Juan de Onate

1550-1630

Place of Birth: Zacatecas, Mexico

Biography:

Oñate was born in the New Spain (colonial México) city of Zacatecas to Spanish-Basque colonists and silver mine owners. His father was the conquistador—silver baron Cristobel de Onate, a descendant of the noble house of Haro, and his mother Doña Catalina Salazar y de la Cadena who was a descendant by her maternal line of a famous Jewish converso family the Ha-Levi's . His ancestor Cadena, in the year 1212, fought in the Battle of Las navas de Tolosa in Al Andalus, and was the first to break the line of defense protecting Mohammad Ben Yacub. The family was granted a coat of arms, and thereafter were known as Cadenas.

Juan de Oñate married Isabel de Tolosa Cortes de Mactezuma, granddaughter of Hernan Cortes, the conqueror of the Tripl Alliance, and great granddaughter of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. (from the minds of wikipedia.com)

Legacy:

He led early Spanish expeditions to the Great Plains and Lower Colorado River Valley, encountering numerous indigenous tribes in their homelands there. Oñate founded settlements within the province and in the present day American Southwest. (from the minds of Biograph.com)