Santa Fe in Santa Fe County, New Mexico — The American Mountains (Southwest)

1598

— Commemorative Walkway Park —

Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 18, 2014

1. 1598 Marker

Inscription. The viceroy of New Spain appointed Juan de Oñate as New Mexico’s first governor and directed him to settle the area along the upper Rio Grande. Accompanied by 200 settlers and over 7,000 head of livestock, Oñate arrived in New Mexico and established his headquarters at San Juan Bautista, and months later moved to San Gabriel at the confluence of the Chama and Rio Grande.

Erected 1986 by Elks Lodge No. 460. (Marker Number 3.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial Era • Settlements & Settlers.

Location. 35° 41.359′ N, 105° 56.006′ W. Marker is in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in Santa Fe County. Marker can be reached from Paseo de Peralta east of Otero Street. It is at Hillside Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Santa Fe NM 87501, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. 1540 (a few steps from this marker); 1610 (a few steps from this marker); 1848 (a few steps from this marker); 1680 (within shouting distance of this marker); 500 A.D. (within shouting distance of this marker); 375th Anniversary of Santa Fe (within shouting distance of this marker); 1692

Paid Advertisement

Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.

Click or scan to see
this page online

(within shouting distance of this marker); 1926 (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Santa Fe.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. This is a list of all 21 markers on Santa Fe’s Commemorative Walkway at Hillside Park. There is a link on the list to a map of all markers on the walkway.

Also see . . . Wikipedia Entry for Juan de Oñate. “That summer his party continued up the middle Rio Grande Valley to present day northern New Mexico, where he encamped among the Pueblo Indians. He founded the Province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, and was its first colonial governor. Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá, a captain of the expedition, chronicled Oñate’s conquest of New Mexico’s indigenous peoples in his epic Historia de la Nueva México in 1610.” (Submitted on August 12, 2014.)

Additional commentary.
1. Likeness of Juan de Oñate.
Unfortunately it appears that there is no surviving image of Juan de Oñate.

From “New Mexico: An interpretative History”, by Marc Simmons, 1977.

“Juan married Isabel Cortez Tolosa, daughter

Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 18, 2014

2. 1598 Marker

of a mine owner and descendant, on her mother’s side of Fernando Cortez. By her, he had two children. When Isabel died prematurely, in the late 1580s, the husband was overcome with grief, and friends, in the following years, claimed that his loss caused him to begin looking toward New Mexico as a place to forget his troubles. These spare details we have. What is missing is the essence of the man-knowledge of his thinking and mood, understanding of the full scope of his motives. Even his physical appearance eludes us; we know only that, at the time of going north, he had reached his late forties and wore a beard, threaded with gray and neatly trimmed. No portrait survives Oñate, nor indeed of any figure prominent in the affairs of New Mexico during that period….”

— Submitted February 27, 2015, by J. Makali Bruton of Accra, Ghana.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 18, 2014

3. 1598 Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on August 12, 2014, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 479 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 12, 2014, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.