Juan de Zaldívar (c. 1570–1598) was a Spanish soldier and explorer. He was an early colonizer of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. He was killed by Native Americans.

Early life

Juan de Zaldívar was born circa 1570 in Northern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. His father, Vicente de Zaldívar Sr., served in the

Mixtón War The Mixtón War (1540–1542) was an uprisng by Caxcan people aimed at pushing the Spanish conquistadors out of northwestern Mexico and bringing the area back under indigenous control. The war was named after Mixtón, a hill in Zacatecas which s ...

of 1540-1542 alongside his uncle (thus Juan's great-uncle),

Cristóbal de Oñate Cristóbal de Oñate (1504 — October 6, 1567) was a Spanish Basque explorer, conquistador and colonial official in New Spain. He is considered the founder of the contemporary city of Guadalajara in 1531, as well as other places in Nueva Gali ...

. His mother was Magdalena de Mendoza y Salazar. He had a brother, Vicente de Zaldívar.

Juan de Oñate Juan de Oñate y Salazar (; 1550–1626) was a Spanish conquistador, explorer and viceroy of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in the viceroyalty of New Spain, in the present-day U.S. state of New Mexico. He led early Spanish expedition ...

was their uncle and second cousin.

Career

In 1595, Zaldívar was asked by his uncle, Juan de Oñate, to serve as his

Maestre de Campo ''Maestre de campo'' was a rank created in 1534 by the Emperor Charles I of Spain, inferior in rank only to the '' capitán general'' and acted as a chief of staff. He was chosen by the monarch in the Council of State, and commanded a ''tercio'' ...

, or field marshal, in Oñate's colonization of

for the Spanish Crown. They departed from Santa Bárbara, Chihuahua in January 1598, arriving in

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...

by April of the same year. They went up the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

, arriving in San Juan de los Caballeros (now known as

Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico Ohkay Owingeh (, ), known by its Spanish name as San Juan Pueblo from 1598 to 2005, is a pueblo in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined that community as a census-designated pl ...

) on July 11, 1598.

Death

Zaldívar was killed by Acoma in

Acoma Pueblo Acoma Pueblo ( , ) is a Native American pueblo approximately west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. Four communities make up the village of Acoma Pueblo: Sky City (Old Acoma), Acomita, Anzac, and McCartys. These communities ...

on December 4, 1598. His brother, Vicente de Zaldívar, won the Acoma Massacre, partly to avenge his death. Foot amputation and enslavement of the culprits (Native Americans) has been claimed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaldivar, Juan de 1598 deaths Soldiers from New Spain People from Cibola County, New Mexico Spanish soldiers Spanish explorers of North America Explorers of New Mexico People from Santa Fe, New Mexico Murder victims Year of birth uncertain