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Francisco Menendez Marquez I used treasury money to start his cattle ranch
Source: The Menendez Marquez Cattle Barony at La Chua and the Determinants of Economic Expansion in Seventeenth-Century Florida #163
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From the prices prevailing in 1651 one can estimate the capital needed to start a ranch. Land in the provinces cost nothing unless it was under cultivation. It was measured by the league or by the amount of seed required to plant it. Cattle averaged twenty-one pesos each, and locally-bred horses, 100. A black or mulatto slave from New Spain, expert at handling cattle, could be purchased for 500 to 600 pesos. (Sale of Governor Salazar Vallecilla's estate, October 16, 1651.) [Note: Governor Rebolledo, October 18, 1657, thought these prices were low for Florida.) In addition to the outlay for equipment and ranch buildings, a spread of 200 head, five mounts, and two hands could run to over 6,000 pesos, or four times as much as a royal official legally earned in one year. Treasurer Francisco's ranch was valued in 1649 at 8,000 pesos, and was showing an annual profit of 700 pesos. Thus, if Francisco had invested 8,000 pesos in his property, he was receiving a return of nearly nine percent. Since Francisco died almost 20,000 pesos in debt to the treasury, the money he had invested was obviously the King's. (Po Beltrin Santa Cruz, November 20, 1655.) (Bushnell MM)
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