Francisco de Ibarra (1539 –June 3, 1575) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

, founder of the city of Durango, and

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the Spanish province of

Nueva Vizcaya Nueva Vizcaya, officially the Province of Nueva Vizcaya ( ilo, Probinsia ti Nueva Vizcaya; gad, Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya''; tl, Lalawigan ng Nueva Vizcaya ), is a landlocked province in the ...

, in present-day Durango and Chihuahua.

Biography

Francisco de Ibarra was born about 1534 in

Eibar Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eusta ...

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

, in the Basque Country of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He went to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

as a young man, and upon the recommendation and financing of his uncle, conquistador and wealthy mine owner Diego de Ibarra, Francisco was placed at the head of an expedition to explore northwest from

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

in 1554. The young Ibarra noted silver in the vicinity of present-day

Fresnillo Fresnillo (/fres'nijo/), founded in 1554 by Francisco de Ibarra, is the second largest city in Zacatecas state, north central Mexico and the seat of Fresnillo municipality. As a rail and highway junction, Fresnillo is the center of a rich mining ...

, but passed it by. He explored further and founded towns at San Martín and Avino, where the silver mines made him a mine owner in his own right. Ibarra's expedition to Zacatecas was later documented by Spanish historian

Baltasar Obregón Baltasar Obregón (born 1534) was a 16th-century Spanish explorer and historian. He is most notable for publishing the ''Historia de los descubrimientos de Nueva Espana'', an account of his travels in the New World. Biography Obregón was born ...

, who traveled with Ibarra in 1554. In 1562, Ibarra headed another expedition to push farther into northwest Mexico. In particular, he was searching for the fabled golden city of Copala (also called Cibola). He did not find the mythical treasure, but explored and conquered what is now the Mexican state of Durango. Ibarra was appointed governor of the newly formed province of Nueva Vizcaya (New Biscay) in 1562, and the following year he founded the city of Durango to be its capital. In 1564, Ibarra, following rumors of rich mineral deposits, crossed the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...

to conquer what is now southern Sinaloa. Prospectors discovered silver veins in the new territory, and in 1565, de Ibarra founded the towns of Copala and :es:Pánuco (Sinaloa). Soldiers under Ibarra's direction explored north from Durango in 1567, and founded the town of Santa Bárbara in present-day Chihuahua to mine the silver they found there. Francisco de Ibarra died on 3 June 1575 in Pánuco, Sinaloa, one of the silver-mining cities that he founded.José Ignacio Gallegos (1960) ''Durango Colonial, 1563–1821'', Mexico City: Editorial Jus, p. 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibarra, Francisco de Basque explorers Explorers of North America History of Mexico Colonial Mexico People from Eibar 16th-century Spanish people 1530s births 1575 deaths Explorers of Mexico