Jusepe Gutierrez

Jusepe Gutierrez (also known as Joseph and usually called only by his given name; born c. 1572, fl. 1590s, death date unknown) was a Native Nahua guide and explorer. He was the only known survivor of the Humana and Leyva expedition to the Great Plains in 1594 or 1595. In 1599 he guided Vicente de Zaldivar and in 1601 Governor Juan de Oñate on expeditions to the plains.

Background

Jusepe was born in Culiacan, Mexico, about 1572. He spoke Nahuatl and was illiterate. He surely spoke some Spanish, but may not have been fluent as his testimony was later recorded with the help of an interpreter. Jusepe's is the only account of the Umana/Leyba expedition. Jusepe probably took the surname of his employer (or owner), Antonio Gutierrez de Umana.

In 1593, Gutierrez was recruited by Umana to join him on an expedition (entrada) to what would become New Mexico. Umana collected additional soldiers and servants in Santa Barbara, Chihuahua, the northernmost settlement of New Spain, and the expedition journeyed north to New Mexico. At the time, there were no Spanish settlers in New Mexico. Gutierrez and Umana remained about one year among the Pueblo people, mostly in San Ildefonso near the Rio Grande.

Humana and Leyba expedition

The expedition of Humana and his partner, Francisco Leyba de Bonilla (also reported in the literature as Umana and Leyva), was carried out without the permission of Spanish authorities. The members of the expedition included both Spanish soldiers and indigenous Mexicans, although there is no indication of how many people accompanied Humana and Leyba. The sole source of information about this expedition is Gutierrez, who told the story in an official inquiry with Oñate in 1599.

Humana and Lebya left New Mexico, probably in 1595, to explore eastwards, presumably in search of large cities and rich kingdoms rumored to be just over the horizon. Their route from San Ildefonso led them by the pueblo at Pecos, New Mexico, and out onto the Great Plains of what is today Texas, where they met the Apache. They found numerous rancherías, some of them abandoned, and herds of bison. Gutierrez said they found abundant water in many marshes, springs, and arroyos, as well as great numbers of plum trees and nuts.

Gutierrez said they traveled toward the north and the farther they went, the more abundant were the bison. After some 45 days they came to two large rivers, and beyond was a very large indigenous settlement that extended for 10 leagues (about 26 miles or 42 kilometers) and was two leagues wide. One of the two rivers flowed through the settlement.

Gutierrez gave a brief description of the "Great Settlement." which may have been Etzanoa near the much later Arkansas City, Kansas. The houses were built on a frame of stakes, with straw roofs. They were built close together, separated by narrow pathways, and in some places between the houses were fields of maize, pumpkins, and beans. The people of the settlement received the Spaniards in peace, and provided them with food. They depended upon bison hunting as well as agriculture.

Three days travel north of this settlement, they came upon a "multitude of buffalo", but no more indigenous settlements. Discord between the leaders broke out. After spending an afternoon and morning apparently writing up his account of the dispute, Humana called Leyba to his tent and stabbed him to death with a butcher knife. Humana told his soldiers that Leyba had threatened him. The expedition then continued, reaching a very large river ten days beyond the Great Settlement. The river was one-fourth of a league wide, about two-thirds of a mile or just more than a kilometer, deep and sluggish. "They did not dare to cross it."

It was here that five of the Mexicans, including Gutierrez, deserted the expedition. Three became lost on the plains, and local indigenous people killed another. Gutierrez was taken captive by Apaches and lived with them for a year, until he escaped or was set free and made his way back to New Mexico. By this time, Oñate and a large group of settlers had arrived in New Mexico, and Gutierrez took up residence at the San Juan Bautista Pueblo. On February 16, 1599, Oñate interviewed him concerning the Humana and Leyba expedition, and his story was recorded.

According to later accounts, Humana and the other members of the expedition were killed by indigenous people 18 days beyond the Great Settlement.

Zaldivar expedition

On September 15, 1599, Sergeant Major Vicente de Zaldivar Mendoza led a group of about 60 soldiers east to the Great Plains from New Mexico. Gutierrez served as the guide and interpreter as he had learned the Apache language during his sojourn with them. The objective of the expedition was to procure much-needed meat for the settlers and to see if the bison could be captured and domesticated.

Gutierrez most likely led Zaldivar on the same route that he had taken with Humana and Leyba. They crossed the Pecos River, caught catfish in the Gallinas River, and six leagues (15 miles or 24 kilometers) hence, came across Apaches and a rancheria. Zaldivar and Gutierrez established friendly relations with the Apaches. Continuing, they saw their first bison probably near present-day Conchas.

Perhaps near Logan, the Spaniards and their Mexican associates built a corral and attempted to drive bison into it from a plain where they apparently saw "100,000" of them. What ensued was a comedy of errors, as the bison proved impossible to capture. However, Zaldivar procured a quantity of dried meat, and after exploring more of eastern New Mexico, near the present day border with Texas, he returned to the Spanish settlements, arriving November 8, 1599.

Oñate follows Humana and Leyba's route

In 1601, Juan de Oñate, the founder of New Mexico and governor of the new colony, led a large expedition to the Great Plains, relying on Gutierrez as a guide. Gutierrez led Oñate to the same areas he had visited with Jumana and Leyba. Oñate and Gutierrez followed the Canadian River

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