Started in February 1855 C.E., California's first railroad was built from Sacramento to Folsom. This 22 miles line was meant to take advantage of the prosperous gold diggings in Placerville, California.

The repercussions of the Méjicano-Américano War, the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty, and the Gladstone Purchase Treaty proved to be devastating for Méjico and a triumph for America. Presidente of Méjico (1851 C.E.-1853 C.E.), José Maríano Martín Buenaventura Ignacio Nepomuceno García de Arista Nuez (July 26, 1802 C.E.-August 7, 1855 C.E.), had sought to bring fiscal stability to the nation. Méjicano Conservatives resisted his rule and an eventually revolted. This led to his 1853C.E. resignation and exile. Arista felt crushed and betrayed by the Méjicano government and its army. He left for Europe after 1853 C.E. and died there in 1855 C.E. on board the English steamer Tagus while traveling from Lisboa, Portugués, to France on August 7, 1855 C.E. In 1880 C.E., his remains were returned to Mexico, where the Liberal faction named him a national hero.

In New Mexico life went continued. On September 24, 1855 C.E., Juan Medina, widowed of María Antónia Leyva, native of the parish of San Juan de los Caballeros married María Gregoria García, single, daughter of Juan Pablo García and María Agustína Armenta, native of Taos, resident of the placita de los Dolores, Padrinos: were Anastácio Rivera, my great-grandfather, and María de la Luz Trujillo, residents of Purissima Concepción,  and Witnesses: Pedro Valdés and Pablo Sandoval, residents of the Plaza of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.

The mining activities near where the railroad had been built from Sacramento to Folsom, California, came to an end in February 1856 C.E.

813 cases, only three were decided by the Board; the rest were appealed to the District Court and then a majority of these were finally decided by the Supreme Court.

Here, it must be understood that the initial confirmation of a private land claim by the Commissioners was only a step towards the issuing of a final patent. After confirmation by the Commissioners, appeals to the District Court, and Supreme Court, were argued until the Commissioner's confirmation was upheld or reversed. Once confirmed by the courts, a survey of the land was performed. Sometimes, either due to objections by adjacent landowners, or because of discrepancies within the survey, more than one survey was needed. The survey costs were at the expense of the Hispanic claimant.

James Birch (1857 C.E.-1861 C.E.) in the Southwest region mail-carrying stagecoaches that operated on a local and interregional basis on the San Antonio-El Paso Road was one of those carriers that offered connections with St. Louis, Santa Fé, and California lines. There were also services offered by the Butterfield’s Overland Mail (1859 C.E.-1861 C.E.) were continually in demand. The Butterfield Overland Mail Stage Line was a stagecoach service operating from 1857 C.E. to 1861 C.E. of over 2,800 miles. It carried passengers and United States Mail from Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California. The Butterfield Overland Stage Company had more than 800 people in its employ, had 139 relay stations, 1800 head of stock and 250 Concord Stagecoaches in service at one time. The routes from each eastern terminus met at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and then continued through Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Texas, and the future states of New Mexico, Arizona along the Gila River trail, across the Colorado River at the Yuma Crossing, and into California ending in San Francisco.

Many American Army forts had been established in the American Southwest and West to protect them and their passengers. In the pre-Civil War years, the Fort Davis garrison located in Jeff Davis County, Texas, patrolled regularly, guarded mail relay stations, escorted mail and freight trains, and fought occasional skirmishes with the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache. Its troops had few diversions. The garrison’s duties were alternately grueling and boring. One diversion was watching the camels of the Army’s experimental corps that occasionally lumbered in. 

In 1857 C.E., Edward F. Beale’s herd of 25 camels passed through en route from the yet unfinished Fort Camp Verde (Completed 1865 C.E.) in Arizona which was surrounded Yavapais and Apache tribes. They would eventually make their way Fort Tejon (1854 C.E.) in California which was surrounded by Tonto Apache Dilzhę́’é and Yavapai-Apache Nation.

In 1857 C.E., Brevet Brigadier General Newman S. Clark, who succeeded Major General John E. Wool in command of the division of the Pacific, returned the division headquarters to San Francisco, California where it has since remained. Today, the ancient presidio is no longer protected by its fourteen foot adobe wall, but its quadrangle is the parade ground of the post, and is lined on two sides by the chapel, officers' club, guard house, offices, and officers' dwellings.

In 1858 C.E., Manuelito, a Navajó chief, discovered that 60 head of his livestock had been shot by United States soldiers. Outraged, he made his way to Fort Defiance which had been built in 1851 C.E. It was the first military post established as a result of the Mexican Cession in what would become the Arizona Territory. Its purpose was to “control” the Navajó Indians. 

Upon arrival Manuelito confronted Fort Defiance’s commander and told him the land belonged to him and his people, not to the soldiers. Later, soldiers from the fort, along with 160 paid Zuñi warriors, torched Manuelito's fields and village. The chief then resolved to drive the soldiers off the land and commenced to rally other Navajó leaders for war.

In 1859 C.E., when John Brown raided Harpers Ferry, he set in motion events that would lead directly to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 C.E. 

In 1859 C.E. and 1860 C.E. Texas military authorities utilized some of Camp Verde’s camels in an attempt to blaze a shorter route from San Antonio and the Pecos River to Fort Davis. They conducted this experiment to compare camel efficiency with that of the mules. Although the camels proved superior, the camel project ultimately failed.

The American Democratic Party in the United States split in 1860 C.E. 

Also, in 1860 C.E., Abraham Lincoln won the election as the first Republican Party president. His party’s platform pledged to keep slavery out of new American territories. Soon after, seven slave states in the deep American South seceded and formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America. The Lincoln administration and most of the Americans of the northern states refused to recognize the legitimacy of that secession. Their fears were many. Firstly, that secession would somehow discredit democracy. Secondly, that it would create a fatal precedent that would eventually fragment the United States into many small, squabbling, and independent countries.

Although most of California's railroads started off as short line railroads, the period from 1860 C.E. to 1903 C.E. would see a series of railroad mergers and acquisitions. This led to the creation of four major inter-state railroads servicing the state. These included the Southern Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad, Santa Fé Railroad, and Western Pacific Railroad. Three of the four railroads, controlled one each of the transcontinental railroads which linked California with states farther to the east. The Southern Pacific controlled two of these links.

With the 1860s C.E., came the Texas cattle drives making their way to railheads in western Kansas and Colorado. The drives moved through the tall, grassy plains of northeastern New Mexico and into the sheltered canyons of the front range of the Rockies.

The demand for beef had been great in the early years of the California Gold Rush. There are records which show that about 60,000 longhorns were herded by Tejano ranchos from Texas to California. Unfortunately, by the 1860s C.E., these same largely illiterate Tejanos rancho owners lost nearly all their land to a few bad years for cattle and the many mortgages they had taken out to finance expensive lifestyles. With the downturn in the economy, they could no longer afford to repay the loans. 

From 1860 C.E. to 1861 C.E., the Pony Express used the route across Nevada and the Sierras.

In 1860 C.E., more than 1,000 Navajós attacked Fort Defiance which located in today’s Apache County, Arizona. They nearly overran it, but superior gunfire forced a retreat. This would lead to the United States Army's policy of "total war" against the Navajós.

The Nuevo Méjico names designated for jewelry in 1860 C.E. are identical to those used in New Mexico today. The de Riberas would have worn earrings of many kinds, aretes and zargillos (eardrops), arracadas (the earring with a pendent), coquetas (the long, dangling earring with jewels), and pendientes which may mean eardrops of any kind, as the name implies. Then there are many styles of necklaces and gold chains. The bejucos or rounded braided chains with a fish attached in the manner of the chains mentioned above were similar to those from Perú, and India.

Nuevo Méjico culture, art, music, jewelry, food, and traditions were about to change. The Anglos would impact the Hispanos greatly. The floodgates of new knowledge and Américano law were about to force the Nuevo Méjicanos into a new era, an American expansionist era.

New Mexico of the period had many local artisans. The Filigree jewelry of 1860 C.E., shown here, is an excellent example of their work.

The adornment of the women of Nuevo Méjico had undergone change since the Spanish Period. Beginning with permanent settlement, adornment with jewelry had changed little. Filigree jewelry was not the only adornment of Nuevo Méjico women, although it was magnificent. Jewelry of all kinds, including precious stones, became popular with them.

The degree of perfection of gold filigree in Nuevo Méjico prompted the claim that the working of gold filigree as a craft was a distinct Nuevo Méjico heritage. Filigree workers in Nuevo Méjico, whether working with gold or silver, have always been known as plateros or silversmiths. It might be that the working of filigree in silver by the Moros, their perfection of it, and its extensive development has caused the name of plata (silver) to be identified with the working of filigree in Spanish Period Nuevo Méjico.

work in finished and beautiful design. This delicate work of scrolls and other designs is protected by a framework of flat wire, thus giving consistency and stability to the piece.

The names designated for jewelry then, are identical to those used in New Mexico today. There are earrings of many kinds, aretes and zargillos (eardrops), arracadas (the earring with a pendent), coquetas (the long, dangling earring with jewels), and pendientes which may mean eardrops of any kind, as the name implies. Then there are many styles of necklaces and gold chains. The bejucos or rounded braided chains with a fish attached in the manner of the chains mentioned above were similar to those from Perú, and India.

There were cordones or cords, chains without the fish. The soguilla was a flat braided chain with slides of elaborate bead filigree work attached. The garganton or gargantilla is the flat necklace with the large brooch-like design in floral effects. These are rare and typical of New Mexico workmanship. Stones of red and green were sometimes inset.

Most of what we know about the dress or adornment of the Spanish Period Nuevo Méjicano women comes to us through folklore. Rings are often mentioned. There is the tumbaga, a wide heavy gold Circlet with raised leaves of various hues, on each side, and a stone in the center.  This ring, mostly in silver without a gem, is common to the Orient. There are the plain gold rings set with various stones with floral effects of small stones. These were garnets or rubies of minor value. The more precious stones have never been common to New Mexico. Another ornament graphically named is the tembladera. This exquisite hair pin was of silver with a flower at the tip of a spiral causing the flower to tremble with the movement of the head of the wearer. Gold dots in the center of the flower completed a delicate effect.

Earlier, during the Méjicano Period, Spanish Nuevo Méjicano culture, traditions, language, food, art, music, and jewelry changed little. Things in the 1860s C.E. were beginning to change. The Américanos with their strong cultural influences began impacting the Hispano families.

Some things, however, remained the same. Hispano families continued in many of their traditional ways. The New Mexico 1860 C.E. Census listed José Luís Ribera, my great-great- grandfather as age 50, born about 1810 C.E.

That same 1860 C.E. Census, lists José Luís Ribera’s wife, María Isabel (María Ysabel Martín). It has her as age 30 and born about 1830 C.E. Researchers have documented her relationship to José Luís as:

BIRTH: 7 JUL 1822 C.E., La Puente, Río Arriba, Nuevo Méjico [95711]

BAPTISM: 12 JUL 1822 C.E., Abiquiú, Paroquia de Santo Tomás, Nuevo Méjico [95712] [95713]

DEATH: Y

Father: Juan Domíngo MARTÍN

Mother: María de Jesús NARANJO

Although José Luís Ribera's first child and oldest daughter, Marcelina, is not listed in the 1860 C.E. Census, researchers have documented her relationship to Luís as:

María Marcelina RIVERA ____ - ____

Father: José Luís RIVERA

Mother: María Isabel MARTÍN

Family 1: José Manuel ROYBAL (Husband)

MARRIAGE: 1 MAR 1848 C.E., San Miguel del Vado Misión, New Mexico [164004]

My great grandfather, José (De La) Anastácio Rivera, was also listed in the 1860 C.E. Census. The documents listed him as being age 20, although he was born about 1831 C.E. His land holding were estimated at that time to be two hundred and fifty acres. Anastácio was also listed as a farm laborer. His wife María Nicolása (Quintana) was listed as age 17, though she was born about 1833 C.E.

My great grandfather, José Luís Ribera's son, Cristino, age 16, and born about 1844 C.E. is also listed in the 1860 C.E. Census

My great grandfather, José Luís Ribera' other son, Ascension Rivera, age 18, and born about 1842 C.E., is also listed.

My great grandfather, José Luís Ribera's son, Felipe Rivera, age 14, and born about 1846 C.E., is listed as well.

My great grandfather, José Luís Ribera's daughter, Lorenzo Rivera, age 10, and born about 1850 C.E., is listed.

My great grandfather, José Luís Ribera's son, Pablo Rivera, age 4, and born about 1856 C.E., is listed in the 1860 C.E. Census

My great grandfather, José Luís Ribera's daughter, Vincenta or Vincentita Rivera was not listed in the 1860 C.E. Census.

My great grandfather, José Luís Ribera's daughter, Agapita Rivera, was also not listed in the 1860 C.E. Census. She was the last of his children.  Agapita was born in Pecos, New Mexico, late in his life.

My great grandfather, José Luís Ribera' other son, José Pedro de Los Ángeles (not listed), was born in Pecos, Nuevo Méjico about August 2, 1834 C.E.

1860 San Miguel County, New Mexico Census
Pecos

In December 1860 C.E., thirty miners of the Piños Altos launched a surprise attack on an encampment of Bedonkohe on the west bank of the Mimbres River in southwestern New Mexico in retaliation for the theft of numerous livestock. According to the historian Edwin R. Sweeney, the miners "...killed four Indians, wounded others, and captured thirteen women and children." The Apache quickly retaliated with raids against United States citizens and property.

The Españoles, the de Riberas had been forced by conquest to accept the new designation, Méjicano in 1821 C.E. In 1848 C.E., they were under the Américanos. Culturally, they had attempted to remain Nuevo Méjicanos, but the new laws and other pressures were rapidly changing that. Now fourteen years later, 1n 1860 C.E., a new war was on the horizon. This one was to be another war of independence. The Américano states of the South were about to choose a new path, one of separation from the Union. The Nuevo Méjicanos now under the Américanos also would have to choose a new path, which the side of the Union they would fight and die on.

So now we leave this chapter of the de Riberas and this time in their history.

START OF CHAPTER 

 05/04/2018 03:46 PM