Introduction 
215 
cause the said Don Juan de Oñate to be recalled for some sufficient reason, 
as seems best to you, so that he may come without disturbance Upon 
Oñate’s arrival in Mexico City he was to be detained and a “ satisfactory 
governor, discreet and Christian ”, was to be named for the explored 
region of New Mexico. 88 
The next year, on August 24, 1607, apparently before the viceroy could 
take action and apparently for the purpose of bluffing that official into 
sending reinforcements, Oñate sent his resignation as governor to the 
viceroy and with it the information that the settlers would abandon the 
province in case reinforcements did not arrive by June 30, 1608. Oñate’s 
resignation was accepted and Juan Martínez de Montoya, of San Gabriel, 
was commissioned governor ad interim on February 27, 1608. Oñate, 
however, was instructed to remain in New Mexico until 1609. At the 
same time supplies were sent to the settlers. On March 7, 1608, the 
viceroy recommended to the king that New Mexico be abandoned, but the 
king in reply on June 17 ordered that New Mexico be preserved, pending 
further consideration. On September 13, the matter was left to the dis¬ 
cretion of the viceroy. The crisis, however, had been passed and on 
December 17, after encouraging reports had been received from New 
Mexico, the viceroy expressed the hope of reaching the province by way 
of the South Sea and asked for further instructions. In the meantime in 
New Mexico, Montoya had been rejected as governor by the cabildo at 
San Gabriel, and Cristóbal de Oñate, son of Juan de Oñate, had been 
elected governor by that body. Upon the receipt of this news a junta in 
Mexico City on January 29, 1609, voted to send twelve soldiers and a 
new governor to New Mexico and to allow Juan de Oñate to return to 
New Spain. By March 5, 1609, Don Pedro de Peralta had been named 
governor, and on March 30 formal instructions were issued to him. These 
called for the founding of a new and permanent villa and the placing of 
the province on a firmer footing economically. The new villa and capital 
established by Peralta was Santa Fé, though the exact date of its found¬ 
ing is as yet uncertain. On September 9, 1609, the Council of the Indies 
approved the viceroy’s action in preserving New Mexico and ordered that 
new discoveries be promoted there. Thus New Mexico was saved and 
its future guaranteed. 89 
Of interest and value for supplementary details relating to the Oñate 
episode are a series of declarations and sworn statements made in Mexico 
between 1612 and 1614 and submitted as proofs of the merits and services 
of three members of the Oñate expedition—Captain Don Luis de Velasco; 
Don Fernando de Oñate, nephew of the governor; and Captain Juan 
Velarde Colodro. These statements and depositions constitute the last 
88 Royal cédula to the Marquis of Montesclaros, Madrid, June 17, 1606. This volume, 
pp. 413 - 415 . 
89 The above paragraph is based entirely upon a manuscript article by Professor 
Herbert E. Bolton, entitled “ The Last Years of Oñate’s Rule and the Founding of Santa 
Fé ”. This article, written largely from primary sources, throws light on the hitherto 
practically blank period in the history of New Mexico. 
