Northern New Mexico Virtual Archive
Communities of Northern New Mexico


San Lorenzo Mission

from
THE MISSIONS OF NEW MEXICO, 1776

A DESCRIPTION BY
FRAY FRANCISCO ANTANASIO DOMINGUEZ
WITH OTHER COMTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS

TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED BY
ELENOR B. ADAMS & FRAY ANGELICO CHÁVEZ
(Picurís, pp. 92 - 101)


The pueblo and mission of San Lorenzo de Picurís lies to the northeast in relation to Santa Fe; and since there are two roads to it from that place, there are necessarily two distances, which I do not fail to record. Going north from Santa Fe via Tesuque, Nambe, Cundiyó, Quemado, and Truchas, all of which (see the notes on them) are along the aforesaid Sierra Madre, which keeps taking its name from the places near it, Picuris is about 15 leagues from Santa Fe. Via Tesuque, Pojoaque, Cañada, San Juan, Río Arriba, Moya, and Embudo, the distance is about I9 long leagues.

North from San Juan, within sight of and upstream on the Río del Norte, there are 3 leagues to beyond Moya, and 2 to Embudo make 5. From there one enters a little canyon, which is higher up (as I mentioned earlier), and, leaving the Embudo River on the right, one travels 2 1/2 leagues in the sierra and then a flat half league up the cañada to the east to reach the aformentioned pueblo and mission, which is some 8 leagues from San Juan. Therefore, the location of Picurís must be thought of as in a sierra as I shall soon explain; and in order to discuss this with perfect clarity, the following is inserted here.

NOTE
The inventory of this mission, newly made by the present mission father, Fray Andre's Claramonte, shows that there is no church or convent, for the present lord governor, Don Pedro Fermín de Mendinueta, ordered that it be torn down because the pueblo is isolated and therefore indefensible against the continual incursions which the Comanche enemy is making. These raids are so daring that this father I have mentioned assures me that he escaped by a miracle in the year '69, for they sacked the convent and destroyed his meager supplies; yet he considered them well spent in exchange for his life and freedom from captivity.

In view, then, of this, and fearing another irreparable attack, the aforesaid governor made the foregoing decision. But since here is a formal church consisting of the faithful and their misister, I will give an account of its length. First, as for the church, I say that at the same time when orders were given to tear down the one mentioned, orders were also issued for the erection of a new building in a safe place. This is near one block of, but outside, one plaza of the pueblo, with the intention that the convent shall he in that block. But according to the plan, all is to be defensine as a unit, for the present space between the church and the block where the convent is to be built will be a cloister. The new church is adobe with quite thick walls, single-naved, with the outlook and main door due south. It is 24 varas long, 7 wide, and what has been built is now 3 varas high.

In the same inventory I found the following statement in substance, signed by the present lieutenant, Don Nicolás Leal: That on December 31 of last year, 1775, the aforesaid Father Claramonte entrusted to him the collection from various persons of alms amounting to 134 regional pesos, the sum due for the personal labor of the said father, or his obventions. The said lieutenant affirms over a signature over his hand and writing that the said father applied this amount to the new building under construction in order to help and a1leviate the Indians somewhat, for although they do not reciprocate the father's love, in the final analysis they are few and poor.

For the present, this missionary lives and maintains himself in the community house, which is in one of the blocks of the aforesaid plaza; and in one of three rooms (the most decent one) he has made an oratory in which he celebrates Mass, etc. It is kept with great cleanliness, care, and neatness, but it is very inadequate and poverty-stricken. 1 The things pertaining to divine worship are kept in this oratory, as follows:

LIST
An oil painting oil canvas measuring about 2 varas with a painted frame, and it represents St. Lawrence. The King gave it. It is handsome and in very good condition. Another canvas which serves as a canopy. It is a vara in size, old, without a frame, and represents Our Lady of Guadalupe in oils. A father gave it. On each side of St. Lawrence is a painting on buffalo skin measuring about a vara in a narrow frame. Ana Montaño gave them. Another very old painting on buffalo skin representing Our Lady of the Angels. Another small one with Our Lady of Bethlehem, pretty, but old. An old lacquered Child Jesus.

The altar table is an ordinary new one of wood, which Father Claramonte provided and on it is an ordinary altar stone provided by the King. A middle-sized wooden cross. Missal stand of the same sort. Two small old candlesticks given by the King. Two little bells. The dais is a good wrought plank which the said father installed, and he lends a blanket for use as a carpet.

There is a very badly made confessional here. The baptismal font is an earthen bowl with a board for a cover. Another like it serves for a holy-water pot with a very pretty wooden aspergillum that the said father provided. Under the altar table is an ordinary new unpainted chest without a key, which the said father provided, and it contains the following:

Vestments: An old but usable damask chasuble with two faces (white and crimson), trimmed with narrow silk galloon, which the King gave. A very old satin one, with accessories except for frontal, which the King gave. The following are said to have been provided by various fathers: An old but usable purple satin chasuble with stripes and silk galloon; of its accessories the burse is missing, for the Comanches carried it off, without the corporals, at the time of the sack mentioned. Another of green satin trimmed with narrow imitation gold galloon with the necessary appurtenances. Another new one of black damask, with accessories including cope and cross sheath, all trimmed with false gold fringe. Father Camargo gave it. A separate stole and maniple. A very small altar stone, which has been consecrated.

Linen: An amice of very poor quality Brittany with lace, which Father García gave. A much mended alb. A fairly good altar cloth. A plain corporal of new lawn with lace, which Father García provided. A very old double one of Brittany. An almost new plain Rouen surplice. Three linen palls embroidered in silk. A Brittany towel with lace, which Father García provided. Four very old purificators. And Father Claramonte has provided the following: Three Brittany purificators. Two white cloths that serve as hood and towel in baptisms.

Silver and other metal: A chalice with a broken base, and a paten, which the King gave. Three little vessels for the holy oils in a small cedar box without a key, which the King gave. Thirteen reales which Father Claramonte provided along with the rings for arras. Small chalice spoons that he also provided.

Tin processional cross, which the King gave. Plate of the same, which Father Claramonte provided. Two glass cruets to the credit of the same father.

Other things: An old missal with thongs for bookmarks, repaired by Father García. A Manual by Vetancurt which this father gave. A middle-sized bell from the King. It is good, has no clapper, and is hung on high poles like a gallows, but for the prcsent there is no other recourse.

The useable lumber that was in the old church and convent has been kept. It consists of the door, a latch with no lock or key, the balustrade of the choir loft and its small beams, along with the little balustrade of the high altar. Much from the convent has been lost among the Indians themselves, but there are an ordinary table, three small chairs, three doors, and four windows - but all gone to ruin.

The things recorded up to here exist at present as I saw and noted in my juridicial visitation today, April 20, 1776. And finding the mission father living in extreme poverty, discomfort, and indigence, I observed his great will and desire to acquire what is lacking or what he might obtain for divine worship. I also found the books of Inventory and Patents very carefully renovated by Father Claramonte. Moreover, he was resolved to provide the parish books himself, but in view of his great poverty, I left orders for him to apply to the Father Vice-Custos for three new books out of the supply which came for that purpose from our Mother the Province, for which purpose they are applied to this mission. Here the missionary has the following:

SERVICE: All together, a fiscal mayor, three subordinates, eight little sacristans; four cooks, four bakers, who are allotted weekly as described in oather missions. In addition, stableboy for the little horses used in administering the parish, a shepherd for the sheep, and a woman to care for the hens. Those who serve in the house eat there, and at night they go (except the sacristans). They bring their utensils and take them away with them as they come and go. I add that if something is broken while it is being used in the service of the present missionary, he pays for it in seeds. The father helps them with the wood, either by providing a farm cart or horses, and givess them an axe; and the Indians also cart theirs at his expense.

ITS LANDS AND FRUITS: In relation to the location of the pueblo, its lands are to the east, facing the said plaza near the new church. They are just across an arroyo which runs from north to south, arising in a sierra on the north. Turning to the east, they end at another arroyo like the first. They are bounded on the north side by some hills of the aforesaid sierra, and on the south side by a river that runs along the foot of more hills on the south. There are about 300 square varas in this area, but not all of it is arable. Therefore, the following are sown in the usable parts: 1 fanega of wheat, which yields about 20 fanegas; 4 almudes of maize, which yield about 14 fanegas; half a fanega of all legumes together, which yield a total of.about 8 fanegas. There is a little kitchen garden for green stuff in these lands. It does not grow ripe chile (because of the coldness of the sierra) But does grow green chile. The same is true of frijóles.

There is a plot about 70 varas square below the pueblo among the milpas of the Indians, so well situated that its fault is that it makes a very damp hollow and the ripening of the crop is endangered. It takes a fanega of wheat, which yields 20, and a long almud of maize, which yields about 12 fanegas. The convent has another milpa in the Embudo lands (mentioned earlier) about 200 varas long and 60 wide. It is the best of all, but what I shall presently relate happens with regard to it. All are watered with the pueblo's river by a general irrigation ditch, from which other ditches are run where necessary.

The pueblo does part of the sowing, cultivation, and harvesting, but for the time being the present mlssionary bears most of the work. When I remonstrated with him, citing the custom among the Indians, he replied: That since they are so lazy, even in their own affairs, they are even more inclined to let what belongs to the father be lost, and so to avoid animosities, gossip, etc., he considers it a pleasure to do it himself, even to threshing the wheat with six of his own animals. In proof of the weakness of the Indians and of the harmonious relations he maintains with them, I now tell the circumstances about the Embudo milpa.

Father Claramonte says: That his first year as missionary he planted this milpa, using the labor of the pueblo, giving them seed (as all do), and that it went pretty well for him. Therefore, other years when he has been in Picurís he has undertaken to plant it, giving them farm oxen and helping them when he could, but with no success because of their frivolous excuses. Seeing this, he made them an offer that in addition to what he was already giving them, as has been said, that if anyone in particular would be willing to take care of the irrigation alone, he would give him half the crop afterwards at harvest time; and not even by this means did he accomplish anything. Therefore, in order not to lose the sowing of his milpa entirely, and to avoid animosities, he let it out to a settler for a fanega and a half of frijoles (which do not grow at Picurís), so that he might receive at least that much from this milpa. In consideration, then, of this indifference, he has managed in the way stated in his reply.

MISSION FATHER
OBVEN1.IONS AND FIRST FRUITS: I refer to wllat has been said before. \Vith regard to the first fruits at this place in particular, the mission father says that all of them together amount to about i6 to i8 fanegas. The In-dians do not even pay for a Mass. The only livestock here are cattle, and no payment is made. His EXPENDITURES: Food consumed by the household is not counted. ~Vax, about 7 pounds a year in everything pertaining to the administration of the mission, wine, about 12 or 13 pints, a few more than 200 altar breads, and the father at Taos gives them weekly without any subsidy in wheat, for this religious at Picuris says that he found this custom in force and that they have never asked him for anything in re-turn. In this regard, Father Claramonte says: That with respect to this weekly trip, because the winter is so severe in these places and there is so much snow in the sie-rra where this ptieblo is, travel to Taos is extremelv difficult, and it sometimes hap-pens that the altar breads do not arrive in time and consequently tl~ere is no ~~ass on a feast day. And Picuris is so much in the sierra that if they think of going to San Juan or to La Cafiada, the situation is the same. In view of this, this friar assures me that it is very necessary to have an iron for making them here, which he intends to provide as soon as he can. How HE ACQUIRES NECESSITIES: Al-though it comes out the same everywhere according to the usual method and by cx-change, this father says that here, in order not to deprive himself of the little grain he acquires by harvest and first fruits alid per-liaps an obvention or two, most of it comes out of the royal alms ill chocolate, linen, or winding sheets. CONVENT PROVISIONS: \Vhat Father Clara-monte received came down then to 6 fa-negas of wheat and a like amount of maize, but now, in accordance with what this re- ligious frankly stat(~i, at my command the amount shown 1)y lie following has beeii recorded in the inventory. WRIT OF VISITATION San Lorenzo de Picuris, April 20 of the year 1776. In prosecution of the juridical visitation which our Reverend Father Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez, one of the appointed preachers in the Convento Grande of Our Father St. Francis of Mexico arid Commissary Visitor for our Very Rev-erend Father Minister Provincial Fray Isi-dro Murillo, is making of this Custody, his Reverend Paternity proceeded to examine and did examine this inventory, which faithf~ly and legally records all his Rever-end Paternity saw, examined, and inspected belonging to church, sacristy, and convent of this mission of San Lorenzo de Picuris. Therefore his Reverend Paternity approved it and thanked the present mission father, Fray Andres Claramonte, both for the neat-ness and cleanliness of this inventory and other books and for his great disinterested-ness and close attention to divine worship, and also for his fine '-onduct in his dealings with the Indians atid their instruction in Christian doctrine. And he charges him to continue and persevere in the same course that he has observe(~ up to now. And our Reverend Father Visitor trusts to the judg-ment and piety of the said father that he will continue to encourage the Indians so that they may finish the new church and also build a comfortable dwelling for the mis-sionary. And since it is his Reverend Paternity's duty to see to it tllat each mission has a cor-responding supply of provisions so that the incoming' father ilay have something for his immediate use, l~e de('.ides, orders, and com-mands that it be the following: 6 fanegas of wheat, 6 of maize, 6 sheep, 12 cuartillos of lard, half a fanega of broad beans, half a fa-nega of vetch, 2 strings of chile, 100 onions, a bottle of wine, 2 w;ix candles. In addition, the outgoing father niust h:~i~cl over with the mission the belongiii~~s 0 t lie church and sacristy aud the convent I iii1~iture, to wit: an ordinary table, tlirce small chairs, three doors, four windows. I~he incoming friar shall receive this in accordance with this in-ventory, giving a receipt to his predecessor, and if anything i~ lacking, be shall notit~y the Reverend Custos or his \Jice-Custos at once. With regard to all this they cannot make any innovations, changcs, or reductions; but they may, indeed, add -ill that may seem nec-essary for the benefit of the mission and mis-sionary, because the af~ resaid is~tlie order of our superior prelate, who so comniands ra-tione officii. Ilis ReverCud Paternity so pro-vided, ordered, and signed before me, the undersigned secretary, to which I attest. Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez, Com-missary Visitor. Beforr me, Fray Jose' Pa-lacio, secretary. The parish books were inspected and ap-proved, and the corresponding decrees were recorded in them without need for remark. And since they are nearly full and Father Claramonte wishes to provide new ones, I gave him the orders already mentioned in full at the end of Other things, again charg-ing him to remit these old ones and their equivalents for Inventory and Patents to the archive at Santo 1)omingo, since there would now be new ones of all kinds. PUEBLO When I began to describe Picuris I pointed out that there were two roads to it, both of which pass through mountainous country to the pueblo, which is established and located in the sierra in a cafiada which runs from east to west and is about a league long from beginning to end. This cafiada comes from the Sierra Madre I have been talking about ever 5i1)(-C Santa Fe. Another sierra comes from this otie, following the same course as the pueblo's caliada. It is north of the pueblo ,-irid runs to the west, contint~ing until it is broken by the canyon of the l~i() del Norte beyond Emhudo. It is called tl~e sierra of Picuris. To the sonili of this cailada are some hills that co~ne in a ridge from the Sierra Madre. They extend to the west and are broken by mounds closing the cafiada. There is quite a good river in this cafiada, and its swift cur-rent of very good crystalline water runs through it from top to bottom. The river does not run through the center of the ca-fiada, but along the foot of the hills on the south. Therefore its only bank is the north one on wl~ich the pueblo stands, located in the foothills of tl~e sierra I said was on that side of the pueblo. Three tenements, separate but near to one another, are to be seen on some little elevations in these foothills. Below these hills on a small level site near the river is a square plaza with two entrances, a large one to the river and a small one to communicate with the tenements. The ~aza is the one I mentioned above that has the new church on the side facing east, etc. But not all the tenements and plaza described are inhab-ited, for there are no people in a great part of them. Said tenements are shaped like a sugar loaf, and the houses are heaped there one upon another as if they had tried to build the Tower of Babel. The ascent to them is by ladders which begin at the communal lower floor, with a landing on the flat roof of the lower dwelling. On this flat roof there is another small ladder that rests on another flat roof, and so another and another up to the top, the flat roof of one house being the terrace of another and serving as a landing between one ladder and the next. Although there is an occasional very small door in these l~ouses, the entrance to most of tl~em is a coi (I refer to Tesuque) on the flat roof, and inside there are others from room to room to the bottom. Now in view of tl~is heap of houses, it is obvious that the dwellings, or rooms, in the heart of these tenements are totally dark, and therefore tl~ey are entered by the light of hIan(ls. flie height of these sugar loaves, or honeycombs, must be ~bout 2~ to 3.0 varas, and there will be five or six dwellings froni bottom to top, olie over the other. C)n one corner of the plaza there is a tene-ruent like those described, and the rest is in blocks, or sides, like the plazas of the pue-bIos described before, although, indeed, there is no little portico. All the dwellings, both the tenements and those oh the plaza are so incommodious that an ordinary man can hardly stand erect, and the space will scarcely hold twelve to fourteen men stand-ing quite near to one another. With regard to their cleanliness, I state with disgust that they abound in filth, for they attend to every one of their needs there without even ex-cepting the demands of nature right in sight and scent~of everyone. In a separate place I will describe their indomitable customs at length, but for the present I leave them to the imagination in accordance with what has been said. And I cite the report on the father's planting. TIIEIR LANDS AND FRUITS: Froni top to bottom throughout the cafiada where the pueblo lies, the Indians have lands of all kinds, that is, bad and good, but all on the same bank because of what I said concern-itig the location. They are watered by the pueblo~s river. To the south, beyond the l~ills I mentioned as being on that side of the pueblo, there is another cafiada that arises and runs in the same directions as that of the pueblo. It is wider and has a river like the one described except that it runs through the middle and leaves better lands on both banks than there are in the other. ~Fliey are watered by this river. In Embudo (as I said in that place) they have many lands, and much better ones than these, and they irrigate them from the river there. Fri1ol and chile do not yield a crop in the Picuris lands because of the cold. ~~aize usu-ally freezes, but not consistently. There is a very pretty harvest of everything else. The Embudo latids yiel(l a crop ol everything sown in tltem (ilsis l~ 1)roved by the harvest of its set~ers). 'l~)ut ven though the Picuris Indians have so nt.it~y lands, they do not have enougl~ to live oil through the year be-cause of their exc( ~sive laziness, which is proved by Father (,laramonte s statement. Below the pueblo's lands and those in the cafiada to the soutls, the rivers of the two cafiadas meet, and ktr below they are joined by another of which I shall speak later. There is very good trout fishing in all of them. The natives of this pueblo bear its name and speak a different language from that of the pueblos described before. The language also has the same name as the pue~o and it is almost nasal. Very few speak the Spanish language, and only two of these with any clarity. At the time of the Reconquest they were brought from a place they call Cuartel-ejo, and this is said to be toward the east in relation to this kingdom 2 They are in-cluded- in the ~~esent CENSUS 64 families with 223 persons The settlers adutinistered by this Picuris mission are to the south of the pueblo and about 2% leagues iway in the sierra. The place is calle(l i~r(z?n~as3 and is about the same distance from rruchas as from the pue-1)10. Tlsis little settlement is in a cafiada of the Sierra MaCIre. it runs from southeast to 2. Hodge (AIS.16,9,.l. pp. 279-81) summarizes the history of the l'icuris Indians, their contacts with the Plains Iis(1i:irss, a!~~l opinions about the location of Cuartel~o. ~~his word is a diminutive of cuar~e1 or quarters for soldiey~. Twitchell erroneously tried to make it tnean "f~r-uff post" by dividing it into cuartel and lejos (far). SANM, 2: 236. ~. This place was settled in 1751 by Governor Vc"lez Cachupils with twelve families and was named Santo TdmAs Ap~'st~)l del Rio de las Trampas. SANM, i: no. ()75. Among the settlers were some children and gr.ind(~hildren of Sebastian Rodrfguez, de Vargas' African drummer. See NMF. Not to be confused with mother Rio de las 'Frampas, now l~ancl~os (IC Ta()~ northwest, with a sI1~.~ll river with a very rapid current of goo(1 cry.~talline water 111 the middle. It is not l~alf a league ~ong, but since it is rather wide, it has fairly good farmlands on both banks of the river. \Va-tered by this river-, they yield quite reason-able crops with the exception of chile and frijol. This is the river I i1icutioned in con-nection with tIle nile at Pictiris. These settlers do not live in ranchos but in a plaza like a neiglil)()lll()od Ilouse. For the most part they al-c .~ ragged lot, but there are three or four wlitt Ilave enough to get along after a fashion- l~hey are as festive as they are poor, and verv ulerry. Accordingly, niost of theut are lo\\ cl~iss, and there are very few of good, or even ittoderately good, blood. Almost all are I Ileir own masters and servants, and in general they speak the Spail-ish I have described iii other cases. The fol-lowing includes theiti ill. C I~ I. 63 families wit 1 7~ 1)eL~ous NOTE There is a chapel in this Trampas. Be-cause what there is to say about it is lengthy, I did not tell it in the same section with the settlers as I did with the one at Rfo Arriba. -~In the year 1760, when the Holy Bishop Ta-mar6n visited this kingdom, at the petition of the settlers lie left a license (a copy of which will be included elsewhere) for them 0 l)tiild ;i chapel here to I~ord St. Joseph. It is adobe with walls more than a vara thick, and there is a transept. The outlook and main door are to the southwest, and it is 20 varas long from the door to the mouth of the 1.ailscl)t, 7 wide, and 8 high up to the l)ed molding. The transept is 6 varas long, 15 wide, an(l more than 9 high because of the clerestorv. The ascent to the sanctuary con-sists of five poor steps made of beams, and its area is 4 v-tras square, the height being (~(lual to I hat of the transept. l~lierc is a choir loft iii the tistial pl~iec, itid, to ])e hrief, it is like those in the u~is- sions describerl before, but it has 110 railin~ for it is still iii the process of l)eing made. Flici~e is '1 gs)()(l wuidow it cieli end of the trinsept and t here are t~vo niore lust like I li(~i1i oil the l~1)istlC si(le i~ear the nive. I~licre is a wiudow door to a bilcony iii the choir loft. i~lie roof of the nave ~-onsists of twcnty-i~ve beaiiis, and the cleresiory is oIl the one opposite the sanctuary. Elie tran-sej)t is roofed by nineteen beams, aud the sanctuary by seven. All have multiple cor-bels as well as being wrought. FIIC sanciti-ary has a false vaulted arch with multiple corbels. The main door is squared with a strong wooden frame instead of masonry. It has two paneled leaves, but the only lock is the crossbar; and it is 3 varas high by 2% wide. Two tower buttresses jut out from the front corners like those I mentioned at Santa Fe, and on them there is no more than the be-ginning of towers. On the outside, toward the middle of one of them, there is a frame4 with a middle-sized bell in it. There is a bal-cony almost like the one in Santa Fe over the door from one tower buttress to the otl~er. The cenietery is very small, with an adobe [wall] and a gate. As we enter, the baptistery is on the right under the choir. It is like those described before, with an adobe pillar in the mid(lle, but no font. At the end of the transept on the Gospel side is the sacristy, a very ordi-nary room without a key. There is a new table with a drawer but no key in this sac-risty. The only altar in this chapel is the high altar. Its furnishing consists of a board niche painted and spattered with what they call talco5 here (it is like tinsel, but very flexible). In this niche there is a middle-sized image in the round of Lord St. Joseph. There are many paper prints around the niche, and little candlesockets, like ferules used in school, fixed in the wall with brads. 4. "Mon.1~o.~' In Mexico, a jamb-post or bcam resting on beams set in brick columns. ~. Still the New ~fexican word for !i)ica, wbiclt Sb(ulHdS in the granite mountains of tile area. The altar table is adobe with a gradin and dais of the same material. There is no altar stone, bitt there i te i cross and rather new l)ronze candlesticks which came out of a sitiall ofi-eritto ~\'C slitI I see later. Pulpit and confessioti-il, nc~v ant I badly made. The vest-inents consist of it tt lung more than an ~mice with a nc'v pIt in Brittany aib, cotton cincture, old cltastiltic of white China satin with accessories, R(.iien altar cloth. This cliasuble and its act~cssortes were given to this cha1)el by tite (~Itapel of the Rosary mentioned at Sati~a I c l)y order of the Vicar I)on Santiago Royl)tl. The rest at the ex-pense of the alms of lie Holy Patriarch.6 Father Claratuonte blessed the chapel privately in or(Ier to celebrate ~tass there (when the occasion should arise) with an easier mind titan at Picuris. Therefore it has annual feasts, as follows: That of the patron saint with vespers, procession, and Mass, in rettirn for which they give what they can by arrangement with the father. Christmas novetiary,7 6 pesos for each Mass; and the father pyovides a good deal of wax for all this, because Itis affection leads him to do so, as well as the wine and altar breads. l~aptisms t~arriages -md btirials are also performed in this chapel (the said license permits it) when necessity demands, and 'vItaL is necessary for all this is brought froni the mission. This chapel has been built by alms from the whole kingdom, for the citizens of this place have begged tlttoughout it. The chief promoter in all this has been one Juan Ar-gitello, who is titore than eighty years old, and this man asked nie for alms for the said chapel during my visitation of Picuris. And since I have nothing, I gave him that, with 6. St. Joscplt. 7. "Novenatio de Aqt'tIando [Aguinaldo]." Nine ~tasses before Chrisiutas "Misas de la Virgen," or "de Nuestra Seitora tic I:t 0," from die pre-Narivity anti phons, which Itegin ~yith "0." According to the 1783 Dictionaty of thc .~panish Academy, aguin-oldo or arttilando, is a ~ift made at Christmas or Epiphany. many thauks for his dc\~otion. Father Clara-monte entrusted the collcction of the first fruits of this settlement for one year to this Argu'ello so that he might try to convert them into reMes in cash to be used for sacred necessities for the chapel. When this was done, they netted i6 l)C505 1 tomfn in ad-dition to 2 actual pesos that the two new bronze candlesticks I spoke of on the altar cost. To these i6 pesos 1 real are added 9 pesos 6 reales which have bcen collected by vari-ous alms, and the sum total is 2J~ pesos 7 reales in cash, which are in the keeping of the father as the most trustworthy person. At the same time the chapel has 119 pesos in seeds according to the regional custom, but the safest of thes~ are 22 which the aforesaid father is holding, because one Blas Trujillo owes the rest that gQes to make up this amount, and this is of record in a writing lie has made b~fore the ecclesiastical tribunal and which the said father is keeping for the chapel. Father Claramonte intends that all sh~l be converted into reales in cash in or-der to use them for the greatest needs of the altar and thereby save bringing things from the mission.8 8. Bishop Tamar6n made the following state-ment in his report: "A midday stop was made at the site of Trampas, where there are some settlers. License to build a church was left for them. This license was also drawn up to provide that the church should be inside their walled tenement antI that it should be thirty varas long including the transept." AT, pp. 55-56. This measurement corre-sponds exactly to those given by Domfnguez. GK (pp.104-05, 126-27) ~s under the impression that the chapel, like the settlement, was originally dedicated to St. Thoinas, but it is clear that St. Joseph was the titular patron of the church froin the beginning. See also pp.250-51 Łnfra.

Footnotes

1 1. This account adds to the chronology of the churches at Picurís even though it does not completely clarify the situation. GK (pp. 108-09) and Hodge (AB.1634, pp.279-81) have good summaries of the available sources up to the 1750'S. In 1759 Governor Marín del Valle took the remains of Fray Ascensio de Zárate, who had died at Picuris in 1632, from "the ruins of the old church of San Lorenzo de Picurís" and transferred them to Santa Fe where they were reinterred in the parish church. J. B. Salpointe, Soldiers of the Cross (Banning, Calif., 1898), pp.99-100. In June, 1760, Bishop Tamarón visited Picurís and found the church in good condition. AT, pp. 55-56; pp. 249-50 infra. This means that Father Zárate's remains must have been found in the ruins of the seventeenth-century church, which had been replaced by a post-Reconquest structure, perhaps the one mentioned by Father Alvarez in 1706. HB, 3: 375. In 1769 this latter church was deliberately razed and a new church in a safer location begun, as we learn from Domínguez.

Continue

Return to Picuris Pueblo

Archive Home Whole Archive Listing Other Links