José Naranjo ( – 14 August 1720) was a

Puebloan The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zun ...

of partial

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

ancestry who served the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

government of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. His father may have helped lead the

Pueblo Revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion or Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish empire, Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger than prese ...

of 1680 and Naranjo initially opposed co-operation with the Spanish, successfully escaping from Spanish custody. After 7 October 1692, Naranjo appears to have come to terms with the Spanish, working for the governor of New Mexico

Diego de Vargas Diego de Vargas Zapata y Luján Ponce de León y Contreras (1643–1704), commonly known as Don Diego de Vargas, was a Spanish Governor of the New Spain territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, to the US states of New Mexico and Arizona, titular ...

. Shortly afterwards Naranjo killed his brother Lucas, who was leading an Indian rebellion, and sent his head to Vargas. Naranjo was appointed an

alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

and leader of Indian auxiliary troops, serving on expeditions against the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

and the Pueblo who had fled to

El Cuartelejo El Cuartelejo, or El Quartelejo (from Spanish ''cuartelejo'', meaning ''old building'' or ''barracks''), is a region in eastern Colorado and western Kansas where Plains Apache cohabited with Puebloans. Subject to religious persecution, Puebloans ...

. In 1720 he was appointed chief scout and leader of auxiliary troops on the

Villasur expedition The Villasur expedition of 1720 was a Spanish military expedition intended to check New France's growing influence on the North American Great Plains, led by Lieutenant-General Pedro de Villasur. Pawnee and Otoe Indians attacked the expedition ...

, despite having opposed it. He was killed on 14 August 1720 when the expedition was attacked by

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

and

Otoe The Otoe (Chiwere: Jiwére) are a Native American people of the Midwestern United States. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family and closely related to that of the related Iowa, Missouria, and Ho-Chunk tribes. Historically, t ...

forces.

Early life

Naranjo was a

Pueblo Indian The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zun ...

born circa 1662 to Domingo Naranjo (whom

Angelico Chavez Angelico Chavez, O.F.M. (April 10, 1910 – March 18, 1996), was an Hispanic American Friar Minor, priest, historian, author, poet and painter. "Angelico" was his pen name; he also dropped the accent marks from this name. Early life Born the fir ...

believed instigated the

of 1680). The grandson of a black freedman and an Indian woman, he was nicknamed ''el

Mulato (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...

'' or ''el

negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

''. Chavez believed Naranjo's mother to have been a

mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

from Analco as José was lighter skinned than his father. Shortly after the revolt José was captured by men working for the Spanish governor

Antonio de Otermin Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

but refused to betray his tribe and Otermin ordered him brought to Guadalupe del Paso. José escaped on 8 January and found refuge with the Northern Pueblo Indians – perhaps joining his father at

Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...

In Spanish service

José Naranjo was discovered at Taos by the army of

on 7 October 1692. It is at this point that Naranjo seems to have switched allegiance to the Spanish cause. He seems to have accompanied Vargas on his campaign to reoccupy New Mexico, witnessing a number of skirmishes and battles before settling at Santa Cruz. On 13 June 1696 he learnt that his brother Lucas was leading an insurrection against the Spanish. Naranjo informed the Spanish authorities, tracked down and killed his brother before presenting his head to Vargas. In 1700 he was rewarded for his actions by appointment as

of the Zuni and leader of their auxiliary troops, which fought for the Spanish. In this role he successfully escorted Spanish missionaries sent to the

Hopi The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...

tribe, and defended them from attack. Naranjo helped facilitate the surrender of Santa Clara Pueblo by bringing Indian leaders to negotiate with the Spanish at Santa Fe and also negotiated the surrender of the Tano tribe. He returned to Taos and was able to persuade the Indians there to build a church and host a Spanish priest (as had been attempted several decades earlier). Naranjo accompanied Vargas on his

campaign as leader of Indian scouts, and was present when Vargas was killed at

Bernalillo Bernalillo () is a town in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 8,320. It is the county seat of Sandoval County. Bernalillo is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. Histor ...

in 1704. Naranjo had learnt the

Apache language Southern Athabaskan (also Apachean) is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States (including Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas. The language is spoken to a ...

through a relationship with an Apache woman and acted as an interpreter between the Spanish and the Apache. In 1707 he joined

Juan de Ulibarrí Juan de Ulibarrí or Uribarrí (1670-1716) was a Spanish or Criollo soldier and explorer who lived in New Mexico. In 1706 he led an expedition to El Cuartelejo on the Great Plains of western Kansas and eastern Colorado. Ulibarrí's diary survives ...

's expedition to capture Pueblo Indians who had fled to

(in modern Kansas). Ulibarrí named a watering hole used by the expedition after Naranjo. By 1707 Naranjo was said to be married to a woman named Catalina and had seven children. Naranjo was appointed chief of all Pueblo auxiliary troops by

Fernando de Alencastre, 1st Duke of Linares Fernando de Alencastre Noroña y Silva, 1st Duke of Linares, GE (April 15, 1662 in Madrid, Spain – June 3, 1717 in Mexico City) was a Spanish nobleman and military officer. He also served as Viceroy of New Spain (colonial México), from Janua ...

– the Viceroy of New Spain from 1711–16 – becoming the first Indian to hold that post. He led his troops on several campaigns against the

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

and in 1719 petitioned the Governor of New Mexico to launch an expedition against the

Ute people Ute () are the Indigenous people of the Ute tribe and culture among the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. They had lived in sovereignty in the regions of present-day Utah and Colorado in the Southwestern United States for many centuries unt ...

Villasur expedition

In 1720 he joined the

as chief scout and leader of 70 auxiliary troops. Intended to discover French people reputed to be living amongst the tribes of the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

(Spain was then fighting the

War of the Quadruple Alliance The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) was caused by Spanish attempts to recover territories in Italy (geographical region), Italy ceded in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Largely focused on Sicily, it included minor engagements in North Amer ...

against France) the expedition went "farther into the interior than anyone from Spanish America had ever gone before". Reaching the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself ...

the expedition was surprised by an attack of the

and

on 14 August in which 46 of the party were killed including Naranjo and Villasur. The survivors retreated to Santa Fe but the expedition was a disaster; some one third of the military forces of New Mexico were lost. Naranjo had advised the governor of New Mexico, Antonio Valverde y Cosío, not to send the expedition but had been overruled.

References

External links

* - record of statements made by and about Naranjo in his capacity as alcalde in 1702. {{DEFAULTSORT:Naranjo, Jose 1720 deaths Colonial Mexico History of New Mexico Spanish colonization of the Americas Pueblo people