Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - History Other Juan de Onate the last conquistador Juan de Onate the last conquistador In the late 1500's after the disappointment of Coronado's non-glorious expedition was forgotten, Spain had a renewed interest in New Mexico. King Philip II needed a new conquistador to go to New Mexico to obtain and claim the 3 G's (Gold, Glory, and God) for the crown and for the country. The man chosen to fill this job was Juan de Onate. Being of noble Basque blood it seems that Juan de Onate was destined to become someone of importance. It is said that the Basque people were "Hardy, self-reliant, and stubbornly strong" and "In New Spain won distinction as explorers, soldiers, and discoverers of mines on the frontier." Juan's father Cristobal de Onate was one of those Basque people described above. In 1546 Cristobal along with a few other Basque men discovered a silver mine in Mexico, but was already rich due to his many encomiendas, his salary as a lieutenant-governor, and many other businesses he owned. Given Juan de Onate's tremendous wealth and outstanding family history King Philip thought that he had found an excellent conquistador, but would soon find out that he was wrong. Juan de Onate's problems started before he even left New Spain. Due to politics and other circumstances Onate's expeditions were delayed many times. As a result of these delays many of the settlers Onate had recruited lost interest and left. The issue of abandonment of his settlers would continue to remain a problem. Abandonment by the settlers came as a result of the bad conditions of the settlements. It was said that "Onate, instead of trying to establish his colony upon a firm economic basis, with his captains, devoted their time and exhausted their resources in explorations and the search for mines." On September 12, 1598 four of Onate's men stole horses to leave back to New Spain. After catching the four men Onate ordered them executed, with no trial. This perhaps began to show that Onate was more a villain than a hero. Onate would soon have bigger problems than abandonment to deal with. This time Onate's problems would hit closer to home. On December fourth after the Spaniards asked the Acoma Indians to "subscribe to the Act of obedience and Homage," the Acoma Indians attacked the Spaniards. In this attack 13 Spaniards were killed. The most devastating to Juan de Onate was the death of his nephew, Juan de Zaldivar. After being given an unfair and biased trial Onate, once again showing the villain from within, issued brutal sentences to the 500 captured Acoma Indians. All of the Indians 12 and older were sentenced to be slaves for 20 years, and males 25 and older had one of their feet cut off. Conditions continued to worsen for the settlers in New Mexico. The situation was so bad that "by early 1601 life in New Mexico had been reduced to a simple formula - fending of hunger and cold." This was more bad news for Onate. Due to the bad conditions of the settlements and Onate's mistreatment of the Indians and of his own people, the Viceroy of New Spain received continuous complaints against Onate. Finally in 1607 Onate gave up his search for the 3 G's and turned in his resignation, and by 1609 the Viceroy of New Spain appointed a new royal governor. Onate's problems did not stop at his resignation. In 1614 Juan de Onate was called to trial and faced many charges of misconduct. One of the many charges was his misuse of the Encomienda system. In 1601, "the Governor (Onate) had levied a tribute of 2000 cotton blankets, each one and a half yards square, and 500 deer skins, upon the Indians." Onate was found guilty on 12 charges, and was exiled from New Mexico for life and from New Spain for 4 years. In 1624 Onate appealed and cleared his name, but died in 1625. At one time the king of Spain believed that Juan de Onate would bring his kingdom both glory and great wealth. However, he turned out doing the exact opposite. He found no great wealth and brought shame to the name of Spain. That just goes to show you cannot depend on someone based on his or her economic status and family history. Bibliography: Word Count: 712
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