Oñate Works to Restore his Name

By Miguel Encinias
For the Journal
Sometime in mid-1621, Juan de Oñate, at the very advanced age for the time of 70 or older, embarked for Spain from Veracruz. This would be the first time in his long life that he would see the mother country.
He no doubt sailed with the twice-yearly fleet that traveled through Havana, which was the center of distribution from the New World, to the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain. From there he would have headed up the Guadalquivir River to Seville.
This would be the last campaign of his life and his last chance to build a legacy.
As a very rich man whose silver mines had helped fill royal coffers, one can imagine that he was treated with utmost deference by the captain of the fleet.
The miner, explorer and founder of the northernmost Spanish province in the New World was intent on vindication and the restoration of his titles that had been taken from him in the trial of 1614.
To achieve this, Oñate needed somehow to get his appeal before the teen-age King Phillip IV. The palace had been moved back from Valladolid to Madrid.
Though now on a different continent, Oñate would not have to fend for himself. His brother and his nephew were living in Spain.
He also had vigorous help from the president of the Council of the Indies, Juan de Villela, who had served under Luis de Velasco II.
Velasco as viceroy and friend had given Oñate the contract that enabled him in 1598 to found the colony of New Mexico.
Villela advised Oñate to approach the council rather than going directly to the king. Oñate requested that his sentences be revoked and his title of adelantado be restored in perpetuity.
The council endorsed his petition and passed it on to the king on April 6, 1622. The king did not reject the petition, but asked for a statement of the original charges against Oñate.
When these were forwarded to him the king still did not make a decision, instead stating: "Postpone this for now."
Meanwhile Oñate was working on other goals.
Fernando Murcia de la Llana, son of the renowned humanist of the same name, agreed to produce an epic poem about Cristobal, Oñate's son who died in New Mexico. This was very good news for Oñate, since it was one of his principal objectives for going to Spain.
Oñate had also contacted authorities of the Jesuit Colegio Imperial about making a bequest to the Colegio for scholarships to assist poor young men who aspired to become missionaries.
The king once again rebuffed the council, but Oñate received help from the president of the council, who knew one of the king's secretaries.
He was advised to send a petition directly to the king which outlined Oñate's achievements. The petition further stated, "Most all of the gold and silver that came from the mines of New Spain have been conquered and won by Juan de Oñate's father, his father-in-law and his son-in-law."
The appeal found its way to the king and met with sucess. Within several weeks the council was advised that on July 14, 1623, the king had restored Oñate's title of adelantado.
NEXT: More successes.

Miguel Encinias is an Albuquerque historian who co-wrote a critical edition of the epic poem by Oñate loyalist Capt. Gaspar de Villagra, "Historia de la Nueva Mexico," and wrote the historical fiction novel "Two Lives for Oñate."