Rayado tribe
Encyclopedia
Rayados was the Spanish name for a Native American group visited by Umana and Leyba in 1594 and Juan de Oñate
in 1601. Rayado was also a generic term used occasionally by the Spanish to refer to any Indians with painted or tattooed faces.
The Rayado village, called Etzanoa, the "Great Settlement," was probably in southern Kansas
near the Arkansas River
. The Rayados were Wichita
Indians related to those visited in Quivira
by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1541.
of Oklahoma
and Kansas in more than 50 years. A Mexican Indian named Jusepe Gutierrez
was the only known survivor of the expedition.
Leaving New Mexico
and traveling east and north for more than a month, Jusupe said that they found a "very large settlement." He said it extended for more than 10 leagues (about 26 miles) along a river and was two leagues wide. The houses had straw roofs and were built close together, but between clusters of houses were fields of maize, squash, and beans. The Indians were numerous, but "received the Spanish peacefully and furnished them with abundant supplies of food" The expedition encountered a "multitude" of bison
in the region. It appears these were the same people later called "Rayados."
, founder and governor of New Mexico led an expedition that followed in the footsteps of Leyba and Umana. Jusepe guided Onate, more than 70 Spanish soldiers and priests, an unknown number of Indian soldiers and servants, and seven hundred horses and mules across the plains.
Onate met Apache
Indians in the Texas Panhandle
and, later, a large encampment of Escanjaques
. The Escanjaques showed him the way to a large settlement about 30 miles away of a people Onate called "Rayados." Rayados means "striped" in Spanish, referring to their custom of painting or tattooing their faces. The Escanjaques, enemies of the Rayados, attempted to enlist the help of the Spanish to attack the Rayados, whom they alleged were responsible for the deaths of Leyba and Umana a few years earlier
The Escanjaques guided Onate to a nearby river, surely the Arkansas, where they saw three or four hundred Rayados on a hill. The Rayados advanced, throwing dirt into the air as a sign that they were ready for war. Onate indicated that he did not wish to fight and made peace with this group of Rayados who proved to be friendly and generous. Unlike the Escanjaques, Onate said the Rayados were "united, peaceful, and settled." They showed deference to their chief, named Catarax, whom Onate detained as a guide and hostage, although "treating him well."
Catarax led Onate and the Escanjaques across the Arkansas and to a settlement on the eastern bank, one or two miles from the river. The settlement was deserted, the inhabitants having fled. It contained "more than twelve hundred houses, all established along the bank of another good-sized river which flowed into the large one [the Arkansas]." The settlement of the Rayados was similar to those seen by Coronado in Quivira sixty years before. The homesteads were dispersed; the houses round, thatched with grass and surrounded by large granaries to store the corn, beans, and squash they grew in their fields. Onate restrained his Escanjaque guides from looting the town and sent them home. Catarax, who had been chained, was rescued by the Rayados in a bold raid.
The next day Onate and his army proceeded onward through the settlement for three leagues (eight miles), although without seeing many Rayados. The Spaniards were warned, however, that the Rayados were assembling an army to attack him. Discretion seemed the better part of valor. Onate estimated that three hundred Spanish soldiers would be needed to confront the Rayados, and he turned his soldiers around to return to New Mexico.
Onate was worried about the Rayados attacking him, but apparently it was the Escanjaques who attack him as he began his return to New Mexico. Onate claimed that many Escanjaques were killed in the battle, but many of his soldiers were wounded. After two hours, Onate broke off the combat, retired from the field, and led his Spaniards and Indians back to New Mexico.
seems to have been a generic term for Plains Indians with painted or tattooed faces, as was Rayados.
Both Jusepe's and Onate's accounts describe the Rayados as numerous. The more than 1200 houses Onate estimated to be in the settlement indicates a population of at least 12,000, if the houses was as large as those of later Wichita tribes. Moreover, Catarax said there were additional settlements upstream on that river and on other rivers. The fact that the Rayados abandoned their settlement on the arrival of Onate's expedition may be an indication that they had previous, and unfavorable, dealings with the Spanish.
An Indian captured from the Escanjaques by Onate, and later named Miguel, drew a map of the region for the Spanish. He called the "Great Settlement" of the Rayados "Etzanoa" or "Tzanoa."
rivers on the present site of Wichita, Kansas
and the Walnut River
flowing through Arkansas City, Kansas.
Based on archaeological findings the Walnut River site is favored. Archaeologists have discovered more than a dozen large settlements along six miles of the Walnut River. The occupation of these sites has been dated from 1500 to 1720. A small number of artifacts of Spanish origin have been found at the site.
It would appear that the Rayados abandoned the Walnut River site in the early eighteenth century. Perhaps they moved a few miles south to Kay County, Oklahoma
where two 18th century archaeological sites, Deer Creek and Bryson Paddock, of the Wichita are known. They appear to have been much reduced in numbers by then, possibly as a result of Europeans diseases, warfare, and the slave trade in Indians. The descendants of the Rayados were absorbed into the Wichita tribe.
Juan de Oñate
Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar was a Spanish explorer, colonial governor of the New Spain province of New Mexico, and founder of various settlements in the present day Southwest of the United States.-Biography:...
in 1601. Rayado was also a generic term used occasionally by the Spanish to refer to any Indians with painted or tattooed faces.
The Rayado village, called Etzanoa, the "Great Settlement," was probably in southern Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
near the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
. The Rayados were Wichita
Wichita (tribe)
The Wichita people are indigenous inhabitants of North America, who traditionally spoke the Wichita language, a Caddoan language. They have lived in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas...
Indians related to those visited in Quivira
Quivira
Quivira may refer to:*Quivira, a place first visited by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado while in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold*Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, a salt marsh located in south central Kansas...
by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1541.
Jusepe
In 1594 or 1595, Antonio Gutierrez de Umana and Francisco Leyba de Bonilla led the first known expedition to the Great PlainsGreat Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and Kansas in more than 50 years. A Mexican Indian named Jusepe Gutierrez
Jusepe Gutierrez
Jusepe Gutierrez was a Native American guide and explorer. He was the only known survivor of the Umana and Leyba expedition to the Great Plains in 1594 or 1595...
was the only known survivor of the expedition.
Leaving New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and traveling east and north for more than a month, Jusupe said that they found a "very large settlement." He said it extended for more than 10 leagues (about 26 miles) along a river and was two leagues wide. The houses had straw roofs and were built close together, but between clusters of houses were fields of maize, squash, and beans. The Indians were numerous, but "received the Spanish peacefully and furnished them with abundant supplies of food" The expedition encountered a "multitude" of bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
in the region. It appears these were the same people later called "Rayados."
Oñate
In 1601, Juan de OnateJuan de Oñate
Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar was a Spanish explorer, colonial governor of the New Spain province of New Mexico, and founder of various settlements in the present day Southwest of the United States.-Biography:...
, founder and governor of New Mexico led an expedition that followed in the footsteps of Leyba and Umana. Jusepe guided Onate, more than 70 Spanish soldiers and priests, an unknown number of Indian soldiers and servants, and seven hundred horses and mules across the plains.
Onate met Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
Indians in the Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
and, later, a large encampment of Escanjaques
Escanjaque Indians
The Escanjaques were a native American people named this by Juan de Onate in 1601 during an expedition to the Great Plains of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The Escanjaques may have been identical with the Aguacane who lived along the tributaries of the Red River in western Oklahoma...
. The Escanjaques showed him the way to a large settlement about 30 miles away of a people Onate called "Rayados." Rayados means "striped" in Spanish, referring to their custom of painting or tattooing their faces. The Escanjaques, enemies of the Rayados, attempted to enlist the help of the Spanish to attack the Rayados, whom they alleged were responsible for the deaths of Leyba and Umana a few years earlier
The Escanjaques guided Onate to a nearby river, surely the Arkansas, where they saw three or four hundred Rayados on a hill. The Rayados advanced, throwing dirt into the air as a sign that they were ready for war. Onate indicated that he did not wish to fight and made peace with this group of Rayados who proved to be friendly and generous. Unlike the Escanjaques, Onate said the Rayados were "united, peaceful, and settled." They showed deference to their chief, named Catarax, whom Onate detained as a guide and hostage, although "treating him well."
Catarax led Onate and the Escanjaques across the Arkansas and to a settlement on the eastern bank, one or two miles from the river. The settlement was deserted, the inhabitants having fled. It contained "more than twelve hundred houses, all established along the bank of another good-sized river which flowed into the large one [the Arkansas]." The settlement of the Rayados was similar to those seen by Coronado in Quivira sixty years before. The homesteads were dispersed; the houses round, thatched with grass and surrounded by large granaries to store the corn, beans, and squash they grew in their fields. Onate restrained his Escanjaque guides from looting the town and sent them home. Catarax, who had been chained, was rescued by the Rayados in a bold raid.
The next day Onate and his army proceeded onward through the settlement for three leagues (eight miles), although without seeing many Rayados. The Spaniards were warned, however, that the Rayados were assembling an army to attack him. Discretion seemed the better part of valor. Onate estimated that three hundred Spanish soldiers would be needed to confront the Rayados, and he turned his soldiers around to return to New Mexico.
Onate was worried about the Rayados attacking him, but apparently it was the Escanjaques who attack him as he began his return to New Mexico. Onate claimed that many Escanjaques were killed in the battle, but many of his soldiers were wounded. After two hours, Onate broke off the combat, retired from the field, and led his Spaniards and Indians back to New Mexico.
Who were the Rayados?
Most authorities agree that the Rayados were Caddoan speaking and members of one of several sub-tribes of the Wichita people. Their grass houses, dispersed mode of settlement, a chief named Catarax, a Wichita title, the description of their granaries, and their location all agree with descriptions of the Wichita. As Wichita, the Rayados were related to the people Coronado discovered in Quivira 60 years earlier. One scholar, however, dissents, calling them "Jumanos." JumanoJumano Indians
The Jumano Indians were a prominent Native American tribe or several tribes who inhabited western Texas and adjacent New Mexico, especially near the La Junta region. They were discovered by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. but had nearly disappeared as a people by 1750.-The Jumano...
seems to have been a generic term for Plains Indians with painted or tattooed faces, as was Rayados.
Both Jusepe's and Onate's accounts describe the Rayados as numerous. The more than 1200 houses Onate estimated to be in the settlement indicates a population of at least 12,000, if the houses was as large as those of later Wichita tribes. Moreover, Catarax said there were additional settlements upstream on that river and on other rivers. The fact that the Rayados abandoned their settlement on the arrival of Onate's expedition may be an indication that they had previous, and unfavorable, dealings with the Spanish.
An Indian captured from the Escanjaques by Onate, and later named Miguel, drew a map of the region for the Spanish. He called the "Great Settlement" of the Rayados "Etzanoa" or "Tzanoa."
Where was the Rayado settlement?
The accounts of Jusepe and Onate do not permit a definitive location for the Rayado settlement to be determined. The two most likely locations are the junction of the Arkansas and Little ArkansasLittle Arkansas River
The Little Arkansas River is a river located in south-central Kansas. It rises in northern Rice County just north of Lyons and flows southeast past Buhler and Halstead to meet the Arkansas River in Wichita....
rivers on the present site of Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
and the Walnut River
Walnut River
The Walnut River is a tributary of the Arkansas River, long, in the Flint Hills region of Kansas in the United States. Via the Arkansas, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed....
flowing through Arkansas City, Kansas.
Based on archaeological findings the Walnut River site is favored. Archaeologists have discovered more than a dozen large settlements along six miles of the Walnut River. The occupation of these sites has been dated from 1500 to 1720. A small number of artifacts of Spanish origin have been found at the site.
It would appear that the Rayados abandoned the Walnut River site in the early eighteenth century. Perhaps they moved a few miles south to Kay County, Oklahoma
Kay County, Oklahoma
Kay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 48,080. Its county seat is Newkirk. The largest city in Kay County is Ponca City.-19th century:...
where two 18th century archaeological sites, Deer Creek and Bryson Paddock, of the Wichita are known. They appear to have been much reduced in numbers by then, possibly as a result of Europeans diseases, warfare, and the slave trade in Indians. The descendants of the Rayados were absorbed into the Wichita tribe.