Mixtón War

Mixtón War (mēstōn`), 1541, revolt of indigenous peoples against Spanish rule in Nueva Galicia, W Mexico. The conquest under Nuño de Guzmán had been particularly harsh and the encomienda system established obvious injustice. Consequently the indigenous Mexicans were thoroughly discontented. When Coronado's expedition to the north in 1540 drained away many of the Spanish, the local peoples rose under Tenamaxtli. They fortified Mixtón, Nochistlán, and other mountain towns and besieged Guadalajara. Unable to cope with the uprising, Cristóbal de Oñate, the acting governor, asked for aid from the viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza. The Spanish, reinforced by a large body of Tlaxcaltec and Aztec, succeeded in recapturing the towns by hard fighting. Pedro de Alvarado was killed in a rash assault on Nochistlán, and the reconquest was slow, but Spanish authority was reestablished in New Spain.