Juan de Oñate y Salazar was a Spanish conquistador from New Spain, explorer, and colonial governor of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in the viceroyalty of New Spain. He led early Spanish expeditions to the Great Plains and Lower Colorado River Valley, encountering numerous indigenous tribes in their homelands there. Oñate founded settlements in the province, now in the Southwestern United States.
Equestrian statue of Juan de Oñate, Alcalde, New Mexico
Texas Historical Marker for Don Juan de Oñate and El Paso del Río Norte
Oñate's 1605 "signature graffiti" on Inscription Rock, in El Morro National Monument
Historic Marker at "Paraje de Fra Cristobal," Rio Grande crossing
Santa Fe de Nuevo México was a province of the Spanish Empire and New Spain, and later a territory of independent Mexico. The first capital was San Juan de los Caballeros from 1598 until 1610, and from 1610 onward the capital was La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís.
Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east of Santa Fe: a winter sunset after a snowfall