(16th century) Explorer, born probably Cordoba, Spain. He was a wealthy mining proprietor in Mexico, when he conducted a notable expedition into New Mexico and Arizona, 1582-1583, to verify the reported deaths of some Franciscan missionaries, accomplishing without bloodshed and with a handful of men as great results as had been obtained by Coronado with a whole army and at the cost of an exterminating warfare. He reached a point some 50 miles north of Prescott, visiting Indian pueblos and noting rich silver deposits.