Coronado and La Gran Quivira, 1537-1544
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Fmy Escalona. Fray Luis de Escalona was a worthy companion of the fearless Father Padilla. When Coronado arrived before Cibola for the first time, he sent Fray Luis and Fray Daniel with a special dele- gation to ask the Indians of Hawiku to surrender. But the natives received them coldly and replied by firing a volley of arrows. "They pierced the gown of Fray Luis with an arrow," declares Coronado, "which, blessed by God, did him no harm." 77 This was but the prelude to his life among the natives. Undismayed by this ominous reception, he pleaded for the right to stay, when, two years later, the expedition decided to abandon the pueblos of Cibola. It was he who requested Jaramillo to let him have a very young slave called Cristobal, "who would learn the language quickly and would help him [convert the others]." 78 So great was his reput:1tion as a saintly man that many of the Indians from Mexico, who had accompanied the expedition, volunteered to stay with him. Fray Juan de Padilla, the youngest of these Franciscans, was anxious to start for Quivira. Coronado, who, whatever his faults, was always considerate and respectful to the missionaries, furnished an escort to take him as far as Cicuye. Before setting out he was furnished with everything necessary for the service of the Mass and with a supply of gifts calculated to win the friendship of the natives. In his train went the two donados, Lucas and Sebastian, clad as friars, two Indians who had served as sacristans in the army, a mestizo, and the Portuguese soldier Andres de Campo, who had been gardener to Francisco de Solis, one of the companions of Cortes. Only the soldier was provided with a horse. A number of sheep, mules, and chickens were also taken along. With the little band went Fray Luis de Escalona to his chosen field of endeavor at Cicuye. When they arrived there, "he, too, was abandoned, to work unobtrusively the will of his Master and win his martyr crown." 79 Fate of the Padres. Fray Luis was gladly welcomed by the people of Cicuye, present Pecos. Shortly after his arrival and before the army left Tiguex some men, who went to take a number of sheep that were left for him, met the friar as he was on his way to other villages. At this time he felt very hopeful that his teachings would bear fruit. He said the nath·es liked 77Winship, op. cit., 556. 78Jararnillo, in Docume11tos l,1editos, XIV, 316. 79 Castafieda, op. cit., 461 ; Herrera, Historia, Dec. vi, Lib. ix, Cap. xii, p. 207; Lowery, op. cit., 406-7.
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