and editing the Vargas papers along with Rick Hendricks, Meredith D. Dodge, and Larry D. Miller.
Rick Hendricks is an historical consultant to the Rio Grande Historical Collections at New Mexico State University. He is also the author of The Navajos in 1705 and was an editor of the six-volume Vargas Project (both UNM Press).
Meredith D. Dodge, an independent historian, has devoted nearly two decades compiling, translating, and editing the Vargas papers along with John Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Larry D. Miller.
