Gallegos was born April 13, 1828, in San José (San Miguel County), First Mexican Republic (by the time of his death, the New Mexico Territory of the United States). He was the son of José Fernando de Jesus Gallegos and Maria Juliana Padilla. He was raised in an area known as the San Miguel del Vado Land Grant. The land was originally applied for in 1794 as one of the genízaros community grants being established on frontiers for the purpose of buffering larger towns, such as Santa Fé, against raids. Twenty-five percent of the original applicants were genízaros. Following a period of about 20 years of development to meet the grant requirements, individual parcels of land were allotted by don Pedro Bautista Pino in the name of Governor Fernando Chacón's verbal order of March 12, 1803. This vicinity of the Pecos River valley was a long time meeting place for trade between the Plains and Pueblo tribes, a passage through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains for the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande valley to access the plains for buffalo hunting, as well as passage for the later Spanish explorers, frontier traders, buffalo hunters, Indian fighters, the Santa Fe Trail, Civil War armies, and later still for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway portion of a southern route of a transcontinental railroad system.Herbert E. Bolton. Coronado: Knight of the Pueblos and Plains. Kessinger Publishing, LLC 2008 The traditional Mexican buffalo hunters of the area were known as ciboleros. San Miguel del Vado was an early frontier outpost serving to protect larger cities such as Santa Fé from marauding Plains Indians. A customs house and soldiers stationed in the area also served to prevent smuggling and tax evasion related to trade along the Santa Fé Trail. San Miguel del Vado soldiers also served to protect expansion into northeastern New Mexico, and the establishment of later Spanish land grants in that area, such as the Las Vegas Land Grant, due in part to population pressures in San Miguel del Vado. San Miguel del Vado had become the administrative headquarters for the northeastern plains region of New Mexico early. These environmental influences contributed to José's decision to join the military and participate in New Mexico Territorial politics.
