Gaspar Domingo de Mendoza y Delgado ( 1685 - 1750) was a Spanish

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

. He later served as the Spanish colonial governor of

Santa Fe de Nuevo México Santa Fe de Nuevo México ( en, Holy Faith of New Mexico; shortened as Nuevo México or Nuevo Méjico, and translated as New Mexico in English) was a Kingdom of the Spanish Empire and New Spain, and later a territory of independent Mexico. The ...

province (present day

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

) from 1739 to 1743, located in the northern Viceroyalty of New Spain (colonial Mexico and Central America).

Career

Military service

Mendoza was a member of the Royal Service of the ''Regimiento de Guardias de Infantería Española'' (Spanish Guards Regiment Infantry).New Mexico history: Gaspar Domingo de Mendoza
Posted by Rick Hendricks. Retrieved January 27, 2014, to 23: 35 pm. In 1708, he became a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

of the infantry.Naylor, Thomas H.; Hadley, Diana; Mardith K. Schuetz-Miller (editors; 1997)
The Presidio And Militia On The Northern Frontier of New Spain, Volume 2; par II: The Central Corridor and the Texas Corridor, 1700-1765
Volumes 1570-1700. The University of Arizona Press. Page 283. He served as a soldier, ''Cabo de esquadra'', and Sergeant. Mendoza fought in the

of the early 18th century.
He fought in the following battles: the Battle of La Gudina (7 May 1709), the

Battle of Zaragoza The Battle of Saragossa, also known as the Battle of Zaragoza, took place on 20 August 1710 during the War of the Spanish Succession. A Spanish Bourbon army loyal to Philip V of Spain and commanded by the Marquis de Bay was defeated by a Gr ...

(20 August 1710), the siege and advance on Viruega, the Battle of Villaviciosa (10 December 1710), the sieges in the Spanish municipalities of Castellón, Cardona,

Lerida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

and Tortosa, the Siege of Barcelona (1713–1714), the blockade of Olivenza, the capture of Balaguer (in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

), the detachment of

Arenes Aromatic compounds, also known as "mono- and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons", are organic compounds containing one or more aromatic rings. The parent member of aromatic compounds is benzene. The word "aromatic" originates from the past grouping ...

, and the siege and capture of

Estadilla Estadilla is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2018 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacion ...

(in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain). He also participated in the capture of Barcelona and all the operations involved in the campaign to

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, as well as in the capture of the Castillo de Palermo, the sieges and captures of

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

and Melazo, and the conquest of

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

and its subsequent restoration. He also participated in the reunions held in the Spanish municipalities Almenara, Castellón and Peñalba. In 1735, Rodrigo was appointed Captain of the armed forces and ''Ayudante mayor'' of the

town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

of Ciudad Rodrigo (in Province of Salamanca) in Spain.On 12 May 1737, King

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...

of Spain appointed Mendoza Governor of New Mexico, although he did not occupy the government of the province (at that time New Mexico was a province) until January 1739. Twitchell, Ralph Emerson (2007)
The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, Vol. I (Hardcover)
Page 438.

Governor of colonial New Mexico

Mendoza traveled to the Viceroyalty of New Spain (colonial México) with his wife and children, plus a maid and three servants (one woman and two man). Shortly after he arrived in the province of

in 1739 to become governor, a small group of armed Frenchmen visited Santa Fe after having left

Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...

and the Jicarilla territory. In 1741, Mendoza issued laws to protect and defend Amerindian women and children in Taos. He issued a law to punish all men who wounded, killed or mistreated "infidel" woman and boys, fining them with 300 silver

pesos The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

and six years in exile. However, this law was impossible to carry out, especially due to the distance between the capital at Santa Fe and Taos. During Mendoza's administration, many children were captured, especially children who belonged to the

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

, Utes,

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

and

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

peoples. Later, a group of seven Comanches traveled to

Taos Pueblo Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking (Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. The pueblos are considered to be one of the oldest c ...

to trade tobacco and they explained to Mendoza that their people would visit the valley when the snows abandoned the mountains. However, they also said them the French armed them with muskets and that later they had traveled to some unknown direction beyond their lands (colonial

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

). However, they indicated also that two French traders would go to visit New Mexico in the spring. When the news reached to Mendoza, he decided to establish a presidio (fort) in the north to protect the population of Taos from the possible French invasion, and did so in the Jicarilla Apache's abandoned settlement. The presidio used many shelters that had been built in the place. Despite this (and for some reason), when the French traders visited Santa Fe, Mendoza accepted them and gave them a map showing the Spanish settlements in Santa Fe de Nuevo México. Later, the traders brought the map back to the French Louisiana colony in New France, where they were based, causing the repentance of Mendoza for having given them the map. The trade with the French traders allowed the Spanish obtain French guns. Dornan, Ellen (2014)
Wicked Taos
The History Press. Pages 48 - 49. Mendoza was replaced by Joaquín Codallos y Rabal as colonial governor of

province in 1743.

Personal life

Mendoza married María Ferreras de la Torre. They had three children — Francisca Micaela (born 1731), María Manuela (born 1733) and Hermenegildo (born 1736). Having left the charge of governor in 1743, Mendoza apparently lived in Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico for a while longer. One of his daughters, Francisca Micaela, around 14 years old at that time, married Joaquín Codallos y Rabal after he assumed the governor office of the province.

References

External links