405 
Juan de Oñate, 1603 
[ Royal decree. San Lorenzo, July 8, 1602.] 
Inasmuch as Don Luís de Velasco, then viceroy, governor and captain- 
general of New Spain, in virtue of a decree of my lord the king—may he 
be in glory—made a contract and agreement with Don Juan de Oñate in 
regard to the exploration, pacification, and settlement of the provinces 
of New Mexico in New Spain, and granted to him that which is contained 
in one of the articles of the instructions for new discoveries and settle¬ 
ments of the Indies, of which the purport is as follows: 
He and his son or heir succeeding to the government shall deal directly 
with the Council of the Indies in such a manner that none of the viceroys 
or neighboring audiencias shall have the power to interfere in the admin¬ 
istration of his province either officially, or on petition of a litigant, or 
by writ of appeal; nor to provide commissioned judges. [The Council 
of the Indies] shall have the power to try government cases officially, or 
on petition of the litigant, or by writ of appeal. In case of a trial between 
litigants, it shall try by writ of appeal civil causes of six thousand ducats 
upwards and criminal cases in which the sentences impose pain of death 
or mutilation of members. 
And inasmuch as petition has been made on the part of the said Don 
Juan that I order it [the contract and agreement] to be approved, not¬ 
withstanding the change made in it by the Count of Monterey, and the 
whole matter having been considered in my Council of the Indies and 
their opinion given to me, I have decided to order this, my decree to be 
issued, by which I command that, notwithstanding the alteration made 
by the said count, what the said Don Luís de Velasco granted to the said 
Don Juan de Oñate, in virtue of and in conformity with the said ordinance 
above incorporated, shall be kept, fulfilled, and carried out, with the pro¬ 
viso that in matters of government and justice those who may wish to 
appeal to my royal Audiencia of Nueva Galicia, which is the nearest to 
the said provinces of New Mexico, may do so, and may have their cases 
tried there. I command my viceroy of New Spain and the audiencias of 
Mexico and Nueva Galicia and all of my other justices and judges to keep 
and fulfill and cause to be kept and fulfilled this my decree and what is 
contained in it, and to take no step whatever against it. Done at San 
Lorenzo, July 8, 1602. I the King. Etc. 
[The Council of the Indies to the king. Valladolid, May 19, 1603.'] 
Don Alonso de Oñate, brother of Don Juan de Oñate, has reported to 
this Council that the maestre de campo, Vicente de Zaldivar, could not 
take in the fleet that lately left for New Spain the forty men 67 —muske¬ 
teers and ship-builders—and the two qualified pilots who were granted 
to him for the expedition to New Mexico, because of the early departure 
of the fleet, and because there is a great scarcity of this class of people 
for the said expedition, which he wishes to begin as soon as possible. For 
this reason he has petitioned that the warrant be held good that was given 
