Fernando de Oñate, 1612 
443' 
these merits. Let them state what they know and whether they know 
anything to the contrary. 
Item: Whether they know that after the said Don Fernando de Oñate 
presented the said evidence of merits, the corregimiento of this City of 
Mexico having become vacant during the administration of the Marquis 
of Montesclaros, viceroy of this New Spain, he selected him as corregidor , 
and that he filled the said office with great rectitude, and that the said 
Marquis made this choice because he was a person held in high esteem; 
that Don Alonso de Oñate, brother of the said Don Fernando, was at the 
said time captain of the guard of the said viceroy; and that the said Don 
Fernando de Oñate gave a good account of the said office of corregidor. 
Let them say what they know and whether they know anything to the 
contrary. 
Item: Whether they know that the said Don Fernando de Oñate, the 
elder, perceiving the importance of the exploration of New Mexico and 
the great service that was done to the royal crown in commissioning 
Governor Don Juan de Oñate, his brother, to make this expedition at 
his own cost and expense, assisted him and gave him help with a large 
part of his property, in consequence of which the purpose of the said expe¬ 
dition to New Mexico, which now belongs to his Majesty, was accom¬ 
plished. Let them say what they know. 
Item: Whether they know that the said Don Fernando is a young man, 
and is married and legitimately veiled, 83 according to the order of Holy 
Mother Church, by dispensation, with Doña Magdalena de Mendoza, his 
cousin, legitimate daughter of Vicente de Zaldivar and Doña Magdalena 
de Mendoza, who are noble people of pure lineage and descent, as is also 
the said Don Fernando, and that he is a man of great virtue, capacity, 
and understanding, who is highly esteemed in these kingdoms, as a de¬ 
serving person in whom are united the necessary qualities, so that, if his 
Majesty shall deign to grant him any of the favors that the said Don 
Fernando de Oñate, his father, claimed, or a knighthood in one of the 
military orders, the merits of his said father and grandfather, as well as 
his own, will be rewarded in his person. Let them state what they know. 
Item: Whether they know that all the aforesaid [is the truth]. 
Proofs. 
In the City of Mexico, on the fourth day of the month of March, 1612, 
the señor licentiate Diego Núñez Morquecho, oidor of this royal Audien¬ 
cia, who has been commissioned by its real acuerdo to take evidence of the 
merits of Don Fernando de Oñate, the younger, caused to appear before 
him officially as a witness Lucas de Lara Cervantes, resident of this city, 
who swore by our Lord God and the sign of the holy cross to speak the 
truth, and, being questioned by an interrogatory officially done, made the 
following statement: 
To the first question he answered that he knows the licentiate Juan de 
Pas de Vallesillo, his Majesty’s fiscal in this royal Audiencia, and Don 
Fernando de Oñate, the younger, and also Don Fernando de Oñate and 
Doña Leonor de Ribadeneyra, his legitimate wife, parents of the same 
Don Fernando the younger, and he knows Cristóbal de Oñate and Doña 
