Gaspar Domingo de Mendoza y Delgado was a Spanish soldier in the War of the Spanish Succession. He later served as the Spanish colonial governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México province (present day New Mexico) from 1739 to 1743, located in the northern Viceroyalty of New Spain (colonial Mexico and Central America). Career Military service Mendoza was a member of the Royal Service of the Regimiento de Guardias de Infantería Española (Spanish Guards Regiment Infantry). In 1708, he became a lieutenant colonel of the infantry. He served as a soldier, Cabo de esquadra, and Sergeant. Mendoza fought in the War of the Spanish Succession of the early 18th century. He fought in the following battles: the Battle of La Gudina (7 May 1709), the Battle of Zaragoza (20 August 1710), the siege and advance on Viruega, the Battle of Villaviciosa (10 December 1710), the sieges in the Spanish municipalities of Castellón, Cardona, Lerida and Tortosa, the Siege of Barcelona (1713–1714), the blockade of Olivenza, the capture of Balaguer (in Catalonia), the detachment of Arenes, and the siege and capture of Estadilla (in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain). He also participated in the capture of Barcelona and all the operations involved in the campaign to Sardinia and Sicily, as well as in the capture of the Castillo de Palermo, the sieges and captures of Messina and Melazo, and the conquest of Oran and its subsequent restoration. He also participated in the reunions held in the Spanish municipalities Almenara, Castellón and Peñalba. In 1735, Rodrigo was appointed Captain of the armed forces and Ayudante mayor of the town square of Ciudad Rodrigo (in Province of Salamanca) in Spain.On 12 May 1737, King Philip V of Spain appointed Mendoza Governor of New Mexico, although he did not occupy the government of the province (at that time New Mexico was a province) until January 1739. Governor of colonial New Mexico Mendoza traveled to the Viceroyalty of New Spain (colonial México) with his wife and children, plus a maid and three servants (one woman and two man). Shortly after he arrived in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in 1739 to become governor, a small group of armed Frenchmen visited Santa Fe after having left Taos and the Jicarilla territory. In 1741, Mendoza issued laws to protect and defend Amerindian women and children in Taos. He issued a law to punish