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| 1562–70 |
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| Francisco de Ibarra, governor and captain-general, conquered Nueva Vizcaya and founded Durango. | 1 |
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| 1598–1608 |
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| Under royal patent, Juan de Oñate secured the submission of New Mexico and sent out expeditions that explored the region from Kansas to the Gulf of California. Santa Fe founded in 1610. | 2 |
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| 1602 |
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| The conquest of the Philippines, the development of trade, and the need for protection against English, French, and Dutch incursions aroused interest in exploring the Pacific coast. Sebastián Vizcaíno reached the area of San Francisco. | 3 |
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| 1680 |
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| Pueblo Indians revolted, driving Spaniards out of New Mexico. Spanish reconquest led by Diego Vargas Zapata y Luján occurred in 1696. | 4 |
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| 1720–22 |
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| Marquis de Aguayo, governor of Coahuila, organized permanent Spanish settlements in Texas to counter French encroachment. | 5 |
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| 1769–86 |
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| Minister Gálvez promoted occupation of Alta California with a system of military forts (presidios) and Franciscan-led missions. San Diego (1769), Monterrey (1770), Los Angeles (1781), and San Francisco (1776) founded. | 6 |
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| 1774–76 |
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| Spanish explorers, sent north along the coast to counter British and Russian activity, discovered the mouth of the Columbia River. | 7 |
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| 1776 |
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| Minister Gálvez organized Nueva Vizcaya, Sinaloa, Sonora, the Californias, New Mexico, and Texas into the Provincias Internas, under the governorship of a commandant-general directly responsible to the crown. | 8 |
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| 1789–95 |
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| Attempts to colonize the region north of California. Settlements on Vancouver Island and at Cape Flattery failed to become permanent. | 9 |
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