The early years of Spanish exploits in the area had seen but a few, mostly peaceful, encounters with the Acoma people, who outnumbered the colonizers in the decades after 1627.

[3] After being rebuffed, the group reportedly invaded Acoma homes, breaking walls and destroying property in order to take maize and blankets by force, leaving Keres women curled up naked with their children.

When Oñate learned of the incident, he ordered Juan's brother, Vicente de Zaldívar, to lead an expedition to punish the Acoma and set an example for other Pueblos.

For the first two days the Acoma were able to withstand Spanish forces, until Zaldívar developed a plan to breach the Pueblo's defenses using a small cannon.

In a 2002 letter to the editor[6] in support of El Paso's new statue of Oñate, a commentator specified that original records from the time translate as "cut off the ends of their toes."

In another letter from 2017, a commentator stated that, in Onate's personal journal, he specifically refers to the punishment of the Acoma warriors as cutting off "las puntas del pie" (the points of the foot, the toes).

[8][page needed] The punishments inflicted on those who were not killed in combat included amputation of hands and feet or being sold into slavery.

[9] When King Philip heard the news of the massacre, and the punishments, Oñate was banished from New Mexico for his cruelty to the natives, and later returned to Spain to live out the remainder of his life.

They later issued a statement about the incident: "We took the liberty of removing Oñate's right foot on behalf of our brothers and sister of Acoma Pueblo."

[5][11] On June 15, 2020, the statue at Alcalde was removed by Rio Arriba County officials for safekeeping during the George Floyd protests.