Areas de Montemayor (1577-1640) was a Spanish military captain. In 1620, he was sent north from Paso del Norte, Mexico with an expeditionary force of almost 700 soldiers and sent to chart northern New Mexico, only to be attacked by the Apache. The Apache defeated the vast majority of his force at the Battle of Valle de Sanango, and Montemayor and a small fraction of his force survived to return to Paso del Norte empty-handed. He was later sent on a scouting trip to the Colorado River, and he died in 1640.