Juan de Tolosa (c. 1515-before 1594) was a Spanish

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 ...

conquistador. He discovered rich silver deposits near the present day city of

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

, Mexico, in 1546.

Early life

Juan de Tolosa was born in the sixteenth century in or near

Tolosa, Spain Tolosa (Spanish and Basque: ) is a town and municipality in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, in northern Spain. It is located in the valley of the river Oria, next by Uzturre, a local mountain topped by a white cross. Its economy relies primaril ...

. He took the nickname of "Barbalonga" in recognition of his impressive beard. He emigrated to

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...

(later known as

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Founder of Zacatecas

Tolosa's date of arrival in the Americas is unknown although he was apparently a soldier during the

Mixtón War The Mixtón War (1540-1542) was a rebellion by the Caxcan people of northwestern Mexico against the Spanish conquerors. The war was named after Mixtón, a hill in Zacatecas which served as an Indigenous stronghold. The Caxcanes Although othe ...

from 1540 to 1542. After the war, Tolosa led several expeditions in search of silver along with Miguel de Ibarra and a contingent of Spanish soldiers and Indian slaves. In what is now Tlaltenango, Indians showed him rocks containing silver and, on September 8, 1546, he found his way to the origin of the rocks on the

Cerro de la Bufa Bufa Hill or El Cerro de la Bufa is a hill found east of historic downtown Zacatecas City, Zacatecas, Mexico, of historic and cultural significance in the Zacatecas state. Name The origin of Bufa Hill's name is disputed. What is, perhaps, the b ...

at Zacatecas. With Ibarra he collected a group of miners and returned to the site to exploit the silver deposits which turned out to be the richest in Mexico. On January 20, 1548 Tolosa along with Diego de Ibarra, Cristóbal de Oñate, and Baltazar de Bañuelos Temiño officially founded what is now the city of Zacatecas, later known as the "Civilized North." This city is recognized today by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

as a World Heritage Site. Tolosa also claimed credit for discovering rich deposits of silver at San Martin,

Sombrerete Sombrerete () is a town and municipality located in the northwest of the Mexican state of Zacatecas, bordering the state of Durango. It was founded in 1555 by Spanish conquistador Juan de Tolosa as a mining center, due to the wealth that the mine ...

, and Avino 115 miles north-west of Zacatecas in 1556. Along with Luis Cortés, the son of conquistador

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...

, and 40 soldiers he reportedly explored for six months at his own cost before finding the silver deposit. His primacy in the discovery of the silver at San Martin has been disputed. On another expedition he made an important discovery of salt deposits at Salinas de Santa Maria. Tolosa was apparently not as good a businessman as he was explorer, as he owned fewer mines and smelters than other early mining entrepreneurs in Zacatecas. In 1594, his children and other witnesses claimed that he had died in poverty, spending the fortune he had made in Zacatecas on expeditions to find new mines. His children, left "without means and in need" requested assistance from the Spanish crown in recognition of his contributions.

Personal life

In 1550, Tolosa married

Leonor Cortés Moctezuma Doña Leonor Cortés Moctezuma (born c. 1528 – died before 1594) was the out-of-wedlock daughter of Hernán Cortés, conquistador of Mexico, and Doña Isabel Moctezuma the eldest daughter of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II. She was acknowledged ...

, born out of wedlock and the daughter of

Isabel Moctezuma Doña Isabel Moctezuma (born Tecuichpoch Ichcaxochitzin; 1509/1510 – 1550/1551) was a daughter of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II. She was the consort of Atlixcatzin, a tlacateccatl, and of the Aztec emperors Cuitlahuac, and Cuauhtemoc and as suc ...

and Hernán Cortés. She had a son, Juan de Tolosa Cortés Moctezuma, and two daughters, Isabel de Tolosa Cortés de Moctezuma who married

Juan de Oñate Juan de Oñate y Salazar (; 1550–1626) 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 ...

Salazar and Leonor de Tolosa Cortés Moctezuma who married Cristobal de Zaldivar Mendoza. Other daughters, names unknown, were said to be in a monastery in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...

, Spain in 1604.

Death

The date of Tolosa's death is unknown although both he and his wife died before 1594. In 1576, a Matías de Tolosa, requested an emigration licence in order to assist his "rich brother Juan" in New Spain. The request is accompanied by a letter written from Acapulco which informs us of a good personal network by Juan which makes an identification likely.Archivo General de Indias, INDIFERENTE,2057,N.84, accessible via http://pares.mcu.es/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolosa, Juan de 16th-century Spanish people Spanish city founders Basque conquistadors Spanish mining businesspeople People from Tolosa, Spain History of Zacatecas Year of birth uncertain