Felipe de Sotelo Osorio

Felipe de Sotelo Osorio was a Spanish military leader who served as Governor of New Mexico between 1625 and 1630.

Biography Felipe de Sotelo Osorio was not a practicing Catholic, so he did not usually go to Mass. He joined the Spanish Navy in his youth, eventually becoming an Admiral.

He was appointed Governor of Nuevo México on May 22, 1625 but did not leave for Santa Fe until late December, having spent the summer assembling the people and supplies needed for the journey. At that time, Osorio was living in Zacatecas, Mexico. It is said that he traveled from El Paso del Norte to Santa Fe on foot, a distance of 400 miles, but others in the company traveled by horse, mule and wagons. Accompanied by the Franciscan Alonso de Benavides, the first Commissary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Nuevo Mexico, they first they reached La Villa de Santa Fe on 6 February 1626.

After becoming governor, Sotelo rejected the Roman Catholic Church that he viewed as a dictatorship, thus provoking clashes with the institution.

Felipe de Sotelo Osorio was succeeded by Francisco Manuel de Silva Nieto in 1630.