Settling of Accounts: The Journals of Don Diego De Vargas, New Mexico, 1700-1704

In this, the sixth and final volume of the journals of don Diego de Vargas, Kessell and his colleagues continue their exploration of politics and society in the colonial New Mexico of the turn of the eighteenth century. Despite serious charges of malfeasance brought against him by agents of his political enemy Governor Pedro Rodriguez Cubero, Vargas was acquitted after three years of court hearings and legal manoeuvring in the court in Mexico City. With his acquittal came reappointment to the governor’s seat in New Mexico. The journals reveal that maintaining peace in New Mexico during Vargas’ absence was a difficult task for Rodriguez Cubero. Hispanic colonists and Pueblo Indians were suspicious of one another, and partisans of the deposed Vargas made little effort to hide their loyalty. With the Reconqueror’s return, the colony settled back into familiar routines. Not even don Diego’s early death in 1704 undid the hard-won recolonisation.