Los militares catalanes y el establecimiento del nuevo sistema de autoridad en el noroeste novohispano

This paper analyzes the presence of high rank military men with origin in Catalonia in the north-west of Nueva España. José de Gálvez, ruler of Nueva España, chose them to apply properly the new authority system that was imposed on that region after 1768. This paper is an effort to pose and resolve some questions raised around the designation of outstanding Catalonian officers as governors and captains of garrisons; most of those man were members of the regiments of the expeditionary army in Sonora commanded by Domingo Elizondo.