He Was Sent To See The Villages Of Cibola, And Make
A Report On Them.
He had injured no one, and intended to injure no one.
While he must be circumspect and not risk his life unnecessarily, he must
perform his duty, even though by so doing he put his life in jeopardy.
Another difficulty confronted him.
The first reports of Stephen's death
were accompanied with the statement that all of his native followers were
also slain. As soon as the Indians who were with Fray Marcos heard this,
they wished to desert and return home at once; but he opened up some
bundles of presents he had with him, and by a free distribution of them
prevailed upon his escort to remain. Then he went apart to pray, and while
he was gone the ingrate Indians decided to kill him as the source of all
their troubles. It took a good deal of argument, more presents, and some
threats, to persuade them that to kill him would be the height of folly.
Before they had time to hatch up any more plots, he succeeded in getting
two of the chief men to go with him to a hilly place overlooking the city
of Cibola, which he describes as a city on a plain, on the slope of a round
height. In his report he writes:
Marcos' Description of Cibola. "It has a very fine appearance for a
village, the best that I have seen in these parts. The houses, as the
Indians had told me, are all of stone, built in stories, and with flat
roofs. Judging by what I could see from the height where I placed myself to
observe it, the settlement is larger than the City of Mexico.... It appears
to me that this land is the best and largest of all those that have been
discovered."
Marcos Returns with His Report. With "far more fright than food," says the
candid friar, he hastened back to New Spain, and made his report to
Coronado in person at Compostela. Later he wrote it officially to the
viceroy, also to the head of his order, and on September 2, in the presence
of both Mendoza and Coronado, swore to the truth of what he had written.
High Office Is Given Him. I have already (in another chapter) told of the
effect of Fray Marcos's report. It made a most popular man of him, and soon
thereafter, when the position of father provincial of his order was vacant,
he was chosen to fill the office, - the highest in the district. Henceforth
he was called to fill all the pulpits of the region. He became known as a
great preacher, and doubtless interlarded his sermons with many references
to his wonderful adventures in search of the famous "seven cities." The
result was the whole country became excited, and many went on the
expedition, the failure of which we are familiar with.
Cortez Discredits Marcos. In the meantime, Cortez was not quiet. It must
not be forgotten that he claimed all this northern country by right of
discovery, and he protested most vigorously against the sending forth of
Coronado's expedition. Just as Coronado was about to start, Cortez returned
to Spain, and there presented a memorial to the king (June 25, 1540),
setting forth in detail the ill-treatment which he had received from
Mendoza. In this, according to Winship, "he declared that after the
viceroy had ordered him to withdraw his men from their station on the coast
of the mainland toward the north, where they were engaged in making ready
for extended inland explorations, he had a talk with Fray Marcos. 'And I
gave him,' says Cortez, 'an account of this said country, and of its
discovery, because I had determined to send him in my ships to follow up
the said northern coast and conquer that country, because he seemed to
understand something about matters of navigation. The said friar
communicated this to the said viceroy, and he says that, with his
permission, he went by land in search of the same coast and country as that
which I had discovered, and which it was and is my right to conquer. And
since his return, the said friar has published the statement that he came
within sight of the said country, which I deny that he has either seen or
discovered; but instead, in all that the said friar reports that he has
seen, he only repeats the account I had given him regarding the information
which I obtained from the Indians of the said country of Santa Cruz,
because anything which the said friar says that he discovers is just the
same as what these said Indians had told me; and in enlarging upon this and
in pretending to report what he neither saw nor learned, the said Friar
Marcos does nothing new, because he has done this many other times, and
this was his regular habit, as is notorious in the provinces of Peru and
Guatemala; and sufficient evidence regarding this will be given to the
court whenever it is necessary.'"
Marcos an Exaggerator. Cortez never made any attempt to confirm his
statements, and it is well known that he himself was very reckless in his
handling of the truth where his own purposes were to be served, or the
plans of his enemies defeated. It seems a pretty clear matter that, while
the friar told the truth as nearly as possible as to what he actually saw,
he did not hesitate to let the more exaggerated statements of the things he
had merely heard have as full weight as the people to whom he told them
desired. Anyhow, he has suffered a great deal of abuse as an exaggerator,
and even worse, though it must never be forgotten that people who fail are
always ready to blame every one concerned except themselves. Bandelier
warmly defends Fray Marcos, and his knowledge is confessedly great; but
Winship thinks he treats the charge too lightly.
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