juan de salinas was born in the town of sangolqui, near the ecuadorian capital of quito, on november 24, 1755. his father was diego salinas, a man of basque descent who was sent to the americas as governor of yahuarzongo, and his mother was maria de zenitagoya, from a wealthy quito family. he studied philosophy and law at santo tomas university in quito, but decided to pursue a military career, becoming an officer in president jose diguja’s escort. in that capacity he was ordered to pacify the area around otavalo, which was experiencing an uprising of the indigenous peoples. returning from this campaign around 1778, he was sent with apolinar diez de la fuente, who had just opened a route from quito to quijos in the amazon, to define the border with brazil. they reached the marañón river around april 1780, but salinas fell ill and had to return to pevas. once recovered he spent the next few years exploring the amazonian jungle, but in 1783 he became ill again and was ordered back to the highlands, where he was stationed in the military garrison of the royal audiencia of quito. in that city he married maria de la vega y nates in 1794. by 1801 he was commanding the military corps stationed in quito and seemed to be very popular with the troops for his generous character and proven valor.