F). The

Yet, though these warriors inspired fright, Spani~h miners and ranchers increasingiy began to express annoyancc in their petitions to the authorities. In the last d(."Cades of the sixteenth century, as it became clear that the mines were rich and thc land well-suited for herding, the Chichimecas werl: no longcr secn merciy as crud savages: they became ohstacles in the landscapc, like trees that had to be cut to dear a path, standing in the way of Spanish political and economic expansion. A petition scm to the viceroy of ;-";cw Spain in 1582 by a group of cattle ranchers and settlers jiving on the Chichimec fromier gavc unabashed voice to rhi, VICW of the Chichimecas as a hothersomc presence. Onc witness complained that "said Indian~ have taken and occupied much land and the very best of New Spain, where he knows and has news that there are many mines, from which no benefit is drawn DC(;1l1SC of fear of said Indians." Another spoke of how "the land~ said indian raiders possess and have arc many and of great importance, mines as well as fertile lands for fields and ranches with much water for irrigating and of vcry bood climate for populating puebios of Spaniards" (quotcd in Powcl1197I: 2.36, 242). The annoyancc of the settlers, then, stemmed from their perception that such a barbaric people as the Chicnimecas were occupying iand that was "the very best of New Spain," iand rhdt should properly have !>crved for "pueblos of Spaniards." It was thc "audacity" (atrevimiento) of these Indians that was appalling, dw way they carried on "without shame" (con deslIerguenzl1), in the words of yet another witness (ibid.: 256).