208 
The Founding of New Mexico 
crossed that river and on November i reached the Minas del Caxco, situ¬ 
ated four leagues from the Cacapa and twelve leagues from the Renteria 
crossings on the Río de las Nazas. There the expedition remained for 
nine months. On August I, 1597—the king’s instructions of April 2, 
1597, instructing Oñate to proceed with his plans apparently having 
been received in the meantime—the expedition started north from the 
Minas del Caxco. Twenty-six leagues further on at San Bartolomé, cal¬ 
culated to be in 27 0 30' north latitude, a halt was made from August 19 
until December 17 in order that an official inspection might be made. At 
San Gerónimo, five and one-half leagues beyond San Bartolomé, a second 
inspection was made; as a result the expedition was detained there from 
December 20, 1597, until January 30, 1598. Six leagues beyond San 
Gerónimo, on January 30, the “ Rio de Conchas . . . which runs from 
east to west, slightly inclined to the southeast ”, was reached at a point 
calculated to be in exactly 28 o 30' north latitude. There the official inspec¬ 
tor bade goodbye to the expedition, and on February 7 Oñate resumed 
his march from the “ Rio de Conchas ”, 59a proceeding, as he stated, 
“ slowly . . . taking eighty carts and wagons loaded with the necessary 
stores and provisions ”. 59b On March 12 an eastward flowing river, called 
the Rio del Nombre de Dios, was reached. 60 According to claims advanced 
by New Mexican citizens in 1685, at that river, or four leagues further 
on at the Sacramento River, Oñate laid claims to all the country beyond as 
the province of New Mexico. 61 By March 15, 1598, the expedition was at 
59a “ Ytinerario ” of the Oñate expedition, in Col. Doc. Inéd., XVI. 228-233. The 
“ Rio de Conchas ” referred to above is not to be confused with the present Río Conchos, 
which flows in a northerly direction. From Oñate’s bearings it is clear that he was 
in the immediate vicinity of the present city of Chihuahua, which, according to modern 
calculations, is in approximately 28 o 35', or else was practically on a parallel with that 
city, possibly to the east of it. The fact that this “ Rio de Conchas ” flowed slightly to 
the southeast would seem to identify it as the present Rio Chuviscar, which flows into 
the present Río Conchos at a point approximately fifty miles east of the present city 
of Chihuahua. 
59b Letter from Oñate to the king, Rio de las Conchas, Mar. 15, 1598. This volume, 
P- 395 . 
60 “ Ytinerario ” of the Oñate expedition, loc. cit., pp. 234-235. According to Oñate’s 
calculations this river was in 29 0 15' north latitude, which would indicate that it lay 
approximately forty-five miles north of the present city of Chihuahua and approximately 
one hundred and seventy-five miles south of the ford on the Rio del Norte, or modern 
El Paso. This is substantiated by the distances from this point as recorded in the 
“ Ytinerario ”, and also by the latitudinal calculations taken after leaving the Rio del 
Nombre de Dios. 
61 Governor Crúzate, writing to the viceroy on May 1, 1685, said that the records in 
the archives of New Mexico at that time showed that “el dho Rio de nombre de Dios 
se nombra Asi porque el adelantado D Juo de onate entrando a la Conquista Aprej endio 
desde alli la posesión por cui rason le puso el nombre de dios y luego al del Sacramto, 
que ay desde el primero a este cuatro leguas Ya como dentro de su Jurisdicion se puso 
este nombre el dho adelantado por que se selebre alli el Santo Sacram’to del matri¬ 
monio ”. (See Autos sobre los Socorros pide el Gov’r de la n’a Mexico y otras nott, 
as tocantes a la Sublevación de los Yndios Barbaros de aquellas provi’as. Años de 
1684-1685. In A. G. M., Provincias Internas, tomo 37, f. in. Transcripts in the Bolton 
Collection.) 
A number of old settlers of New Mexico, writing to the viceroy on Aug. 26, 1685, 
stated that “ Es tradición muy antigua Sor Exmo que cuando el adelantado D Juo de 
