Juan Velarde Colodro , 1612-1614 
475 
Colodro was among the first who enlisted under the royal standard, and 
that he personally participated in the enlistment of the people and the 
entire preparations necessary for the journey together with General Oñate. 
During the enlistment and throughout the entire journey until New 
Mexico was reached, he worked very hard, inasmuch as he was entrusted 
with several matters of importance because he was an able man, important 
and trustworthy. This he saw and knows. . . . 
To the third question this witness said that he saw that after the captain- 
general, Don Juan de Oñate, had arrived in New Mexico with the whole 
or a part of the army, and had pacified a large number of Indians and had 
reduced them to the faith, he at once arranged that these Indians should 
render their obedience to his Majesty; this they did before Captain 
Colodro upon all the occasions which occurred, he having been named 
secretary for the purpose, because he was a faithful man and legally 
trained. He had and has a title whereby the office was conferred upon 
him, to which the witness refers. This he responds, etc. 
To the fourth question this witness said that he went, as noted, as 
prospective alférez upon the expedition and conquest of New Mexico, 
and was hence present all the time, and saw that the captain was also 
present during the entire conquest, not only during the five years pre¬ 
scribed by the order of his Majesty, but seven additional years, during 
which he attended to everything with care and fidelity, inquiring into the 
secrets of the land. During all this service he endured very severe hard¬ 
ships. This is what he knows with respect to the question, etc. 
To the fifth question he said that he knows the contents of the question 
to be true because this witness saw the journey which the general made 
toward the South Sea , 106 upon which Juan Velarde Colodro went, as he 
also did upon the expedition to the Gran Ranchería , 107 which is four hun¬ 
dred and fifty leagues distant, a journey upon which the very fertile and 
valuable buffalo plains were discovered. In all of this expedition the 
captain endured severe hardships, hunger, and nakedness, never neglect¬ 
ing the army, and displaying great valor and patience the while. This 
witness knows this because he saw it with his own eyes, and this, etc. 
To the sixth question this witness said that he saw, upon the occasion 
mentioned in the question, that Captain Juan Velarde Colodro performed 
valiant deeds, showing great spirit as a man of determination, thereby 
acquiring great fame. This he knows, etc. 
To the seventh question this witness said that he saw that Captain 
Juan Velarde, by reason of his proper procedure and valor, was much 
esteemed throughout the entire Spanish army, and that many posts of 
honor were entrusted to him, among them those mentioned in the question, 
as is manifest from his titles, to which the witness refers. In them all 
he gave a good account of himself, winning the approbation of the general 
and of all the Spaniards. This he responds, etc. 
To the eighth question he said that after a large number of the infidel 
Indians of New Mexico had been baptized, and after the captain had been 
there the twelve years mentioned, undergoing great hardships entirely at 
his own cost, and had spent his estate and fortune until he was left poor, 
all for the purpose of carrying forward the extension of the holdings of 
