History and Truth

Today someone posted this on a friend's Facebook page:

"This has always been my problem with history. It's so distorted. I find it hard to trust."

I and others like me who love history must always feel a little disappointed when we encounter those who believe it is distorted and untrustworthy. All branches of knowledge change over time when new data or new ways of interpreting that data, emerge. Even the hard sciences such as chemistry or geology - even physics, which is mostly understood through advanced mathematics, is hotly disputed. Albert Einstein had quite a lot of trouble accepting the new quantum theories that we take for granted today. 

If someone is looking for absolute truth in any branch of knowledge, they won't find it. Yet I believe that each honestly reasoned attempt we make to understand things, even history, based on evidence, advances us that much farther . . . if not toward absolute truth, then at least toward a better understanding.

Image: c1770 limestone relief  of Clio, the muse of History. From Plas Llangoedmor estate, Cardigan, Wales. http://salvonews.blogspot.com/2010/03/alex-puddy-over-moon-at-853k-christies.html

A True Espada Ancha

A.

Several months ago I was asked by the museum at Mission San Juan Capistrano in California to help them find and direct craftspeople to make replicas of the kinds of arms used by the Spanish presidial cavalry in the late 1700s - the kinds of men who would have formed the cuartel, or guard, at the Missions. These replicas will be a part of a new exhibit at the museum. https://www.missionsjc.com

 B. 

I've enjoyed working on this project, which is directed by Megan Dukett, the Education and Interpretive Program Director at San Juan Capistrano, and seeing the amazing creations of the artisans. The first replica to be completed is this copy of a Model 1728 Spanish Cavalry broadsword - the kind of weapon used by Spanish frontier soldiers across the West, from Texas to California. Its creator is John Logan, a skilled craftsman and owner of Iron John Logan, specializing in fine blacksmithing, woodworking, and leather. I provided the research information, but John provided the artistry. http://ironjohnlogan.com, https://www.facebook.com/ironjohn.logan

 C.

D. 

There has long been confusion about the meaning of the Spanish term espada ancha, though I cannot understand why. Many years ago it became attached to Mexican short swords that were usually carried on the saddle. Espada, of course, means "sword," and ancha means "wide" or "broad." So, a literal translation is quite simply, "broadsword," not "shortsword." In fact, from period literature we know that these short swords were called machetes - and still are by Mexican horsemen. 

 E.

The late, and great, historian Sidney Brinckerhoff, seems to have had a part in this confusion of terms by misnaming these short machetes espadas anchas in his classic study, with Pierce A. Chamberlain, Spanish Military Weapons in Colonial America 1700-1821 (Stackpole Books, 1972).  Some years ago, in an exchange of email messages with Sid, I asked him about this. I still have a printed copy of his reply to the effect that he really didn't remember why he'd called these swords espadas anchas - an open and honest reply typical of the man.

 F. 

There is evidence that short swords were carried by some provincial units in Mexico, such as the Lanceros de Veracruz, but the swords of the soldados de cuera seem always to have been the espada ancha - the full size broadsword.

 G. 

A soldado de cuera in late-Spanish Era California, José Amador, said in his oral history, recorded in 1877, that his unit's swords were  "four to five Flemish spans long" (cuartas flamencas), long enough for the officers to use them as walking sticks. 

 H. 

Since each presidio was required to arm and equip itself, the Model 1728 cavalry broadsword was not the only weapon used by the soldados de cuera, but it seems to have been one of the most common, with fragments discovered at archaeological sites across what once was Spain's Provincias Internas. Other kinds of swords purchased by presidios included the Model 1799 cavalry broadsword, and cup hilted swords. In the uncertain and underfunded supply system of the northern frontier, it was not unusual to find regulation sword blades with non-regulation hilts, and vice versa. But likewise, it was not uncommon to find examples of the light, well-balanced, and sturdily made Model 1728 broadsword still in use by presidial soldiers half a century and more after the manufacture date inscribed on their blades. 

 I.

J. 

Through this new exhibit, and the artistry of John Logan, we now have a proper example of the kind of weapon Spain's frontier soldiers long relied upon, and an opportunity to correct a longstanding error of identification. 

Images:
A., D., I, and J. The replica M1728 Spanish cavalry broadsword created for Mission San Juan Capistrano's museum by John Logan. Note the attention detail, including the braided copper wire grip and the engraving on both sides of the blade, copied exactly from original examples. John also "aged" the sword slightly so that it wouldn't look too new.

C. An original M1728 Spanish cavalry broadsword, Arizona Historical Society.

E. A machete used to illustrate the article "Espada Ancha: Swords of Mexico and Spanish Colonial America," Viking Sword website. http://www.vikingsword.com/ethsword/espadaan/index.html

F. A Lancero de Veracruz, 1769. This soldier of a provincial unit carries a short sword, a machete, on a shoulder belt.

G. A soldier of the Regimiento Provincial de Caballeria del Rey, ca. 1771 carries a full length sword, quite likely the M1728 broadsword..

H. José Cardero's portrait of a presidial soldier of Monterey, California, 1791. Note that he carries a full size sword but with a cup hilt.

Botas, Part 1

A.

I have studied Mexican leggings - botas - for decades. I've handled dozens of examples from the first half of the 19th century, and examined eyewitness drawings, paintings, read eyewitness accounts, and looked at early photographs. Needless to say, I've photographed many original pieces. Sad to say, though, I can't share any of these photos because of the agreements I have with museums and collectors not to publish their collections without permission and, sometimes, payment.

B.

C.

D.

However, when the antiques dealer, Michael D. Higgins, publishes photographs online of a single bota he has for sale, I feel that not only is it alright to do so, but that I'm helping him to publicize his website:  http://mhiggins.com/items/early-mexican-leather-bota/

E.

F.

This bota is a good example of the kind that was mass produced in Mexico and often traded into Texas, the Southwest, and California. Gringos liked them, too, though they tended to wear them backwards. That is, with the flap pointing toward the heel rather than the toe, as vaqueros wore them.

G.

H.

All of the Mexican and Hispanic-American botas I've ever examined, or seen in photographs, are made of suede leather. I've never seen grain leather used anywhere. The botas imported from Mexico are made of a substantial, but very flexible, leather - sueded on both sides, similar in feel to chamois but thicker, and dyed a light or dark shade of rust brown. These usually have patterns on them that appear to be tooled, but may have been mass produced with a device similar to a printing press. Sometimes, they have embroidered panels sewn to them - they are not themselves embroidered. And some are bound around the outside edge, often with a silk ribbon, usually green.

I.

I have never seen any evidence, either written or visual (artwork or photographs) of other sorts of decorations, including conchas, loops, fringes, etc. 

I'll have more to share on botas another day.

 Images:
A. In "Native Californians Lassoing a Steer," by Auguste Ferran, ca. 1850, we see vaqueros in their everyday and working dress. It is difficult to tell if their botas are imported or homemade, though the shape and the color of those worn by the two mounted men, at least, suggest imported. Note how the "wing" of the bota points toward the toe. [Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley]

B., C., D. G., and H. A single bota currently for sale by Michael D. Higgins. This legging is very typical of Mexican manufactures that were sold both domestically and as exports, chiefly to Hispanic communities in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

E. Daguerreotype of Docia and Aaron Tyner, who moved to California from Arkansas in 1852. Photograph ca. 1856-1858. By his ribbon chinstrap and his suede botas, probably imported, Aaron Tyner displays the kinds of vaquero clothing frequently adopted by Anglos who moved to California during the Mexican Era and Gold Rush. Notice that the wing of the legging is wrapped so as to face backwards, toward the heel - the opposite of how vaqueros wore them. The original photograph is in the Kings County Museum, California. It was published in Joan Severa's Dressed for the Photographer, (Kent State University Press, 1995)

F. In "Costume of Upper California," an illustration in the Atlas Pittoresque of Abel Du Petit Thouars, 1837, we see the reddish brown legging wrapped so that the wing points forward, toward the toe. This is how they were worn in Mexico and in Hispanic communities across the Southwest and in California.

I. Another bota of the kind manufactured in Mexico. It is "tooled" (possibly stamped using an etched plate and a press), but has an embroidered panel sewn to one wing only because, obviously, the other wing is hidden when the bota is wrapped around the wearer's calf.