The
conquistador Don Joséph (José) Blanco y Salazar was born in October 1690 in the Spanish village of
Galaroza in the archbishopric of
Seville, Spain, the son of the
Alférez Juan Martin Blanco and María Salazar y Sánchez. He traveled to
Venezuela when was just a boy around 1702 at the side of his uncle and father of his future wife, Don Francisco Salazar y Sánchez. There he joined the
Third Order of Saint Francis to comply with the royal decree of colonization of the Indies of 1676. Don José, along with his ancestors, participated in the conquest of what is today the estate of
Apure looking to also expand his congested cattle lands in San Carlos. On 28 August 1726 he married his maternal cousin, Clara Teresa Salazar y Sánchez, daughter of Don Francisco. The couple had seven children: María Rosalía, José Santiago, Sebastián Fabián, Alejandro, Juan Martín, Juana Josefa, y Francisco Antonio. For his legendary exploits, these conquered lands were granted to him by the
King of Spain through a royal decree...'
"As a gift, in thankfulness for having been the Discoverers of Apure and its Founders
"' ==La Blanquera today==