Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco (4 August 1713 – 4[1] or 11[2] April 1785) was "perhaps the most prolific and important cartographer of New Spain"[3] as well as an artist, particularly as a Santero (wood-carver of religious images).

[4] He has been called a polymath, being "proficient in astronomy, cartography, mathematics, geography, geology, geometry, military tactics, commerce, husbandry, oenology, metallurgy, languages, iconology, iconography, liturgy, painting, sculpture and drawing.

[6] A man of many talents, he was variously a merchant, a debt collector, a rancher and a military officer.

[3] In 1747, Captain Miera led a military detachment accompanying Padre Juan Menchero on the latter's attempt to convert the Navajo and resettle them around Mount Taylor[3] (formerly Ceboletta[2]).

[2] In 1779, Miera accompanied Governor of New Mexico Juan Bautista de Anza on a punitive expedition against the Comanches, who had been raiding Taos.

[2] As a result, he drew perhaps his last map, covering an area centered on the Rio Grande from Santa Fe up to the Arkansas River.