The author presents the uprising of the Tepehuan Indians of northern Mexico as a pivotal test of both the Spanish institutions of conquest and Jesuit evangelism. The unrest resulted in the deaths of more than 200 Spaniards, an uncounted number of slaves and servants, and 10 missionaries, eight of them Jesuits. The number of Tepehuans who died from war-related causes was estimated by one Spanish source at 4,000. While the ultimately unsuccessful revolt may have been an effort by the Tepehuan warrior elite to reassert their authority, contends Dr. Gradie, it resulted in a reaffirmation of Jesuit missionary activity in Mexico and altered Spanish colonial methods in “New Spain.”