Capitán Juan Griego, II

By 1628, Capt. Juan Griego, the younger, owned a home in the Villa de Santa Fe as well as a home and estancia in La Cañada, along the Santa Cruz River, in the modern-day Española Valley. He also owned or inherited property in Mexico City and very likely maintained contacts in the viceregal capital for the purpose of commerce. In 1659, he presented his papers of military service to the newly arrived governor, Bernardo López de Mendizábal, consisting of a total of 70 pages of commissions, appointments and services. Unfortunately, copies of these valuable papers have not yet been located, assuming they even survived the passing 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 Spanish vecinos (tax-paying citizens) spent much of their time defending their communities and those of the Pueblo Indians from depredations by hostile bands of nomadic Indians, mainly Apache and Navajo. Juan Griego, the younger, most likely entered military service by the age of 14, 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 Indian languages well enough to serve as an interpreter, an important role in maintaining 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 an audience with Gov. Luis de Guzmán y Figueroa. As interpreter general, Capt. Juan Griego was summoned at that late hour to interpret the words of Cristóbal Chepira, war captain of Pecos, and his companion, Francisco Macha. In their Towa language, they explained that on the previous day, the Apache del Anco of the eastern plains approached the Pueblo of Pecos in warlike array. The governor of the pueblo, Pedro Meju, and the war captains sent Cristóbal and Francisco as envoys to request military assistance from Gov. Guzmán y Figueroa.

Guzmán y Figueroa responded by organizing a force of Spanish soldiers and Pueblo Indians. Campaigns such as this, which were frequent, usually consisted of some 30 to 40 Spanish soldiers and 100 to 400 Pueblo Indian warriors, a clear indication of the cooperative relations that existed in defense against common enemies. In all likelihood, Juan Griego participated in this campaign, serving both as a military leader and interpreter. It is also known that he spoke the Tewa language. Juan Griego and his wife, Juana de la Cruz, raised at least five children:

• 1. Nicolás Griego, who married Antonia Márquez;
• 2. Blas Griego, who married Inez Romero;
• 3. Graciana Griego, who married Francisco Xavier, a Spaniard from Sevilla, Spain;
• 4. María de la Cruz Alemán, who married Diego López del Castillo; and
• 5. Juana Griego.

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

Drought, famine and pestilence made the 1670s particularly harsh for Spanish vecinos, Pueblo Indians and the nomadic tribes. Lack of food supplies and increased raids by confederated bands of Apache and Navajo forced the abandonment of six pueblo communities in 1672. The vecino population of New Mexico remained small. In 1679 there were only 150 men who could bear arms. The Pueblo Indian population was recorded to be about 17,000, with 6,000 men capable of bearing arms.

Dire straits placed stress on the social relations and fostered the disaffection that eventually erupted with the August 1680 Pueblo Indian uprising that forced the Spanish vecinos to flee their homes and take refuge in El Paso del Río del Norte. Abandoning their estancias in La Cañada and property in the Villa de Santa Fe, various members of the Griego–Bernal extended family managed to escape the uprising. It is not known how many members of this clan lost their lives in the attacks.

After persevering through almost 13 years of exile from their places of birth and living with the hope of returning to their formers homes, a small number of Griego men and women returned to northern New Mexico when it was restored to the Spanish crown in 1692. In addition to resettling the Villa de Santa Fe (1693), members of the Griego family also settled in the Albuquerque area after 1706. The family property became known as Los Griego, which today is a neighborhood in Albuquerque’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 José Antonio Griego and María Tenorio, residents of Santa Fe in the mid-1700s. Fernando Griego (b.ca. 1741), Miguel Griego (b.ca. 1742), Juan Domingo Griego (b. 1749) and Bernardo Antonio Griego (b.ca. 1761) enlisted as a soldier between 1769 and 1789. Each was described as having fair skin. Three had light-chestnut hair and one had reddish hair. Two of the brothers had blue eyes, one had hazel eyes and the fourth had dark eyes.

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