Introduction 
199 
and expensive expedition than did Oñate. For example: Don Juan 
offered to raise two hundred men, equipped with all things necessary to 
reach New Mexico; Don Pedro proposed to raise three hundred men, all 
mounted. Don Juan proposed to spend 2,500 pesos for flour, jerked beef, 
maize, and wheat for planting; for the same items Don Pedro promised 
to spend an additional 19,000 reales. Don Juan was to carry 6,400 head 
of live stock; Don Pedro offered to carry 13,800. For various items, such 
as iron for horseshoes, iron tools, paper, medicine, and gifts for the 
Indians, Don Juan was willing to spend 4,800 pesos; for corresponding 
sundries Don Pedro offered to spend over and above this amount, 40,000 
reales. Twenty ox-carts were to be provided by Don Juan; Don Pedro 
agreed to take thirty. And thus it was with respect to other items. In 
almost every instance Don Pedro’s proposition was much more generous 
than the corresponding proposition of Don Juan; in no instance did any 
of his propositions fall below the corresponding one of Don Juan. More¬ 
over, Don Pedro volunteered to provide his expedition with considerable 
equipment not mentioned by Don Juan, while a number of concessions 
demanded by Don Juan were not asked for by Don Pedro. For instance, 
Don Pedro did not ask for the title of adelantado , and he refused to 
accept the privilege demanded by Oñate of dividing for himself and his 
successors thirty leagues of territory, saying that “ he wished to merit it 
first by his services ”. 24 
Despite the provision agreed to by the viceroy that Oñate’s contract 
should be valid, even if someone else should come from Spain with 
authority to make the expedition, the Council of the Indies went on record 
as favoring the issuance of warrants to “ Don Pedro . . . with a warn¬ 
ing to the viceroy that any impediment placed in the way will be at his [the 
viceroy’s] cost At the same time it was recommended that other liberal 
concessions be granted to Don Pedro. 25 
The date of this comparative statement, so carefully compiled by order 
of the Council of the Indies, is not given, 26 but on April 7, 1596, the king 
was formally notified by the Council “ that notwithstanding the contract 
which has been made there [in Mexico] with Don Juan de Oñate, since 
it had not been carried out, it will be possible to grant this expedition to 
Don Pedro Ponce de León ”. Among the reasons for favoring him over 
Don Juan were these, namely, that Don Pedro was so well known in New 
Spain that he would have no difficulty in recruiting his forces, while his 
wealth guaranteed the expense of the undertaking. In case Don Juan 
should, in the meantime, have made “ any preparations which merited 
recompense ”, the Council recommended that such recompense be made. 27 
24 Statement of what Don Juan de Oñate and Don Pedro Ponce de León offer for the 
exploration, pacification, and settlement of New Mexico. This volume, pp. 281-293. 
25 Ibid. 
26 It was prepared by the licentiate Agustín Alvarez de Toledo, who was commissioned 
“ to hear Don Pedro Ponce de León and examine into the conditions that he was able 
to offer, showing him what Don Juan de Oñate offered”, etc. See the Council of the 
Indies to the king, May 19, 1596. This volume, p. 303. 
27 Council of the Indies to the king, Apr. 7, 1596. This volume, p. 295. 
