Tejano History
Perez De Luxan, Diego
Tejanos |
PÉREZ DE LUXÁN, DIEGO (15?–?). Diego Pérez de Luxán entered the recorded annals of Texas and New Mexico history through a narrow window of time, but his observations during the years 1582–83 are nonetheless very important. Spaniards under the leadership of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado had last visited New Mexico in 1542, and almost forty years passed before they renewed contact with the Pueblo Indians. During that interval the mining and cattle frontier of northern New Spain had advanced to the headwaters of the Río Conchos in southern Chihuahua, and the small settlements there of San Bartolomé and Santa Bárbara became logical gateways to Texas and New Mexico. In June 1581 an expedition led by Francisco Sánchez and accompanied by three Franciscans left Santa Bárbara for an entrada into New Mexico that followed the course of the Rio Grande upstream from La Junta de los Ríos. When the expedition returned along the same route in the following year, the two surviving Franciscans remained in New Mexico, and Sánchez died on the homeward stretch. A follow-up expedition into New Mexico was quickly organized and placed under the command of Antonio de Espejo. Accompanying him was a meticulous observer and careful chronicler named Diego Pérez de Luxán.
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Full article on the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas Online
Courtesy of the Texas State Historical Association.
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