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Taos pueblo, Alvarado continued east to
Cicuyé, which was known to other pueblos as
Pecos, a name that the Spanish later
adopted. The enormous pueblo was a signif-
icant trading center connecting the pueblo
Indians of the southwest with the hunting
tribes of the Great Plains. The people of
Cicuyé had never been defeated in battle and
were feared by other tribes. They felt no rea-
son to be intimidated by the Spanish and
welcomed them warmly.
While awaiting Coronado’s arrival in
Tiguex, Alvarado asked his hosts about lands
to theeast. The Pecos of Cicuyé introduced
him to one of their captives, a Pawnee or
Wichita from Kansas or Nebraska. Evidently
because something about his headgear
reminded the Spanish of the Turkish, they
nicknamed him El Turco, “the Turk.” El Turco
realized from Alvarado’s questions that gold
interested the Spaniards more than anything.
When Coronado arrived at Tiguex, Alvarado
presented him with El Turco, who convinced
the Spaniards that his home province of
Quivira, far to the east, was a place of fabu-
lous wealth and natural wonders. El Turco,
Casteñeda wrote, told Coronado that fish in
Quivira were as large as horses and swam in
rivers five miles wide: “He stated further that
the lord ofthat land took his siesta under a
large tree from which hung numerous golden
bells, and he was pleased as they played in
the wind. He added that the common table
service of all was generally of wrought silver,
and that the pitchers, dishes, and bowls were
made of gold.”
El Turco had no proof of his fantastic
claims, but insisted that at the time of his cap-
turehe had worngold bracelets, which Big-
otes had confiscated. Alvarado seized Bigotes
and another chieftain, then brought them to
Coronado, who ordered the men tortured to
produce the golden bracelets. No confession
resulted, and the people of Cicuyé were furi-
ous, but Coronado was certain that El Turco
was telling the truth.A BLOODY WINTER
The Pecos of Cicuyé were not the only ones
outraged by the increasing arrogance of Coro-
nado’s entrada.When winter snows began to
blow across Tiguex, the Spanish and their
Mexican Indian allies were completely unpre-
pared. Their solution was to forcibly evict the
inhabitants of Alcanfor, one of Tiguex’s 12
pueblos (and now a ruin located near present-
day Bernalillo). Spanish thefts of food, cloth-
ing, blankets, and firewood from surrounding
pueblos increased as the winter grew colder.
Tension increased when Coronado refused to
punish a Spaniard accused of raping an
Indian woman. The pueblo of Arenal, north of
the present city of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
retaliated by murdering one of the Spaniards’
livestock tenders and killing a large number of
their horses. Within days, the Spaniards and
the pueblos of Tiguex were embroiled in a full-
fledged war.
Cárdenas destroyed Arenal and captured
70 of its defenders, who gave up after Spanish
officers offered them a chance to surrender
peacefully. The angry Coronado, however, had
given no orders to negotiate. He ordered 50 of
the captives to be burned at the stake and
slaughtered the rest when they resisted. The
incident did not provide the warning Coron-
ado intended. By the time the war ended in
March 1541, embittered tribes throughout the
region knew Coronado’s words of friendship
could not be trusted.KI NGDOM OF QUIVIRA
Relations with Indians were more peaceful
during the rest of Coronado’s expedition. In(^116) B Discovery of the Americas, 1492–1800
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