The Rosas Affair

Book excerpt: In the winter of 1637, Luis de Rosas, a tough, two-fisted soldier, stood outside the convent door beating on its staves with a gloved hand. Appointed to the governorship of New Mexico, he had petitioned the viceregal authorities for permission to set out from the city of Mexico for Santa Fe in advance of the regular supply caravan. While he was initially obliged to curb his restlessness, he could wait no longer. He wanted the supply wagons loaded and for Fray Tomas Manso and the men of his escort to hit the trail. Who could know that, in his impatience to begin his long journey and thus assume his responsibilities as captain-general of the New Mexico Kingdom, he was merely hurrying toward a lengthy confrontation with New Mexico's recalcitrant soldier-colonists and priests, and ultimately to his own demise? This book forms the centerpiece of Lucero's trilogy about New Mexico's colonial history. It tells the story of his Baca, Gomez, Marquez, and Perez de Bustillo forebears in their bitter conflict with Rosas, the most interesting governor to serve prior to the Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680. Because of Rosas's cruel tyranny, Lucero's ancestors become tragically entangled in the insanity of colonial affairs. Based on a true story, the book sets out the particulars of Church and State relations in New Mexico during the period 1637 – 1641 that led to the assassination of its governor and the beheading of the eight citizen-soldiers who were responsible for his death.