The Last Conquistador

The Last Conquistador

Juan De OÐ"±ate and the Settling of the Far Southwest

By Marc Simmons

(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991. Pp xiii+201.Preface, introduction, appendices, notes, maps, bibliography, and index.)

In the Last Conquistador, Marc Simmons takes an in depth look at the life and frontier career of Don Juan De OÐ"±ate, the first colonizer of the old Spanish Borderlands.

The book begins by tracing OÐ"±ate's heritage and family history. The OÐ"±ate's were Basques, a fact that can explain his family dynamics. The Basques inhabited the cool mountains of north-central Spain even before the ancient Iberians. The name OÐ"±ate is a Basque word meaning "at the foot of the mountain". The chapter then turns to CristÐ"µbal de OÐ"±ate, the extraordinary father of Juan. The steady rise of CristÐ"µbal de OÐ"±ate as encomendero and cofounder of Zacatecas are but a few of the great accomplishments in the OÐ"±ate family. CristÐ"µbal's involvement in the Mixton war is documented as well as the mining, ranching, and sugar holding. Juan de OÐ"±ate was born to this affluent family of power, wealth, and title. Juan's childhood is documented as having been filled with "sparkle and sophistication" (pg35). He grew up in PÐ"Јnuco, a mining camp considered a suburb of Zacatecas. Juan acquired his education and social graces in Mexico City. The book details the young Juan as participating in and around the constant battle with the Chichimecas and the assumption of the family mines after the death of his father.

In the year 1595, King Phillip II of Spain awarded a contract for the settlement of New Mexico to OÐ"±ate. His goal was to spread Catholicism as a primary objective, but many colonists enlisted in hopes of finding new silver strikes. The book details the many delays OÐ"±ate faced as well as the famous crossing point of El Paso Del Norte, he found in 1598. As OÐ"±ate continued to explore we find hardships, cold weather, and food shortages as some of the major reasons for the struggles of his colony. Juan de OÐ"±ate had few achievements and many problems during his inept reign as the first governor of New Mexico. Instead of using his power for the welfare of his people, OÐ"±ate neglected their