Mateo Antonio de Mendoza

Mateo Antonio de Mendoza Díaz de Arce was a military and the governor of Nueva Vizcaya y Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico in 1760, occupying the charge of intern between the administration of Francisco Antonio Marin del Valle and the administration of Manuel Portillo Urrisola.

Biography

Although it is unknown his birth date and place, we know Mendoza Díaz de Arce was baptized on 28 September 1696 in the Burgos´s Spanish city.

Son of Francisco Mendoza y Martínez de Fuidio and Teresa Díaz de Arce y Maeda, Mendoza Díaz de Arce was raised in Villacarriedo, in the also Spanish province of Santander, in a solar house. By 1717, he joined the Town Council in Ábalos, La Rioja. In 1751 Mendoza joined the Order of Santiago and participated in the Spanish army, joining the Queens Dragoons as lieutenant colonel and sergeant major.

In 1753, King Charles IV of Spain appointed him governor of the Captaincy General of Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain. During his administration, November 8, 1758, he issued the order to the founding of the Presidio of San Fernando de las Amarillas del Carrizal, a foundation that was initially led by Captain Manuel Antonio de San Juan. Carrizal troops were ordered to protect all those travelers on the Camino Real on their way to New Mexico or from there went to other places, to the end of the Mexican period. Mendoza performed his duties as governor of Nueva Vizcaya until 1761.

In 1761, Mendoza was appointed interim governor of New Mexico by Charles IV to serve during the time that elapsed between the government of Francisco Antonio Marin del Valle and the administration of Manuel Portillo Urrisola. It appears, however, that he never was in New Mexico.

Mendoza married Cecilia Catalina Mendoza y Davalillo on 27 September 1714 in San Asensio in the wine country of La Rioja. ^[1]

References