Water Supply Critical to Oñate's Advance to Rio Bravo

The Journal is publishing a biweekly series of history articles to commemorate the settlement of New Mexico by Juan de Oñate in 1598. This one covers the taking of possession of New Mexico by Oñate on April 30, 1598.

By Miguel Encinias
For the Journal
Juan de Oñate and his followers set out on their colonizing expedtion in January 1598, near Todos Santos, Mexico. The group crossed the Conchos River north of present-day Chihuahua on Feb. 6 and arrived at the San Pedro River on Feb. 10.
There they waited for a group of friars who had been recruited after the original group abandoned the expedition.
Anticipating a long wait, Oñate decided to send his nephew, Vicente Zaldivar, to look for a direct route to the Rio Bravo, as the Rio Grande was now called, and preferably one with many water holes.
On March 3, the new commissary, Father Alonso Martinez, arrived accompanied by five other priests, two lay brothers and three Indian donados (lay assistants).
When Zaldivar returned from his scouting trip on March 10, Oñate, anxious to proceed, ordered the expedition to resume its journey the following day.
After several stops, the settlers spent Easter Sunday worshiping and resting at an oak grove, which they aptly named "Resurrection."
Refreshed spiritually and physically, they set out once more with new resolve.
On April 1, having run out of water the day before, the caravan decided to attempt a nine-league leg hoping to find water. The usual day's travel was about five leagues in smooth terrain and good weather. (A league was about 2.5 miles at that time.)
After traveling only three leagues, "God succored us with a downpour," the log states, and the thousands of livestock and the hundreds of people all drank their fill with such relief that the travelers named the site Socorro del Cielo.
On April 19, the tired, hungry and thirsty travelers reached large sand dunes, which offered no water and slowed people, beasts and carts to a crawl.
Fortunately, the great river was only three leagues (a little more than seven miles) away. At the river they rested; bathing, drinking and eating from the abundance of fish in the river.
On April 27 the group once again was on the move, heading north up the Rio Grande.
On Ascension Day, April 30, 1598, Oñate took possession of New Mexico at a place about 14 miles southeast of present-day El Paso, Texas.
As the soldiers lined up in formation, the governor began his long proclamation: "In the name of the most Holy Trinity, and the indivisible eternal unity, deity and majesty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I don Juan de Oñate, governor, captain and adelantado of New Mexico ... wish to take possession of the land on this day of the Ascension of our Lord. ... In the name of the most Christian king, don Felipe, I take and seize tenancy and possession real and actual, civil and natural, one, two and three times ... without excepting anything ... including the mountains, pastures and waters. In his name I also take possession of all other lands, pueblos, cities, towns and castles ... of New Mexico."
After the ceremony, the bugles sounded and the harquebuses roared. A solemn Mass followed, then there was rejoicing with dancing and singing.
In the afternoon, after lunch, Captain Farfan de los Godos put on the first known play by Europeans in the northern part of the New World.
The play, which Farfan wrote, was about the sacrifices made by martyred friars of earlier expeditions.
NEXT: Crossing the Rio Grande.

Miguel Encinias is an Albuquerque historian. His novel, "Two Lives for Oñate," was published this year by the University of New Mexico Press.