Background
Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá was born probably between 1551 and 1555 in Puebla de los Angeles, Spain. He was the son of Hernan Perez de Villagra and a descendant of the illustrious Perez family of the town of Villagra.
( One of the first travel journals of its kind to be publ...)
One of the first travel journals of its kind to be published, this epic poem about Juan de Oñate's entrada that led to the founding of Nueva México in 1598 (to become the state of New Mexico 314 years later) is full of the hopes and dreams of those who traveled with Oñate. Historia de la Nueva México, 1610 was written fourteen years before John Smith's History of Virginia. Its thirty-four cantos have long been considered a key source for early New Mexico history and this bilingual Spanish/English version presents it as literature. By situating Historia de la Nueva México, 1610 within the Hispanic literary heritage, the work is restored to the canon of American literature.
https://www.amazon.com/Historia-Nueva-Mexico-1610-Nuevomexicano/dp/0826313922?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0826313922
Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá was born probably between 1551 and 1555 in Puebla de los Angeles, Spain. He was the son of Hernan Perez de Villagra and a descendant of the illustrious Perez family of the town of Villagra.
Apparently, Villagra was graduated from the University of Salamanca with the degree of bachelor of letters, but it is unknown when and why he traveled to America.
Villagra is first heard of when he enlisted in and lent his services to the Onate expedition in 1596. Over his own protests he was appointed procurador general, captain of cavalry, and member of the council of war. These experiences earned for him appointments as juez asesor in ecclesiastical affairs (1598) and factor of the royal treasury in New Mexico. In 1599, he went back to Mexico for a year to report on New Mexico and enlist more soldiers. In 1603, he received for himself and his descendants the title of hijos dalgo del solar; between 1603 and 1605, he was made captain of the Tepehaunes Indians and given charge of the alcaldia mayor of Guanecevi, Durango.
In 1608 or 1609, Villagra returned to Spain. In 1610, his Historia de la Nueva Mexico, an epic poem of thirty-four cantos, was published at Alcal de Henares. The poem summarizes the earlier expedition to New Mexico and gives in detail the events of the Onate expedition until the suppression of the revolt in 1599. Although it has little to recommend it as a literary composition, it has "the distinction of being the first published history of any American commonwealth".
In 1613, Villagra asked permission to return to New Spain to meet charges of cruelty in punishing deserters; he was sentenced to banishment from New Mexico for six years and from Mexico City for two, and was ordered to pay the costs of the trial. He went back to Spain in the same year. In 1620 he was appointed by the king alcalde mayor of Zapotitlan, Guatemala, and was on his way to America to assume his new duties when he died suddenly at sea.
( One of the first travel journals of its kind to be publ...)
Villagra is described by companions as heavy-set and of small stature, bald but with a heavy gray beard tinged with red.
Quotes from others about the person
"As a faithful vassal of his king he did not spare himself but contributed money and risked his life. Frequently in a single year he traveled more than 1, 500 leagues. He was indefatigable: hunger, thirst, long journeys, countless dangers, downpours, scorching heat, and cold snows he experienced with resignation".
Villagra was married Catalina de Soto. They had a son, and a daughter who married a grandnephew of Montezuma.