DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at this El Paso site tells it — and it's a story worth telling slow. Back in the 1580s and 1590s, Spanish interest in the territory they called New Mexico was building fast. Reports were coming in about mining possibilities, missionary possibilities — the kind of talk that gets a king's attention.
And King Philip the Second of Spain was paying attention, alright. But it wasn't just opportunity pulling at him. England was poking around the New World too, and a rival's footprints in territory you consider yours has a way of speeding things up considerably.
So in 1595, the king commissioned Don Juan de Onate to lead an expedition — not just to explore, but to claim and colonize the New Mexico region in the name of the Spanish crown. Now, these things don't happen overnight. There were delays.
More delays. The kind of delays that would test a man's patience down to the bone. But eventually, in January of 1598, Onate and his party — four hundred men, plus members of their families — set out from Santa Barbara, Mexico.
And here's where Onate shows you something about his character: instead of following the routes earlier expeditions had used, he struck out across the Chihuahua Desert. Nobody said it was the easy way. It was his way.
That desert crossing brought them to the El Paso area, and on April 30, 1598 — right here at this site — something happened that would echo across centuries. Onate stood before his people and issued a formal proclamation. They called it La Toma.
Taking possession. All land drained by the Rio Del Norte — the Rio Grande — claimed for Spain, in a ceremony as deliberate and formal as anything you'd find in Madrid. Then he kept movin' north.
He established headquarters near what is now Santa Fe and founded the province of New Mexico. As Governor, he directed exploration of the area until he resigned in 1607. One man.
One expedition. One proclamation on an April afternoon by a river. Onate's journey and La Toma brought Spanish rule to the American Southwest — and they did it before colonization efforts of any other European nation took hold on the North American continent.
Stand here long enough, looking out at that river, and you can almost hear the echo of it.
What the marker says
Spanish interest in the territory known as New Mexico increased during the 1580s and 1590s. Although reports of mining and missionary possibilities were significant, King Philip II of Spain was also concerned about New World explorations of rival England. As a result, Don Juan de Onate was commissioned in 1595 to lead an expedition to claim and colonize the New Mexico region in the name of the king. After many delays, Onate and his party of 400 men and members of their families left Santa Barbara, Mexico in January 1598. Instead of following earlier routes, they crossed the Chihuahua Desert to reach the El Paso area. In a formal ceremony at this site on April 30, 1598, Onate issued a proclamation, known as La Toma, taking possession of the region for Spain. Included was all land drained by the Rio Del Norte, the Rio Grande. Proceeding north, Onate established headquarters near present Santa Fe and founded the province of New Mexico. As Governor, he directed exploration of the area until he resigned in 1607. Onate's expedition and La Toma brought Spanish rule to the American Southwest and preceded colonization efforts of other European nations on the North American continent. (1981)