It was at this period, while Walpi was still on this lower site, that
the Spaniards came into the country. They met with little or no
opposition, and their entrance was marked by no great disturbances.
No special tradition preserves any of the circumstances of this event;
these first coming Spaniards being only spoken of as the "Kast?ilumuh
who wore iron garments, and came from the south," and this brief mention
may be accounted for by the fleeting nature of these early visits.
The zeal of the Spanish priests carried them everywhere throughout their
newly acquired territory, and some time in the seventeenth century a
band of missionary monks found their way to Tusayan. They were
accompanied by a few troops to impress the people with a due regard for
Spanish authority, but to display the milder side of their mission, they
also brought herds of sheep and cattle for distribution. At first these
were herded at various springs within a wide radius around the villages,
and the names still attaching to these places memorize the introduction
of sheep and cattle to this region. The Navajo are first definitely
mentioned in tradition as occupants of this vicinity in connection with
these flocks and herds, in the distribution of which they gave much
undesirable assistance by driving off the larger portion to their own
haunts.
The missionaries selected Awatubi, Walpi, and Shumopavi as the sites for
their mission buildings, and at once, it is said, began to introduce a
system of enforced labor.
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