Historic Events
In 1684, René Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, sailed from Rochefort, France, with four ships and 280 men and women.
Jacques Grole (aka Santiago Gurulé) was one of the men to sail with the La Salle Expedition. He wanted to build forts along the mouth of the Mississippi River, and to invade and conquer Spanish provinces in Mexico.
Read a chronology of events about Santiago Gurulé and the La Salle Expedition, his life among the Tejas Indians, surrendering to the Spaniards, being imprisoned in Spain for 2-1/2 years, and finally being released in 1692 by the King of Spain. After his release, he and two other of his countrymen, Jean L’Archebeque and Pierre Meusnier, joined colonists recruited from Mexico City as part of a recolonization effort of New Mexico.
A note from Angela –
Through years of researching documents (church records, census records, land documents, etc.) and reading articles written about the Frenchmen, there has always been a variety of spellings used for the surname 
Grole, Grollet, Gurulet, Gurolay, Guruled, Groslet, Burola, Gruola and even Jurule which was found in a 1900 census for Socorro County, NM. What’s more fascinating is that many of the families kept the changed surname! Even with the prenuptial investigation – which includes the signature of Santiago Grole – there are still other spellings in the same document because different people were involved in the investigation.
Grole, Grollet, Gurulet, Gurolay, Guruled, Groslet, Burola, Gruola and even Jurule which was found in a 1900 census for Socorro County, NM. What’s more fascinating is that many of the families kept the changed surname! Even with the prenuptial investigation – which includes the signature of Santiago Grole – there are still other spellings in the same document because different people were involved in the investigation.Therefore, whatever was written in the “original document” is what is reflected on this website. Because Santiago signed “Grole” as his surname, and because this spelling was also shown in the baptism record for Antonio, that is why the banner was changed to:
Grole-Gurulé: Los Franceses de Nuevo Mexico
Elena Gallegos’ legacy in New Mexico is well known and in October 2017, an Official Scenic Historic Marker was installed at the entrance to the Elena Gallegos Park. The official dedication of the Historic Marker was held on 22 September 2018. Elena was the first woman in New Mexico to have her own cattle brand and you can read the English version of the Last Will and Testament she left in 1721. Thanks to Jose Antonio Esquibel for Elena’s Will, and below is his website which includes the Spanish version of the Document:Santiago and Elena only had one son, Antonio Gurulé, baptized 2 April 1703 at Nuestro Santo Padre San Francisco Church in Bernalillo, NM. See the baptism record and read the will Antonio left in 1761.
Available on the site are Pictures of La Rochelle, France, the birth place of Jacques Grole. Other pictures include San Felipe de Neri Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where most of the early Gurulé family church records were found and a picture of the Gurulé shield which hangs at the Palace of the Governor in Santa Fe, New Mexico.