Introduction 
207 
In recapitulating with regard to this particular contest it is evident that 
the Count of Monterey was very largely responsible for the unfortunate 
circumstances leading to the revocation of Oñate’s contract by the king 
and the latter’s substitution for the undertaking of Don Pedro Ponce de 
León, and for the equally unfortunate delay which this occasioned Oñate 
after his contract had been signed by Velasco, modified and signed by 
Monterey himself, and after the expedition to New Mexico was well on 
its way. In the first place, from the documents at hand, it appears that 
Monterey was a very careful, painstaking, and methodical man—in these 
respects a man after Philip II.’s heart. It is not surprising, therefore, 
that he should have been unwilling to give the stamp of approval to 
Oñate’s contract, even after it had been approved by his predecessor, until 
he might have the time to examine it carefully. The same was also true 
with regard to Vizcaino’s contract, which Velasco also had approved, 
for the exploration and settlement of California. Specific evidence of 
Monterey’s painstaking consideration of official matters, commendable 
as it was, but often injurious because of the unfortunate delay occasioned, 
is contained in a letter from a member of the Audencia of New Spain 
to Philip II. in 1596. 57 
When Monterey wrote to the king in December, 1595, and told him that 
he desired to investigate the Oñate and Vizcaino contracts, and, quite 
significantly, added “ Your Majesty will be pleased to await my letters 
even though the parties ask for some confirmation of cédula ”, it is easy 
to understand why it was, when this letter was received by the Council 
of the Indies, just at the time that Don Pedro Ponce de León was trying 
to secure appointment as governor of New Mexico, that that body, which 
from the outset favored De León over Oñate, should have written to the 
king as follows: “ From what he writes in his letter, a copy of which is 
enclosed, it is clear that the Count of Monterey was not inclined to the 
agreement with Don Juan de Oñate.” 58 It was upon the receipt of this 
letter that the king decided to abrogate Oñate’s contract; a few days later, 
on May 8, instructions to that effect were given to the viceroy and in 
September Don Pedro Ponce de León was formally commissioned gov¬ 
ernor of New Mexico. However, if the viceroy’s skepticism concerning 
Oñate’s contract was in large measure responsible for the king’s revocation 
of Oñate’s contract, it was the viceroy’s whole-hearted support of Oñate 
over De León and his even greater skepticism concerning the latter, 59 that 
greatly influenced the king to suspend his contract with Don Pedro and to 
allow Oñate to proceed. This latter fact does not bear out Oñate’s later 
contention that Monterey was consistently opposing him. 
Oñate’s Conquest of New Mexico, 1598-1609. 
After being notified at the Rio de las Nazas on September 9, 1596, of 
the king’s instructions for him not to proceed with the expedition, Oñate 
67 Letter from Doctor Santiago del Riego to the king, Mexico, Nov. 10, 1596. This 
volume, p. 375. 
58 Council of the Indies to the king. Apr. 25, 1596. This volume, p. 301. 
59 See pp. 387-389. 
