Cristóbal de Oñate

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Cristóbal de Oñate (1504, Spain—October 6, 1567, Pánuco, Zacatecas) was a Spanish explorer, conquistador and colonial official in New Spain. He is considered the founder of the contemporary city of Guadalajara in 1531, as well as other places in New Galicia (western New Spain).

1 Background
2 Activities in New Spain
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Background

Oñate was born in 1504 in Vitoria or Oñate), Spain. His father was Juan Pérez de Narriahondo, who changed his name in later life to Juan de Oñate. Oñate signifies "at the foot of the mountain pass" in the Basque language. His mother was Osana González de San Llorente. He was born into the House of Haro, whose origins go back to the Middle Ages. He was a grandson of Pedro de Baeza, Señor de Narrihondo, one of Spain's last feudal señores.

[edit] Activities in New Spain

Oñate arrived in New Spain as the assistant to Rodrigo de Albornoz. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain had made Albornoz auditor, one of five royal officials named to oversee Cortés's government in the colony.

In New Spain, he was reunited with his nephews Juan de Zaldívar Oñate and Vicente de Zaldívar Oñate, and he contracted marriage with Catalina de Salazar, daughter of Gonzalo de Salazar. Salazar was a high-ranking official in the Royal Treasury of the colony, and at times a member of the junta that ruled New Spain.

In 1529 he was a part of the expedition of Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán that conquered the western part of Mexico (the current states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Aguascalientes and parts of Sinaloa, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí). This brutal conquest took only a few years, and the newly conquered region became known as New Galicia. The foundation of the cities of Compostela y Tepic in present-day Nayarit and Guadalajara y Zacatecas is attributed to Oñate.

In 1531 (probably January), Oñate founded a small town near Nochistlán to which the name Guadalajara was given. Two years later Beltrán de Guzmán visited the city, and at the request of its inhabitants, who were fearful of Indian attacks and lacked sufficient water, he ordered it moved to Tonalá. This occurred on May 24, 1533. Later, after Beltrán had returned to Spain, it was moved again, to a site near Tlacotan (northeast of modern Zapopan). This occurred probably between October 1541 and February of the following year.

During the conquest of Zacatecas rich silver mines were discovered that made Cristóbal de Oñate and his partners Diego de Ibarra and Juan de Tolosa among the richest men in New Spain. Oñate settled at the Pánuco mine in Zacatecas, where five of his six children were born. One of his sons, Juan de Oñate, became an explorer of western North America and founder of the first European settlement on the upper Rio Grande in the present U.S. state of New Mexico. Both Juan and his twin brother Cristóbal served as Spanish governors of Nuevo Mexico.

Cristóbal de Oñate (the father) served as governor of the province of New Galicia on three occasions. Besides being a conquistador, official and mineowner, he was a farmer, rancher and encomendero. He was a benefactor of the cities he founded. He established a dynasty that retained wealth and power for 300 years.

Although he was a lieutenant of Beltán de Guzmán, perhaps the bloodiest conquistador in the history of New Spain, there is no evidence that Oñate acted with especial cruelty in the conquest of New Galicia. In the cities he founded, many streets, businesses, and geographic locations bear his name. He was said to be very generous with those who requested his aid.

Oñate died at his mine of Pánuco, Zacatecas on October 6, 1567. He was interred in the parochial church there.