Pedro Ponce de León, 1596 
301 
and, a contract having been made with one Captain Juan de Lomas and 
the agreement brought to the Council, the conditions appeared to be ex¬ 
cessive; therefore the viceroy was ordered to seek some other way. He 
did so, making a new agreement with Captain Urdiñola, but without 
results, for, being accused of the murder of his wife, the captain gave up 
the expedition. Thus, although diligent and careful search has been made 
for a suitable person, none has ever been found until Don Juan de Oñate 
offered to do it. He, it has been learned, is the son of Cristóbal de Oñate, 
a rich miner of Zacatecas, and [it is said] that he has so wasted the prop¬ 
erty that he now owes more than thirty thousand pesos, the debts having 
been ill contracted and the creditors held off by trickery, and that in an¬ 
other expedition which he undertook the soldiers had no respect for him 
and disobeyed him. It is even said by persons of much credibility who 
know him and have had dealings with him and are acquainted with the 
state of his affairs that it will be impossible to accomplish the purposes of 
this expedition by his hand, for, besides the need of a large fortune for it, 
which he does not possess, being, as he is, a private man, no one of impor¬ 
tance will care to follow him or go under his government; therefore the 
people whom he may collect will be desperadoes and vagabonds, who 
serve for nothing but to cause disturbances and riots with which expedi¬ 
tions are disgraced. This was experienced in this same country once when 
Captain Castaño 25 entered, and it cost much anxiety and trouble to get 
the idle and riotous soldiers away from there, for they refused to recognize 
any leader. 
All this will be to the contrary with Don Pedro Ponce de León, for, 
being as he is a gentleman of such high standing and good sense and so 
well known in that country, he will give great credit to the expedition, and 
the most important people will follow him in the hope of advancement 
there, for it is a great thing for them to go with the certainty that Don 
Pedro will give them the profits from the country without attempting to 
secure them for himself, since he has to return to his permanent home, 
which is where he has his house and estate. This he is constantly saying, 
and he is endeavoring to see that the profits shall be for the people who 
will follow him, without wishing to make any agreement or ask for any¬ 
thing for himself, and leaving the reward for his services to the grandeur 
of your Majesty, according to their nature. From what he writes in his 
letter, of which a copy is enclosed together with another containing the 
substance of the same agreement, it is clear that the Count of Monterey 
was not inclined to the agreement with Don Juan de Oñate; accordingly 
after your Majesty has examined it all, you may take measures and order 
what may be your pleasure, bearing in mind that not only is it the opinion 
of the Council that between Don Pedro Ponce de León and Don Juan de 
Oñate there is a very notable disproportion, and that by no hand can the 
business be done so well as by that of Don Pedro, but also that it is very 
important that the decision be made in time for notice of it to be sent by 
this ship, so that the matter will go no further there. Your Majesty will 
act according to your pleasure. Madrid, April 25, 1596. [Five rubrics.'] 
[On the back:] Received on May 2. 
21 
