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Watch the documentary The Last Conquistador about a statue erected in 2008 in El Paso, Texas depicting Juan de Oate, who led and established the first Spanish settlement of New Mexico in 1598.

The statue of Juan de Oate, El Paso

In your essay (worth up to 50 points), consider how we as a society memorialize and recognize history, especially a history seen differently by different people. Basically, I just I want to know where you stand on the various issues the film raises, and why you have that opinion.

Why did some see the statue as an honor while others saw it as deeply offensive? What were their arguments, both for and against? What do you think? Who do you agree with more?

You’ll write at least 3 pages (typed, double-space) on this film though I will want to see you quoting several of the people in the film, you dont need to describe the film in great depth or what happens in it really, just mostly how you feel about it.

Your essay must include a couple things:

A solid and clear argument saying where you stand on this particular debate over the El Paso statue of Juan de Oate, and where you stand on memorializing controversial figures in our shared history

Full quotes from at least two different people in the film who you agree with so full sentences, their complete thought making sure to identify them (so their full name and if possible the group they are with, or perhaps if they are a historian, etc.)

At least two quotes from people in the film who you do not agree with completely – so capture and respond to the other side of the argument. It is possible you may see the point that the other side is making, or that you can perhaps sympathize with them or understand their point. But ultimately, you just dont share their view.

At least one quote or a solid reference from the American Yawp regarding the Spanish in America overall (try to put Oate’s actions within the context of the Spanish approach in the Americas) Describe their overall attitude and interaction with the people they first encountered in New Mexico and Florida. To what extent does Oate represent at least part of the Spanish experience, or their overall approach in America?

Questions

Why was the statue built and what was the intention of the artist? What message did he want to convey or present? What did city leaders hope to gain from the statue? Why was it determined to place the statue near the El Paso International airport?

What about the statue did some people find objectionable? Who were they identify them by name and group affiliation when possible? How can something that happened more than 400 years ago still elicit such strong emotions in people today?

Why did others see the statue as an honor while others saw it as deeply offensive? What were their arguments, both for and against? What do you think? Who do you agree with more?

Should controversial figures in our past and our history – like Columbus and Oate be honored or presented in works of public art? Or should they be completely avoided? How and why did the city of El Paso support this project? And do you think the Oate statue should be removed – why or why not?

Background:

In 2023, a protest in northern New Mexico turned violent when a young man pulled out a gun and fired a couple shots into an angry crowd. Heres a news report on the incident (https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/29/us/new-mexico-protest-shooting-juan-de-onate-espanola/index.html).

As you can see, emotions were running very high that day, as city officials in Espaola, NM had decided to reinstall a statue of Don Juan de Oate that had been removed in 2020 in response to protests demanding its removal. The alleged 23-year old shooter hasnt been convicted, but it appears he was angry at the crowd of people who had come that day to protest the re-installation of the Oate statue. A lot of those people were from area pueblo groups, particularly the Acoma Pueblo where Oate carried out his most infamous, violent deeds.

The Oate Memorial in Albuquerque, NM

Image of statue in Alcalde, NM

Oate Mural in Las Cruces, NM

Also in 2020, the Albuquerque Museum of History decided to remove its rather artful display of statues depicting Oate and his fellow Spanish settlers. And in Las Cruces, the Las Cruces School Board decided to change the name of Oate High School to Organ Mountain High (so far, Las Cruces has kept Tony Pennocks mural of Onates La Entrada on the water tower off I-25).

All of these removals came at a time when communities around the South decided to take down their own statues of their own controversial figures (you know, those Confederate guys), partly in the wave of the George Floyd protests, but also as part of a movement of communities reevaluating the presence of statues that appear to honor people with, shall we say, troublesome pasts.

See these news reports:

1 Here’s where Confederate statues and memorials have been removed in the US (https://abcnews.go.com/US/confederate-statues-memorials-removed-us/story?id=71200382)

2 Confederates toppled, Columbus beheaded: Protesters are ripping down controversial statues (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/11/confederate-statues-monuments-removed-christoper-columbus-beheaded/5340691002/)

That description troublesome – may apply to the history of Juan de Oate, who indeed ordered a brutal assault on and punishment of the Acoma Pueblo in January 1599 (though, one could argue it wasnt random violence, but rather in response to the Acoma rather brutally killing a dozen of Oates men, including his nephew). He wasnt the first Spanish conquistador to come into New Mexico and mete out violence and brutality on New Mexico Native peoples. And in fact, while Oate did oversee other acts of violence, most of his time here was spent exploring the vast region of northern New Mexico and the Southwest, and establishing the first Spanish colony here.

Though the film basically takes place in El Paso, this is really a northern New Mexico story in which the descendants of the people involved are still here today more than 400 years later to them, this isnt merely an academic discussion, it is personal and real. They are carrying the legacy and responsibility of their ancestors their blood is in this soil. And this history, this past, matters greatly.

So Oate is like a lot of people in our history who do great or big things some of it is good, and some of it, maybe not so much.

Which opens the question: how do we recognize and even memorialize these types of figures in our past, people who no doubt had a great (not necessarily or entirely positive) impact on the course of history? How do we tell our shared history, and who gets to tell it? How do statues like those of Oate, as well as those of the heroes of the Confederacy (which fought to defend slavery), even get made and erected in the first place? And how do – or don’t – they represent history?

The film were going to watch, The Last Conquistador, ponders all of this and more, but more specifically, the creation of the massive three-story tall statue of Oate that stands near the entry of El Paso International Airport. In 2020, protestors in El Paso defaced the Oate statue and demanded it come down, but as of this week, it remains. See this news account (https://kvia.com/news/el-paso/2020/06/12/the-equestrian-don-juan-de-onate-statue-vandalized-at-el-paso-international-airport/).

In their 2008 film, directors John Valadez and Cristina Ibarra show how the sculptor John Houser initially conceived of this statue as part of a greater project recognizing and honoring the history of the area. However, as we will see, Houser did not anticipate how that history is seen differently by different people history and the past do not just offer one set of facts on which we all agree. Hearing of the proposed statue, members of the Acoma Pueblo were outraged, as they see Oate as a bringer of genocide of their people. Indeed, its important to point out Oate was found guilty – in 1614 – of violating the Order of New Discoveries of 1573 for what happened at Acoma (essentially of committing war crimes, as well as other incidents of abuse of Spanish colonists), and was banished from New Mexico. But to those who supported the statue, it meant a recognition of the seldom-acknowledged contributions of their Spanish ancestors to a U.S. history often dominated by Anglo-centric narratives. In short, the Oate statue becomes a point of pride to some, and a point of shame to others.

The Last Conquistador explores issues of class, race, ethnicity, and how contrary interpretations of the same history arise. The film also examines the concept of public art and how a community determines which heroes from our history to celebrate and represent the ideals of that community.