Juan de Zaldívar was born circa 1570 in Northern Mexico.
[1][3] In 1595, Zaldívar was asked by his uncle, Juan de Oñate, to serve as his Maestre de Campo, or field marshal,[3] in Oñate's colonization of New Mexico for the Spanish Crown.
[1] They departed from Santa Bárbara, Chihuahua in January 1598, arriving in Ciudad Juárez by April of the same year.
[1] They went up the Rio Grande, arriving in San Juan de los Caballeros (now known as Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico) on July 11, 1598.
[1][2] His brother, Vicente de Zaldívar, won the Acoma Massacre, partly to avenge his death.