Juan de Oñate

Timeline

1. 1581–1585Zacatecas · ZacatecasIn 1581 Oñate married Isabel de Tolosa Cortés Moctezuma, entering New Spain's upper networks through the match; meanwhile he ran silver mines in Zacatecas, accumulating the funds and connections needed for a northern expedition and paving the way for the later colonization of New Mexico.
2. 1586–1590Mexico City · Mexico CityIn the mid-to-late 1580s Oñate lobbied the viceroy and the crown in Mexico City for a colonial charter to expand into New Mexico (today's southwestern United States), promising to fund the expedition, missions, and settlement at his own expense, completing the groundwork for the formal northern expedition of 1598.