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67-705: The Piro were closely related to the Tompiro who lived to their northeast in the Salinas region of New Mexico. Linguists believe both groups likely spoke Tanoan languages. When the Spanish first encountered them in the 16th century, the Piro lived in the Rio Grande River valley for a distance of about 60 miles (97 km) from north to south in present-day Socorro County . Beyond the narrow ribbon of green along

134-572: A bid by Juan Bautista de Lomas y Colmenares, and subsequently rejected by the King, on September 21, 1595 Philip II 's Viceroy Luís de Velasco selected Oñate from two other candidates to organize the resources of the newly acquired territory. The agreement with Viceroy Velasco tasked Oñate with two goals; the better-known aim was to explore and colonize the unknown lands annexed into the New Kingdom of León y Castilla (present day New Mexico ) and

201-616: A brutal retaliation against Acoma Pueblo . The pueblo was destroyed. Around 800–1000 Ácoma were killed. Today, Oñate remains a controversial figure in New Mexican history: in 1998, the right foot was cut off a statue of the conquistador that stands in Alcalde, New Mexico , in protest of the massacre, and significant controversy arose when a large equestrian statue of Oñate was erected in El Paso, Texas , in 2006. On June 15, 2020,

268-473: A chief named Catarax ( Caddi was a Wichita title for a chief), the description of their granaries, and their location all are in accord with Coronado's earlier description of the Quivirans . However, they were probably not the same people Coronado met. Coronado found Quivira 120 miles north of Oñate's Rayados. The Rayados spoke of large settlements called Tancoa —perhaps the real name of Quivira—in an area to

335-538: A few years the Salinas Pueblos were all abandoned and the Tompiros had ceased to exist as a distinct people. Juan de O%C3%B1ate Juan de Oñate y Salazar ( Spanish: [ˈxwan de oˈɲate] ; 1550–1626) was a Spanish conquistador from New Spain , explorer, and viceroy of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in the viceroyalty of New Spain . He led early Spanish expeditions to

402-547: A final policy decision has not been made about the Oñate statue other than its removal today to protect it from damage or destruction. The County Commission welcomes a respectful and civil discussion from its residents about the future of the Oñate statue." A memorial for Oñate was created for the New Mexico Cuarto Centenario (the 400th anniversary of Oñate's 1598 settlement). The memorial was meant to be

469-519: A guide and hostage, although " treating him well. " Caratax led Oñate and the Escanjaques across the river to Etzanoa , a settlement on the eastern bank, one or two miles from the river. The settlement was deserted, the inhabitants having fled. It contained " about twelve hundred houses, all established along the bank of another good-sized river which flowed into the large one [the Arkansas]....

536-471: A hill. The Rayados advanced, throwing dirt into the air as a sign that they were ready for war. Oñate quickly indicated that he did not wish to fight and made peace with this group of Rayados, who proved to be friendly and generous. Oñate liked the Rayados more than he did the Escanjaques. They were " united, peaceful, and settled. " They showed deference to their chief , named Caratax, whom Oñate detained as

603-465: A large river a few miles away and he became the first European to describe the tallgrass prairie . He spoke of fertile land, much better than that through which he had previously passed, and pastures " so good that in many places the grass was high enough to conceal a horse. " He found and tasted a fruit of good flavor, possibly the pawpaw . Near the river, Oñate's expedition party and their numerous Escanjaque guides saw three or four hundred Rayados on

670-621: A population of 2,000 people. Las Humanas and the other Tompiro settlements were probably established about 1300 and became culturally similar to the other Pueblo Indians in the Rio Grande Valley. The Tompiro name for Las Humanas was probably Cueloze, but Juan de Oñate named the settlement the "Great Pueblo of the Humanas" when he visited in 1598, the name reflecting the inhabitant's custom of painting stripes or tattooing their faces. The Plains dwelling Jumano Indians were called by

737-552: A skirmish erupted when a squad of Oñate's men stopped to trade for food supplies at the Acoma Pueblo . The Ácoma themselves needed their stored food to survive the coming winter. The Ácoma resisted and 11 Spaniards were ambushed and killed, including Oñate's nephew, Juan de Zaldívar . In January 1599, Oñate condemned the conflict as an insurrection and ordered the pueblo destroyed, a mandate carried out by Juan de Zaldívar's brother, Vicente de Zaldívar , in an offensive known as

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804-412: A symbolic reminder of the foot-amputating Acoma Massacre . A local filmmaker, Chris Eyre , was contacted by one of the two perpetrators, saying "I'm back on the scene to show people that Oñate and his supporters must be shamed." The sculptor responded that chopping feet "was the nature of discipline of 400 years ago." In 2017, the statue's left foot was painted red and the words "Remember 1680" (year of

871-444: A tri-cultural collaboration (Hispanic, Anglo, and Tewa Pueblo Native American), with Reynaldo "Sonny" Rivera, Betty Sabo , and Nora Naranjo Morse . Because of the controversy surrounding Oñate, two separate memorials and perspectives were created. Rivera and Sabo did a series of bronze statues of Oñate leading the first group of Spanish settlers into New Mexico titled "La Jornada," while Naranjo-Morse created an abstract land art from

938-525: A whole foot left the prisoners useful as servants. 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). In 1601, Oñate undertook a large expedition east to the Great Plains region of central North America. The expedition party included 130 Spanish soldiers and 12 Franciscan priests—similar to

1005-412: Is a 1991 bronze statue dedicated to Oñate. In 1998, New Mexico celebrated the 400th anniversary of his arrival. Shortly before (December 29, 1997), and the close dates are no coincidence, unknown perpetrator(s) cut off the statue's right foot and left a note saying, "Fair is fair." Sculptor Reynaldo Rivera recast the foot, but a seam is still visible. Some commentators suggested leaving the statue maimed as

1072-735: Is sometimes referred to as "the Last Conquistador ." Oñate is honored by some as an explorer but vilified by others for his cruelty to the Keres people of Acoma Pueblo . Oñate Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico was named after Juan de Oñate and is currently the only public school in New Mexico carrying Oñate's namesake. Oñate High School in Las Cruces, New Mexico was also named after Juan de Oñate, but in 2021,

1139-594: The Canadian River into the modern state of Oklahoma . Leaving the river behind in a sandy area where his ox carts could not pass, he went across country, and the land became greener, with more water and groves of Black walnut ( Juglans nigra ) and bur oak ( Quercus macrocarpa ) trees. Jusepe probably led the Oñate party on the same route he had taken on the Umana and Leyba expedition six years earlier. They found an encampment of native people that Oñate called

1206-458: The Escanjaques . He estimated the population at more than 5,000 living in 600 houses. The Escanjaques lived in round houses as large as 90 feet (27 m) in diameter and covered with tanned buffalo robes . They were hunters, according to Oñate, depending upon the buffalo for their subsistence and planting no crops. The Escanjaques told Oñate that Etzanoa , a large city of their enemies,

1273-498: The Great Plains and Lower Colorado River Valley, encountering numerous indigenous tribes in their homelands there. Oñate founded settlements in the province, now in the Southwestern United States . Oñate is notorious for the 1599 Ácoma Massacre . Following a dispute that led to the ambush and death of thirteen Spaniards at the hands of the Ácoma , including Oñate's nephew, Juan de Zaldívar , Oñate ordered

1340-551: The Pueblo Revolt ) were written with paint on the monument's base. The county of Rio Arriba temporarily removed the statue on June 15, 2020, which followed wider efforts to remove controversial statues across the United States . It is unknown whether the statue will be returned to its place in the future, with a statement from Rio Arriba County Commission stating: "Rio Arriba County residents need to understand that

1407-481: The Rayado Indians , was located only about twenty miles away. It seems possible that the Escanjaques had gathered together in large numbers either out of fear of the Rayados or to undertake a war against them. They attempted to enlist the assistance of the Spanish and their firearms, alleging that the Rayados were responsible for the deaths of Humana and Leyva a few years before. The Escanjaques guided Oñate to

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1474-593: The Rio Grande Valley in the Salinas region of New Mexico. Their settlements were abandoned and they were absorbed into other Pueblo Nations in the 1670s. Very little is known about the origin of the Tompiros. They spoke a language closely related to that of the Piro Indians who lived to their west in the Rio Grande Valley. The Piro and Tompiro languages are believed by most authorities to belong to

1541-648: The Salton Sink . They mistakenly thought that the Gulf of California continued indefinitely to the northwest, giving rise to a belief that was common in the 17th century that the western coasts of an Island of California were what was seen by sailing expeditions in the Pacific. Native groups observed living on the lower Colorado River, were, from north to south, the Amacava (Mohave) , Bahacecha , Osera (Pima) , at

1608-638: The Tanoan language family. In the 16th century, the Tompiro lived in nine settlements in the Salinas clustered around the present day town of Mountainair . Those whose ruins are preserved today are Quarai, Abó , and Gran Quivira which today make up the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument . The ruin known as Gran Quivira today but during Spanish times as Las Humanas – was the largest settlement and may have had

1675-698: The Viceroyalty of New Spain . His second goal was to capture Capt. Francisco Leyva de Bonilla (a traitor to the crown known to be in the region) as he already was transporting other criminals. His stated objective otherwise was to spread Catholicism by establishing new missions in Nuevo México . Oñate is credited with founding the Province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México , and was the province's first colonial governor, acting from 1598 to 1610. He held his colonial government at Ohkay Owingeh , and renamed

1742-845: The confluence of the Gila River with the Colorado, in a location later occupied by the Quechan , Alebdoma . Seen by Oñate below the Gila junction but subsequently reported upstream from there, in the area where Oñate had encountered the Coguana , or Kahwans, Agalle, and Agalecquamaya, or Halyikwamai , and the Cocopah . Concerning areas that the explorers had not observed directly, they gave fantastic reports about races of human and areas said to be rich in gold, silver, and pearls. In 1606, Oñate

1809-473: The Ácoma Massacre . An estimated 800–1,000 Ácoma died in the siege of the pueblo. Much later, when King Philip III of Spain heard the news of the massacre, and the punishments, Oñate was banished from New Mexico for his cruelty to the natives, and exiled from Mexico for five years, convicted by the Spanish government of using "excessive force" against the Acoma people . Oñate later returned to Spain to live out

1876-652: The Catholic calendar day of Ascension , April 30, 1598, the exploration party assembled on the south bank of the Rio Grande. In an Ascension Day ceremony, Oñate led the party in prayer, as he claimed all of the territory across the river for the Spanish Empire . Oñate's original terms would have made this land a separate viceroyalty to the crown in New Spain; this move failed to stand after de Zúñiga reviewed

1943-761: The Colonial History of the Piro Area. New Mexico Historical Review 88(4): 437-459 (2013) / Bletzer, Michael P., A House for Fray Alonso: The Search for Pilabo Pueblo and the First Piro Mission, Nuestra Senora del Socorro. El Palacio 120(3): 34-37 (2015) / Marshall, Michael P., and Henry J. Walt, Rio Abajo: Prehistory and History of a Rio Grande Province (Santa Fe: New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, 1984.) Tompiro Indians The Tompiro Indians were Pueblo Indians living in New Mexico. They lived in several adobe villages east of

2010-788: The Franciscan priests without pay and that the Indians had the right to practice their religion. He also permitted the Pueblos to perform their religious dances in the Governor's Palace in Santa Fe , thus endorsing religious practices that had been prohibited for 30 years. Aguilar enforced the Governor's policy among the Tompiros over the opposition of the Franciscans. Aguilar went so far as to have Indians whipped who contributed labor to

2077-428: The Indians needed to earn their uncertain living in a difficult environment. Weakened by drought and disease, fractured by religious disputes, the Tompiros were also the closest and most vulnerable of the Pueblos to Apache raiders. The diminished Tompiros began to abandon their settlements to take refuge among their Piro relatives westward on the Rio Grande. In 1670, the residents of Las Humanas moved to Abó. Within

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2144-487: The Oñate expedition proceeded onward for another eight miles through heavily populated territory, although without seeing many Rayados. At this point, the Spaniards' courage deserted them. There were obviously many Rayados nearby and soon Oñate's men were warned that the Rayados were assembling an army. Discretion seemed the better part of valor. Oñate estimated that three hundred Spanish soldiers would be needed to confront

2211-634: The Piro pueblos were ever resettled by the original inhabitants. Today, the Piro people are part of the Piro/Manso/Tiwa Indian Tribe of the Pueblo of San Juan de Guadalupe in Las Cruces, New Mexico as well as in Tortugas Pueblo . Currently, there is a long-term archaeological project at the Piro pueblo of Tzelaqui/Sevilleta north of present-day Socorro. Bletzer, Michael P., 'The First Province of that Kingdom': Notes on

2278-445: The Rayados, and he turned his soldiers around to return to New Mexico. Oñate had worried about the Rayados hurting or attacking his expedition party, but it was instead the Escanjaques who repelled his men on their return to New Mexico. Oñate described a pitched battle with 1,500 Escanjaques, probably an exaggeration, but many Spaniards were wounded and many natives killed. After more than two hours of fighting, Oñate himself retired from

2345-742: The Rio Grande the surrounding hinterlands are desert. The Piro people, along with several other Pueblo peoples, were probably descendants of the Mogollon culture , the Ancestral Pueblo people , and the Casas Grandes peoples. These cultures flourished until about 1450 CE in a large area of the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico . The 15th-century Piro population was likely seven thousand people. The Piro's largest town, called San Pascual Pueblo by

2412-459: The Spanish, had 1,500 rooms and a population of about 2,000 people. Some Piros were hospitable to the first Spanish colonists who arrived in 1598. As a result, the Spanish gave first one, then another, Piro pueblo the name Socorro , which means "aid" or "help" (in case of problems or difficulties). By the late 17th century, however, the Piros like most other Pueblo groups suffered increasingly from

2479-475: The Spanish. The dispute would have consequences. Among the major causes of the Pueblo Revolt were the excesses of the Franciscans in suppressing the traditional religions. The problems of the Tompiros multiplied in the 1660s. European diseases probably took a heavy toll among the Tompiros as they did among other Pueblos. In addition, drought impacted the viability of the Tompiro economy. A priest stated in 1669, "For three years no crop has been harvested. In

2546-554: The Tompiro settlements viable was their proximity to salt deposits in the Salinas and to the bison herds of the Great Plains . Thus, they were important traders and middlemen between the Plains Indians and the Pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley for salt and bison skins and meat. The Tompiros also hunted small and large game in the region, especially deer, pronghorn , and rabbits and gathered wild foods, including pinyon pine nuts. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado did not visit

2613-503: The Tompiros during his expedition of 1539–1542. The first Spanish account of the Tompiros is from Antonio de Espejo in 1582–1583. Espejo was greeted with suspicion in the Tompiro settlements. In 1601, the founder of the colony of New Mexico, Juan de Oñate , retaliated for the killing of two Spaniards with a raid on the Tompiros that left, according to one account (probably exaggerating the feat of Spanish arms), 900 Indians dead and three Pueblos destroyed. The Tompiros were distant from

2680-722: The Walnut River site. A minority view would be that the Escanjaque encampment was on the Ninnescah River and the Rayado village was on the site of present-day Wichita, Kansas . Authorities have speculated that the Escanjaques were Apache, Tonkawa , Jumano , Quapaw , Kaw , or other tribes. Most likely they were Caddoan and spoke a Wichita dialect. We can be virtually certain that the Rayados were Caddoan Wichitas. Their grass houses, dispersed mode of settlement,

2747-472: The agreement. All summer, Oñate's expedition party followed the middle Rio Grande Valley to present-day northern New Mexico , where he engaged with Pueblo Indians . Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá , a captain of the expedition, chronicled Oñate's conquest of New Mexico's indigenous peoples in his epic poem Historia de la Nueva México . Oñate granted land to colonists on the expedition, and empowered them to demand tribute from Native Americans. In October 1598,

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2814-616: The authorities in Mexico City and López and Aguilar were charged under the Inquisition of obstructing the spread of the Catholic faith. Both were arrested. López died during his trial, but Aguilar defended himself before the Inquisition. Nevertheless, after a long trial he was convicted and exiled. The Church had won and its authority in New Mexico would go unchallenged until 1680 when the Pueblos rose up en masse and expelled

2881-490: The battlefield. The hostage Rayado chief Caratax was freed by a raid on Oñate and Oñate freed several women captives, but he retained several boys at the request of the Spanish priests for instruction in the Catholic faith. The attack may have arisen from Oñate's kidnapping of Caratax and the women and children. Oñate and his men returned to San Juan de los Caballeros , arriving there on November 24, 1601 without any further incidents of note. The path of Oñate's expedition and

2948-571: The civil authorities and the missionaries as each attempted to exert control – and exploit – the Pueblo Indians. This dispute came to a head among the Tompiros. In 1659, Governor Bernardo López de Mendizábal appointed Nicolás de Aguilar as Alcalde Mayor (Magistrate) of the Tompiro settlements. Aguilar was a Mestizo (part Indian) soldier from Michoacán , Mexico and he carried out the policy of Governor López forcefully. Among López's dictates were that no Indian would be required to work for

3015-558: The desert itself of a large dirt spiral representing the Native American perspective titled "Numbe Whageh" (Tewa interpretation: Our Center Place). It is located at the Albuquerque Museum . In 1614, Oñate was exiled from what is now New Mexico and charged with mismanagement and excessive cruelty, especially at the Acoma massacre in Acoma . In 1599, after killing 500 warriors and 300 women and children, he ordered

3082-638: The early Spanish settlements in the Rio Grande Valley and not until 1627 was a Catholic mission, headed by the Franciscan Fray Alonso de Benavides, established at Las Humanas. Thus began a long struggle between the Spanish missionaries and the Tompiros about religion. At first, Catholicism and the Kiva religion of the Tompiros co-existed, but by 1660 the Franciscans were suppressing the native religion. The early days of Spanish settlement in New Mexico were characterized by bitter disputes between

3149-508: The eighteen ton , 34-foot-tall (10 m) statue in a ceremony on April 21, 2007. Oñate is mounted atop his Andalusian horse and holds the La Toma declaration in his right hand. It is one of the tallest statues in the United States. According to Houser, it is the largest and heaviest bronze equestrian statue in the world. The statue precipitated controversy due to Oñate being tried and convicted for many crimes including brutality against

3216-621: The expedition of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire —and a retinue of 130 American Indian soldiers and servants. The expedition possessed 350 horses and mules. Oñate journeyed across the plains eastward from New Mexico in a renewed search for Quivira , the fabled "city of gold." As had the earlier Coronado Expedition in the 1540s, Oñate encountered Apaches in the Texas Panhandle region. Oñate proceeded eastward, following

3283-508: The expedition was to locate a port by which New Mexico could be supplied, as an alternative to the laborious overland route from New Spain. The expedition to the lower Colorado River was important as the only recorded European incursion into that region between the expeditions of Hernando de Alarcón and Melchior Díaz in 1540, and the visits of Eusebio Francisco Kino beginning in 1701. The explorers did not see evidence of prehistoric Lake Cahuilla , which must have arisen shortly afterwards in

3350-734: The high school's name was changed to Organ Mountain High School. Juan de Oñate Elementary School in Gallup, New Mexico , was merged with another school to become Del Norte Elementary School in 2017. The street that runs through the historic central business district of Española, New Mexico , is named Paseo de Oñate. In the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Center (until 2017 the Oñate Monument and Visitor Center) in Alcalde, New Mexico ,

3417-579: The identity of the Escanjaques and the Rayados are much debated. Most authorities believe his route led down the Canadian River from Texas to Oklahoma, cross-country to the Salt Fork , where he found the Escanjaque encampment, and then to the Arkansas River and its tributary, the Walnut River at Arkansas City, Kansas where the Rayado settlement was located. Archaeological evidence favors

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3484-420: The north. Thus, the Rayados were related culturally and linguistically to the Quivirans but not part of the same political entity. The Wichita at this time were not unified, but rather a large number of related tribes scattered over most of Kansas and Oklahoma, so it is not implausible that the Rayados and Escanjaques spoke the same language, but were nevertheless enemies. Oñate's last major expedition went to

3551-408: The past year, a great many Indians perished of hunger, lying dead along the roads, in the ravines, and in their huts. There were pueblos (for instance, Las Humanas) where more than four hundred and fifty died of hunger…there is not a fanega of corn or wheat in the whole kingdom." Labor required of the Tompiro to build churches and to participate in Catholic religious ceremonies took time away from what

3618-451: The priests. During a bitterly cold winter when the Franciscans requested Indian assistance to gather firewood, Aguilar told them to burn the 600 wooden crosses they had collected for ceremonies. Aguilar said it was too dangerous for the Indians to gather wood for the priests because of Apache raiders lurking in the area. Aguilar also permitted Indian dances and ordered Christian Indians to participate. The Franciscans took their grievances to

3685-448: The pueblo there 'San Juan de los Caballeros'. In late 1595, the Viceroy Gaspar de Zúñiga followed his predecessor's advice, and in the summer of 1596 delayed Oñate's expedition in order to review the terms of the original agreement, signed before the previous Viceroy had left office. In March 1598, Oñate's expedition moved out and forded the Rio Grande (Río del Norte) south of present-day El Paso and Ciudad Juárez in late April. On

3752-444: The remainder of his life. Of the 500 or so survivors, at a trial at Ohkay Owingeh , Oñate sentenced all men and women older than 12 to twenty years of forced "personal servitude". In addition, men older than 25 (24 individuals) were to have a foot amputated. According to recent research, there is no evidence of this happening and that, at most, the prisoners lost some toes. This latter theory makes sense, for losing toes rather than

3819-471: The remainder of his life. 2014 marked the 400th anniversary of Juan de Oñate's exile from New Mexico. Despite his atrocities, Oñate is still celebrated today at the Española Valley Fiestas. In 1997 the City of El Paso hired the sculptor John Sherrill Houser to create an equestrian statue of the conquistador. In reaction to protests, two city council members retracted their support for the project. The $ 2,000,000 statue took nearly nine years to build and

3886-414: The right foot be chopped off of all surviving 24 Acoma warriors. Males between the ages of 12 and 25 were also enslaved for 20 years, along with all of the females above the age of 12. When King Phillip of Spain heard the news from Acoma, Oñate was brought up on 30 charges of mismanagement and excessive cruelty. He was found guilty of cruelty, immorality, and false reporting and was exiled to Spain to live out

3953-417: The royal court of Spanish monarchs from the late 1300s to the mid-1500s." She was of Spanish ancestry and descended from conversos , former Jews , on at least several branches of her family tree. Among these converso relatives was her paternal grandfather, the royal physician Doctor Guadalupe de Salazar. Other family members became Christians in the 1390s, around 160 years before Oñate's birth. Her father

4020-457: The same name, and authorities differ as to whether they were related to the Tompiros or simply given similar names by the Spaniards. As village-dwelling and sedentary Pueblo Indians, the Tompiros lived in a marginal climate. Their region was more than 6,000 feet in elevation, near the upper climatic limit for corn cultivation. They had little surface water for irrigation, rainfall was sparse and sporadic, and winters were long and cold. What made

4087-411: The settlement of the Rayados seemed typical of those seen by Coronado in Quivira in the 1540s. The homesteads were dispersed; the houses round, thatched with grass, large enough to sleep ten persons each, and surrounded by large granaries to store the corn, beans, and squash they grew in their fields." With difficulty Oñate restrained the Escanjaques from looting the town and sent them home. The next day

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4154-522: The statue of Oñate in Alcalde, New Mexico was temporarily removed by Rio Arriba County workers at the direction of officials. Civic institutions will make the final decision on the statue's future. Oñate was born in 1550, at Zacatecas in New Spain (colonial México), to the Spanish-Basque conquistador and silver baron Cristóbal de Oñate , a descendant of the noble house of Haro . Oñate's mother, Doña Catalina Salazar y de la Cadena, had among her ancestors Jewish-origin New Christians who "served in

4221-466: The strains of colonial rule. Several local rebellions broke out in the 1660s and 1670s, but the Spaniards always retained the upper hand. By the time of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Piro communities had declined so much that the famous rebellion took place without them. Several hundred Piros (and Tiwas) accompanied the fleeing Spaniards south to El Paso del Norte (present-day Ciudad Juárez , Mexico ); others scattered and joined other Pueblo groups. None of

4288-422: The west, from New Mexico to the lower valley of the Colorado River . The party of about three dozen men set out from the Rio Grande valley in October 1604. They traveled by way of Zuñi , the Hopi pueblos , and the Bill Williams River to the Colorado River, and descended that river to its mouth in the Gulf of California in January 1605, before returning along the same route to New Mexico. The evident purpose of

4355-407: Was Gonzalo de Salazar , leader of several councils that governed New Spain while Hernán Cortés was traveling to Honduras in 1525–26. Juan de Oñate married Isabel de Tolosa Cortés de Moctezuma , who was the granddaughter of Hernán Cortés , the conqueror of the Triple Alliance , and the great-granddaughter of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin . They had two children: In response to

4422-410: Was kept in the sculptor's Mexico City warehouse. The statue was completed in early 2006, transported in pieces on flatbed trailers to El Paso during the summer, and installed in October. The controversy over the statue prior to its installation was the subject of the documentary film The Last Conquistador , presented in 2008 as part of PBS 's P.O.V. television series. The City of El Paso unveiled

4489-441: Was recalled to Mexico City for a hearing regarding his conduct. After finishing plans for the founding of the town of Santa Fe , he resigned his post and was tried and convicted of cruelty to both natives and colonists. He was banished from New Mexico for life and exiled from Mexico City for five years. Eventually Oñate went to Spain, where the king appointed him head of all mining inspectors in Spain. He died in Spain in 1626. He

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