Pedro Ponce de León, 1596 
325 
I order my viceroy of the said New Spain and the president and oidores 
of my royal Audiencia of the said province of Nueva Galicia and all my 
other judges and justices of the said provinces, to whom my decree or a 
copy of it signed by a public clerk shall be shown, not to place in your 
way or in that of the persons whom you may name any impediment 
whatsoever to what I have decreed for recruiting the said soldiers, but 
rather to give, and cause you to be given, all the favor and assistance 
necessary for it, and not to interfere with the people that shall be enlisted 
for the said expedition, and to cause them to be given the equipment and 
provisions necessary at a just and moderate price, according to what they 
are worth among them, without raising the price. Done at San Lorenzo, 
October 19, 1596. I the King. Countersigned by Juan de Ybarra and 
signed by the president and the delegates. 
Title of governor and captain-general of the kingdoms and provinces of 
New Mexico in favor of Don Pedro Ponce de León. [San Lorenzo, 
October 26, I5p<5.] 
Don Felipe, Q. Inasmuch as in the contract and agreement that I have 
ordered to be made with you, Don Pedro Ponce de León, whose [resi¬ 
dence] is said to be in the town of Bailén, concerning the exploration, 
pacification, and settlement of the kingdoms and provinces of New 
Mexico, I promised that you would be given the title of governor and 
captain-general of the said provinces, in fulfillment on my part of what 
was thus agreed upon, and in consideration of the very good and distin¬ 
guished services which your ancestors rendered to my royal progenitors, 
and those which you yourself have rendered to me, and in the expectation 
that you will continue to imitate them, and that through you the good 
results that I desire will be accomplished, especially in that the natives of 
those provinces shall come to a true knowledge of God, their creator and 
redeemer, so that they may be saved, and that my kingdom, revenues, and 
patrimony shall be increased, and also [in consideration of] the expenses 
that you have to incur in this expedition in fulfillment of the said con¬ 
tract, I desire, and it is my will, that for all the days of your life, or for 
the time that you are pleased and wish to occupy yourself in the said paci¬ 
fication and settlement, provided that it shall not be less than six years, 
you shall be my governor and captain-general of the said provinces and 
kingdoms of New Mexico, as far as they shall extend in those parts, 
provided that they do not touch upon any province, kingdom, or land 
whose government has been already committed to another person. As 
my governor and captain-general, you and your lieutenants, whom I 
give you permission to appoint where and in the parts that you wish and 
it is most suitable, and no other person, shall use and exercise the said 
offices, administering my justice, civil as well as criminal, and in all the 
other cases and affairs related to and concerned with it, according to the 
