The Spanish didn't set up the pueblo, but found them there when they arrived. They were occupied by hundreds to thousands of people. For the people living there they were a means of protection because the only way to reach them was by ladders.
Pueblo, presidios, and missions
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was not for the control of Spain but to drive the Spanish out of the New World. It was led by a Pueblo Indian named Pope'.
Yes and No. It is true that Spain protected its American settlements with forts (called presidios). The missiones, however, were churches and were not involved in the defense of the Spanish settlements.
Explored, conquered the natives, and built settlements
The indigenous peoples of the Southwest, particularly the Pueblo people, acted as a buffer against northern expansion of Spanish colonies. Their settlements were located north of New Spain's territory, and their resistance to Spanish colonization prevented further advancement by the Spanish into present-day New Mexico and beyond.
The Spanish built both forts and pueblos as defenses in their settlements. The borderlands ran west from Florida to California.
The first settlers to arrive in California after the Native Americans were Spanish.
The Spanish colonists needed lots of workers to grow their crops, and to mine for gold and silver.
Spain.
The primary purpose of Spanish settlements in what is now the US was to establish control over the region, convert Native Americans to Christianity, and extract valuable resources such as gold and silver. These settlements also aimed to expand the Spanish Empire and strengthen Spain's presence in North America against other European powers.
Diego De Vargas was the commander of the Spanish army that recaptured New Mexico from the Pueblo people in 1962.
The Spanish established 3 kinds of settlements in New Spain. Pueblos served as trading posts and sometimes as centers of government. Priests started missions to convert local American Indians to Catholicism. The Spanish also built presidios, or military bases, to protect towns and missions