Pedro Robledo

  Noted events in his life were:

• Dates & Events. ²⁵²
Pedro Robledo was a sixty- six year old Alférez (lieutenant) when he joined Oñate's party in 1598. He was a native of Maqueda (near Madrid and Toledo), the son of Alejo Robledo. He is described as of good stature and completely gray. In the muster-roll of 1597, he stated that he had been born at the place of El Carmen of "El Carneros," who had lived in Toledo. With him were his wife, daughters and five sons, four who were already soldiers.

Pedro died shortly after the Oñate party entered into New México. He is the first of New México's Spanish colonists to die in New México. He was buried on 21 May 1598 on the trail east of Rio del Norte and a great bluff that still carries his name, Robledo.

Pedro's family continued north with the colony to be among the founders of San Gabriel de los Caballeros. His widow, Catalina López, had journed with him from Toledo to New Spain over 22 years ealier (about 1597). The varied birthplaces of his sons show just how much the Robledo family wandered all over New Spain before they reached New México. These sons were Diego, Alonso, Pedro and Francisco. Two of their known daughters were already married when they arrived in New México. They were Luisa, wife of Bartolomé Romero and Franciscao, wife of Juan de Tapiz.
~The Origins of New México Families, pg. 93

• Death, 21 May 1598. ^239,274
His death was the first recorded death of the colonists who were among the settle of the Oñate party. He died on the journey to New Mexico, leaving his widow and children behind to settle New Mexico.

His family were among the Loyalists who stayed on in New Mexico to raise their families.

• Background Information. ²⁵⁰
According to records dealing with Pedro Robledo's request for a license to travel to New Spain, Robledo declared he was married and had children and that he was struggling in Spain to make a living. He wanted to take his family to Mexico City in New Spain where his "primos hermanos," Miguel de Sandoval and Catalina Sánchez, resided.

In a document dated 10 November 1574, Villa de Torrijos (about 20 miles from Maqueda), Pedro Robledo declared he was married legitimately within the Catholic Church with Catalina López and had these children: Ana, Diego, Luis and Lucía. Again he mentioned his cousins in Mexico City, Miguel de Sandoval and Catalina Sánchez.

The Original Documents in Spanish can be found at:Beyond Origins
~Beyond Origins, Vol. 4
Researchers: Charles Martínez y Vigil (extraction and photocopies) and José Antonio Esquibel (summary).
Source: AGI, Sevilla, Indiferente, 2055, N.77.

• Background Information. ⁴⁹⁸
Stanley Hordes, in his fascinating and scholarly book titled To the End of the Earth, A History of the Crypto-Jews of New México, raises the possibility that Pedro Robledo may have come from a family of conversos. Robledo was born in Carmena, Maqueda, Spain, but spent much of his life in Toledo, Spain before moving to New Spain in 1574.

The records from the Church at Carmena, Maqueda, were destroyed in the Spanish Civil War, so little is known about his ancestry. There were a number of Robledo families living the old Jewish quarter of Toledo in the mid 1600's, but connecting Pedro to these families is close to impossible.
~To the Ends of the Earth, pgs. 115-116

Pedro married Catalina López. (Catalina López was born in 1542 in Maqueda (nearToledo), España and died in Nuevo Méjico, Nueva España.)