Luis de Rosas was a soldier who served as the ninth Governor of New Mexico from 1637 until 1641, when he was then imprisoned and assassinated. During his administration, de Rosas clashed with the Franciscans, mainly because of his handling of the indigenous Americans, whom he forced to work as slaves. The Franciscans promoted a revolt of the citizens of New Mexico against him. De Rosas was imprisoned after an investigation relating to his position as governor. He was killed by soldiers while in prison.
Early years
In his youth, De Rosas joined the Spanish Army, where he excelled and ascended through the ranks. He spent fifteen years serving the Spanish Army in Flanders.
Government in New Mexico
Politics in New Mexico
It is believed that De Rosas moved from Mexico City to Santa Fe, New Mexico in the caravan of the supply mission in 1636. He arrived in New Mexico with the Viceroy, Díez de Armendáriz, who appointed de Rosas as governor in 1637. De Rosas did not want the position, due to the unpopularity of the New Mexico government and the impact of the appointment on his reputation. In addition, mutinies against governors were frequent in New Mexico. However, his role had been decided in advance and he was forced to accept it. A De Rosas faction fortified Santo Domingo to defend Santa Fe. De Rosas participated in an expedition to Ipotlapiguas village in 1638, planned by a priest named Salas and composed of a group of five Franciscans and forty soldiers led by de Rosas. The expedition traveled to northern Sonora, southwest of the Zuni lands, and aimed to convert the indigenous population to Christianity. De Rosas employed Native American labor to manufacture products for him to sell, including captives who worked in his weaving shop in Santa Fe and Puebloans he used to weave clothes for him. He also forced Native Americans to work on plantations and traded with the Apache. De Rosas led slave raids against several Native American peoples, particularly Apaches and Utes. In the Plains, he attacked the Apaches during an expedition to Quivira and later, in the north of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico, attacked the Utes. In both cases he captured slaves to sell or use in his workshops. In addition, De Rosas sacked ranches of Gira in Zuni lands. He also promoted trade with Native tribes in the Plains and let that the Native Americans of the village of Pecos practice their religion on the condition they paid double the price of the required encomienda's tribute, contributing to his personal enrichment.
Confrontations with the Franciscans
After De Rosas took office in New Mexico, many Spanish residents rebelled against him because of the confrontation between De Rosas and the Franciscans. The Franciscans were the main religious group in the Spanish colonies of Americas, aiming to evangelize the natives; they and de Rosas issued complaints and accusations against each other, causing political instability in the colony. Revolts and riots spread across New Mexico. De Rosas accused the friars of refusing to grant the sacraments and confessions to parishioners, and even had some of them excommunicated. The Franciscans accused De Rosas of having persecuted and accepted the capture of Apaches, some of whom were sold as slaves in other places of New Spain, while others were forced to work in De Rosas' own workshop. According to the Franciscans, De Rosas introduced both Christians and non-Christian Native Americans to a situation of near-slavery, forcing them to work long hours. He allowed the Native Americans' cooperatives to exercise some of the rites of their religions if they gave him goods that he could sell. In addition, De Rosas was angered to learn that Native Americans did not wear enough leather products to exchange for his knives in the lands of the Pecos Pueblo. He blamed the Franciscans for this fact, and jailed one. The Franciscans complained about the fact that De Rosas had been bribed by his predecessor, Francisco Martínez de Baeza. De Rosas, though, dismissed this, arguing that the Franciscans' objections to him began when he shut down a sweatshop in a mission. The Franciscans had since tried to provoke revolt against him in the province. When De Rosas imprisoned a criminal, two Franciscans forced the criminal's release. The Franciscans withheld the Sacrament from De Rosas and threatened his life. In the spring of 1638, Father Perea, who investigated the allegations about De Rosas, decided to leave the Inquisition. In January 1640, De Rosas expelled all the men who worked in the church from Santa Fe, and when two priests decided to return the city in April, De Rosas hit them with a stick, causing them significant injuries.
Revolt and imprisonment of De Rosas
With the goal of promoting a revolt against De Rosas and expelling him from the government of New Mexico, the Franciscans circulated through the province a letter, supposedly wrote by De Rosas. It claimed he was a follower of the Lutheran and Calvinist doctrines, saying that he exercised an "idolatry with a goal" and that the Santa Fe residents rejected Jesus Christ. A revolt broke out against de Rosas. Many citizens of the province participated De Rosas finished his term in spring 1641. The viceroy of New Spain, Diego López Pacheco, ordered an investigation of the De Rosas administration and the new governor, General Juan Flores Sierra y Valdes, led the investigation. De Rosas was excommunicated and imprisoned. A few months later, on January 25, 1642, when De Rosas was in his cell, he was killed by the soldier Nicolás Ortiz, a native of Zacatecas, who stabbed him. The soldier alleged, in the trial held against him, that De Rosas was adulterous with his wife, Maria de Bustillas. Several months later, however, eight other soldiers were found guilty of killing de Rosas and were beheaded.
