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Rh Carabajal, subsequently governor of Nuevo Leon, their joint labors proved but partially and temporarily successful.

Nevertheless, spells of comparative quiet were obtained, affording the sorely distressed settlements round the mines of Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas the opportunity to develop their wealth, and attract much needed immigration. Zacatecas, which since its discovery in 1546 had been exposed to repeated ravages, received such an impetus that in 1585 it was raised to the rank of a city.

Twenty years before the Franciscan order had proved sufficiently numerous to form here a custodia, the beginning of the later provincia de Guadalupe de Zacatecas, which became so famous for its missionary labors throughout the vast north. Most of the settlements in this region also owed their origin to Zacatecas, whose alcaldes mayores, subject to Nueva Galicia, sent forth or promoted numerous expeditions to open mines, among them San Martin. This was made the seat of a new alcaldía mayor, which extended and controlled settlements far into Durango, where Nombre de