the revolt on August 13, 1680, and runners were sent out to each Pueblo with knotted cords, the number of knots corresponding to the days left before the revolt was to begin. The revolt actually began before that. The measure of the Pueblo's hatred of the Spanish is indicated by the fact that he was able to keep the plans secret, even though they involved many different leaders and towns. Po'pay murdered his own son-in-law, Nicolás Búa, because he feared he might betray the plot to the Spanish. Only the Tiguex area, close to the seat of Spanish power in Santa Fe and perhaps the most acculturated of the Pueblos, declined to join in the revolt. The Southern Piros were apparently not invited to join the revolt. The Revolt The last few years had been relatively quiet and free from internal dissent, and the Spanish in the capital city of Santa Fe were astonished as a report came to the governor early in the morning of August 10 that a Spanish priest had been killed at a Pueblo only nine miles from Santa Fe. By August 15, 1,000 Spaniards had taken refuge in the Governor's palace in Santa Fe, and they were besieged by an Indian army led by Popé they estimated (or overestimated) to number 2,500. Other Spanish survivors had taken refuge in the friendly Pueblo of Isleta, from where they fled south toward Mexico. On August 21 the Spanish broke out of the Palace and began a long trek south, leaving New Mexico behind and not stopping until they reached El Paso, Texas. The Pueblos did not molest the departing colonists. The survivors numbered nearly 2,000 persons. The revolt cost 400 Spanish lives, including 21 of the 33 priests in New Mexico. After the Revolt Po'pay had succeeded in expelling the Spanish from New Mexico and according to later accounts, possibly prejudiced, set himself up as the sole ruler of all the Pueblos. He attempted to destroy every trace of the Spanish presence in New Mexico. "The God of the Christians is dead," he proclaimed. "He was made of rotten wood." A Spanish force of 300 men attempted to regain a foothold in New Mexico in 1681, but was repelled by Po'pay's army. Another Spanish effort in 1687 also failed. But the expulsion of the Spanish had not brought peace and prosperity to the Pueblos. A return to