Ua hānau ʻia ʻo ia ma Navarra, Sepania i ka makahiki 1789. Ua aʻo ʻo ia i ke kānāwai ma ke Kulanui o Pamplona, akā ua haʻalele ʻo ia e hakakā me ko Napoleon mau pūʻali koa Farani e komo hewa ana.
Ua lawe pio ʻia ʻo ia i 1808, i kona wā kaʻawale ua aʻo ʻo ia i nā hana koa a me ka makemakika. I ka hoʻi ʻana o Fernando VII i ka noho aliʻi o Sepania, alakaʻi ʻo Mina i kahi kipi e kūkulu hou i ke Kumukānāwai i hoʻoneʻe ʻia o Cádiz o 1812. Ua hoʻomaʻau ʻia ʻo ia a holo aku i Farani a me ʻEnelani kahi i hui ai me Fray Servando Teresa de Mier nāna i hōʻoia iā ia e hoʻonohonoho i kahi huakaʻi e hakakā ai kue i ke alii mai Sepania Hou.
Me ke kōkua o kekahi poʻe kālā, ua ʻākoakoa ʻo ia ʻekolu mau moku, nā mea kaua a me nā kālā a holo aku i Mei 1816. Ua haʻalele ʻo ia i Norfolk (United States) kahi o nā haneli hou aku i hui pū me kāna pūʻali koa. Ua hele ʻo ia i ka English Antilles, Galveston a me New Orleans a pae i Soto la Marina (Tamaulipas), i ka makahiki 1817.
Hele ʻo ia i Mekiko, hele i ka muliwai ʻo Thames a loaʻa iā ia kāna lanakila mua loa ma luna o nā aliʻi ma ka mahiʻai ʻo Peotillos (San Luis Potosí). Lawe iā Real de Pinos (Zacatecas) a hōʻea i ka Hat Fort (Guanajuato) i ka mana o ka poʻe kipi. Ma Soto la Marina ua piholo ko lākou mau moku e ka ʻenemi a ua hoʻouna ʻia nā lālā o ka hale koa i nā hale paʻahao o San Carlos, Perote a me San Juan de Ulúa, ma Veracruz.
Hoʻomau ʻo Mina i kāna mau huakaʻi kūleʻa a hiki i ka wā e hoʻopilikia ana ʻo Viceroy Apodaca iā Fort del Sombrero Ke hele ʻo Mina e ʻimi i nā lako, ua hopu ʻia ʻo ia ma kahi kokoke iā Rancho del Venadito a lawe ʻia i kahi hoʻomoana aliʻi kahi i pepehi ʻia ai "mai hope, ma ke ʻano he kumakaia" i Kēkēmapa 1817.
