Juan de Oñate Takes Possession of El Paso in the Name of the King of Spain: April 30, 1598
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This text comes from our book, Lands of Hope and Promise.
Juan de Oñate was one of the richest men in Mexico. A conquistador and the husband of Hernán Cortés’ granddaughter, he was also one of the most well known. So the viceroy of New Spain could not doubt Oñate’s competence when he promised to finance an expedition to found a settlement in New Mexico. With Oñate would go 200 soldiers and colonists, a contingent of Christian Indians from Mexico, 7,000 head of livestock, and eight Franciscan friars.
The journey to New Mexico was, as ever, long, hard, and dangerous. After crossing the harsh desert lands of northern Mexico, Oñate and the settlers forded the Río Grande at a place called El Paso (“the ford”). On Ascension Thursday, April 30, 1598, he took possession of the land in the name of the king of Spain. Continuing on to the north, Oñate established a settlement at the confluence of the Río Grande and Chama rivers. By the end of 1598, the friars who had accompanied Oñate had established three missions for the Pueblo Indians of the region.
The Pueblo Indians, however, did not submit easily to Spanish rule or the Spanish religion. In 1598, the Indians of Ácoma (a pueblo set atop a mesa of sheer cliffs) assaulted and killed a small escort led by Juan Zaldivar. To avenge his brother, Vicente Zaldivar led a Spanish force against Ácoma and for three days fought a hard battle against the Indians. Using thick ropes, the Spaniards scaled the sheer rock walls of the mesa and took the pueblo, capturing 500 Indians. The Spaniards harshly punished their captives to teach them never again to resist Spanish authority.
The Ácoma war was the last major rebellion in New Mexico for about 80 years. Still, despite the long peace, the settlers of New Mexico were unhappy. The land was poor and the task of colonization hard. When, in 1601, Oñate returned to the settlements after a five-month, 800-mile expedition across New Mexico and Kansas, the settlers’ discontent was acute. They had complained to the viceroy in Mexico of the settlement and of Oñate. They wanted permission to return to Mexico. The Spanish officials would have acquiesced to this demand, but for one consideration — if there were no settlement, the Indians would be deprived of the Gospel.
The discontent continued until, in 1608, Felipe III (who had become king of Spain in 1598) decided to withdraw the settlers. However, hearing reports of the great number of converts among the Indians in New Mexico and the growth of the missions, the king relented. Instead of abandoning New Mexico, he made it a royal province. Oñate did not fare so well. Forced to resign his governorship, he returned to Mexico, where he died in modest circumstances. He had spent his fortune on the New Mexico settlements.
In time, New Mexico began to flourish. By 1630, there were 25 missions and 90 villages of nearly 60,000 Christian Indians. Santa Fé (Holy Faith), a settlement founded in 1610 by Oñate’s successor, Governor Pedro de Peralta, boasted 1,000 Spanish inhabitants.