The
Piro pueblo of Senecú was the southernmost occupied pueblo in
New Mexico prior to the
Pueblo Revolt of 1680. It was located on the west bank of the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
within sight of the Piro pueblo of
San Pasqual. Colonial Spanish documents consistently place the pueblo opposite of
Black Mesa, which is near
San Marcial
San Marcial was a community in Socorro County, New Mexico, United States, founded in 1854 and survivor of two floods and a fire, but is now a ghost town, a deserted site with little left of the original town, destroyed in a great flood in 1929. Sa ...
. Due to changes in the floodplain and the establishment of San Marcial, however, no surface remains of the pueblo survive in the area.
The original name of the pueblo has been transcribed as either ''Tze-no-que'', ''Tzen-o-cue'', or ''She-an-ghua''. This has been translated as either "eye socket" or "spring hole", but neither translation can be corroborated.
History
The pueblo was occupied by Piro Indians prior to Spanish exploration of the area. It appears to have been described by Spaniards as early as 1581 in the journals of
the Chamuscado and Rodríguez Expedition. In 1598, the
Juan de Oñate expedition described a "Tzenaquel de la Mesilla", which was the first settlement that they came across while traveling through New Mexico.
The Spanish mission of San Antonio de Padua was built in Senecú in the 1620s. The mission survived for about half a century, but both the pueblo and the mission were destroyed by
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 ...
raiders on 23 January 1675. A
Franciscan priest was killed during the raid, however many Piro and Spaniards survived.
Luis López, the namesake of the village of
Luis Lopez, was the
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 ...
of Senecú in 1667.
[Julyan, Robert, (1998) "Luis Lopez" ''The Place Names of New Mexico'' (revised edition) University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, p. 214, ]
The pueblo was resettled in November or December 1677 by reportedly over 100 Christian Indian families. It was once again abandoned during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 when the Piro followed the Spaniards out of New Mexico. Rather than return to New Mexico, the people of this pueblo settled in the
El Paso district in a village called
Senecú del Sur
The Piro pueblo of Senecú was the southernmost occupied pueblo in New Mexico prior to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. It was located on the west bank of the Rio Grande within sight of the Piro pueblo of San Pasqual. Colonial Spanish documents consis ...
.
[Harrington, John P. (1909) "Notes on the Piro Language" ''American Anthropologist'' New Series, 11, (4): pp. 563-594, p.564] Rumors have it that some Piro stayed in New Mexico, however
Diego de Vargas did not find anyone inhabiting the pueblo when he passed by it in 1691 and 1692. The pueblo was not resettled after the Spanish re-conquest. The pueblo's ruins were visible to travelers throughout the 18th century, but they have not been seen since then.
Notes
References
* Julyan, Robert (1998) "Senecu" ''The Place Names of New Mexico'' (revised edition) University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, p. 331, .
* Marshall, Michael P. and Walt, Henry J., (1984) "Chapter 11: Pre-Revolt Place Names: Senecú" ''Rio Abajo: Prehistory and History of a Rio Grande Province'' New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, Santa Fe, pp. 252–254,
Native American tribes in New Mexico
Piro Pueblos of Socorro County, New Mexico
Pueblos in New Mexico
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