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  • Juan Domínguez de Mendoza: Soldier and Frontiersman of the Spanish Southwest, 1627-1693 ed. by France V. Scholes, Marc Simmons, and José Antonio Esquibel
  • Elinore M. Barrett
Juan Domínguez de Mendoza: Soldier and Frontiersman of the Spanish Southwest, 1627-1693. Edited by France V. Scholes, Marc Simmons, and José Antonio Esquibel, translated by Eleanor B. Adams. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2012. Pp. 488. Illustrations, maps, figures, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780826351159, $65.00 cloth.)

This volume, which tells the fascinating story of Juan Domínguez de Mendoza's eventful life as a soldier-settler on the New Mexico frontier in the seventeenth century, is also a wonderful addition to our knowledge of life in this remote part of New Spain. According to José Antonio Esquibel, whose outstanding genealogy of the Domínguez de Mendoza family constitutes part three of this volume, Juan's military service records provide "the most detailed historical account of any single individual of seventeenth-century New Mexico." It is these service records that constitute the main body of the book.

The records provide glimpses into the life of the colony, such as how the competition for power between the civil and religious authorities affected individual settlers; the prosperity and standing of a family was often affected by which side of the church-state divide they were on. Insights into how the encomienda system worked in New Mexico, how commerce was conducted, and the importance of alliances among family clans can also be gleaned from these documents. The wider context for this story is provided by the extensive introduction to this volume started by France Scholes and completed by Marc Simmons and Esquibel.

Domínguez de Mendoza came to New Mexico with his family about 1639 when he was twelve years old. The family soon became prominent landowners, mainly in the central Rio Grande valley, creating alliances, often through marriage, with prominent landowning families in the area. For instance, Domínguez de Mendoza married doña Isabel Durán y Cháves, granddaughter of one of New Mexico's earliest settlers. He began his military career early and, in the face of the ongoing Apache threat, continued to be appointed by succeeding governors as commander of numerous military campaigns from the 1640s up to the Spaniards' retreat from New Mexico in 1680. He also held important non-military positions such as that of lieutenant governor and member of the cabildo of Santa Fe multiple times. Domínguez de Mendoza was among the elite soldier-settlers of New Mexico who were holders of encomiendas. He was granted parts of the encomiendas of Humanas and Jemez pueblos and in 1678, upon the death of the previous holder, he was awarded that of Isleta pueblo, located in the jurisdiction of his Hacienda de Atrisco, near present-day Albuquerque.

In the aftermath of the 1680 pueblo revolt, Domínguez de Mendoza was called upon to lead, from the refugee headquarters in El Paso, an expedition into Texas to aid the Jumanos and seek out hitherto un-contacted tribes such as the Tejas. Unfortunately, after some six months exploring deep into Texas, little was accomplished. Domínguez de Mendoza was no stranger to Texas, having spent many months as a member of an expedition that explored parts of Texas from Santa Fe in 1654.

Back in El Paso, Domínguez de Mendoza determined to pursue his long-held desire to be appointed governor of New Mexico. He had already been passed over when a new governor was appointed to preside over the refugee settlements, and in 1685 he decided to press his case before the viceroy in Mexico City. Despite his [End Page 412] long and impressive record of service, all certified and carefully preserved, he was turned down. Undeterred, he journeyed to Spain where his petition was again denied and where he died that same year, 1693.

Juan's service records found their way to the National Library of Spain in Madrid where they were found in a bound volume by France Scholes who intended to publish them in translation as part of a series commemorating the 400th anniversary of the 1540-42 entrada of...

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