Sor Juana Inés de la CruzIndian MinerGuaman Poma de AyalaConquistador/Settler
Canary Islander
y name is María Rodriquez-Provayna, and I was born in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. In 1731, when I was 27 years old, I sailed across the sea with my husband Juan, who was a potter, and our five children. We were one of fifteen families to whom the King of Spain offered land, livestock, and titles of nobility if we would settle in Texas. In our excitement, we never guessed the sad partings and difficulties that lay ahead. My husband died of tropical fever in Vera Cruz; my youngest daughter died a few months later, before we ever reached our new home.Our settlement along the San Antonio river was named the Villa de San Fernando. None of us had been farmers back home, but we soon learned to tend crops and cattle. Those first years were filled with quarrels and hardships. Our settlement fought with the nearby mission fathers for water rights, we argued with each other, and we suffered attacks by Apache Indians. But we were proud people and managed to survive. It was a great day for celebration when our parish church, San Fernando, was finally built.
I am most remembered for my refusal to marry Juan Leal Goras. He was a leader of our colony, but such a stubborn and unruly fellow! It’s true that he supervised the building of a fine adobe home for me and my children, but I am sure that was only because he secretly planned to live in it himself by becoming my husband. Such feelings were hardly mutual. So when he sent me a silver necklace, I sent it back to him on the neck of a live armadillo. My unwritten message was clear-you will oblige me by burrowing a hole like this armadillo and taking your gift with you!
Some of my descendents still live in San Antonio.