Rodrigo Simón was a native of Palos/Moguer (Huelva province) and the son of Pedro Alonso Roldán and Inés Alonso Liximano. He arrived in New Spain very early (1521) with the first royal official, Alderete, and several other future expeditionaries. Rodrigo participated in various conflicts prior to the Expedition - Guzmán in Nueva Galicia and the Valle de Banderas. Rodrigo was not present at the 1540 muster, but stated in 1547 that he had gone to Tierra Nueva. There were two Rodrigo Simóns in New Spain at this time, one was an interpreter and the other a conqueror. The one labeled a conqueror was the expeditionary
pre-1530:
Boyd-Bowman, Indice geobiográfico, II:5334 [to Tierra Firme, from Palos, Huelva]
Biblioteca del Escorial, Codíce &-II-7, Document #LXXVIII [no date, late 1540s] [personas que pasaron a esta nueva españa luego que paso el marqués e Narváez que son tenidos por conquistadores e no tienen yndios: Rodrigo Ximón];
Mier y Terán Rocha, La primera traza [II:573, 594: Rodrigo Ximón received the grant from the cabildo de México of two solares within the traza in March and July 1528, one on the calle de Santo Domingo, bordering the monastery, the other not located; the second solar was apparently on the calle real a Tlatelolco next door to Gerónimo Ruíz de la Mota];
Millares Carlo y Montecón, Indice y extractos, I:1390 [June 8, 1528, lengua, Pedro de Vargas collecting money from him]; don Francisco Pantecatl went to his land Tzapotzinco with a Spaniard escorting him, Rodrigo Simón, 1536];
?Tello, Libro Segundo [p.257]
1530-1540:
?AGI, Justicia, 190, N.2 [El fiscal contra Lope de Samaniego, alcaide de las atarazanas de México y su forteleza, sobre embargo de sus esclavos, included is a copy of a July 6, 1534 petition from the justicia e regidores of Compostela, Gaspar Brizeño, Francisco de Godoy, Juan de Cepeda, Salvador Martel, Juan de Samaniego, Juan Durán, Martín Benítez, Rodrigo Ximón, Juan Pascual, Bartolomé Pérez, Cristóbal Martín de Barzagán, Alonso Valiente, [Juan de Mendoza,] Pedro Veneciano, e todos los mas vecinos desta ciudad [de Compostela], that they be allowed to seek remedy for their distressed situation "a causa que no servir los indios"; witnesses to the interrogatorio in september 1535: Francisco de Villegas; Juan de Villalba; Francisco de Godoy, alguacil mayor y regisdor de Compostela, 27 or 28 years old; says he participated in the conquest of Nueva Galicia and many of the subsequent attempts to "restore peace;" he himself has Indians (in encomienda) who have never provided anything to him (not gold or silver or even corn); he has seen "muestras de plata y de oro" from San Miguel, can sign, but no signature; Sebastián Pérez; Cristóbal Maldonado, vecino of Compostela, about 21 years old, he is clearly a fairly recent arrival and has known Guzmán for only two years, can sign, but no signature; Miguel Sánchez, vecino de Compostela, about 30 years old, has known Guzmán for about 6 years and participated in the conquest of Nueva Galicia; Rodrigo Ximón, vecino de Compostela, about 30 years old, has known Guzmán since settlement of Nueva Galicia, he went many times to the valles de Banderas in attempts to bring the natives to peace, he has seen that there are very good mines at San Miguel; Martín Benítez, vecino de Compostela, more than 30 years old, has known Guzmán for about 4 years, he participated in the conquista of Nueva Galicia and of the valles de Banderas, he has seen the mines in San Miguel. he participated in many of the atttempts to "restore peace," can sign, but no signature on copy; Pero Hortigón; Gaspar Brizeño; Luis Salado; Álvaro de Bracamonte; Pero Ruíz de Haro, vecino de Compostela, about 23 years old, has known Guzmán for 4 or 5 years, can sign, but no signature; Alonso de Castañeda, says that Espíritu Santo was abandoned many days before; Pedro de Veloa; Juan Sánchez Belmonte, Hernando de Escalante; Cristóbal de Oñate, veedor de su magestad, about 30 years old; he has known Guzmán for about 7 years; he participated in the conquests of Nueva Galicia and the valles de Banderas, he has seen the mines of San Miguel, can sign, but no signature; Melchior Díaz, 30-something years old--missing paper, vecino de Compostela, has known Guzmán about 6 years, he has seen "muestras de oro y de plata" from San Miguel, can sign (no signature on copy)];
AGN, Instituciones Coloniales, GD61, Inquisición, vol.2, primera parte, exp.4, 1538 [fols. 193r – 196v: [Proceso contra Rodrigo Simón and Alonso Valiente; in March 1538 a Gonzalo he Heredia denounces Rodrigo Simón and Alonso Valiente, vecinos de Compostela en Nueva Galicia; the events occurred in the pueblo of Jalisco, Simón and Valiente are accused of having sex with an Indian woman; in July 1538 Simón is questioned in México [fols. 194r – 194v); he says he has been in Nueva España for 17 or 18 years; he came with Narváez; natural de Palos en Castilla [fits with Moguer]; he is not married; he claims that all that happened was that the protector de indios for Nueva Galicia told him that having sex with an india was a trivial sin; and that this happened in public in the presence of Cristóbal de Oñate; Simón signs (same as AGI, Justicia, 270, this is definitely our man); Simón and Valiente are fined 50 pesos de minas, and Cristóbal de Oñate is their fiador for payment]
1540-1550:
AGI, México, 1064, L.1 \ 1, “Informes” [fol. 99r] = Icaza, Diccionario, #176 [sent by Bastidas to aid Cortés (which means he came with Alderete)] [made a probanza] [had encomienda] = [native of Moguer; son of Pedro Alonso Roldán and Inés Alonso Liximano; vino a esta nueva espana en el armada que envio bastidas en socorro del Marqués; his father was capitan and pilot; conquests of Pánuco, çipoteças, Nueva Galicia; went with Vázquez de Coronado at his own cost; made a probanza; encomienda- taken while in Nueva Galicia; married with wife and children; father and brother died in the king’s service];
AGI, Justicia, 198, N.5 [1542-62, el fiscal Cristóbal de Benavente contra Cristóbal Simón, hijo de Rodrigo Simón, vecino de Jalisco, sobre derecho a los pueblos de Tenango y Cuatitanapa en la provincia de Yçucar] [November 28, 1560, by Cristóbal de Simón, su hijo menor; Rodrigo difunto] [includes transcript of file from August 22, 1542: about 20 years before, Alonso de Estrada had granted encomienda to Simón as reward for service in the conquest of Nueva España; then Simón went on the conquest of Nueva Galicia; left his encomiendas in the care of Francisco de Lerma; held the encomiendas without opposition for six years, then about nine years ago the audiencia took them and assigned them to royal administration] [despues fui a la tierra nueva E Çiudad de çibola] [on return Simón was impoverished] [in 1542 Simón is vecino de Jalisco] [Vicencio de Riberol, agent for Simón] [questions 10 and 11 of his interrogatorio concerns Cíbola] [Simón went ansi por servir a su magestad como por no tener que se mantener en la dicha galizia] [this document says both that Simón is vecino of Jalisco and of México] [no witnesses who participated in expedition]
?AGI, Justicia, 258, pieza 1, “Visita hecha al Virrey, 1544” [a Rodrigo Ximón was lieutenant corregidor of the pueblos de Jonotla, Queçalcoal y Tetela in 1543 with a salary of 100 pesos/yr]
?APSM, “Bautismos de Españoles, 1536-1746” [fol.150r: 10 May 1545 , Rodrigo Simón and his wife baptize Diego, padrino, Pedro Hernández and his wife];
?APSM, “Bautismos de Españoles, 1536-1746” [fol. 153v: 2 July 1545 Francisco Muñoz and María de Arriaga baptize Juana; padrinos Rodrigo Simón and his wife and Estrada];
?APSM, “Bautismos de Españoles, 1536-1746” [fol. 182r: 15 May 1547 Rodrigo Ximón padrino for son of Juan de Ávila]
González-Leal, Relación Secreta [p. 43-44: individuals who came to Nueva España after Cortés and Narváez, but were at the conquest of Mexico and have Indians; this list includes a Gonzalo Hernández, regidor de la Puebla, a Juan de Morales, an Alonso López vecino de Colima; those without Indians include Rodrigo Ximón, a Francisco Martín];
AGI, Justicia, 267, N.3 [1544, proceso, Simón, vecino de México, was de oficio witness] [could sign his name (no signature on copy)];
AGI, Justicia, 270, Pieza 5 1545, visita al alcalde que fue Antonio de la Cadena] [1543 witness de parte witness is Rodrigo Ximón, vecino de México, 37 years old, testifies about the alguazil playing cards, signed his name but completely unalphabetically, more like a rubric (signed, same as AGN, Instituciones Coloniales, GD61, Inquisición, vol.2, primera parte, exp.4), [has known de la Cadena for about 17 years, Alonso Pérez Tamayo for about two years, and Tello de Sandoval for seven months];
Icaza, Diccionario, #1194 [Luis Alonso, vecino of Compostela, says he married the daughter of Rodrigo Simón];
AGI, Justicia, 1021, N.2, Pieza 6, “Relación sacada de la probanza, 1551” [México, January 10, 1547] [witness:Ximón, natural de Moguer, vecino de México, about 40 years old] [could sign his name (no signature on copy)];
1550-1560:
AGI, México 96, R.4 [a 1558? list of persons: Rodrigo Ximón, ay dos el uno es un naguatato mançebo honbre de poca calidad ay otro que fue conquistador; Juan Pérez es a conquistador and married and is a espadero, his wife is from Spain; Pero Hernández is a conquistador, married, honbre de poco arte; Bartolomé Sánchez, is a conquistador, married to an Indian, servio al marques del valle de llevar le los bastimentos a las minas; Francisco López is a conqueror, married and a miner for the marques; Hernandarias de Sayavedra is a cavallero and uncle to the viceroy; Alonso López, is a conquistador, not married and criado of Alonso de Ávila; Lorenzo Ginovés is a conqueror, married with a woman from Spain, honbre de bien; Gonzalo Hernández is a conquistador and not married; Francisco Caravajal, don't know who he is; Juan Gómez, don't know who he is; Pedro Sánchez, don't know who he is; Domingo Martín, is a conquistador, not married, primo to Bernaldino Vázquez de Tapia; Alonso López, it is not known who he is];
1560-1570:
AGI, Patronato, 287, R.57 [1562, carta ejecutoria] [Rodrigo, vecino de México, dead by 1562, alive in 1542] [Alonso de Estrada made encomienda to Rodrigo in 1527 as recompense for services, Cuatitanapa and Tenango] [father was conquistador, died in the process] [son, Cristóbal, minor in 1562; tutor: Martín López; procurador: Alonso de Herrera] [Rodrigo to Nueva Galicia w/Guzmán, 1530; stayed 10+ years; received encomiendas there also] [in 1534 México encomiendas taken and redistributed] [sued Benavente for their return, denied; sentencia difintiva, denied]
Other info: Icaza, Diccionario, 1194 [father-in-law to Luis Alonso, had the estancia of Tecosquines];
Epistolario de Nueva España, vol.16, XV,2 [there are 2 Rodrigo Simóns: one a naguatato mancebo hombre and the other a conquistador];
?AGN, Instituciones Coloniales, GD61, Inquisición, vol.14 [fol.218: case against Rodrigo de Najara, a native of Moguer; witness Rodrigo Simón: says he was in the villa of Zacatula [this document seems out of place and undated]
Cristóbal Ximón, son:
AGI, Contaduría, 663B [Payment to conquistadores, their wives and children: to Cristóbal Ximón, son of Rodrigo Ximón, uno de los primeros conquistadores, 266 pesos, in 1552, a Martín Pérez is tutor and curador of Cristóbal (this strongly suggests that Rodrigo is already dead), 200 pesos are paid in 1553, and 1133 pesos are paid to Cristóbal Ximón as son of a conquistador for the two thirds of a year ending in June 1555, in 1556 Cristóbal again receives the payment (Juan de Cuevas is escribano; a Martín López is tutor and curador)];
AGI, Contaduría, 664, 1557 [Money to first conquerors yearly payments: Cristóbal Simón, son of Rodrigo Simón, one of the first conquerors of New Spain, 200 pesos];
AGI, Contaduría, 664, 1560 [Payments to conquistadores, wifes and children: Cristóbal Simón, son of Rodrigo Simón, one of the first conquerors, 200 pesos, 27 June 1559-27 June 1560];
AGI, Guadalajara, 55 [no date; Report of conquistadores and their children and the amount of pesos de oro comun they get; Cristóbal Simón son of Rodrigo Simón, conqueror, 200 pesos/year]