Pedro Almíndez Chirino (or ''Pedro Almíndez Chirinos'') was a

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

born in

Úbeda Úbeda () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the Province of Jaén (Spain), province of Jaén, Andalusia. The town lies on the southern ridge of the so-called Loma de Úbeda, a Table (landform), table sandwiched in bet ...

and member of several councils that governed

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

while

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

was traveling to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, in 1525–26. Almíndez was an ally of Gonzalo de Salazar; the events of this period are recounted in that article. In 1530 he was sent by Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán to the current Mexican states of

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes, is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and with an average altitude of above sea level it is pre ...

Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...

and

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

to explore the region, search for gold and silver, and subdue the Indians. He passed through the current town of Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco in March 1530 with a force of 50 Spanish soldiers and 500

Purépecha The Purépecha ( ) are a group of Indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the derogatory term " Tarascan", an exonym, app ...

and Tlaxcaltec allies. This encounter was peaceful, but he was accused of a massacre in

Mocorito Mocorito () (From Cahita, meaning "place where people speak macuri (dialect of Mayo)" or "place of the dead") is the municipality seat of the Municipality of Mocorito in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city reported 5,926 inhabitants in t ...

(Sinaloa) in 1531, and in many places of destroying and burning everything he passed. "Mocorito" in the Cahita language signifies the place of the dead. The indigenous people named it for the Indians that Pedro Almíndez Chirino killed.

References

Spanish conquistadors Year of birth missing 16th-century deaths Andalusian conquistadors Immigrants to New Spain Spanish colonial governors and administrators 1525 in New Spain 1526 in New Spain 1530 in New Spain People from Úbeda 16th-century Spanish explorers 16th-century Mexican people Spanish emigrants to Mexico {{Mexico-bio-stub

See also

References