Alberto del Canto was a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 soldier and explorer. He was born Alberto do Canto, on Terceira Island

Terceira Island

Referred to as the “Ilha Lilás” , Terceira is an island in the Azores archipelago, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the larger islands of the archipelago, with a population of 56,000 inhabitants in an area of approximately 396.75 km²...

, Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

. During the colonization of America

European colonization of the Americas

The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...

, Canto explored the northeastern part of Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, and founded several cities, such as Saltillo

Saltillo

Saltillo is the capital city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. The city is located about 400 km south of the U.S. state of Texas, and 90 km west of Monterrey, Nuevo León....

, of which he was the first mayor (1575). He changed his name to the Castilian form, del Canto, while serving in what was then New Spain

New Spain

New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...

.

He was one of the main enemies of the native Chichimeca

Chichimeca

Chichimeca was the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern-day Mexico and southwestern United States, and carried the same sense as the European term "barbarian"...

 peoples. He took numerous prisoners to work as slaves in the mines of Santa Lucia, Monterrey

Monterrey

Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...

, and San Gregorio, Cerralvo

Cerralvo

Cerralvo is a municipality situated in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. Cerralvo is located in the northeastern region of Nuevo León, in the Gulf Coastal Plain and in the northeastern agricultural and ranching economic zone that also includes the municipalities of Agualeguas, General Treviño,...

, Nuevo León

Nuevo León

Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...

. This resulted in his arrest by the Inquisition

Spanish Inquisition

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...

 for slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

. He escaped and was able to hide out, among the same Chichimecas that he was charged with enslaving, until the charges were dropped.

Del Canto had been a lover of the wife of Diego de Montemayor

Diego de Montemayor

Diego de Montemayor was a Spanish explorer, officer, and the second governor of Nuevo Leon. He was born in Spain, probably in Málaga or Old Castile, to Juan Montemayor and Mayor Hernández....

, founder of Monterrey. Upon learning of the affair, Montemayor killed his wife with his sword, and vowed to kill del Canto as well. In 1585, del Canto married Estefania, the daughter of his arch rival, Diego de Montemayor, and had three children, Diego, Miguel, and Elvira. In 1596, Estefania and Del Canto separated. Estefania moved back to Monterrey with her father, and her children took the last name of Montemayor. Del Canto died at his Hacienda

Hacienda

Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...

 de Buena Vista, Saltillo, Coahuila

Coahuila

Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...

, Mexico.

External links

• Sample Lineages: Capt. Alberto Del Canto
• "The Monitor," March 25, 2001.