Origins of Don Juan de Oñate
Founder of the Hispanic Southwest, 1598

Don Juan de Oñate was born in 1552 in Zacatecas, México a thriving mining town founded by his father, Spanish conquistador. The family, with Spanish and Jewish roots, originated from Pueblo Oñati in the Basque country of northern Spain. Don Juan's wife was the great granddaughter of Montezuma, the great Aztec chief, and the granddaugther of Hernán Cortés, the conquistador of México. Oñate was a man of his time, a personage of wealth and nobility and a defender of God and King.

Thanksgiving Mass & La Toma

In 1598, Oñate led a colonizing expedition of 500 settlers (Spaniards, Africans, Mexican Indians and mestizos) from southern Chihuahua to the new province of Nuevo México. His caravan, which included settlers, soldiers, carretas (wheeled carts) and livestock, stretched for miles across the vast desert landscape.

After months of travel, they reached the swollen flood waters of the Rio Grande near modern-day San Elizario, Texas, where on April 30, they celebrated their safe arrival with a solemn mass. Oñate formally declared La Toma, the taking of the new province for the King of Spain. The colonists rejoiced with a great feast of game, fish and birds, often referred to as The First Thanksgiving. It took place 22 years before the Pilgrim's event. On May 4, the expedition crossed the Rio Grande at the Pass of the North (present-day Cd. Juárez, Chihuhua, and El Paso, Texas). Onate gave the river ford it's name, the origin of the name of El Paso, texas. He and his colonists crossed proceed northward on the long trek across La Jornada del Muerte (The Journey of Death) across the province of New Mexico toward modern-day Santa Fe.   

Founding El Camino Real & Introducing the Horse

Don Juan de Oñate founded El Camino Real (The Royal Road), the vital communication and trade link between Mexico City and Santa Fé. He introduced Spanish settlement and the horse, Catholic religion, including European agriculture and livestock. His legacy survives today and has been culturally enriched by Native Americans and others.

Legacy of Colonization

In 1680, some eighty years later, the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico rebelled against the injustices of Spanish rule, which resulted in reform. This rebellion for independence and autonomy (from colonialism) presaged the American Revolution by nearly 100 hundred years. Following the 1680 Pueblo Indian Revolt, Spain's colonial policy was, in many ways, superior to other European powers, the Republic of Mexico and the United States. This fact is evidenced in the survival of Pueblo Indian land grants from Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (El Paso, Texas) to Taos Pueblo in northern New Mexico.

Don Juan de Oñate,
The Founder of the Hispanic Southwest, 1598
To The Equestrian

In 1992, the city of El Paso in 1992 commissioned the "Don Juan de Oñate equestrian monument", whereupon, the sculptor engaged in historical and artistic studies in this country, Spain and Mexico (1996-1998). The maquette (small-scale model) was approved by the city in 1998. The sculptor enlarged the Oñate monument  from 1999-2004 in the Mexico City enlarging studio. In the fall of 2003, when the statue's funding was transferred from the city TIF program to the city Dept. of Aviation, the city council changed the name to "The Equestrian" because of controversy concerning of Oñate's ill treatment and brutality of Native Americans, especially at Acoma Pueblo. Currently efforts are being made for a  reconciliation with the City of El Paso and the pueblo, which may lead to the statue's recognition of the first historic migration from the south, i.e., the introduction of Spanish culture and settlement to the American Southwest.

The stated mission of the memorial, as approved by the city was and is to to create 12 sculpture groupings representing historical personages (through each time period spanning over 400 years). The memorial's original mission (as a revitalization project) was and is to recognize men and women (& cultural diversity) that profoundly affected the historical development of the region. Thus, the memorial's concept was and is analogous to that of a history book in which the metaphor for each chapter headings (i.e. each time period) would be historical individuals affected the historical development of the American Southwest (1536-1910). The memorial' s mission was never to glorify individuals (as heroes), but to encourge investigation and debate of the history of the region. The widespread national and international attention to the XII Travelers Memorial of the Southwest is a realization of that objectives.
    

Installation & Dedication
The World's Largest Equestrian Bronze

The World's Largest equestrian bronze was installed at the entrance of the El Paso International Airport on October 31, 2006 and will be dedicated on Satruday April 21, 2007. The public is invited.