Historical Interlude
Everything in these tales is historical fact, wrapped up in a blanket of fictional tale-telling.
Spanish Archives really do record the destruction of the Spanish forts planted along the coastal interior of North and South Carolina by Juan Pardo, a tale told by the single lone survivor out of all those garrisons who made it back to Santa Elena alive to tell the tale.
One of those forts, Fort San Juan ("Sanwan" in the tales), Juan Pardo's main fort in the region, has been rediscovered in the past few years by archaeologists near Morgantown, NC.
One of Pardo's sergeants, a particularly vile man who, I believe, was named Hernan Moyano, was left in charge of Fort San Juan when Pardo had to go back to Santa Elena for something or other, and in the absence of Pardo conducted a raid on a town to the north, around present day Saltville, VA. A town mentioned in the Spanish Archives under the name of Maniatique. He did so, according to the Archives, under the pretense that the village cacique - that's what the Spainards called a chief, any chief - had sent a message saying he was going to kill and eat the Spaniards, and their dogs, too.
So Sergeant Moyano took a company of Spaniards together with an unknown number of Indian "allies" from the town where Fort San Juan was constructed, which the Spaniards called "Joara" or "Xuala", and destroyed Maniatique, burned it to the ground, and killed all the inhabitants they could find, reporting back with outrageously inflated figures of houses burned and people killed. I guess "body count" was even a thing in 16th century conquest.
Other documents in the Spanish Archives, documents in support of pension applications, were written by men actually on that expedition to Maniatique, and two by native women who were captured there and never saw their homes again.
Indian villages of that time period have been uncovered at Chilhowie, VA, Saltville, VA, and across Clinch Mountain ("the Long Mountain" in the tales) at the top of Big Moccasin Gap ("Big Mother Gap" in the tales), and in Elk Garden VA, on the western side of Hayter's Gap in Clinch Mountain, under the shadow of Beartown Mountain.
Farther to the north, at Crab Orchard in Tazewell County, VA, a village site was uncovered that guarded what later became known as "The Sandy War Passes" - gaps in Copper Ridge and Sandy Ridge that were the communication points with Big Sandy River, going west into Kentucky, and points north and west into the Ohio country. Those passes were used by the Ohio Indians to make raids on American settlements in Southwestern Virginia, and were used by the Union Army to make raids into the same area, hence the reason they became known as "The War Passes".
Archaeological research has confirmed that the culture of the people to the west of Clinch Mountain (the Turkey River People) was distinct from, and different than, the people east of that mountain (the Salt People). They had differently styled projectile points and pottery. I have some arrow heads, pot sherds, bits of bone, and freshwater mussel shells from the site of Tsenacomacah's village on the western side of Big Moccasin Gap in what is now called Hansonville. I picked them up out of a plowed field on the village site over 40 years ago.
All of those villages were mysteriously abandoned at about the same time, a point for another installment of the tales on down the road.
25 years or so before Juan Pardo's entrada into the North American interior, Hernan de Soto tried one of his own. It ended in disaster as well, and de Soto never left North America alive, nor did most of his troops. at a point in de Soto's entrada, they were attacked and defeated by a tribe they recorded as "Chisca" Indians. That fight has been traced to an area on the Virginia-Tennessee border, either around the city of Bristol or slightly further north in Lee County, VA. That would be the fight mentioned by Tsenocomacah's father.
Many years ago, hunters reported finding a Spanish grave, or the grave of a presumed Spaniard, in the far northeastern corner of Tennessee, way up in the corner where TN, VA, and NC all come together. it's exact location has been lost to the mists of time, but I suppose could be rediscovered with a little diligence. In an 1869 edition of the newspaper the Bristol Herald-Courier, a man reported finding a burial mound in the company of companions while hunting in that then wilderness. When they broke open the mound (searching for Indian artifacts, I presume) they instead found the body of a European, accompanied by Spanish conqustador artifacts. 3 bodies were in the mound, two of which could not be identified... but the third, the presumed conquistador, had on his chest a medallion with the word "Espa" on one side and a cross engraved on the obverse.
No one knows now whether it was the body of one of de Soto's men lost in the battle with the Chisca, or if it may have been one of Pardo's or Moyano's men.
The dead often keep their own counsel.
======================================================
Next up: The destruction of the Spanish incursion to plant a Jesuit Mission at Ajacan, on what is now the York River in Virginia.
.
Everything in these tales is historical fact, wrapped up in a blanket of fictional tale-telling.
Spanish Archives really do record the destruction of the Spanish forts planted along the coastal interior of North and South Carolina by Juan Pardo, a tale told by the single lone survivor out of all those garrisons who made it back to Santa Elena alive to tell the tale.
One of those forts, Fort San Juan ("Sanwan" in the tales), Juan Pardo's main fort in the region, has been rediscovered in the past few years by archaeologists near Morgantown, NC.
One of Pardo's sergeants, a particularly vile man who, I believe, was named Hernan Moyano, was left in charge of Fort San Juan when Pardo had to go back to Santa Elena for something or other, and in the absence of Pardo conducted a raid on a town to the north, around present day Saltville, VA. A town mentioned in the Spanish Archives under the name of Maniatique. He did so, according to the Archives, under the pretense that the village cacique - that's what the Spainards called a chief, any chief - had sent a message saying he was going to kill and eat the Spaniards, and their dogs, too.
So Sergeant Moyano took a company of Spaniards together with an unknown number of Indian "allies" from the town where Fort San Juan was constructed, which the Spaniards called "Joara" or "Xuala", and destroyed Maniatique, burned it to the ground, and killed all the inhabitants they could find, reporting back with outrageously inflated figures of houses burned and people killed. I guess "body count" was even a thing in 16th century conquest.
Other documents in the Spanish Archives, documents in support of pension applications, were written by men actually on that expedition to Maniatique, and two by native women who were captured there and never saw their homes again.
Indian villages of that time period have been uncovered at Chilhowie, VA, Saltville, VA, and across Clinch Mountain ("the Long Mountain" in the tales) at the top of Big Moccasin Gap ("Big Mother Gap" in the tales), and in Elk Garden VA, on the western side of Hayter's Gap in Clinch Mountain, under the shadow of Beartown Mountain.
Farther to the north, at Crab Orchard in Tazewell County, VA, a village site was uncovered that guarded what later became known as "The Sandy War Passes" - gaps in Copper Ridge and Sandy Ridge that were the communication points with Big Sandy River, going west into Kentucky, and points north and west into the Ohio country. Those passes were used by the Ohio Indians to make raids on American settlements in Southwestern Virginia, and were used by the Union Army to make raids into the same area, hence the reason they became known as "The War Passes".
Archaeological research has confirmed that the culture of the people to the west of Clinch Mountain (the Turkey River People) was distinct from, and different than, the people east of that mountain (the Salt People). They had differently styled projectile points and pottery. I have some arrow heads, pot sherds, bits of bone, and freshwater mussel shells from the site of Tsenacomacah's village on the western side of Big Moccasin Gap in what is now called Hansonville. I picked them up out of a plowed field on the village site over 40 years ago.
All of those villages were mysteriously abandoned at about the same time, a point for another installment of the tales on down the road.
25 years or so before Juan Pardo's entrada into the North American interior, Hernan de Soto tried one of his own. It ended in disaster as well, and de Soto never left North America alive, nor did most of his troops. at a point in de Soto's entrada, they were attacked and defeated by a tribe they recorded as "Chisca" Indians. That fight has been traced to an area on the Virginia-Tennessee border, either around the city of Bristol or slightly further north in Lee County, VA. That would be the fight mentioned by Tsenocomacah's father.
Many years ago, hunters reported finding a Spanish grave, or the grave of a presumed Spaniard, in the far northeastern corner of Tennessee, way up in the corner where TN, VA, and NC all come together. it's exact location has been lost to the mists of time, but I suppose could be rediscovered with a little diligence. In an 1869 edition of the newspaper the Bristol Herald-Courier, a man reported finding a burial mound in the company of companions while hunting in that then wilderness. When they broke open the mound (searching for Indian artifacts, I presume) they instead found the body of a European, accompanied by Spanish conqustador artifacts. 3 bodies were in the mound, two of which could not be identified... but the third, the presumed conquistador, had on his chest a medallion with the word "Espa" on one side and a cross engraved on the obverse.
No one knows now whether it was the body of one of de Soto's men lost in the battle with the Chisca, or if it may have been one of Pardo's or Moyano's men.
The dead often keep their own counsel.
======================================================
Next up: The destruction of the Spanish incursion to plant a Jesuit Mission at Ajacan, on what is now the York River in Virginia.
.
Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’