A few weeks ago I got an email from a woman whose father had read my Civil War Novels Where Duty Calls and The Worst Enemy and was anxious to know when The Famished Country, the third and final book in the series, would be out.
I had to admit to her that teaching was taking up far too much of my time these days, and that my work has stalled. I have written through Chapter 8, and outlined the rest of the novel, but it’s not going to be finished until the end of summer at the earliest.
She then asked me if I knew of any other stories set in the Starvation Peak area, or near Bernal. I was flummoxed. Although I knew where Bernal was, I’d never heard of Starvation Peak. The name intrigued me, and I began digging for answers.
I had to admit to her that teaching was taking up far too much of my time these days, and that my work has stalled. I have written through Chapter 8, and outlined the rest of the novel, but it’s not going to be finished until the end of summer at the earliest.
She then asked me if I knew of any other stories set in the Starvation Peak area, or near Bernal. I was flummoxed. Although I knew where Bernal was, I’d never heard of Starvation Peak. The name intrigued me, and I began digging for answers.
The village of Bernal is one of many created after Governor Juan Bautista Anza forced marauding Comanches to sign the Comanche Peace Treaty in 1786. Prior to this, the area around Pecos Pueblo had been too vulnerable, a reason the inhabitants of Pecos Pueblo abandoned their home in the 1830s to live with their cousins in Jemez.
In November 1794, Lorenzo Marquez asked Spanish Governor Fernando Chacón to make a land grant for him and 51 other families from Santa Fe. Marquez said in the petition that the families were large, but had only small parcels of land in Santa Fe, and not enough water.
He noted that thirteen of the fifty-two petitioners were Indians, probably from the Pecos Pueblo. Since most of the outlying grants were given, according to Fray Angélico Chávez, to “Spanish military personnel and the genízaro colony of Santa Fe [1] , it is likely that most of the other families in the group were either Genízaros or mestizos. Historians speculate that Marquez had been a presidio soldier stationed around Pecos Pueblo and was therefore familiar with the area.
In November 1794, Lorenzo Marquez asked Spanish Governor Fernando Chacón to make a land grant for him and 51 other families from Santa Fe. Marquez said in the petition that the families were large, but had only small parcels of land in Santa Fe, and not enough water.
He noted that thirteen of the fifty-two petitioners were Indians, probably from the Pecos Pueblo. Since most of the outlying grants were given, according to Fray Angélico Chávez, to “Spanish military personnel and the genízaro colony of Santa Fe [1] , it is likely that most of the other families in the group were either Genízaros or mestizos. Historians speculate that Marquez had been a presidio soldier stationed around Pecos Pueblo and was therefore familiar with the area.
Genízaros are Indigenous people who had assimilated into Spanish culture. They included Puebloans from Pecos, San José and San Miguel, plus converts from the Comanche and other Plains tribes. More than fourteen percent of the population of Santa Fe was made up of Genízaros.
The 315,000-acre grant, which became known as San Miguel del Vado Land Grant, was approved. Soon a number of new communities, including Bernal, were established in the Pecos River Valley.
Towering over the village of Bernal is a 7,031-foot flat-topped butte that is named Starvation Peak. The legend is that, during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, 36 Spanish colonists took shelter at the top of this mesa. Some accounts say they eventually tried to leave and were slaughtered and buried at the foot of the mesa. Other accounts say the colonists died of thirst and starvation while still atop. The story is documented in an 1884 edition of the Detroit Free Press, but has grown. the years. When writers from the Works Progress Administration were documenting the region in 1939, they recorded 120 colonists had died.
The 315,000-acre grant, which became known as San Miguel del Vado Land Grant, was approved. Soon a number of new communities, including Bernal, were established in the Pecos River Valley.
Towering over the village of Bernal is a 7,031-foot flat-topped butte that is named Starvation Peak. The legend is that, during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, 36 Spanish colonists took shelter at the top of this mesa. Some accounts say they eventually tried to leave and were slaughtered and buried at the foot of the mesa. Other accounts say the colonists died of thirst and starvation while still atop. The story is documented in an 1884 edition of the Detroit Free Press, but has grown. the years. When writers from the Works Progress Administration were documenting the region in 1939, they recorded 120 colonists had died.
Starvation Peak became a way-finder point along the Santa Fe Trail when it opened in 1821. It was distinctive enough to help guide travelers. Major William Anderson Thornton, a member of an 1855 military expedition that passed through reposted that General Kearny had wanted to place a flag atop the peak when he marched through the area during the Mexican American war, but after walking around its base, declared the task impossible.
At the base of the peak lies Bernal Springs, which became a campsite and stage stop along the trail. There is little doubt that Bernal profited from trading with travelers. When the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad laid its tracks through the Pecos Valley in the early 1880s, it bypassed the town, which has become a sleepy little village set in a spectacularly beautiful land.
[1] Fray Angelico Chavez, Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, 1678-1900 (Academy of American Franciscan History: Washington D.C., 1951), 205.
https://www.legendsofahttps://newmexicohistory.org/2012/06/29/san-miguel-del-bado-grant/merica.com/bernal-new-mexico/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8213241/pretty-good-starvation-peak/
At the base of the peak lies Bernal Springs, which became a campsite and stage stop along the trail. There is little doubt that Bernal profited from trading with travelers. When the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad laid its tracks through the Pecos Valley in the early 1880s, it bypassed the town, which has become a sleepy little village set in a spectacularly beautiful land.
[1] Fray Angelico Chavez, Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, 1678-1900 (Academy of American Franciscan History: Washington D.C., 1951), 205.
https://www.legendsofahttps://newmexicohistory.org/2012/06/29/san-miguel-del-bado-grant/merica.com/bernal-new-mexico/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8213241/pretty-good-starvation-peak/
Jennifer Bohnhoff teaches New Mexico History in a rural New Mexico Middle School. She is the author of Rebels Along the Rio Grande, a trilogy of novels about the Civil War battles in New Mexico. You can read more about Mrs. Bohnhoff and her books at her website, where you can also sign up to receive emails about her work and upcoming sales and giveaways.
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