The first European to approach present-day New Mexico was Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca.

Thus began the New Mexico history of pre-Columbus in this part of the world.

In 1540 a stronger party led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado visited the Pueblo country of New Mexico but the real conquest of New Mexico began in 1595 when Juan de Oñate, born in New Spain, now Mexico, and related by marriage to Hernán Cortés, the founder of New Mexico history, won a royal contract to settle the region. Oñate’s expedition left in 1598. When it reached the Río Grande near present-day El Paso, Texas, Oñate took possession of New Mexico for Spain. Proceeding upstream, the Spanish reached a pueblo near the junction of the Río Grande and the Rio Chama, renamed it San Juan de los Caballeros, and decided to build the capital of New Mexico near there, calling it San Gabriel.

In 1680, a medicine doctor of the Tewa Pueblo named Pope, supported by the Apache, led a rebellion against the Spanish, destroying the missions and killing priests and Spanish colonists. But the Spanish returned in force, reoccupying Santa Fe in 1692, and by 1696 they had re conquered the whole area.

Throughout much of the 18th century in New Mexico’s history, the Navajo, Apache, Comanche, and other nomadic Native American peoples repeatedly raided both Spanish and Pueblo communities, even so, by the end of the 18th century the Hispanic population had grown to about 20,000.

Santa Fe is one of the first European settlements in the present-day United States, and in New Mexico history. The Spanish first settled it in 1610. The city was an important stop on overland trails, such as the Santa Fe Trail, which were traveled by settlers moving west. The concept of aMexican Pharmacy had a long way to be established in this land. Mexican pharmacy is a well-recognized name in medical care today.

Mexico