Espejo's Expedition

Antonio de Espejo was on the northern frontier because he had been convicted as an accomplice in a murder case and preferred not to pay the fine. He paid for and led the escort of Fray Bernardino Beltrán, who left the Santa Bárbara district on November 10, 1582, to rescue the friars. Among the Tiwa pueblos they learned that Fray Francisco López and Fray Agustín Rodríguez had already been killed at Puaray. Beltrán thought the mission finished; Espejo went on hunting mines. His soldiers later executed dozens of people at Puaray and burned the pueblo.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Espejo's Expedition (On the Camino Real) In 1582 and 1583, Antonio de Espejo and his party followed the Rio Grande north to the Bernalillo area. Espejo was trying to learn the fate of two Franciscan friars who had stayed with the Pueblo Indians after the Rodriquez - Sanchez/Chamuscado expedition returned to Mexico in 1581.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge — 19 mi
  A Rio Grande refuge south of Socorro where cranes and geese winter by the tens of thousands on wetlands and fields kept by people, because the river no longer floods to make them.

More markers nearby

• Paraje de Fra Cristobal — steps away
• Fort Craig Rest Area — steps away
• Women of the Camino Real — steps away
• Paraje De Fra Cristobal — steps away