Escanjaque Indians
Encyclopedia
The Escanjaques were a native American people named this by Juan de Onate
in 1601 during an expedition to the Great Plains
of Texas
, Oklahoma
, and Kansas
. The Escanjaques may have been identical with the Aguacane who lived along the tributaries of the Red River in western Oklahoma. If so, they were probably related to the people later known as the Wichita'.
, led a Spanish expedition to the Great Plains in 1601. He followed the route taken by an unauthorized expedition in 1595, by Francisco Leyva de Bonilla and Antonio Gutierrez de Humana. An Indian named Jusepe Gutierrez
, from Culiacan
, Mexico
, guided Onate. Jusepe was a survivor of the Leyva and Humana expedition.
Accompanied by Jusepe, more than seventy Spanish soldiers and priests, an unknown number of Indian soldiers and servants, and seven hundred horses and mules, Onate journeyed across the plains eastward from New Mexico. Departing June 23, he followed the Canadian River
through the Texas panhandle into Oklahoma. Turning away from the Canadian, he journeyed cross-country in a northerly direction. The land became greener, with more water and groves of walnut and oak trees.
. "They were not a people who sowed or reaped, but they lived solely on the cattle [bison]. They were ruled by chiefs....[but] they obeyed their chiefs but little. They had large quantities of hides which, wrapped around their bodies, served them as clothing, but the weather being hot, all the men went about nearly naked, the women being clothed from the waist down. Men and women alike used bows and arrows, with which they were very dexterous."
The Escanjaques led Onate to a large settlement of their enemies, the Rayados, about 30 miles away. The Rayados abandoned their settlement and Onate restrained with difficulty the Escanjaques from looting it. He sent them back to their own settlement. However, when Onate returned to the Escanjaque settlement the next day, the Indians had turned unfriendly and he estimated that 1,500 men attacked him. Onate fought a two-hour battle with them before retiring from the field and beginning his return to New Mexico. Onate said that several Spaniards were wounded in the battle and claimed that a large number of Indians were killed.
A cause of the battle may have been that Onate kidnapped several women and children from the Escanjaques. Onate released — or was forced to release — several of the women but he "took some boys upon the request of the religious, in order to instruct them in the matters of our holy Catholic
faith." One of those kidnapped was named Miguel, a captive of the Escanjaques himself from a land he called Tancoa. Miguel would later provide information for the first map of the region.
, but Onate's account would seem to distinguish them from the Apache who were by this time well known to the Spanish. They have also been identified as the Kaw
, although not persuasively as the Kaw are not known to be on the Great Plains in 1601.
It is possible that "Escanjaques" was not the name of the Indians, but rather a greeting . On meeting Onate, they extended their hands toward the sun and returned it to their breasts saying "escanjaque." "
Later, Miguel told the Spaniards that the Escanjaques were, in reality, a people called the Aguacane. His information enabled the Spanish to draw a map of the region in which the Aguacane seemed to be located in southwestern Oklahoma along the Red River and its tributaries. If so, it is likely the Escanjaques (Aguacane) were speakers of a Caddoan language and probably akin to the Wichita. Given their geographic location, the Aguacane might also be identical or related to the people called Teyas
by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado sixty years before Onate.
There are a few more references in the 16th century to the Escanjaques. It has been suggested that their descendants were the Iscani, a Wichita tribe of the eighteenth century.
The Escanjaque settlement Onate found was probably a temporary camp. Its size, 600 tents and 5,000 people, precludes if from being a hunting camp. Perhaps the camp was large because the Escanjaques intended to go to war with the Rayados, or possibly it was formed to trade with the Rayados for Florence-A chert, a flint favored for arrowheads over much of Oklahoma and Kansas.
The site of the Escanjaque settlement has not been found and the geographical details in Onate's account of his journey do not permit a location to be determined with certainty. Two possible locations are suggested: the Ninnescah River about 20 miles south of the present site of Wichita, Kansas
or the Salt Fork River
near Tonkawa, Oklahoma
. Archaeological data best supports the Tonkawa site. An extensive archaeological site at Arkansas City, Kansas
is believed by many to be the site of the Rayado village. Extrapolating backwards a location near Tonkawa for the Escanjaque settlement fits with Onate's account.
Juan de Oñate
Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar was a Spanish explorer, colonial governor of the New Spain province of New Mexico, and founder of various settlements in the present day Southwest of the United States.-Biography:...
in 1601 during an expedition to 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 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...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, and Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. The Escanjaques may have been identical with the Aguacane who lived along the tributaries of the Red River in western Oklahoma. If so, they were probably related to the people later known as the Wichita'.
Juan de Onate
Juan de Onate, governor and founder of the newly created Spanish province of New MexicoNew 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...
, led a Spanish expedition to the Great Plains in 1601. He followed the route taken by an unauthorized expedition in 1595, by Francisco Leyva de Bonilla and Antonio Gutierrez de Humana. An Indian named Jusepe Gutierrez
Jusepe Gutierrez
Jusepe Gutierrez was a Native American guide and explorer. He was the only known survivor of the Umana and Leyba expedition to the Great Plains in 1594 or 1595...
, from Culiacan
Culiacán
Culiacán is a city in northwestern Mexico, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa as well as its capital and capital of the municipality of Culiacán. With 675,773 inhabitants in the city , and 858,638 in the municipality, it is the largest city in the state of Sinaloa...
, 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...
, guided Onate. Jusepe was a survivor of the Leyva and Humana expedition.
Accompanied by Jusepe, more than seventy Spanish soldiers and priests, an unknown number of Indian soldiers and servants, and seven hundred horses and mules, Onate journeyed across the plains eastward from New Mexico. Departing June 23, he followed the Canadian River
Canadian River
The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and most of Oklahoma....
through the Texas panhandle into Oklahoma. Turning away from the Canadian, he journeyed cross-country in a northerly direction. The land became greener, with more water and groves of walnut and oak trees.
Description of the Escanjaques
Near a small river, Onate found a large encampment of people he called Escanjaques. He estimated the population at more than 5,000 living in 600 hundred houses. The Escanjaques lived in round houses as large as ninety feet in diameter and covered with tanned buffalo hides—similar in form to the grass houses of QuiviraQuivira
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...
. "They were not a people who sowed or reaped, but they lived solely on the cattle [bison]. They were ruled by chiefs....[but] they obeyed their chiefs but little. They had large quantities of hides which, wrapped around their bodies, served them as clothing, but the weather being hot, all the men went about nearly naked, the women being clothed from the waist down. Men and women alike used bows and arrows, with which they were very dexterous."
The Escanjaques led Onate to a large settlement of their enemies, the Rayados, about 30 miles away. The Rayados abandoned their settlement and Onate restrained with difficulty the Escanjaques from looting it. He sent them back to their own settlement. However, when Onate returned to the Escanjaque settlement the next day, the Indians had turned unfriendly and he estimated that 1,500 men attacked him. Onate fought a two-hour battle with them before retiring from the field and beginning his return to New Mexico. Onate said that several Spaniards were wounded in the battle and claimed that a large number of Indians were killed.
A cause of the battle may have been that Onate kidnapped several women and children from the Escanjaques. Onate released — or was forced to release — several of the women but he "took some boys upon the request of the religious, in order to instruct them in the matters of our holy Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
faith." One of those kidnapped was named Miguel, a captive of the Escanjaques himself from a land he called Tancoa. Miguel would later provide information for the first map of the region.
Who were the Escanjaques?
Some authorities have identified the Escanjaques as ApacheApache
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...
, but Onate's account would seem to distinguish them from the Apache who were by this time well known to the Spanish. They have also been identified as the Kaw
Kaw (tribe)
The Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
, although not persuasively as the Kaw are not known to be on the Great Plains in 1601.
It is possible that "Escanjaques" was not the name of the Indians, but rather a greeting . On meeting Onate, they extended their hands toward the sun and returned it to their breasts saying "escanjaque." "
Later, Miguel told the Spaniards that the Escanjaques were, in reality, a people called the Aguacane. His information enabled the Spanish to draw a map of the region in which the Aguacane seemed to be located in southwestern Oklahoma along the Red River and its tributaries. If so, it is likely the Escanjaques (Aguacane) were speakers of a Caddoan language and probably akin to the Wichita. Given their geographic location, the Aguacane might also be identical or related to the people called Teyas
Teyas
Teyas were a Native American people discovered near Lubbock, Texas by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1541.The tribal affiliation and language of the Teyas is unknown, although many scholars believe they spoke a Caddoan language and were related to the Wichita tribe who Coronado found in Quivira...
by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado sixty years before Onate.
There are a few more references in the 16th century to the Escanjaques. It has been suggested that their descendants were the Iscani, a Wichita tribe of the eighteenth century.
Where was the Escanjaque settlement?
The Escanjaque settlement Onate found was probably a temporary camp. Its size, 600 tents and 5,000 people, precludes if from being a hunting camp. Perhaps the camp was large because the Escanjaques intended to go to war with the Rayados, or possibly it was formed to trade with the Rayados for Florence-A chert, a flint favored for arrowheads over much of Oklahoma and Kansas.
The site of the Escanjaque settlement has not been found and the geographical details in Onate's account of his journey do not permit a location to be determined with certainty. Two possible locations are suggested: the Ninnescah River about 20 miles south of the present site of Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
or the Salt Fork River
Salt Fork Arkansas River
The Salt Fork of the Arkansas River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma in the United States. Via the Arkansas River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.-Course:...
near Tonkawa, Oklahoma
Tonkawa, Oklahoma
Tonkawa is a city in Kay County, Oklahoma, United States, along the Salt Fork Arkansas River. The population was 3,299 at the 2000 census.-History:...
. Archaeological data best supports the Tonkawa site. An extensive archaeological site at Arkansas City, Kansas
Arkansas City, Kansas
Arkansas City is a city situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and Walnut rivers in the southwestern part of Cowley County, located in south-central Kansas, in the central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,415....
is believed by many to be the site of the Rayado village. Extrapolating backwards a location near Tonkawa for the Escanjaque settlement fits with Onate's account.