Pacheco was the one selected, and on June 28, 1644, he assumed office, relieving the alcaldes ordinaries, who had ruled in the mean time. His administration is recorded as one of the best ever experienced. At his residencia it is said that only one insignificant charge was brought against him, and after the death of his successor Estévan de Azcárraga,[1] who was in charge from December 4, 1645, to August 8, 1648, he was again summoned by the viceroy of Mexico to represent the crown.[2] He remained in that position from December 15, 1648, to the 19th of October, 1649, at which date a new ruler, appointed by the crown, arrived in the person of the count de Peñalva.[3] Under his rule a serious famine occurred, and great numbers died of starvation. The evil was increased by the injudicious though well intended measures of the governor to remedy it. The number of enemies thus created was increased by his avaricious proceedings, and on August 1, 1652, he was found assassinated in his room.[4]
After the death of Peñalva governors followed in rather quick succession, but nothing important is connected with their time. The temporary rule of the alcaldes ended when on November 19, 1652, Martin de Robles y Villafaña, nominated by Viceroy Alva de Lista, took charge of the government, but being pro-
- ↑ Azcárraga died during an epidemic which, in 1648, played havoc in Yucatan to such an extent that no bells were tolled except for mass. Not even the governor's death met with an exception, and the burial took place without any of the usual solemnities. Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., 714-30, gives many details referring to the pestilence. From 1627 to 1631, and later in 1636, floods and bad crops had also produced famine and epidemics, of which many people died. CogoUvdo, Hist. Yuc., 202-3, 558, 592-3.
- ↑ One of the alcaldes, who in the interim held the goverment, was Juan de Salazar Montejo, a great-great-grandson of the Adelantado Francisco de Montejo.
- ↑ Dávila had been held in such esteem, that after his departure from Yucatan, the city council of Mérida in a letter to the king greatly eulogized his administration. Later, after the death of Peñalva, a petition was sent to Spain, requesting that Dávila be sent as governor for a third time. Cogollvdo, Hist. Yuc., 731-3. The full title of his successor was Garcia de Valdés Osorio, first count de Peñalva. Id., 742.
- ↑ Cogolludo assigns no cause for his death, but his unusually brief mention of his demise rather confirms the statement of Lava, that such a crime was committed. No clue was ever obtained.
