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Gregorio Álvarez Tuñón y Quirós

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Gregorio Álvarez Tuñón y Quirós (1683–1728) was a presidio captain and alcalde mayor in New Spain. Historian John L. Kessell describes Tuñón y Quirós as a "provincial entrepreneur",[1] while David Yetman says he was "widely known as the most corrupt official in the region".[2]

Biography

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Tuñón y Quirós was born in 1683 in Valladolid, Spain,[3] the oldest of twelve children.[4] He traveled to New Spain and arrived in Sonora at age nineteen, joining his uncle, Spanish general Jacinto de Fuensaldaña.[3] In 1701, Tuñón y Quirós assisted Fuensaldaña in displacing Domingo Jironza Petriz de Cruzate as captain of Fronteras presidio.[5]

In 1706, Tuñón y Quirós received title to the local mines at San Juan Bautista de Sonora. That same year, he became alcalde mayor of Sonora,[3][2][6] a position he held until succeeded by Raphael Pacheco Zevallos in 1723.[2][7] In 1710, he succeeded his uncle as captain for life of Fronteras.[3][8][9]

In 1724, Tuñón y Quirós led three attacks against nearby Apaches.[8] For the most part, however, he neglected his presidio, employing the garrison in herding his cattle and mining his silver.[8][10] Due to his absenteeism, citizens of northern Sonora turned to Antonio Becerra Nieto at Janos Presidio for military support.[11] Tuñón y Quirós also routinely drew salaries for nonexistent soldiers, forging papers and using criminals or vecinos as stand-ins during inspections.[8] Many locals lodged complaints against him for embezzlement,[2] including a 1718 complaint to Nieto which led to an official inspection.[9]

Tuñón y Quirós maintained an opulent household, including, at the time of his death, four slaves.[12] He clashed with the local Jesuit missionaries over land and native labor,[13] and led a petition calling for the Jesuit expulsion from Mexico.[2][13]

In 1726, inspector general Pedro de Rivera y Villalón arrived in Fronteras, where he arraigned Tuñón y Quirós on fifteen counts. Rivera passed summary judgement on two counts of embezzlement and removed Tuñón y Quirós from his post, assigning Juan Bautista de Anza I in his place. The remaining charges went to trial in Mexico City, adjudicated by the viceroy, Juan de Acuña. After consulting with Juan Manuel de Oliván Rebolledo, de Acuña confirmed the removal.[1] By that time, however, Tuñón y Quirós was already dead,[9] having fallen victim to an epidemic in the spring of 1728.[1][12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Kessell, John L. (27 February 2013). Spain in the Southwest: A Narrative History of Colonial New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 198, 215. ISBN 978-0-8061-8944-4.
  2. ^ a b c d e Yetman, David (1 November 2012). Conflict in Colonial Sonora: Indians, Priests, and Settlers. UNM Press. ISBN 978-0-8263-5222-4.
  3. ^ a b c d Naylor, Thomas H.; Polzer, Charles W. (1986). The Presidio and Militia on the Northern Frontier of New Spain: pt. 1. The Californias and Sinaloa-Sonora, 1700-1765. University of Arizona Press. p. 260.
  4. ^ "Gregorio Álvarez Tuñón y Quirós - Tumacácori National Historical Park". www.nps.gov. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  5. ^ Pastor, José Manuel Azcona (2004). Possible Paradises: Basque Emigration to Latin America. University of Nevada Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-87417-444-1.
  6. ^ Nentvig, Juan (23 August 2022). Rudo Ensayo: A Description of Sonora and Arizona in 1764. University of Arizona Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-8165-5068-5.
  7. ^ "Residencia de Raphael Pacheco Zevallos, alcalde mayor de San Juan Baptista". uair.library.arizona.edu. University of Arizona. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Bancroft, Hubert Howe; Oak, Henry Lebbeus; Peatfield, Joseph Joshua; Nemos, William (1884). History of the North Mexican States and Texas. History Company. p. 516.
  9. ^ a b c Garate, Donald T. (2003). Juan Bautista de Anza: Basque Explorer in the New World. University of Nevada Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-87417-505-9.
  10. ^ Truett, Samuel (1 October 2008). Fugitive Landscapes: The Forgotten History of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. Yale University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-300-13532-9.
  11. ^ Sheridan, Thomas E.; Koyiyumptewa, Stewart B.; Daughters, Anton; Brenneman, Dale S.; Ferguson, T. J.; Kuwanwisiwma, Leigh J.; Lomayestewa, Leigh Wayne (12 May 2020). Moquis and Kastiilam: Hopis, Spaniards, and the Trauma of History, Volume II, 1680–1781. University of Arizona Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-8165-4139-3.
  12. ^ a b Murrieta, Cynthia Radding (1997). Wandering Peoples: Colonialism, Ethnic Spaces, and Ecological Frontiers in Northwestern Mexico, 1700-1850. Duke University Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-8223-1899-6.
  13. ^ a b Herrera, Carlos R. (14 January 2015). Juan Bautista de Anza: The King's Governor in New Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-4962-2.
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