SALAS, JUAN DE (?–?). Fray Juan de Salas, Spanish religious official, came to New Mexico with Alonso de Benavides in 1622 and worked at Isleta mission, at the site of present Albuquerque. In 1629 Jumano Indians went to the monastery and asked for religious instruction, stating that they came at the request of the "Woman in Blue," MarÃa de Jesús de Agreda. In July of that year Salas and Fray Diego León visited Jumanos and labored among them for some months in an area 300 miles east and southeast of Isleta. Tribes further east sent messengers to ask the fathers to come to teach them, and the padres promised that they would return with other priests. In 1632 Salas again set out for the Jumano country, this time with Father Juan de Ortega and a few soldiers. He probably penetrated as far as the site of present San Angelo, Texas, then returned to Santa Fe, leaving Ortega, who worked in the area for six months before also returning.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Carlos E. Castañeda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas (7 vols., Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1936–58; rpt., New York: Arno, 1976). Charles W. Hackett, ed., Pichardo's Treatise on the Limits of Louisiana and Texas (4 vols., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1931–46).
