• Soto's Peruvian Tent
• Yet More De Soto Tent Info
• Some more thoughts and research on period shelter appropriate for the sixteenth century conquistador.
• A couple more of infuriatingly vague references to tents in the New World:
• Port Called Nombre de Dios (Wedge shaped tents)
• Some More Scraps of 16th Century Tent Research
• Oñate Muster - Tents 1598

• The Army Museum in Madrid, Spain, displays a royal 1517 camp tent.
• Medieval Pavilion in Basel, Switzerland
• Surviving Medieval Pictures of Tents and Pavilions

For one who does living history in Florida a period tent is something of a necessity. However, there is not a lot of documentation for the use of tents by explorers of the New World in the sixteenth century. Like their counterparts on the battlefields of Europe, the common soldier would be expected to make a shelter from locally available material, while officers would be billeted in pavilions or “requisitioned” houses when they were available. In a careful reading of the various accounts of the De Soto expedition I could find only one mention of tents:

“ In this manner they (Native Americans) were conducted within the tents; and when near his marquee the Governor (De Soto) ordered them to be put under guard.” 1

For a long time I thought this was all the tent documentation for the De Soto expedition I was ever going to find. However, I recently came across several intriguing references to De Soto’s tent. Apparently, during the settling of his estate the tent was a matter of some dispute.

"Years later he [Pedro Carrion] accompanied him [De Soto] to Florida, where he saw him use a fine Peruvian tent made of wool and cotton from the Andes.”2

“He [Gonzalo Martin] went to the island (sic) of Florida and saw de Soto using an elaborate tent. which was said to have belonged to Hernando Ponce de Leon.”3

“Also, according to [Alvaro] Nieto, de Soto had a very fine tent made of quality Peruvian woolens...”4

“He [Alvaro de San Jorge] had known de Soto since the year 1537, and had gone to Florida. There he saw de Soto using a very good tent made of fine Peruvian cotton and wool.”5

“He [Juan Sayago] was one of the explorers of Florida with Hernando de Soto whom he saw using a very good Peruvian tent.”6

“When they [Juan de Vega and de Soto] were together in Florida he saw de Soto’s very good Peruvian tent.”7
 
 

These six statements lead to a number of questions. Is the tent in question a European style tent made Peruvian materials? Or an Inca style tent? A soldier with Pizarro in Peru, Juan Ruiz de Arce, wrote that in the camp of the Inca Emperor, “So many tents were visible that we were truly filled with great apprehension.”8 Indicating that a plundered tent is certainly a possibility. However I have not yet come across any illustrations or detailed descriptions of Inca style tents. Furthermore, just how water resistant is a llama woolen?

Clearly further research is order, and possibly someday a tent project.
 
 

Ironically enough, while reading the new biography of De Soto, I came across the answers to some of these questions. Such is sometimes the way with this kind of research.
 
 

“Witnesses add that Soto also took from his partner...a brilliantly colored Peruvian tent-the sort Soto had probably used himself during his campaigns with Manco Inca in 1534.”9
 
 

“It was probably made in the usual Inca style, with a mix of cotton and llama wool brightly died (sic) into patterns.”10 I notice though, that the author conveniently avoids the question of the shape of the tent.
 
 

“It was on this stopover that Soto probably first erected his magnificent Peruvian tent, appropriated in Cuba from Hernán Ponce de Léon. It must have looked dazzling and exotic against the Florida Jungle and Renaissance finery of the camp—an enormous, colorful structure woven from cotton, vicuña, and llama wool, dyed in brilliant reds, oranges, greens, and yellows. Divided into compartments, it must have required several men to carry and raise it each day—an extravagance Soto felt he not only deserved, but one that also emphasized his great wealth and past success—won, he repeatedly told his men, only after great toil and hardship. Years later, several expedition survivors remembered with awe this sumptuous tent...Indeed, within a few weeks of Soto’s departure from Espíritu Santo, eyewitness Francisco de Castejón says Soto’s Peruvian tent-built for the high, cool, and dry atmosphere of the Andes-was wearing out, the cloth breaking apart and ripping as it became an early casualty in Soto’s glittering procession.”11
 
 

Testimony of Francisco de Castejón, January 1547, Mexico City; PB I,10. Castejón says “que se ropío bien pronto”- “it wore out very quickly.”12 As I suspected would be the problem with an Inca Inca tent.

___________________________

1Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States 1528-1543 p.182.

2 Avellaneda, Ignacio. Los Sobreviventes de la Florida: The Survivors of the De Soto Expedition. (University of Florida Libraries: Gainesville, Florida 1990) p.23.

3 Avellandea p.37.

4 Avellandea p.42.

5 Avellandea p.50.

6 Avellandea p.52.

7 Avellandea p.61.

8 Duncan, David Ewing. Hernando de Soto: A Savage Quest in the Americas. (Crown: New York, 1995) p.141

9 Duncan. p.242.

10 Duncan p.486.

11 Duncan p.270

12 Duncan.p.495.
 
 

After some extensive searching, I have finally found a reference to an Inca/Peruvian tent in an archaeological context.

For those who haven’t been following my quest, in the endless lawsuits after De Soto’s death the tent used by the Governor is mentioned prominently. It is described as being a very fine tent of Peruvian woolens which apparently intended for use in the dry Andes, soon began to rot in the climate of Florida. However the exact nature of such a tent remains obscure.

An October 24, 1995 report in the San Francisco Chronicle describes the expedition of Dr. Johan Reinhard to Mt. Ampato in Peru. Reinhard, a research associate at at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and the Mountain Museum in Franklin, West Virginia made the spectacular discovery of the frozen bodies of young women who had been sacrificed some 500 years ago. The report also goes on to mention that, “They had apparently been sacrificed at a campsite at 19,200 feet, where the remains of tents, tent poles and fire pits...” I haven’t been able to find further detail in these tents as yet, but have come across a text that but be useful in re-constructing Soto’s tent: Ancient Peruvian Textiles by Ferdinand Aten (London: Thames and Hudson, 1984)
 
 

A brief comment from Columbus’ third voyage on the shape of native habitation gives us a clue as to the expected shape of tents of the period.

“And they led them to a very large house, built with two aguas and not round, like field tents, as are the others.”

“...y los llevaron á una casa muy grande, hecha á dos aguas, y no redonda como tienda del campo, como son estas otras;”1
 
 

In a previous article I noted the mention of tents in the Elvas narrative, in this case from the translation by Theodore H. Lewis. "In this manner they (Native Americans) were conducted within the tents; and when near his marquee the Governor (De Soto) ordered them to be put under guard." 2 Interestingly enough the terms “tent” and “marquee” have a specific meaning, at least within the confines of early sixteenth century England, and presumably the rest of Europe as well. To quote in full:
 
 

There were four main types of: 'Tents' resembled bell tents as we know them, with a single central pole and a circular floor about 20 ft in diameter, and were sometimes known as 'round houses' "Pavilions' were roughly the same size as tents, with a square base, vertical walls supported by poles at the corners, and a pyramid-shaped roof leading up to a single pole. 'Hales' were very large with almost exactly the same shape of as the present-day marquee; that is to say, they had walls which were usually 6 ft high, supported by a series of poles of the same height, a rectangular floor, sometimes with semicircular ends, and several tall poles running down the middle. Finally, there were 'tressans' or galleries, connecting the other tents, which were often spacious and constituted shelters in their own right. All these forms were held erect by guy-ropes leading from the top of the tent-poles to metal pegs hammered into the ground-'pins of iron', to give them their contemporary name. Some of the guy-ropes, divided into three branches, were sewn into the canvas of the tent....

Most of the senior officers' marquees were of double canvas and they sometimes had an inner tent to give even greater protection from the elements. For example a marquee 30ft by 15 might contain a smaller tent 24ft by 12. The actual living-space was thus surrounded by an insulating passage 18in wide at the sides and 3ft wide at the ends. The dimensions of all four types of tent varied, but there were standard sizes, of which 24 by 12, 30 by 15, and 50 by 20ft were the most common for marquees, and 18 or 20ft diameter for tents and sides for pavilions.3
 
 

Curious as too whether or not “marquee” was a literal translation, implying the shape and possibly the size of de Soto’s tent, or simply a translator’s artifact. I checked with the Elvas narrative in the De Soto Chronicles which at least claims to be a close literal translation. From their translation I get: “Thus the governor led the cacique and his priciple men until he got into the camp with them. When near his tent, he ordered them to be placed under guard...”4 Although, I was a little disappointed at the outcome of this translation, I pressed on with my research. The Eaton Room of the Manatee County Public Library has a facsimile copy of the original 1557 Portuguese narrative along the Robertson, (used for the De Soto Chronicles) translation. The original, at least as nearly as I can reproduce the archaic typeface is as follows:
 
 

affileuou bo go vernador bo Caciq r a feus princi. paes a te cõ elles entrar detro no real: r juto da fua teda os madou poer em guarda...5
 
 

Alas, a few minutes with a Portuguese/English Dictionary were enough to convince me that “marquee” was indeed a translator's artifact. I have also learned a lesson about basing research on translations. I think though that I’ll end this peek into my ongoing research on a more hopeful note.

Another possibility for portable shelter that I have come across is from the expedition of Juan de Grijalva, c.1518, in the Yucatan Peninsula. “We all went ashore opposite this island, and on the wide, sandy beach we set up huts and shelters made from the boughs of trees and our ship’s sails,”6 records Bernal Díaz. Also, and even if I can not seem to find my reference copy, I recall reading that Sir Francis Drake set up an encampment using spare ships sails while careening the Golden Hind. Off-hand this strikes me as easily allowing for the construction of canopies, A-frames and diamond (using triangular shaped lateen sails) shelters. Clearly, more research concerning the size and construction of sixteenth century sails is warranted.

__________________________

1 Jane, Cecil. ed. The Four Voyages of Columbus: A History in Eight Documents, Including Five by Christopher Columbus, in the Original Spanish, with English Translations. Vol. 2 . (Dover Publications, New York, 1988) pp20-21.

2Lewis, Theodore H. Lewis. ed. Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States 1528-1543 p.182.

3Cruickshank, by Charles . Henry VIII and the Invasion of France (originally published as Army Royal [1969]) (St Martins Press: New York 1990 p.43

4 Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James Knight Jr. and Edward C. More De Soto Chronicles Vol I.(The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa 1993) p.91

5 Robertson, James Alexander. translator and editor. True Relation of the Hardships Suffered by Governor Fernando de Soto & Certain Portuguse Gentlemen During the Discovery of the Province of Florida. Now newly set froth by a Gentlemen of Elvas. Volume One. (Deland, The Florida State Historical Society, 1932.)

6 Díaz, Bernal. Trans. J.M. Cohen. The Conquest of New Spain. Penguin Books: New York, 1963. p.37.
 
 

From Sir Walter Ralegh c.1595, He greeted some Indians in “a little tent that I caused to be set up...and they wore large coats, and hats of a crimson colour, which colour he expressed by showing a piece of red wood wherewith my tent was supported...”1
 
 

 From Pigafetta’s account of the circumnavigation of Magellan c.1519:
 
 

“And the next day the captain-general decided to anchor at another island, uninhabited ...There he put up two tents on shore for the sick men and had a sow killed for them.”2
 
 

 ____________________________

1 Nicholl ,Charles. The Creature in the Map: A Journey to El Dorado. (William Morrow and Company, Inc.: New York, 1995) pp.179 &183.

2 Pigafetta, Antonio. Translated and Edited by R.A. Skelton Magellan’s Voyage: A Narrative Account of the First Circumnavigation. (Dover Publications: New York, 1994) p.63.
 
 

This is a detail from a c.1586 watercolor, showing wedge shaped tents in use on the shore of the port of Nombre de Dios (Panama).     Perhaps these are triangular shaped sails that have been set up on shore as shelters.       Kraemer, Ruth S. Trans.Historire Naturelle des Indes: The Drake Manuscript in the Pierpoint Morgan Library. (Andre Deutsch Limited: London 1996) p.266.

The following article contains the latest results of my ongoing search for information on 16th C. tentage in the New World. My thanks to Bob Munson who sent me the Coronado Campsite articles, amongst other goodies, and to Richard n who also sent an educational care package and put me unto the wealth of information contained in the “Ireland’s Armada Legacy” book. - Tim
 
 
 
 

The chronicles of the Coronado expedition indicate in several places that tents were used during that mid 16th century (1540-1544) expedition into the American Southwest. To wit:

 

“Captain Alvardo, seeing that there were no other means, got the Captain Whiskers and the governor not to come to his tent...”1
 
 

“They were taken to the tent of Don Garcia...Then when the enemies saw that the Spaniards were binding them and beginning to roast them, about a hundred men who were in the tent began to struggle and defend themselves with what there was there and with the stakes they could seize. Our men attacked the tent on all sides...”2
 
 

“The hail broke many of the tents, battered many of the helmets, wounded many of the horses, and broke

all the crockery of the army and the gourds....”3

In 1986 near Bernaillo, New Mexico an archaeological site was discovered during road construction. An analysis of the material recovered including 17 metal artifacts, among these being nails, a small metal plate, a clothes hook, a pin etc., suggested that the site was of 16th century Spanish occupation and probably that of the winter encampment of Coronado in the province of Tiguex. Among the features found on this site were a series of 15 shallow dugouts thought to tent bases. “They ranged in size from 2 by 2m (6.5 x 6.5ft) to 4 by 5m (13 x 16ft)....One ...exhibited a consistent set of posthole patterns, indicating some kind of superstructure.”4
 
 

Although the size of it could not be determined the remains of a tent or tents from the Spanish Armada were recovered off the coast of Ireland in the 1980’s. The manifest for the La Trinidad Valencera lists among the invasion supplies, “2 campaign tents with their skirts and poles.” One of the finds from this wreck was described in the initial archaeological report as follows:

 

In appearance this object is a brown amorphous mass consisting of fabric and mud compressed together with short sections of rope, small wooden toggles and small squares of leather embedded in it. It measures approximately 71 x 43 x 5 cm at its greatest dimensions and consists of several chunks of varying size. There is one major section with three smaller pieces, which though detached still lie in place.5
 
 

As the investigation continued it transpired that the plain woven fabric of which it was mainly composed of was probably of hemp or jute which appeared to have been treated with a copper solution. The rope was of two kinds, one heavier than the other, and was probably of nettle-fibre. All in all, it appeared to that it was likely to be a tent: copper solutions are known to have been used to waterproof tents; the ropes suggest guy-ropes, with some heavier than the others; and the small leather patches, some square with one perforation, some rectangular with two, and associated lengths of rope, were obviously reinforcements, as is found with modern tents to prevent tearing at points of strain...there is moreover, from the site, an abundance of wooden objects closely resembling tent-pegs.6

 

7.29 TENT, Hemp, Nettle-fibre, Leather and Wood

710mm w

An amorphous mass of fibre in which, in the course of conservation, certain features were recognized: the major part of the mass is of fabric, of jute or hemp, of a plain weave of z twists; traces of copper were discovered in the fabric suggesting a proofing treatment. To the fabric in places were stitched reinforcing squares of rectangles of leather; through holes in these two sizes of rope, evidently of nettle -fibre, were found, a light one and one three times as heavy, suggesting main guys and lighter guys. Attached to some portions of rope were small wooden toggles. It has not been possible to estimate the size of the tent. La Trinidad was carrying ‘dos tientas de campagna’ (two campaign tents); it is likely this was one.
 
 

7.30 TOGGLE, Wood

78mm l

A small cylindrical piece of wood with a central groove, tapering towards each end, which terminate in a slight mushroom.
 
 

7.31 TENT-PEGS, Wood

310-360mm l

Four of a number of crudely made pegs, presumably for the tent; each has been roughly sharpened at one end.7

1 Castañeda, et al. The Journey of Coronado. (Dover Publications Inc.: New York 1990) p.26.

2 Castañeda. p. 30.

3 Castañeda. p. 40.

4 Vierra, Bradley J. ed. “A Sixteenth-Century Spanish Campsite in the Tiguex Province: An

Archaeologist’s Perspective” Special Publication 1

(New Mexico Archaeological Council. Albuquerque, New Mexico 1992) p. 165.

5 Flanagan, Laurence. Ireland’s Armada Legacy (Gill and Macmillan, Dublin 1988) p.93.

6 Flanagan p.94

7 Flanagan pp.101-102.

8 Erickson, Carolly. Great Harry (Summit Books, New York 1984) illus. #24.
 
 

This information on tents used by the expedition of Don Juan de Oñate to colonize New Mexico was extracted from the detailed muster lists of his army. Most of his men seem to have been equiped with helmets, beavors, mail shirts, cuisses; and armed wtih swords, lances and harquebuses. Tents are by far an exception in the equipment lists.
 
 

One tent of thirty for yards of frieze; ¹

One tent made of frieze. ²

One large tent of frieze; ³

One tent of frieze made of sixty yards of sackcloth-I mean to say that the tent is made of frieze; ⁴

One large canvas tent in which I live;⁵

One tent of fifty-four yards of frieze;

Another smaller tent of frieze;⁶

One tent of thirty-five yards of frieze; ⁷

One tent of thirty yards of frieze; ⁸

One tent of thirty yards of frieze; ⁹

One tent of forty yards of frieze; ¹⁰
 
 

The Gordejuela Inspection 1600
 
 

…one tent of frieze;¹¹

…one tent of thirty yards of Anjou cloth; ¹²

One woolen field tent, with ridge pole;¹³

One camping tent; ¹⁴
 
 

I too was unfamilar with the type of cloth known as 'frieze' mentioned throughout this muster list. It is apparently a rough heavy woollen cloth which I suspect is much more amienable to the dry climate of the Southwest then to that of tropical Florida. To wit:
 
 

Frieze

(Frieze) n. [F. frise, perh. originally a woolen cloth or stuff from Friesland (F. Frise); cf. LL. frisii panni and frissatus

pannus, a shaggy woolen cloth, F. friser to friz, curl. Cf. Friz.] A kind of coarse woolen cloth or stuff with a shaggy or tufted

(friezed) nap on one side. "Robes of frieze." Goldsmith.¹⁵
 
 

Anjou cloth I haven't been able to find a reference for as yet.
 
 

¹Hammond, George P. and Agapito Rey. Don Juan de Oñate : Colonizer of New Mexico 1595-1628 (The University of New Mexico Press, 1953) p.231. NAU LIB{F 799 H3 V.1}

²Hammond. p.237.

³Hammond. p.246.

⁴Hammond. p.249.

⁵Hammond. p.251.

⁶Hammond. p.252.

⁷Hammond. p.256.

⁸Hammond. p.257.

⁹Hammond. p.273.

¹⁰Hammond. p.274.

¹¹Hammond. p.532.

¹² Hammond. p.533

¹³Hammond. p.539.

₁₄ Hammond. p.545.

¹⁵ Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary 1913

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