Fall 2008 / La Herencia 43

The Griego–Bernal Family

The colony established by Juan deOñate and his followers in NewMexico represented one of the lastmajor efforts of the 16th century to

expand the geography of the Spanish empireand the Roman Catholic Church via a policyguided by the ideology of evangelization. In1598, the region was brought into theconstellation of the Hapsburg realms as acommunity of Christendom.

Various Pueblo Indian leaders activelynegotiated political and military alliances withthe Spaniards, seeking advantages andbenefits for their people as well asstrengthening the political and economic

status of their communities within the region.Following the lack of discoveries of silver andgold in New Mexico, the Spanish crown andchurch focused attention on spreading theChristian faith among the multiplecommunities of Pueblo Indians.

Of the several hundred soldiers that camenorth between 1598 and 1601, a great majorityof them deemed New Mexico a land of miseryand abandoned the colony. By 1608, onlyabout 50 Spanish soldiers, many with families,continued to reside in New Mexico. A lack ofdocumentation makes it difficult tounderstand the motives of those few soldierswho decided to remain and make their homesamong thousands of Indians.

Among these brave anddetermined individualswere Juan Griego and hiswife, Pascuala Bernal. Thereare three known referencesto the origins of JuanGriego, each confirming hewas a native of Greece. Thecircumstances that broughthim into service within the

Hapsburg empire are still unknown. Juantraveled a great distance to eventually arrivein Mexico City prior to 1597, by which time hewas already married to Pascuala Bernal.

Information on the origins of PascualaBernal is equally scant. Research into avariety of records confirms she was anIndian acculturated to Spanish society,apparently coming from one of the tribes of the Valley of Mexico that spoke Nauhuatl.Her son, Juan Griego, the younger, wasreferred to as Nauatato, probably referring to “one who speaks Nauhautl,” and herchildren were consistently identified asmestizos, indicating a racial mixture ofCaucasian and Indian.

As a solider in Oñate’s army, Juan Griegoapparently served at the garrison that wouldeventually become the Villa de Santa Fe. Hisson, Juan, consistently gave Santa Fe as hisbirthplace and indicated he was born about1604 or 1605. Documents issued by the viceroyof New Spain and by the king in 1608 makereferences to the garrison (la guarnición) and thefort (el presidio) in New Mexico for theprotection of “nuestra sancta fee católica,” “our

View of houses and street near San Miguel Church, Santa Fe, 1880. Photo courtesy of the Denver PublicLibrary, Western History Collection, Z-4155.

Founders of the Villa de Santa Fe #5

ParientesBy José Antonio Esquibel

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44 La Herencia / Fall 2008

ParientesBy José Antonio Esquibel

holy Catholic faith.” Here is a hint as to the origin of the name of the Villade Santa Fe, which apparently began as the military camp or garrisonchristened Santa Fe in acknowledgment of defending the Holy Faith.

Royal officials and Franciscan friars strove to bring the diverse Pueblotribes into permanent union as a single “kingdom” with common lawand polity. Successful alliances between the Spaniards and numerousPueblo tribes reshaped the political and military structure of the region.However, efforts to recruit additional soldiers to settle in New Mexicofailed. By 1617, there were only 48 Spanish settlers living in NewMexico, many with families, including the Griego–Bernal family.

The family of Juan Griego and Pascuala Bernal included three sonsand four daughters: Juan Griego, Lázaro Griego, Francisco Bernal, IsabelBernal, Catalina Bernal, María Bernal and Juana Bernal. As wascustomary in Spanish society, some of the children took their mother’ssurname as their own. Juan and Pascuala established a firm social andeconomic foundation that made the Griego–Bernal clan one of the threemost prominent families of 17th century New Mexico.

Matrimonial alliances with the de la Cruz and González Bas familiesserved to strengthen the prosperity of the Griego–Bernal family. Thisclan was further expanded by marriages of the Griego–Bernal daughtersto frontier soldiers Juan Durán (Catalina Bernal) and Juan GómezBarragán (María Bernal), and the armorer and constable of artillery,Diego de Moraga (Juana Bernal).

Juan Griego, the elder, with his sons and sons-in-law, acquired favorsfrom successive governors of New Mexico for their exemplary and loyal

government and military service to the crown. This early success placedthe Griego–Bernal clan at odds with the Franciscan friars and theirsupporters. Attempts to diminish the social and economic standing ofthe Griego–Bernal clan came between the years 1626–1628, when thewife of Juan Griego, the younger, and his mother-in-law weredenounced to the Inquisition as hechiceras, women who bewitchedpeople with potions and enchantments.

Testimony was collected by numerous residents of New Mexico againstBeatrís de los Ángeles, an acculturated Mexican Indian married to aSpanish soldier, and her mestiza daughter, Juana de la Cruz. Both wereimplicated in the unexplained illness of several people and the mysteriousdeath of one man. As it turned out, Inquisition officials in Mexico Cityfound little merit to the charges, and there were no arrests and no trial.

Animosity between the Griego–Bernal clan and the Franciscan friarsfueled the political factionalism between “royalists” and the “protectorsof religion” of 17th-century New Mexico. As royalists, the Griego–Bernalclan continually sought and received favors and privileges from thegovernors of New Mexico.

By the mid-17th century, the large and expanding clan secured theirstanding as one of the top three most prominent and prosperousfamilies of New Mexico. In addition to owning various properties in theVilla de Santa Fe, this clan owned and operated as many as fourestancias in what is now the Española Valley.

Men from the Griego–de la Cruz–González Bernal extended familyrepresented five of the 35 men who were granted encomiendas (Indian

Augustine Griego, (1927–1994)Augustine "Tino" Griego, a descendant of Juan Griego, was born in Santa Fe andgrew up on Palace Avenue. As a child hewas a Golden Gloves Champion, however,he developed arthritis and was confined to awheelchair. In 1947, Griego accepted aposition as Supervisor at the Palace AvenueYouth Center and was later promoted toDirector of the Youth Center. He was withthe Youth Center for 45 years. As Director,Griego introduced to the center sportsactivities and became a Little League coach.He was the recipient of the New MexicoChapter of the National Council ofChristians and Jews' Brotherhood Award aswell as awards and honors from the City ofSanta Fe and the Santa Fe PoliceDepartment. Photo by JoAnne Rijmescourtesy of Santa Fe Living Treasures.

community tributes) in New Mexico, holding the grants for at least fivepueblos. Only the Anaya Almazán-Domínguez de Mendoza clan andthe Romero-Montoya-Gómez-Lucero de Godoy clan held moreencomiendas, eight and ten, respectively. These three family groupsmonopolized 23 of the 35 encomiendas of New Mexico, or 63 percent,making them the socially and economically dominant families ofseventeenth-century New Mexico.

By 1628, Capt. Juan Griego, the younger, owned a home in the Villade Santa Fe as well as a home and estancia in La Cañada, along the SantaCruz River, in the modern-day Española Valley. He also owned orinherited property in Mexico City and very likely maintained contacts inthe viceregal capital for the purpose of commerce. In 1659, he presentedhis papers of military service to the newly arrived governor, BernardoLópez de Mendizábal, consisting of a total of 70 pages of commissions,appointments and services. Unfortunately, copies of these valuablepapers have not yet been located, assuming they even survived thepassing of three and a half centuries.

New Mexico was not an idyllic place to live in the 17th century.Known as tierra de guerra, land of war, the small number of Spanishvecinos (tax-paying citizens) spent much of their time defending theircommunities and those of the Pueblo Indians from depredations byhostile bands of nomadic Indians, mainly Apache and Navajo. JuanGriego, the younger, most likely entered military service by the age of14, having served in military campaigns as a cadet from the age of 12,like others of his era. He apparently had a knack for acquiring Indianlanguages well enough to serve as an interpreter, an important role inmaintaining cooperative relations with various Pueblo Indian leaders.

At midnight on April 13, 1646, two Indians from the Pueblo of Pecos,located in the mountain range to the east of the Villa de Santa Fe,arrived in the Villa de Santa Fe in a state of urgency, seeking anaudience with Gov. Luis de Guzmán y Figueroa. As interpreter general,Capt. Juan Griego was summoned at that late hour to interpret thewords of Cristóbal Chepira, war captain of Pecos, and his companion,Francisco Macha. In their Towa language, they explained that on theprevious day, the Apache del Anco of the eastern plains approached thePueblo of Pecos in warlike array. The governor of the pueblo, PedroMeju, and the war captains sent Cristóbal and Francisco as envoys torequest military assistance from Gov. Guzmán y Figueroa.

Guzmán y Figueroa responded by organizing a force of Spanishsoldiers and Pueblo Indians. Campaigns such as this, which werefrequent, usually consisted of some 30 to 40 Spanish soldiers and 100 to 400 Pueblo Indian warriors, a clear indication of the cooperativerelations that existed in defense against common enemies. In alllikelihood, Juan Griego participated in this campaign, serving both as a military leader and interpreter. It is also known that he spoke theTewa language.

Juan Griego and his wife, Juana de la Cruz, raised at least fivechildren: Nicolás Griego, who married Antonia Márquez; Blas Griego,who married Inez Romero; Graciana Griego, who married FranciscoXavier, a Spaniard from Sevilla, Spain; María de la Cruz Alemán, whomarried Diego López del Castillo; and Juana Griego.

The other male Griego living during the mid-1600s was AgustínGriego, who submitted his papers of merits and services, consisting offour pages, to Gov. López de Mendizázal in 1659. It is not clear whetherAgustín was a brother, son or nephew of Capt. Juan Griego, theyounger. Agustín was already married to Francisca de Montoya by 1656when their son, Agustín II Griego, was born.

Drought, famine and pestilence made the 1670s particularly harsh forSpanish vecinos, Pueblo Indians and the nomadic tribes. Lack of foodsupplies and increased raids by confederated bands of Apache andNavajo forced the abandonment of six pueblo communities in 1672. Thevecino population of New Mexico remained small. In 1679 there wereonly 150 men who could bear arms. The Pueblo Indian population wasrecorded to be about 17,000, with 6,000 men capable of bearing arms.

Dire straits placed stress on the social relations and fostered thedisaffection that eventually erupted with the August 1680 Pueblo Indianuprising that forced the Spanish vecinos to flee their homes and takerefuge in El Paso del Río del Norte. Abandoning their estancias in LaCañada and property in the Villa de Santa Fe, various members of theGriego–Bernal extended family managed to escape the uprising. It is notknown how many members of this clan lost their lives in the attacks.

After persevering through almost 13 years of exile from their places ofbirth and living with the hope of returning to their formers homes, asmall number of Griego men and women returned to northern NewMexico when it was restored to the Spanish crown in 1692. In additionto resettling the Villa de Santa Fe (1693), members of the Griego familyalso settled in the Albuquerque area after 1706. The family propertybecame known as Los Griego, which today is a neighborhood inAlbuquerque’s north valley.

The men of the Griego family continued to serve as frontier soldiers.There are rare physical descriptions of four Griego brothers, sons of JoséAntonio Griego and María Tenorio, residents of Santa Fe in the mid-1700s.Fernando Griego (b.ca. 1741), Miguel Griego (b.ca. 1742), Juan DomingoGriego (b. 1749) and Bernardo Antonio Griego (b.ca. 1761) enlisted as asoldier between 1769 and 1789. Each was described as having fair skin.Three had light-chestnut hair and one had reddish hair. Two of thebrothers had blue eyes, one had hazel eyes and the fourth had dark eyes.

The three older brothers, along with their father, served at the presidioin Santa Fe during the time that Spain declared war with Great Britain.These Griego men contributed money in support of the war ofindependence of the United State against Great Britain. Because of thisfinancial contribution, these men are officially recognized by theDaughters of the American Revolution as patriots of the United States.Fernando, José Miguel and their father, Juan Antonio, are alsorecognized by the Sons of the American Revolution as patriots. Femaleand male descendants of these men are eligible to apply for membershipto these societies in honor of the memory and support of their ancestorsin helping to secure the independence of the United State of America.

The next family to be featured in this series on the founding familiesof Santa Fe will be the Gómez Robledo clan. If you have a grandparentor great-grandparent who is a descendant of this family, you are invitedto submit a photograph of the individual or their family.

Fall 2008 / La Herencia 45

ParientesBy José Antonio Esquibel

José Antonio Esquibel hasroots in northern New Mexicoand northeastern Mexico.He’s the co-author of twobooks on genealogy.

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Founding FamiliesPlease send Photos

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