Page 16 - Catálogo #78 2020 Bostn Virtual Book Fair

Librería José Porrúa Turanzas
POSSIBLY THE MOST IMPORTANT HISTORIOGRAPHIC SOURCE FOR THE KNOWLEDGE
OF THE FIRST YEARS OF COLONIZATION ON THE NORTHERN BORDER OF MEXICO
9. ISTURIZ, Gabriel de. Collection of 97 “autos” or notification orders as general
visitor of New Vizcaya in Sonora and Sinaloa. [Manuscript]. Mexico, various locations,
1685-1686. Folio (317 x 219)mm. (1), 23 ff., 1 bl. Total of 97 Autos, some written with
blue ink. Signatures of Gabriel de Isturiz and Jacinto de Fuensaldaña in all the autos.
Unbound, sewn with thread, inside a folder. 45,000 € / US$ $52,000
Very important collection of Autos or notification orders of the general visitor Gabriel de Istúriz to
the towns and estates that he consigns, all signed by his hand, which undoubtedly complement
the manuscript of the chronicle of his trip to the province of Sonora which is preserved at the
Parral Archives in Mexico. The towns, missions and haciendas that Isturiz visited during his trip
between 1685 and 1686 are: Matape, Real de Minas de San Miguel Arcangel, town of Guepaca,
town of Aconche (Aconchi), Huepac, Real de Minas de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Opodepe, Val-
le de Pache, Valle de Vacanuche, town of San Ignacio, Arispe, Real de Minas de San Juan, town
of Saguaripa, Real de Minas de San Justo and La Concepción. All the Autos include the place and
date of the inspection visit.
In general, Isturiz quotes those he is going to visit (if it is a town, by means of a notice published
in the town square in which the people who should be present when he arrives are nominated)
or by personal notification in the case of farm. This appoiments are registered in a Auto. In the
following Auto, he leaves a record of the visit in which he observes: that the property titles for
land, farms, mills, etc. are in order; that the account books are correct; the branding irons with
which the cattle are marked are the correct ones (drawings of the branding irons are included
in the margins, in some cases), that the weights and measuring rods are correct; that there is
— 16 —
2020 Boston Virtual Book Fair
no presence of prohibited genders in the place and, in the case of having
dependents or servants, summon them and ask if they are well treated, if
they are paid as appropriate and if they receive good food. Finally, it states
in the same order if all this is fulfilled or not. This is done in ranches, places,
towns and haciendas.
These Autos are, possibly, the most important historiographic source for
the knowledge of the state of the region and its populations that exist, just
before the entrance on the scene of Father Juan Eusebio Kino. Gabriel de
Istúriz was appointed visitador (inspector) of the North of Mexico by José de
Neyra y Quiroga, Governor of New Vizcaya, in 1685. In those years, although
there were European civilians in Sonora and neighboring regions, they did
not usually leave useful written testimony for the historiography of the North
of Mexico and the American Southwest. For this reason, these Autos are of
enormous importance for the knowledge of the first settlements and mis-
sions in the provinces of Sinaloa, San Ildefonso de Ostimuri and Sonora. The
Visitor also describes extensively the raising of cattle in the different farms,
as well as the shops and establishments of different towns such as Real de
Bacanuche or Nacozari. David Yetman notes that the governor of New Viz-
caya also instructed Istúriz to seek Jesuit missions in Sonora to interrogate
the Indians with the intention of knowing if they were being treated properly.
References: John Francis Bannon, The Mission Frontier in Sonora 1620-1687,
pp. 136-139 in: Charles W. Polzer et al., Spanish Borderlands Sourcebooks,
New York 1991; John Francis Bannon, The Spanish Borderlands Frontier
1513-1821, Albuquerque 1974, pp. 66-65; David A. Yetman, The Ipatas: In
search of Sonoran People, Tucson 2010
— 17 —