Spanish Contact to the Pueblo Revolt: 1541-1690

Early explorers visited the Galisteo pueblos, primarily en route to Pecos Pueblo, which dominated the region. The first historical record of the Galisteo pueblos comes from Pedro Castaneda of the Coronado expedition, who described them in 1541 as lying between the Quirix (Queres) province and Cicuye (Pecos), and as being almost depopulated on account of depredations by the Teya, possibly an Apache plains tribe, 16 years previously. Only 3 pueblos are mentioned by Castaneda as located along their route, Ximena (Galisteo), a small, strong village; the Pueblo de los Silos, large but almost deserted; and another farther eastward, abandoned and in ruins. The last mentioned was probably the one called Coquite by Mota Padilla. In addition to these, he mentioned 7 other Tano pueblos in the "snowy mountains," toward Santa Fé.

Antonio de Espejo also wrote of the region in 1583, but recorded significantly fewer inhabited pueblos than Castaneda. Although his record is not wholly reliable, this may indicate that the depradations recorded by Castaneda had continued in the interim.

Gaspar Castano de Sosa, lieutenant governor of Nuevo Leon, was the first to describe the people of the Galisteo Basin, when he conducted an illegal expedition to the area in December 1590.

In 1598, the Oñate expedition stopped at San Marcos pueblo, which remained a popular paraje, or campsite, on the Camino Real for another century. Within 25 years of their arrival, the Spanish had established missions at Galisteo, San Cristobal, San Marcos, and San Lazaro Pueblos. The missions conscripted Tanoan people to make stockings and cloth to trade to the Mexican city of Parral and to Mexico City. Some Tanoans were also sent to Parral to work in the mines. The missions remained active until the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, when they were sacked and burned. Many of the inhabitants of the San Marcos Pueblo formed refugee communities among the Apache, Navajo, Acoma, and Hopi people.