Similarly, during a five-month period in the winter of 177172, Comanches carried out six raids in northern New Mexico and sent six trade convoys to Taos, sometimes arriving to the fairs only a few days after attacking other towns. Sometimes the raiding and trading parties arrived in chorus, convincing Mendinueta that they were part of a “crafty stratagem.” On May 31, 1768, six Comanche chiefs rode to Taos carrying a white flag and announcing that a larger party would come to the pueblo on June 2 with a captive to ransom. On that day four hundred Comanches did indeed arrive in Taos where they
...more
