Was Francisco Montes Vigil a Survivor of the Villasur Expedition?

Detail from the Segesser hide paintings depicting the massacre of the Villasur expedition, currently on display at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe.

A number of secondary sources claim that my 8x-great-grandfather Francisco Montes Vigil was one of only fourteen survivors of the ill-fated Villasur Expedition of 1720. But what is the source of this assertion? The earliest publication that made this statement appears to be an article in the quarterly journal of the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America, Nuestros Raices, volume 7, number 4, Winter 1995. I don’t have access to that publication, but it was cited as the source for this fact by María Clara Martínez in her 1999 publication Some descendants of Francisco Montes Vigil II, Siero, Spain, to “La Culebra.”

The most complete account and primary documentation of the Villasur expedition in English can be found in Alfred B. Thomas’ After Coronado, Spanish exploration northeast of New Mexico, 1696-1727, documents from the archives of Spain, Mexico and New Mexico. This publication has English translations of transcriptions made from the original Spanish manuscripts, located primarily in Archivo General de México, Provincias Internas, Legajo 37, Expediente 1.

One of the confirmed survivors of the Villasur Expedition, Alfonso Rael de Aguilar, testified in Santa Fe on 1 July 1726 that “the soldiers who escaped with the witness were Manuel Tenorio, Felipe Tamariz, Matías Madrid, José Mares, Joaquín Sánchez, Jacinto Perea, Juan Antonio Barrios, Antonio de Armenta, José de Santisteban, Melchior Rodríguez and Diego Tafoya. He did not remember if there were any more than these mentioned.” (Thomas, p. 228). From this testimony, it would appear there were only twelve survivors and they did not include Francisco Montes Vigil.

However, a couple of years earlier, on 19 April 1724, Governor Juan Domingo de Bustamante, under orders from the viceroy, conducted an inquiry into illegal trading between French Louisiana and New Mexico. He ordered his secretary of government and war, Don Miguel Enríquez, to summon the inhabitants and soldiers who were the oldest and most experienced in the kingdom to testify, who were: Lieutenant General Don Juan Paez Hurtado, Don Francisco Casados, Captain Ignacio de Roybal, Lieutenant Francisco Montes Vigil, Don Miguel de Vega y Coca, Don Diego Arias de Quirós, Manuel Tenorio de Alba, Sergeant Major Don Alfonso Rael de Aguilar, Felipe de Tamariz and the captain of the royal forces Alfonso Rael de Aguilar (the younger).

In his testimony, Francisco Montes Vigil stated that when he was “lieutenant of the garrison of this presidial palace, an order came to the then governor, who was at that time Don Antonio Valverde, from the honorable Marqués de Valero, former viceroy of New Spain, that he or his lieutenant-general should reconnoiter certain French settlements which were said to be in these parts. The said lieutenant-general, who was Don Pedro de Villasur, did as he was ordered and carried with him all that the very long journey required in the way of necessaries. This he declares from having been an assistant and seeing with his own eyes.” (emphasis added, Thomas, p. 248-249)

This testimony appears to be the source of the claim that Montes Vigil was a member of the expedition. However, his choice of words is vague. By saying that he was an assistant and seeing with his own eyes, did he mean that he assisted with the outfitting of the expedition as lieutenant of the presidio? Or was he implying that he participated in the expedition itself? The original Spanish document of this testimony, available at the Spanish Archives of New Mexico, Civil Records of New Spain (1621-1821), No. 327a, does not shed much further light on this statement: “... y que esto lo dice por haberlo visto y estar aquí de asistencia.” I would translate this: “and he says this for having seen it and being here to assist.” The inclusion of the word “here” suggests to me that Montes Vigil was explaining that he assisted with outfitting the expedition in Santa Fe, not that he had assisted during the expedition.

By contrast, Alfonso Rael de Aguiler (the younger), confirmed member of the Villasur expedition, stated that he was “an eyewitness, being one of the soldiers who went on the reconnaissance of the French settlements,” under Villasur’s command. Similarly, Felipe de Tamariz declared “he was one of those selected to reconnoiter those [French] settlements that were said to be in these parts.” Manuel Tenorio de Alba also testified that he was “one of the soldiers who were sent by General Don Antonio de Valverde (who was then governor of this kingdom) to discover the settlements said to have been made by the French in these parts...” All of the other witnesses who were not members of the Villasur expedition testified regarding the specific provisions and supplies that the expedition took with them, similar to Montes Vigil’s statement.

It's entirely plausible that Montes Vigil, as lieutenant of the presidio, would have been a logical choice to participate in the expedition. Just a year prior, in 1719, he had accompanied Governor Valverde on a war campaign against the Comanches. Yet it seems unlikely that Alfonso Rael de Aguilar would have forgotten to mention the name of such a prominent official as one of the survivors. Until more evidence is uncovered, I have to conclude at this time that Francisco Montes Vigil was not a member of the Villasur expedition.

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