Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 1.djvu/220

204 the Spaniards. The troops, hardy as they were on these distant frontiers, were not calculated for the rough warfare of woodsmen and after some insignificant and unsuccessful skirmishes with the marauders, the new levies retired hastily to their homes.

Fajardo, governor of Nueva Biscaya, soon heard of the rebellion and of the ineffectual efforts to suppress it. He was satisfied that no time was to be lost in crushing the rebellion, and, accordingly marched with Juan Barraza, to the seat of war with an adequate force. The Indians had meanwhile left their villages and betaken themselves to the mountains, woods and fastnesses. Fajardo immediately burned their abandoned habitations and desolated their cultivated fields; and when the Indians, who were now satisfied of their impotence, demanded peace, he granted it on condition that the four insurgent chiefs of the rebellion should be surrendered for punishment. The natives, in reply, brought him the head of one of their leaders, together with his wife and child soon after another head was delivered to him, and, in a few days, the other two leaders surrendered.

This, for a while, calmed the country; but in order to confirm the peace and friendship which seemed to be now tolerably well established, a mission was founded in the valley of Papigochi, in which the chief population of the Tarahumares resided. The reverend Jesuit, Father Bendin, was charged with the duty of establishing this benignant government of the church, and in a short time it appeared that he had succeeded in civilizing the Indians and in converting them to the christian faith. There were, nevertheless, discontented men among the tribes, whose incautious acts occasionally gave warning of the animosity which still lingered in the breasts of the Indians. The most prudent of the Spaniards warned the governor of Nueva Biscaya to beware a sudden or personal attack. But this personage treated the advice with contempt, and felt certain that the country was substantially pacified. Nevertheless, whilst things wore this aspect of seeming calm, three chiefs or caciques, who had embraced the Catholic faith, prepared the elements for a new rebellion, and, on the 5th of June, 1649, at daybreak, they attacked the dwelling of the missionaries, set fire to its combustible materials, and surrounding the blazing house in numbers, awaited the moment when the unsuspecting inmates attempted to escape. The venerable Bendin and his companions were quickly aroused, but no sooner did they rush from the flames than they were cruelly slain by the Indians. The church was then sacked. The valuables were secured and