Source John Inclan
Notes for JUAN DE SALDIVAR-CORTEZ-MOCTEZUMA:
He served as Mayor of the city of Zacatecas.
A.K.A. Juan de Zaldivar Cortes Moctezuma.

Owner of the San Marcos and Palmilla mines of Zacatecas.
MEMORIAL OF CAPTAIN CRISTOBAL DE ZALDIVAR
September 9, 1628.
Captain Cristobal de Zaldivar states that he was appointed lieutenant captain general for the pacification of
the Chichimecas and Guachichiles Indians by the Narquis of Salinas when he was viceroy of New Spain; that
he owns the San Marcos and Palmilla mines, from which have been taken many millions in silver for the
service of his majesty and the benefit of these kingdoms, that he is married do Dona Leonor Cortez
Motezuma, a daughter of Don Juanes de Tolosa and Dona Leonor Cortez Motezuma, who was a daughter of
the marquis, Hernando Cortez, and Dona Isabel Motezuma, a legitimate daughter of Motezuma, late ruler of
New Spain; that he is the son of Captain Vicente de Zaldivar, who was lieutenant captain general for the said
was against the Chichimecas by appointment of Viceroy Don Martin Enriquez; that he owned many haciendas
and mines; that the said Don Juanes de Tolosa, his father-in-law, was one of the first conquistadors and
settlers of the mines and city of Zacatecas and defeated the Indians in many clashes and battles; that for these
services the king our lord, of glorious memory, grandfather of his majesty, granted the city of Zacatecas a coat
of arms and ordered that the image and statue of his father-in-law, honoring him with fine words, be placed at
its gate; that from the mines he settled there have been obtained gor your majesty, from 1575 to 1614, a total
of 6,338,000 pesos, not counting the royal fifths collected during this time, or from 1540, when these mines
were first settled, to this period; that he is a nephew do Don Juan de Onate, knight of the Order of Santiago,
conqueror of the provinces of New Mexico, and a nephew of Vicente de Zaldivar, also a knight of the same
order and who held the post of maesa de campo in the said conquest, in which he performed notable services.
He begs, in consideration of these facts, that his only son and heir, Don Juan de Zaldivar Cortez Motezuma,
be granted knighthood in the order of Santiago and an income of one thousand pesos from the treasury in
Mexico, as has been done for other descendants of Motezuma. He states that his son has served as Alcalde
ordinario of the city of Zacatecas, with the approval of the audiencia; that he is married to Dona Isabela de
Castilla, daughter of Don Fernando Altamirano and Dona Leonor de Vera, granddaughter of Doctor Santiago
de Vera, late judge of the audiencia of the Philippines and the president of that of Guadalajara, where he died.
All of the above is attested by patents and affidavits which he presents regarding his high rank and nobility.
[Endoesed on the cover sheet:] Advise his majesty that in view of these many services, he could be favored
with the knighthiid he seeks. [Rubric] September 9, 1628.
Text from the book, Don Juan de Oñate, Colonizer of New Mexico 1595-1629, by George P. Hammond
The University of New Mexico Press 1953. The original document is in the Archivo General de Indias.