Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/35

Rh, nor was it effected elsewhere without occasional struggles. The resolute opposition of the Sinaloa tribes to the encroachments of the Spaniards served to animate also adjoining peoples who had already submitted and found just cause for discontent in the oppression and outrages practised by miners and others.

In 1601 the Acaxées, who occupied the mountain regions of Topia and San Andrés, rose to the number of five thousand, with a solemn determination to kill or drive away every Spaniard. They swooped down with unexpected suddenness on the villages and mining camps, whose number may be estimated from the statement that over forty churches shared in the destruction. The first effective resistance encountered was at San Andrés, where the small garrison managed to hold out for a fortnight, till Governor Urdiñola learned of their strait and came to the rescue with sixty men. The warriors now withdrew to the mountain fastnesses, and kept the pursuing troops constantly engaged in toilsome marches and sharp skirmishes, ever on the alert to entrap them into ambuscades, though with little success. What arms failed to achieve was accomplished by means of Urdiñola's generous treatment of a number of captured Acaxée women. This touched the hearts of the husbands, and with the gentle persuasion of Father Santaren they submitted and began to rebuild their churches. The Sabaibos held out for a while longer under the guidance of a sorcerer who proclaimed himself bishop, and even God, and proceeded with the aid of associated apostles to carry on a peculiar spiritual and political administration. His rule was soon cut short, and with him disappeared the last trace of the revolt.