Juan de Céspedes, 1568 
47 
charged with he gave satisfaction. On account of the good reports and 
opinion that he received and held of Juan de Paladinas on the expedition 
General Francisco Vásquez made him alguacil de campo , in which office 
he served his Majesty well, and suffered much hardship, hunger, and 
deprivation until the general returned to this City of Mexico. . . . And 
he saw that Maria Maldonado, wife of Juan de Paladinas, also went on 
the expedition and most kindly ministered to the sick of the army, besides 
sewing and mending for them the best she could and doing many other 
good works for the soldiers in the field, where she on her part also suffered 
great hardships. 
Witness: Pedro Nieto . . . and he saw that because the said Juan de 
Paladinas was an honest man and because they placed great dependence 
upon him, he was charged with affairs of the army and always went ahead, 
working hard for it and doing as much as six of the other soldiers in the 
army. . . . 
Evidence of the merits and services of Juan de Céspedes in the exploration 
and conquest of the new land of Cibola, where he went with Governor 
Francisco Vásquez Coronado, and in the uprising in New Spain. 
Mexico, January 19, 1568. 
I. Sacred Catholic Royal Majesty. Captain Juan de Céspedes affirms 
that he has served your Majesty in New Spain more than thirty years, 
since the time when Don Antonio de Mendoza and Don Luis de Velasco 
were governors of it, and afterwards the royal Audiencia, afterwards the 
Marqués de Fakes, afterwards the licentiate Alonso Muñoz, and Doctor 
Luís Carillo of your royal Council, and Don Martin Enriquez, 29 who 
governs for your Majesty at present, up to this year of ’75; and that he 
has served on all occasions that have presented themselves in that land, 
even in the affair of the uprising and rebellion which occurred in it. In all 
that time he has served your Majesty as your captain and by governing 
as your corregidor and alcalde mayor in the best and most important 
provinces in the kingdom, in Spanish cities as well as in native, winning 
for himself the confidence that was required. All of which appears more 
at length in the reports and proofs which he has made and presented in 
your royal Audiencia of New Spain and in your royal Council of the 
Indies, with the titles which he has of having been your captain and having 
practised in your name the said duties and offices. And your royal Coun¬ 
cil of the Indies has ordered it placed in the memorial. His services and 
merits have been and are very well known. . . . December 7, 1575. 
