Militia Muster Roll 1806
New Mexico
Revista de Milicias de la Villa Sta Cruz de la Canada fha en 8 de Junio de 1806
(Review of Military of the Villa of Santa Cruz Dela Cananda done the 8th of June of 1806)
Submitted May 25, 2011© by David Snow
Typed for this exhibit by Janet Wasson, Stephanie Barela, Richard Flores, C. W. Barnum
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Letters enclosed by ( ) were in Superscript on the original documents. Mig(l) probably means Miguel, Ant(o) may mean Antonio, etc.
Special note: A few surnames were spelled in lower case. We have spelled all surnames in Proper case for this exhibit.
If you need a list of the names spelled in lower case, please let me know.
Sections below are webpage sections, not based on the original documents.
Suggested translations:
arco = bow / arma = weapon / ballesta = crossbow / cuchillo = knife / daga = dagger espada = sword / flechas = arrows / hacha = axe / lanza = spear
mangual = flail / martillo de guerra = war hammer / sable = saber / mula = female mule / escopeta = shotgun, cannon or musket / lanzas = lances
chimales = shields / Mun(s) = municiones (munitions ~ ammunition) / Cab(os) = corporal or squad leader / hacha = axe or hatchet
Under "Hombres desmontados in la Alameda", Gabriel Cordova possessed "onda" (sling) and "macan" (war-club).

Introduction to the 1806 Revista de Milícias

From the outset New Spain's far northern frontier in New Mexico was beset by Native American adversaries, resulting in near continuous 'warfare' that was not effectively ended until late in the 19th century. In the absence of a formidable military presence, New Mexico's Hispanic citizens were expected to provide for their own defenses, as well as waging offensive campaigns against incursions of their enemies bent on plunder and captives (as a result, they were not subject to a head tax by the government in Mexico!). The 1806 list of militia men resident in various communities of greater Rio Arriba, and several in the northerly portion of Rio Abajo, is a useful contribution to genealogy researchers. At the same time it provides a glimpse into the military preparedness of those frontier communities during a period when Navajo, Apache, and Comanche raiding extracted a considerable toll on life and livestock across the settled landscape of New Mexico. In 1772, the settlers of Las Truchas requested from Santa Fe 12 muskets and powder, and “protection against Comanches” (SANM II:666); and Governor Pedro de Nava, in 1797, requested of Chihuahua, “arms for New Mexico's citizens” (SANM II:1375a), presumably, muskets.

Muskets (escopetas), and the equipment to maintain their serviceability, including molds for making ball, and gun-flints, the lists of weaponry, associated gear, and mounts declared by these men also provides an interesting perspective on items of material culture seldom addressed by historians: to what extent were such weapons as bow and arrows (and the stone or metal points with which they were tipped), lances, and shields (chimales), the products of household or specialist manufacture, or items bartered from their pueblo neighbors? The near lack of pistols, except at La Alameda, is interesting; and the near absence of lances carried by unmounted men is to be expected. It seems that 25 was the expected number of arrows, while 10 ball was the norm for musketeers. That one man carried only a sling and a war-club, another, a hatchet (“tomahawk”), and the frequency with which men were equipped only with bow and arrow, is eloquent testimony to the needs for adequate weaponry on the frontier.

The 1806 list complements other militia 'reviews' that have been published in whole or in summary, beginning with the numbers of weapons held by Spanish and Pueblo allies in 1752 (Jones 1966:123), in 1764 at San Gabriel de las Nutrias (Rio Abajo; Sisneros 1997:30), and 1839 at Belen (Espinosa and Chavez n. d. pp. 235-40). The requirements for settling the Anton Chico Grant, in 1832, required the settlers to be equipped with arms and arrows (Twitchell I:899, p. 268); and, similarly, Governor de Anza ordered citizens, in 1782, who lack muskets, should provide themselves with bows and arrows (SANM II:843). In this regard, an investigation, in 1792, into complaints about the former Alcalde Mayor at Acoma, charged that he took arrows from the Indians (SANM II:1193). Although most – or all – of the lead needed for ball was imported from Mexico (primarily from the Parral mines; SANM II:2021), the governor, in 1818, issued a bando read at Alameda, Santa Fe, and Taos, requiring that lead for bullets be taken from the mines at Las Huertas (Placitas, New Mexico; SANM I:150, Frs 365-67). Flints for the regular troops were imported (e.g. SANM II:2761, 2787), but archeologists have determined that both arrow points and gun-flints recovered from Hispanic sites indicate production, in some instances, at least, by the settlers.

For those who seek additional genealogical information on militia members, as well as their equipment, the Mexican Archives of New Mexico identify additional militia documents that might be of interest: Rolls 7, 8, 18, 20, 22, 26, and 28, under “Military Records” in the Calendar of the Microfilm Edition; State Records Center, Santa FE, 1970).

References:
Espinosa, Gilberto, and Tibo J. Chavez
n. d. El Rio Abajo. Privately printed.

New Mexico, State of:
1970 Calendar of the Microfilm Edition of the Mexican Archives of New Mexico, 1821-1846. New Mexico Records Center and Archives. Santa Fe.

Sisneros, Francisco:
1997 1764 and 1765 Census of Las Nutias. Herencia 5/2:30.

Twitchell, Ralph Emerson:
1914 The Spanish Archives of New Mexico (Vols I and II). The Torch Press. Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
[these will be found in microfilm editions at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives;
the printed volumes by Twitchell provide a brief synopsis of the contents of most of the various archives;
a calendar of the microfilm edition of Volume I also will be found at the Records Center and Archives].

Begin Extraction
Section 1 Section 2 Section 3
Section 4 Section 5 Section 6
Section 7 Section 8 Section 9

Note 1: * The number of arrows is not given in the original; the actual number under munitions is 578, and I am unable to reconcile the difference.
End section one