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Camino Real Navajo trade route - page 3 of 6

In 1590, the bold Portuguese adventurer, Gaspar Castano de Sosa, persuaded the entire population of the failing mining camp of Almaden, near Monclova, Coahuila, to follow him to this coveted new land of New Mexico which, he promised, would legally become theirs. The Viceroy, hearing of Sosa's unauthorized departure, sent Captain Juan Morlete in pursuit. Morlete caught up with Sosa at Santo Domingo Pueblo and marched his party back to Mexico, returning southward along the Rio Grande. The first wheeled vehicles to pass over this section of the Camino Real left tracks which were seen eight years later by Juan de Onate.

Philip II, King of Spain, instructed the Viceroy of Mexico to find a man to pacify and colonize New Mexico. In 1595, Don Juan de Onate was officially granted the right to conquer New Mexico. Onate was born around 1550, most likely in the frontier settlement of Zacatecas, Mexico. His father was a prominent Zacatecas mine owner and encomendero. In his early twenties Onate was leading campaigns against the unsubdued Chichimec Indians along the turbulent northern frontier around Zacatecas and prospecting for silver. Scion of a wealthy family and a seasoned soldier, Onate hoped to discover new wealth and to enjoy a brilliant future as New Mexico's governor. In the spring of 1598, Onate was finally able to get his caravan under way, leading the way for 129 men, many with their families and servants, and a small group of Franciscan friars, as well as 84 heavily loaded carts and vast herds of livestock including sheep, goats, cattle and horses. Blazing a new route scouted by his nephew, Vicente de Zaldivar, the expedition struggled northward across the Chihuahuan desert. In one place, the expedition, suffering from great thirst, was providentially saved with a miraculous downpour "so heavy that very large pools were formed and more than seven thousand head of cattle and mares of all kinds drank." The exhausted travelers finally reached the Rio Grande, and on April 30th Onate took formal possession of New Mexico, saying:"I claim these lands without limitations, including the mountains, the rivers, valleys, meadows, pastures, and waters ... pueblos, cities, towns, castles ... in the name of the King. "Passing through the narrows near San Felipe Pueblo, Governor Onate arrived at the Pueblo of Santo Domingo and, on July 7, held a council with the Indians of the surrounding country. In a ceremony they must have poorly understood, the native leaders swore allegiance to the Spanish Crown and Church.

Later expedition member Gaspar de Villagra wrote an epic poem about the conquest. When Onate and his men entered the first villages of the Pueblo Indians, some fled at his approach while others demonstrated a restrained friendliness. At the adobe community of Teypama, the headman provided the hungry newcomers with an abundance of corn. Onate christened the place, Socorro, in gratitude for the aid he had received. By July 11 the Governor and his companions had reached the Tewa-speaking pueblo of San Juan as they renamed it. Here he established his military headquarters and the capital of his grandly proclaimed Kingdom of New Mexico. A short time later, Onate moved his settlers to the west bank of the Rio Grande and founded the first formal municipality west of the Mississippi, La Villa of San Gabriel. It remained the official terminus of the far-flung Camino Real.

Camino Real Royal Road Navajo trade route - page 4

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