Espejo, Antonio de (c. 1538–c. 1585)
Espejo, Antonio de (c. 1538–c. 1585)
Antonio de Espejo (b. ca. 1538; d. ca. 1585), Spanish explorer. From Córdoba, Spain, Espejo was a lay officer of the Inquisition and a wealthy cattleman, with properties in Querétaro and Celaya, Mexico. In 1582–1583 he financed and led an expedition with the Franciscan friar Bernadino Beltrán to New Mexico and Arizona. The men hoped to rescue Fray Agustín Rodríguez, who had remained in New Mexico after having accompanied Francisco Sánchez Chamuscado from Mexico in 1581. The small force left Santa Bárbara in New Biscay in 1582 and traveled north, up the Rio Grande valley. After learning of Rodríguez's death, Espejo decided to prospect for mines and went west to Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi, and then southwest into Arizona, where he found evidence of mineral deposits. After a failed mutiny at Zuni in 1583, Beltrán and the rebels went back to Santa Bárbara. Espejo, however, turned north and east from the Rio Grande, and returned to New Biscay by way of the Pecos River valley. An account of his experiences, published in 1586, contributed to a knowledge of and interest in New Spain.
See alsoExplorers and Exploration: Spanish America .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
George P. Hammond and Agapito Rey. The Rediscovery of New Mexico, 1580–1594. Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press, 1966.
Mecham, J. Lloyd. "Antonio de Espejo and His Journey to New Mexico." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 30 (October 1926).
Rick Hendricks