The Abiquiú Witches
Witch trials weren't just reserved for the east coast here in America. In what is now New Mexico, there were witch trials held in Abiquiú in the late 1770s. It also started when a priest from Mexico City, Juan José Toledo, was on a mission to minister to the Native people inhabiting Mexico and New Mexico. He kept with him a handy manual that very specifically instructed him on what to look out for when it came to identifying sorcery and witches. And that was the beginning of the end in Abiquiú.
The rumors of witchcraft began way back in 1760. The governor of New Mexico at the time, Francisco Antonio Marin del Valle, heard from a priest on a mission that devil worshippers were fighting each other for control over the town. He also mentioned that they were severely impacting his ability to convert the Native people of the town to Christianity.
But let’s go back a little. Where was Abiquiú? What it was like? And why the hell was a Fransiscan there? Abiquiú was a mix of various people, including Genízaro Indians, non-Puebloan Natives, and more. They weren't looking for a man like Toledo, but he found them none the less. When he arrived, he was shocked at what he discovered. He describes the town as not living with each other in harmony, despite their cultures, but a bitter war over control headed by an intensely powerful sorcerer, Miguel Ontiveros, known as El Cojo. He had the town in his grip, and he was letting the devil run free.
But Toledo knew he couldn’t directly address El Cojo. He had to do his research first. The town was sick, and not just with fear but actually bewitched into illness. They had fevers and their thirsts were never sated. Their teeth turned black shortly before their death and, in some cases, their stomachs burst open and let insects fly. Toledo, while investigating, was not immune. He came under the spell of one of them and claimed he suffered deep physical pain and saw impossible things, including witches doing the work of El Cojo appearing as half-human, half-animal creatures while doing the sorcerer's bidding.
Luckily, Abiquiú was a town apparently crawling in magic and he used some atropatric magic to his advantage. He got a cure from an Indian folk healer and armed himself with a local magistrate to avoid another bewitching.
The war escalated and his letters, as you read above, eventually reached the governor. He got involved and had El Cojo and co-conspirators arrested. He then forwarded all of this information to the Inquisition in Mexico City. It seemed that, for a few years at least, the town was released from the grip of sorcery.
But that ended in 1763. Toledo had quieted but the witches were getting started again. A new accused witch entered the scene: Joanquinillo, a Native, bewitched a woman and made her ill. This greatly upset the town, and they decided to hunt him down and explore him, and his circle, for other crimes that may have been done because of their worship. The list of witches in the area soon reached the dozens, an extensive list of victims, and proof of their networking growing.
The Inquisition came in and investigated. They suggested that the priests in the area were the problem, not the Native people. The Inquisition formally recommended that anyone trying to convert should learn the local languages to better communicate.
Toledo would eventually leave in 1771 (over 5 years after the trials ended). But, he didn't go of his own will. The priest was caught up in a scandal and formerly renounced by the Inquisition because he said having sex was not a sin.
Thanks to Wyre for this blogstonishing suggestion!
The blog header image depicts Abiquiu Lake. Entitled: The still waters of Abiquiu Lake by The Casita del Lago. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
