Juan de Salas (friar)

Fray Juan de Salas (c. 1580 - c. 1645) was a Spanish Franciscan friar who provided religious instruction to the people of New Mexico and what is now Texas in the first half of the seventeenth century.

In 1629, the friars at Isleta received an inquiry from Spain about whether the natives had reported visitations by a nun, and they immediately identified the "Woman in Blue" with María de Agreda.

[5] Salas and Fray Diego León visited the Jumanos country in July 1629, about 300 miles (480 km) to the ESE of Isleta, working with them for several months.

[1] When de Salas and López reached the Jumanos they found that they already had a good understanding of Christian teachings, which they put down to the work of the Lady in Blue.

In 1632 Salas, Father Juan de Ortega and a small party of soldiers traveled to Jumano country near to what is now San Angelo, Texas.