Background
Tomé Domínguez de Mendoza was born in 1626, in Mexico City. His father was a Spanish officer with the same name who arrived in New Mexico in the Juan de Oñate expedition in 1598.
Tomé Domínguez de Mendoza was born in 1626, in Mexico City. His father was a Spanish officer with the same name who arrived in New Mexico in the Juan de Oñate expedition in 1598.
He had at least two siblings (including the soldier Juan Dominguez de Mendoza). Mendoza joined the Spanish Army in his youth. Before 1662, he lived below Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico.
When Mendoza arrived in New Mexico, a faction led by him accused and "filed grave charges" against the governor of the province (at this time New Mexico was a province) Juan Durán de Miranda, which caused a brief imprisonment and the seizure of all his goods.
Tomé Domínguez de Mendoza was appointed Acting Governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in 1664. However, his government only lasted until Durán de Miranda (who was released from prison when he presented his arguments about the charges issued against him in Mexico City) recovered his government in the province a year later.
In August 1680, Tomé and his family moved to El Paso del Norte (Ciudad Juarez, in modern Mexico), along with other residents of Rio Abajo, New Mexico. There, he held several positions.
One of the positions he occupied was Maeses de Campo "with full complement of arms."
In 1681, Mendoza, at sixty-one years old, died from gout and a stomach disease.
The village of Tomé was built in the place where he resided, after being named as Tomé Domínguez de Mendoza.