The ascent was so difficult that we repented climbing to the top," he wrote.
This had dire consequence for the villagers two months later.
Prisoners were sentenced to either forced slavery or bodily mutilation.
At the end of the massacre, Acomas population of 2,000 people was reduced to approximately 250.
These survivors began the long process of rebuilding their community.
They also brought Catholic missionaries into the area.
Between 1629 and 1640, the villagers were forced to build a church in Acoma.
Acoma Pueblo is located on top of that soaring mesa.
The tribes struck mission churches, killing 22 of 33 friars, and demolished and burned many of them.
All the Spanish settlements in New Mexico were wiped out.
Some 400 people were killed, the rest were driven out.
On occasions, the Acoma would side with the Spanish to fight against nomadic tribes.
By the 1880s, railroads brought the pueblos out of isolation.
By the 1920, most children from the community were in boarding schools.
Today, the village has about 300 adobe buildings, but fewer than 50 permanent residents.
Also read:11 Oldest Continuously Inhabited Cities in the World
Aerial view of Acoma.
Photo credit:Marshall Henrie/Wikimedia
Photo credit:NRCS NM/Flickr
Hand-cut stairway to Acoma.
Photo credit:Richie Diesterheft/Flickr
Today, a road leads to the top of the mesa.
