The Legend of Fray Baltazar
- Gather 'round, children. It's time to hear the story told by old Father Jesus, who is sitting down with Bishop Latour. Here we go…
- Back in the early 1700s, a Spanish priest named Baltazar Montoya came to the rocky town of Ácoma. He was a total jerk who liked to spend most of his time bossing people around. He forced all of the Native peoples in the area to give him all of their best crops, and he basically lived like a tyrant king. Whatever work he did tended to have more to do with his garden than his church.
- Time after time, Baltazar pushed the Native peoples to the point of revolt. But they feared his religious magic and weren't sure whether killing him would result in something horrible, like a drought.
- One summer, Baltazar invited some other priests from other towns to come visit him and to see his beautiful garden. Baltazar by this point had become too pudgy to take long journeys.
- When the friends arrived, Baltazar prepared a huge luxurious meal for them. It was better than anything any of them had ever eaten, and Baltazar was happy about it.
- Disaster struck, though, when one of Baltazar's serving boys spilled some sauce down Baltazar's back. In a fit of frustration, Baltazar picked up his metal mug and chucked it at the boy. It hit the boy a little too squarely in the temple and ended up killing him. Baltazar's buddies got up and ran away, leaving Baltazar alone with the body.
- After a while, Baltazar glanced outside and noticed a single person guarding the bottom of the stairs that led up to his house. He knew instantly that the person's job was to keep him from leaving.
- That night, all of the Native peoples from the village came out and surrounded Baltazar's house. Without saying a word, they tied the man's hands and feet and carried him to the edge of a cliff. Then, without any ceremony or anger, they tossed him to his death. In the future, they were perfectly polite to any priest who came to Ácoma. Baltazar simply owed them a debt of blood, and they were unemotional when it came time to collect. No grudges, just justice.