Teypana

Teypana was a Piro-speaking pueblo beside the Rio Grande in the dry country of central New Mexico. Its inhabitants farmed near the river, part of a chain of Piro communities along the southern approaches to the Pueblo region. The settlement had many rooms and defensive walls. In 1598 the advance party of Juan de Oñate’s colonizing expedition arrived at Teypana after crossing the Jornada del Muerto. The inhabitants gave the travellers maize and other supplies, prompting the Spanish to call the pueblo Socorro, or “aid.” The name was later also applied to the neighbouring pueblo of Pilabó.