Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco

Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco (4 August 1713 – 4 or 11 April 1785) was "perhaps the most prolific and important cartographer of New Spain" as well as an artist, particularly as a Santero (wood-carver of religious images). He has been called a polymath, being "proficient in astronomy, cartography, mathematics, geography, geology, geometry, military tactics, commerce, husbandry, oenology, metallurgy, languages, iconology, iconography, liturgy, painting, sculpture and drawing."

Miera was born in the Valle de Carriedo of Cantabria or Burgos, Spain. The son of a captain of the Cantabrian Cavalry, he was trained as a military engineer.

Like many others, he emigrated to New Spain (in North and Central America). In 1741, he married Maria Estefania Domínguez de Mendoza in Chihuahua. They would have two sons, Anacléto (Cléto) and Manuel. In 1743, the family settled in El Paso.

A man of many talents, he was variously a merchant, a debt collector, a rancher and a military officer. In the latter capacity, he served in five military campaigns. In 1747, Captain Miera led a military detachment accompanying Padre Juan Menchero on the latter's attempt to convert the Navajo and resettle them around Mount Taylor (formerly Ceboletta).

Though Menchero was unsuccessful, Miera produced the first map of the territory they traversed. In 1749, he mapped the Rio Grande from El Paso downstream to its junction with the Rio Conchos.

He was also a painter and carver. Some of his works survive in churches and museums; the Church of Cristo Rey in Santa Fe has "his masterpiece, the Castrense altar screen".

In 1754 or 1756, he moved his family to Santa Fe. He was appointed alcalde of the pueblos of Pecos and Galisteo and participated in three campaigns against the Comanches.

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