Querechos
Encyclopedia
The Querechos were a Native American
people.
In 1541 the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vazquez de Coronado and his army journeyed east from the Rio Grande
Valley in search of a rich land called Quivira
. Passing through what would later be the panhandle of Texas
he met a people he called the Querechos.
This was the first known venture of Europeans across the Great Plains
of the United States
and Coronado gives us our earliest description of the buffalo-hunting nomads of the Plains. The Querechos were Apache
Indians.
of the Texas Panhandle and adjacent New Mexico
. On the Llano they also saw vast herds of buffalo or bison
. According to members of Coronado’s expedition, the Querechos lived “in tents made of the tanned skins of the cows (bison). They travel around near the cows killing them for food....They travel like the Arabs, with their tents and troops of dogs loaded with poles...these people eat raw flesh and drink blood. They do not eat human flesh. They are a kind people and not cruel. They are faithful friends. They are able to make themselves very well understood by means of signs. They dry the flesh in the sun, cutting it thin like a leaf, and when dry they grind it like meal to keep it and make a sort of sea soup of it to eat....They season it with fat, which they always try to secure when they kill a cow. They empty a large gut and fill it with blood, and carry this around the neck to drink when they are thirsty.”
This brief account describes many typical features of Plains Indians
culture: skin tipis, travois
pulled by dogs, sign language, jerky (food)
, and pemmican
. In 1581, Spanish explorers of the Chamuscado and Rodriguez Expedition
had another meeting with the Querechos. The found a large rancheria of 400 warriors on the Pecos River
. probably near Santa Rosa, New Mexico
. The Spanish were especially interested in the Indian dogs which pulled travois
with all their belongings, The Indians told the Spaniards that the bison herds were two days to the east and were "as numerous as grass in the fields."
In 1565 Francisco de Ibarra met a bison-hunting people he called Querechos near Casas Grandes
Mexico
, hundreds of miles from where Coronado had met them. There were about 300 men and their "attractive" women and children visiting the area, probably on a trading mission. They said that large bison herds could be found four days journey to the North. This meeting indicates that the Querechos were far ranging even before they acquired horses.
In 1583, the explorer Antonio de Espejo
met Querechos in the mountains near Acoma who traded salt, game, and deerskins to the townspeople in exchange for cotton blankets. He described them as warlike and numerous.
. The Querechos that Espejo met in 1583 at Acoma were Navajo, whose language and culture at that time was very similar to that of the Apaches.
The word Querecho soon passed out of usage, replaced by other names by which the Apache and Navajo would be called by the Spanish in the centuries to come.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
people.
In 1541 the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vazquez de Coronado and his army journeyed east from the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
Valley in search of a rich land called Quivira
Quivira
Quivira may refer to:*Quivira, a place first visited by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado while in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold*Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, a salt marsh located in south central Kansas...
. Passing through what would later be the panhandle of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
he met a people he called the Querechos.
This was the first known venture of Europeans across the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Coronado gives us our earliest description of the buffalo-hunting nomads of the Plains. The Querechos were Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
Indians.
Meeting the Querecho
Coronado and his army found a Querecho settlement of about 200 “houses” on the Llano EstacadoLlano Estacado
Llano Estacado , commonly known as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, including the South Plains and parts of the Texas Panhandle...
of the Texas Panhandle and adjacent New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. On the Llano they also saw vast herds of buffalo or bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
. According to members of Coronado’s expedition, the Querechos lived “in tents made of the tanned skins of the cows (bison). They travel around near the cows killing them for food....They travel like the Arabs, with their tents and troops of dogs loaded with poles...these people eat raw flesh and drink blood. They do not eat human flesh. They are a kind people and not cruel. They are faithful friends. They are able to make themselves very well understood by means of signs. They dry the flesh in the sun, cutting it thin like a leaf, and when dry they grind it like meal to keep it and make a sort of sea soup of it to eat....They season it with fat, which they always try to secure when they kill a cow. They empty a large gut and fill it with blood, and carry this around the neck to drink when they are thirsty.”
This brief account describes many typical features of Plains Indians
Plains Indians
The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...
culture: skin tipis, travois
Travois
A travois is a frame used by indigenous peoples, notably the Plains Indians of North America, to drag loads over land...
pulled by dogs, sign language, jerky (food)
Jerky (food)
Jerky is lean meat that has been trimmed of fat, cut into strips, and then been dried to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt, to prevent bacteria from developing on the meat before sufficient moisture has been removed. The word "jerky" is a bastardization of the...
, and pemmican
Pemmican
Pemmican is a concentrated mixture of fat and protein used as a nutritious food. The word comes from the Cree word pimîhkân, which itself is derived from the word pimî, "fat, grease". It was invented by the native peoples of North America...
. In 1581, Spanish explorers of the Chamuscado and Rodriguez Expedition
The Chamuscado and Rodriguez Expedition
The Chamuscado and Rodriguez Expedition visited New Mexico in 1581-1582. The expedition was led by Francisco Sanchez, called "El Chamuscado," and Friar Augustin Rodriguez, the first Spaniards known to have visited the Pueblo Indians since Francisco Vasquez de Coronado 40 years...
had another meeting with the Querechos. The found a large rancheria of 400 warriors on the Pecos River
Pecos River
The headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it...
. probably near Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Santa Rosa is a city in and the county seat of Guadalupe County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,744 at the 2000 census. It lies between Albuquerque and Tucumcari, situated on the Pecos River at the intersection of Interstate 40, U.S. Route 54, and U.S. Route 84...
. The Spanish were especially interested in the Indian dogs which pulled travois
Travois
A travois is a frame used by indigenous peoples, notably the Plains Indians of North America, to drag loads over land...
with all their belongings, The Indians told the Spaniards that the bison herds were two days to the east and were "as numerous as grass in the fields."
In 1565 Francisco de Ibarra met a bison-hunting people he called Querechos near Casas Grandes
Casas Grandes
Casas Grandes is the contemporary name given to a pre-Columbian archaeological zone and its central site, located in northwestern Mexico in the modern-day Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is one of the largest and most complex sites in the region...
Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, hundreds of miles from where Coronado had met them. There were about 300 men and their "attractive" women and children visiting the area, probably on a trading mission. They said that large bison herds could be found four days journey to the North. This meeting indicates that the Querechos were far ranging even before they acquired horses.
In 1583, the explorer Antonio de Espejo
Antonio de Espejo
Antonio de Espejo was a Spanish explorer who led an expedition into New Mexico and Arizona in 1582-1583. The expedition created interest in establishing a Spanish colony among the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande valley.-Life:...
met Querechos in the mountains near Acoma who traded salt, game, and deerskins to the townspeople in exchange for cotton blankets. He described them as warlike and numerous.
Who Were the Querecho?
Authorities agree that the Querechos were Apache and Navajo Indians.. The Apache were newcomers to Texas, having arrived on the Llano Estacado perhaps less than 100 years before the Spanish visited them there. A village farming culture in the Texas Panhandle disappeared about 1450. The reason for its disappearance may have been displacement by the Apache or the onset of a dryer climatic phase. By the time of Coronado it appears that the Apache were the dominant people over a wide area of the Great Plains extending north from the Llano Estacado to NebraskaNebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. The Querechos that Espejo met in 1583 at Acoma were Navajo, whose language and culture at that time was very similar to that of the Apaches.
The word Querecho soon passed out of usage, replaced by other names by which the Apache and Navajo would be called by the Spanish in the centuries to come.