The Spanish need of colonial fortification and defense was further demonstrated by the strengthening trade alliances between the French, Comanche, and Pawnee Indians. Although the French were incapable of providing the Comanche and Pawnee tribes with the amount of weapons necessary for direct conflict with the Spanish, their brilliant strategy of using their Native American allies as a proxy to provoke the Apache tribe, resulting in Apache raids of Spanish settlements for supplies pressured the Spanish and kept them in a constant state of defense and confusion: A favorable result for a territorially expanding rival.
Fame, fortune, and women were no longer on the Spanish agenda. After the disappointing initial conquest and subsequent Pueblo Revolt, the Spanish experienced a dramatic change in priorities: One that was intended to ensure the stability of the New Mexican colony.
Jared Elliott