Somos Primos
 June 2006 
Editor: Mimi Lozano ©2000-6

Dedicated to Hispanic Heritage and Diversity Issues
 Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research
Celebrating 20th Anniversary 
1986-2006

Book cover design by Melissa DiPiero-D'Sa  mj_dsa@yahoo.com
Click for information on the project and purchasing the book.
Click for more on the author.

The Superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.  Confucius 

  Letters to the Editor : 

Mi más sincero deseo de éxito y bienestar para todos el entorno latino.

Anacleto Villarreal Vera  vanacleto@hotmail.com

I repeat, your work with “Somos Primos”
is awesome!!   Gloria de la Torre gloria@delatorrepublishing.com

United States

Culture 
Hard work helps tear down some old walls 
Bullfights scaled down for 9-year old boy
Clay's Kitchen Mexican 
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
What Hispanic Awareness Means to Me
Hispanic vs Latino  
Latinos or Hispanics?  A Debate About Identity 
But the language I speak is Spanish
Las Comaderes Para Las Americas  

Business
National Latina Business Women Association
Hispanic business growth outpaces U.S. rate
Spanish language skills and Annual Incomes 
Hispanics set the pace in business ownership

National issues

Wells Fargo, Sponsors "The Latino OC 100" 
Best, Brightest Upcoming, Accomplished and Influential 

Dear Mimi, 

We are finally finished with the LATINO OC 100 list for 2005-2006 and would like to share it with you. A special THANK YOU to Wells Fargo for their vision and support of all of the positive Hispanic community contributions in Orange County.  This is the first 100 with 400 yet to go. 100 per year for the next 5 years!  Our mission is to produce a positive statement and image of the important contributions of people and organizations to the Latino community in Orange County. 

Using state of the art technology and networking, we will develop a product that is first class, visible and highly motivational to minority youth that will educate and inspire. 

The plan is to honor 100 people and organizations who make a difference in the LATINO OC every year for the next 5 years. A yearly Yearbook will be published and distributed to schools, colleges and universities in Orange County. The Yearbook will contain pictures and biographies of honorees as well as a community resources page listing non-profits and business organizations. A website will also be dedicated to the LATINO OC 100 as a reference and research guide as well. Each year a reception will be held to honor the selected. At the end of the 5 years, a formal gala will gather all 500 and their guests to honor their accomplishments. 

[[Editor: Although this is a county event, I am including it under U.S. because Wells Fargo is  national and is reaching out to the Hispanic communities all over the U.S. .  What I particularly like is the ongoing effect of the books which will sit on school library shelves and the website which will be a growing resource and encourage our youth to reach high, to expect great things of themselves. I an humbled to be among the first group of Latino leaders selected with this honor, because I know the fine work of many whose contributions should and will be made known. I am in the second row, on the left, with the light blue jacket.]]

Ruben Alvarez,  your editor, Marcial Fernandez

By John P. Schmal

ALIEN ARRIVALS OTHER THAN CHINESE

Owing to the fact that Mexico has during the past year been passing through the throes of one revolution while still suffering from the effects of a previous one, affecting in ways various and complex the immigration over this border, it is manifestly difficult, if not quite impossible, to make comparisons of a thoroughly satisfactory and conclusive character with the immigration of previous years either as to underlying causes or possible future effects. During the early part of the year a great many aliens, rendered destitute by crop failures more or less directly due to the former revolution, sought admission to this country from Mexico, while during the latter part of the fiscal year large numbers migrated to the United States to avoid hardships incident to the revolts which broke out in February last and which are now in progress. It may be said, therefore, that conditions affecting immigration by way of the Mexican border have been abnormal throughout the year, and any attempted detailed analysis thereof would occupy an undue proportion of both time and space in its presentation and at best prove, it is feared, more or less speculative. It may be safely stated that the character of immigration received from Mexico has not measured up to the standard of previous years, as evidenced by the increase of debarred over the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911.

ILLEGITIMATE IMMIGRATION

In previous reports under this heading illegitimate immigration over this border has been defined and especially discussed. As Syrians, among others, have been included within this classification and in fact constitute the chief element thereof….

REFUGEES

No inconsiderable number of aliens, resident of Mexico, have sought refuge in this country, some of whom practically destitute, have been, as a measure of humanity, given asylum. In the cases so acted upon it was felt that the unusual and oftentimes harrowing circumstances influencing their applications justified a more than ordinarily liberal interpretation of the law.

There is every reason to believe that when the affairs of our sister Republic have become settled a large majority of these aliens will return to their native country.

Source: Report of the Inspector of the Immigration Service on the Mexican border, as quoted in "Annual Report of the Commissioner General of Immigration to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1912" (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1913), pp. 40-41.

On Being Black at a Latino March
By Van Jones, Huffington Post.com. Posted May 5, 2006.
http://www.alternet.org/story/35860

Source: Dorinda Moreno dorindamoreno@comcast.net

Just as non-blacks supported our freedom movement in the last century, I am determined to give my passionate support to this righteous cause. 

At Monday's "Dia Sin Inmigrantes/Day Without Immigrants" march in San Francisco, I saw a beautiful, exciting and hopeful vision of the future of this country. I also caught a glimpse of a familiar past, fading away. And I shed a few tears for both.

From the moment I boarded the BART car, I knew this May Day march and rally would differ from the Bay Area's usual protest fare. The trains headed into downtown San Francisco were filled with working-class Latinos, all wearing white; most had kids in tow. There were few protest signs or banners, but the stars and stripes were everywhere. One tyke on my train kept trying to poke his cousin with a little American flag.

Some of the teeniest kids were wearing their older sibling's white T-shirts with their shirt hems hanging down past their knees. The children were all well-scrubbed and happy ... and very proud.

So were their parents. They knew they were part of something new, and big, and promising.

The bright mood contrasted starkly with the dreary atmosphere that chokes most protests nowadays. On this march, I saw no resigned shuffling of already defeated feet. No sea of scowls. No pierced tongues, screaming. Nor could I spy a single person dragging behind her the weighty conviction that resistance -- though obligatory -- was futile.

To the contrary. Beaming, brown-skinned families walked off those trains with their heads held high. Sure, they may have been poor, facing tough challenges in the near term. But they stepped like they were marching into a future of limitless promise and potential.

Their optimism brought tears to my eyes. And not only for the obvious reasons.

Deep inside, I was grieving for my own people. I wished that my beloved African-American community had managed, somehow, to retain our own sparkling sense of faith in a magnificent future. There was once a time when we, too, marched forward together, filled with utter confidence in the new day dawning. There was a time when we, too, believed that America's tomorrow held something bright for us ... and for our children.

But those dreams have been eaten away by the AIDS virus, laid off by down-sizers, locked out by smiling bigots, shot up by gang-bangers and buried in a corporate-run prison yard. Now we cling to Black History Month for validation or inspiration. That's because Black Present Moment is so depressing -- with worse, almost certainly, on the way.

When Katrina's floodwaters washed our problems back onto the front pages, the once-mighty Black Freedom Movement could not rise even to that occasion. Our legendary "movement" has collapsed, fallen apart. It is now a hollowed-out shell -- with our "spokespersons," both young and old, trying somehow to live off our past glories.

Meanwhile, the white-shirted future was pouring itself down Market Street, chanting "Si, se puede!"

My feelings of solidarity quickly trumped my sorrows. Thousands of people were standing up, here and across the United States, for their right to live and work in dignity in this country. Deep in my bones, I felt their pain, knew their hopes and affirmed their dreams. And just as non-blacks had supported our freedom movement in the last century, I was determined, as a non-immigrant, to give my passionate support to this righteous cause.

So I joined the crowds in the street, trying to add my voice to the thunderous chants. But I quickly discovered that, good intentions notwithstanding, political solidarity is sometimes more easily felt than expressed.

My fellow marchers started roaring out: "Zapata! Vive! La lucha! Sigue!" I was like, Huh? What?

"Zapata! Vive! La lucha! Sigue!" Say what? Then louder, faster: "LaLuchaSigueSigue! ZapataViveVive!  LaLuchaSigueSigue! ZapataViveVive!"

Bewildered, but undeterred, I got myself a "chant sheet." I figured that I could use one of the official written guides to keep me in the know and on track. Sure enough, the handy leaflet spelled everything out very clearly: "Las Calles Son Del Pueblo! El Pueblo Donde Esta? El Pueblo Esta En Las Calles, Exigiendo Libertad!"

Unfortunately, those words looked precisely like alphabet soup to me. I found myself desperately trying to remember back to 11th grade, wondering what sound an "x" makes in Spanish.

Finally, I had to face the sad truth: I had B.S.-ed my way through all my high school and college language requirements. I had to admit that Mrs. Savage (from fourth-period Espanol) had been right, after all: I really hadn't cheated anyone but myself.

Now I had to accept the miserable results: as an utterly monolingual English speaker, I wasn't even knowledgeable enough about the Spanish language to shout out simple phrases, during most of the protest.

Okay, I told myself. Fine. I decided instead to just walk cheerfully along, clapping in time with the drummers. But even some of the Latin rhythms were unfamiliar, strangely syncopated. I couldn't always find the beat, despite my best efforts. (Suddenly, I was filled with love and sympathy for all those arhythmic white folks whom I used to make fun of at black rallies, parties and churches. I am so sorry, y'all!)

Well, needless to say, I was on the verge of giving up. Then I found a solution: I would simply listen for any chant that had the word "Viva!" in it. For some reason, there were lots of chants with that word in it. And then, whenever appropriate, I would just raise my fist and shout "Viva!" along with the crowd, as loud as I could.

And that was pretty much all I could do. I did it for a few hours, then went home. I hope it was enough. Because, despite feeling somewhat out of place, I was absolutely thrilled to see my sisters and brothers taking the future into their own hands. By simply standing up for their own kids and grandparents -- for their own dignity and futures -- activist Latinos today are pulling the nation to a higher level of fairness and inclusion.

They are posing a simple and devastating question: should U.S. society continue to profit from the labor of 11 million people -- many of whom pick our fruit, nurse our children, clean our workplaces -- without embracing them fully, without honoring their work, without extending to them the same rights and respect we would want for ourselves?

Can we countenance or tolerate a Jim Crow system -- in brown-face -- with a shunned tier of second-class workers, enriching society but lacking legal status and protections?

Or are we willing to change our laws, and change our hearts, to embrace those upon whom our economy has come to rest? This is a simple moral challenge. The right answers are not easy, but they are obvious.

I know there will be a backlash (there always is when people push for fairness), even coming from some black folks. But I also know that the Latino-led struggle for justice and inclusion offers hope to all of us. A national conversation about the true meaning of dignity, equality, opportunity and fair play in the modern economy can ultimately benefit every American community.

I am confident that it will. Because during the two prior centuries, it was the African-American community that performed this service for the country. And we paid a high and awful cost in blood and martyrs. Unfortunately, we did not achieve all of our aims. But we did tear apartheid from pages of U.S. law books. And in the course of that struggle, we improved the lot of all Americans; expanding social programs, democratic rights and social tolerance for all people. And our efforts opened the doors for today's equality struggles. Our marching feet moved the whole nation forward.

I cannot help but mourn the loss of a black community strong enough to put this nation on its back, and carry it forward, step by step, toward justice ... as we once did. But my pain only amplifies and underscores my joy that this marvelous new force has arisen, one that is capable -- in this tough, new era -- of deepening and extending the struggle to transform and redeem.

Strong brown hands have grabbed hold of the U.S. flag. They are pulling it away from those who have monopolized it, from bullies who have abused the nation's symbols for their violent and illegitimate ends.

I am glad. Because only a mass movement with broad shoulders -- and rough hands -- will have the power to win the coming tug-of-war for the heart and soul of this country. The Latino community has birthed just such a movement. If history is any guide, as Latinos and other immigrant communities raise core questions about their children's access to education, health care, jobs and safety, every American community will benefit hugely from their efforts. Including my own.

Van Jones is executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, California. 

Of  U.S. Children Under 5, Nearly Half Are Minorities
Hispanic Growth Fuels Rise, Census Says
By D'Vera Cohn and Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post Staff Writers, 
 May 10, 2006; A01
Sent by JV Martinez  jvmart@verizon.net

Nearly half of the nation's children under 5 are racial or ethnic minorities, and the percentage is increasing mainly because the Hispanic population is growing so rapidly, according to a census report released today.

Hispanics are the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority group. They accounted for 49 percent of the country's growth from 2004 to 2005, the report shows. And the increase in young children is largely a Hispanic story, driving 70 percent of the growth in children younger than 5. Forty-five percent of U.S. children younger than 5 are minorities.

The new numbers offer a preview of demographic shifts to come, with broad implications for the nation's schools, workforce and Social Security.

One in three Americans is now a member of a minority group, a share that is bound to rise, because the non-Hispanic white population is older and growing much more slowly. The country already is engaged in a national debate about how government should respond to growing immigration, legal and illegal.

In some parts of the country, the transformation is more visible than in others. Large swaths of the upper Midwest are still mainly non-Hispanic white. But minorities are a majority of children younger than 5 in the Washington area, according to previously released census numbers. That is also true in Miami, Houston, Los Angeles and other high-immigration regions.

William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, predicted that the United States will have "a multicultural population that will probably be more tolerant, accommodating to other races and more able to succeed in a global economy."

There could be increased competition for money and power, he added: "The older, predominantly white baby-boom generations will need to accommodate younger, multiethnic young adults and child populations in civic life, political decisions and sharing of government resources" in places such as the Washington suburbs.

In some suburban communities, government officials face a cultural generation gap as they weigh demands from older white residents for senior citizen centers, transportation and other aid against requests from younger, mainly minority residents for translation assistance, preschools and other services.

Experts say immigrant families are becoming more concerned with the quality of their children's early education, aware that it can affect their future academic success. That is one reason there is a waiting list at the Child and Family Network Centers, a preschool in Alexandria.

The centers, which also operate a preschool in Arlington, provide free and subsidized preschools for about 200 children from low-income families. They serve many immigrants, including those who don't qualify for other programs. The waiting list is 150 children long. Eight out 10 speak English as a second language, and 70 percent are Latino.

"Oh, here's the chrysalis," said teacher Maria Cruz, pointing to a picture in a book as 4- and 5-year-olds crowded around her for story time yesterday. "Every day, the chrysalis looks the same -- we can't see anything happening, but inside, something is happening."

Emely Lopez, 5, raised her hand and pointed to a real butterfly cocoon in a container by the window. "Hay una alli" -- there's one there -- she said in Spanish, pointing at it. Cruz nodded encouragingly.

"Yes," she replied in English, "it's the same thing we have happening here."

In the next room, bilingual signs displayed the English and Spanish words for "computer," "rest time" and "snack." Across the hall, a group of children sang a song in Spanish.

Cruz said she has seen a huge difference in children's abilities from when they start the program and when they move on to kindergarten. She pointed at a 5-year-old girl from Mexico who was prattling about butterflies in English: Last year, Cruz said, "she came with zero English -- zero."

William O'Hare, a senior fellow at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said he is not sure the country is prepared to provide the extra help that immigrants' children often need to become well-educated workers and the future supporters of retirement programs for a predominantly white elderly population. Some Americans, he said, will not welcome the news that minorities are nearly the majority among young children.

"Part of the people will see this and say, 'Gee, these kids are really our future parents and workers, and we need to take care of them,' " O'Hare said. "The other would say it is time to send them all home."

The census figures show that the number of Hispanic and Asian children younger than 5 grew by double-digit percentages since 2000. The number of black children grew more slowly. The number of non-Hispanic white children younger than 5 declined for two years this decade before increasing again.

The nation's Asian population growth still is dominated by immigration, the census report shows, but among Hispanics, births added more to the population growth than immigrants did this decade.

That means the growth trend among the youngest Hispanics "is only going to accelerate under almost any scenario you can think about, even without immigration," said demographer Jeffrey S. Passel of the Pew Hispanic Center. "As the children age, they are the ones who in 20 years will be having children."   © 2006 The Washington Post Company

Immigration issue is complex and requires bilateral solutions 
Historian David Montejano Discusses Immigration Issues 
Carlos Guerra, San Antonio Express-News (May 9, 2006) 
Sent by Howard Shorr howardshorr@msn.com

When David Montejano discusses United States-Mexico issues, the historian's analyses are often punctuated with chuckles. The San Antonio native and prize-winning author of "Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas" teaches at UC-Berkeley and is chairman of its Center for Latino Policy Research. Recent immigrant-rights marches "are giving immigrants voices," he says, and 500,000 people marching through Dallas must have been particularly disturbing to anti-immigrant leaders. 

He also dismisses some of the changes anti-immigration groups want as simplistic and ill-informed. 
"We already have (employer sanctions) laws but we don't enforce them, except for the showcase raids last week on a pallet maker," he says, while major U.S. corporations were given a bye. 

Montejano also dismisses guest-worker proposals as unrealistic. "A guest-worker program that is anything like the bracero program — even with better protections — is not a solution to the structural problem," he says. "It will actually create even greater immigration." 

And while most have forgotten about them, fervent anti-Mexican sentiments are hardly the first registered in the United States. "In the 1920s there was a whole 'Mexican problem' that newspaper editorials and politicians — including those from Texas — were ranting and raving about," he says. 

"And did that generation lead to the undoing of America?" the professors asks. "No, that generation's sons fought World War II, and their daughters served in the factories." And their grandchildren were the first who attended universities in significant numbers. 

"You also had Operation Wetback in the 1950s, and there were protests, but they didn't get the attention these latest protests have commanded," he continues. "The major difference (between the two waves of protests) is that now you have leading elected officials who can present the case, and that represents an advance." 

Montejano also points out that U.S. immigration policy has long been of two minds. "They want Mexican labor, but they don't want them to stay around," he says before laughingly dismissing the notion of sealing the borders and deporting all the undocumented immigrants. 

"They're not serious about deporting 11 million people, it's about creating cheap labor; they just want to create an underclass," he says. "Making them all felons would really lower wages by practically creating prison labor." 

But he is also clear that the current wave of protests still hasn't addressed an element key to the entire immigration conundrum. "At some point, the protests ought to focus on Mexico, too, because two governments are involved in this situation, not just one," he reasons. "Nobody wants to talk about how NAFTA has contributed to this national dislocation of mexicanos, but that is what it is: A dislocation by a policy that was signed by the elites of both countries to benefit the elites of both countries." 

Mexico's mass out-migration, and soon, Central America's, is from their collapsed agricultural sectors, and it will continue because those countries cannot compete with the United States' agricultural sector, price-wise. This non-competitiveness has already turned Mexico, where corn was first developed, into a net importer of corn, an important staple. 

"At some point," he says, "we are going to have to look at a developmental program for Mexico." 
To contact Carlos Guerra, call (210) 250-3545 or e-mail cguerra@express-news.net.

Photo: Bettmann/Corbis

100 Years in the Back Door, Out the Front 
By Nina Bernstein, The Nation, Week in Review, NYTimes.com,  May 21, 2006
Sent by Jose M. Pena JMPENA@aol.com 

Undocumented, Indispensable 

We like our cheap houses and our fresh fruit. Our government likes taking taxes from workers whose existence it will not recognize.
By Anna Quindlen, Newsweek, May 15, 2006 issue
Sent by Jose M. Pena  JMPENA@aol.com  

On May Day a persistent rumble came from Market Street in San Francisco, but it was not the oft-predicted earthquake, or at least not in the geologic sense. Thousands of people were marching down the thoroughfare, from the Embarcadero to city hall, holding signs. NO HUMAN BEING IS ILLEGAL. I AM A WORKER, NOT A CRIMINAL. TODAY I MARCH, TOMORROW I VOTE. I PAY TAXES.

The polyglot city by the bay is so familiar with the protest march that longtime citizens say it handles the inconveniences better than anyplace else. Some of them remember the Vietnam War marches, the feminist rallies. The May Day demonstration bore some resemblance to both, which was not surprising. Immigration is the leading edge of a deep and wide sea change in the United States today, just as those issues were in their own time.

Of course, this is not a new issue. The Founding Fathers started out with a glut of land and a deficit of warm bodies. But over its history America's more-established residents have always found ways to demonize the newcomers to the nation needed to fill it and till it. It was only human, the contempt for the different, the shock of the new.

Today, because so many immigrants have entered the country illegally or are living here on visas that expired long ago, the demagoguery has been amped-up full throttle. Although the conventional wisdom is that immigrants are civic freeloaders, the woman with a sign that said i pay taxes was reflecting the truth. Millions of undocumented immigrants pay income taxes using a special identification number the IRS provides. They pay into the Social Security system, too, even though they're not eligible to collect benefits. In fact, they may be helping to keep the system afloat, with $7 billion currently in a designated suspense file, much of which is believed to have come from undocumented workers.

A man carrying a sign saying I AM A WORKER, NOT A CRIMINAL said he pays taxes, too, through his construction job. All three of his children were born in the United States. Although he said he had a hard time deciphering government forms—and don't we all?—he had applied for a green card and had been waiting for four years. In 2004 there was a backlog of more than 6 million unprocessed immigration petitions, a record high. So much for suggestions that immigrants are lax about regularizing their status. Clearly the laxity is at least partly federal.

It's true that immigrants use government services: schools, public hospitals. It's also true that many pay their way through income and sales taxes. Despite the rhetoric, no one really knows whether they wind up being a loss or a gain for the economy. Certainly lots of them work. A state like Arizona, for instance, could not keep pace with the demand for new homes at reasonable cost without immigrant workers, many of them undocumented.

The counterargument is that that drives down the wages of American citizens. It's galling to hear that argument from members of Congress, who have not raised the federal minimum wage for almost a decade. Most of those politicians blame the workers for their willingness to accept low wages. Don't hold your breath waiting for significant sanctions against those companies that shut their eyes to the immigration status of their employees—and that also make large political contributions.

Americans who are really incensed by millions of undocumented immigrants can take action, just as those marching in the streets did. They can refuse to eat fruits and vegetables picked by those immigrants. They can refuse to buy homes on which they worked. After all, if a migrant worker like Cesar Chavez could organize a national boycott of grapes, then opponents of immigration could surely organize something similar. But they won't. We like our cheap houses and our fresh fruit. And our government likes the bait-and-switch, taking taxes from workers whose existence it will not recognize. The borders are most porous in Washington, D.C.

Full disclosure: I'm the granddaughter of immigrants, and I know how much of the melting pot is a myth. My grandparents always referred to my father as "an American boy," which meant he was not from Italy. It was not a compliment. They didn't melt; their daughter did, although one of the only times I ever saw her bitter was when she explained what the word "dago" meant.

There are big decisions to be made about the vast wave of undocumented workers in this country, issues that go beyond slogans and placards. But there's no premium in discussing those issues in xenophobic half-truths, in talking about what undocumented immigrants cost the country without talking about what they contribute, in talking about them as illegals when they are nannies, waiters, roofers and the parents of American citizens. One fact is indisputable: the essence of America is free enterprise and human rights. It's why people come here in the first place. WE ARE ALL IMMIGRANTS, read signs on Market Street. Some of us just got here sooner.

They are among a growing number of Hispanics who, lured by Hawaii's warm climate,, diverse population and, most of all, jobs, are beginning new lives in this remote island state which is a straight shot across the Pacific from Latin America's long Western shoreline.

Gaxiola was a 21-year-old farmworker when he immigrated to Hawaii in the 1980s. He now helps as many as 1,300 immigrants on Maui each year through Enlace Hispano, or Hispanic Link. People visit his office to find out how to use public transportation, enroll kids in school, file taxes and take) advantage of work benefits.

"The employer might sit down with them and they might say, 'Yes, yes, yes,' but understand very little," said the 40-year-old Gaxiola, whose organization is paid $110,000 annually by the county for its services.  "'We definitely need some-thing much larger to be able to provide services to everybody," he said.

Action Item

We are all aware of the ultimate importance of communicating.  And yet we have gradually lost our sense of how important the written word remains to use the written word: Not only in influencing public opinion to affect policy but also for it to become a permanent document of our times.

Curiously in a democratic society with freedom of the press, editorial policy demands and must be provided ‘feed back’ from the reading public.

If educated chicano latinos do not bother to write letters to the editor it becomes easy for editors to thin we cannot write; and therefore our community does not matter.

Therefore no matter how often we read newspapers and magazine – and no matter how much we know about the important issues of our times – we are letting others do it for us; as if we had full trust in their attitudes and opinions.  Almost as if we are saying ‘go ahead and speak for me.’

No wonder OC Weekly’s talented journalist A.A. has a hit with his column, "Ask a Mexican" column.  Almost as non Mexicans do not know there are millions of Mexicans in Southern California they can ask questions to..

This speaks for how separated we are as a multi-cultural Multi-racial environment.  Non Hispanic workers can drive from the Westside to the Inland Valley everyday and not have awareness that the majority of the population lives in between the coming and going to work or play.  As if they may know the numbers, and yet are not seeing as human beings with dignity and talents.

Dear Sir:
 
    I enjoyed your web site very much but when I read the history of the Texas Longhorn, I was shocked that probably the most important history of the Texas Longhorn was totally omitted.     
    That's right, in August 1779 the very first trail drive in American History was approximately 1800 head of Texas Longhorns from San Antonio and La Bahia (Goliad) to Nacogdoches, TX to Natchitoches, LA and on to the Mississippi River and beyond in support of the AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 
    This is FACT and there is a historical society visiting schools, colleges and organizations educating individuals as to this most important part of Texas/American History. This organization, originally sponsored by the Sons of the American Revolution is The Texas Connection to the American Revolution Association (TCARA) and you can read the abbreviated story of the Texas Longhorn's saving of the American Revolution on its website at www.TCARA.NET
    It is only natural that TCARA and the TX Longhorn Breeders Assoc. have a full mutual knowledge and support of each other and I would appreciate any introduction advise you may care to impart.
 
    Thanks for your ear and time,
    Jack V Cowan JVC4321@aol.com
    President, TCARA
    (210) 651-4709
    P O Box 690696
    San Antonio, TX 78269
    

Date: 5/8/2006 2:38:15 PM Pacific Standard Time 
From: tlbaamagch1@sbcglobal.net
To: JVC4321@aol.com 
CC: SuzAnn@tlbaa.org
 
Mr. Cowan: I am sorry for the omission of the first trail-drive in American history. I assure you it was not intentional. Some of the information that we are using on our Web site is the product of
several  years of editorials. Let me look into your Web site and see what we can add to ours.
Please copy this reply to your friends. 
Carolyn Hunter, Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America
Texas Longhorn History group http://www.tlbaa.org/

O.C. man uses his story to urge students to stay in school
Man uses his story to urge students to not drop out.
By Amy Hamblin, Orange County Register, May 16, 2006
Sent by Ricardo Valverde RValverde@ochca.com

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO - Ramon Diaz set out to pick $9 worth of grapes - a dollar to celebrate every year he had been alive. Something clicked in the child's mind. "There was a better way in life," he realized. The son of itinerant farm workers resolved to do whatever it took to forge a different path.
                                                                                                            Photo by Mark Rightmire
This is part of Diaz's life story that he shares with junior high and high school students at schools with high dropout rates. "I always go back to: 
This is what people do to survive out there," he said. "Without an education, life is bleak."

The San Juan Capistrano resident has been delivering the message to students for 30 years through the Orange County Youth Motivation Task Force, which celebrated its three decades last week. He has been with the group from its start here. Sometimes students just need to hear the message from someone other than a teacher or a parent, Diaz said. Someone who has been there.

Diaz's father struggled to support the family as a grocery clerk in Compton. They ate food the store would otherwise have thrown out, cutting off the rotten parts. It wasn't enough.

So, the decision was made to uproot the family and move to a place where all the children could work alongside the parents in the fields.

As the family traversed California, Diaz would receive his education in increments - three weeks here, another four weeks at a different school. The "learning seminars" ended in eighth grade when he was able to settle into one school back in Compton.  Diaz found part-time work as a school janitor until he graduated from high school.  Students can relate to his struggles to earn a diploma, Diaz said. He is aboard for most of the 18 visits the organization makes each year to schools.

The organization was founded in the late 1960s in response to the Watts Riots in 1965. The idea was to raise educational attainment and thus economic opportunities.
The organization would partner with businesses to send their employees into the classroom for a few hours. In 1972, Diaz's employer, IBM, asked him if he would visit a ninth-grade class. "I got hooked," he said. "It was love."

Several years later he started discussing adopting the program in Orange County with some other community organizers. They launched the program with about 30 volunteers; now they have 150 to 200.

Diaz, 57, retired from IBM as a customer engineer six years ago, after 30 years there. His résumé is extensive - past chairman of the Fair Housing Council of Orange County, past director on the board of the United Way Orange County, past chairman of the Service Employment and Redevelopment Santa Ana Project. The list goes on.

"He's a dynamo - always busy, always going somewhere," said Jerry Dominguez, who has worked with Diaz on the GI Forum and the Fair Housing Council. Diaz has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. "If you lock yourself into a rocking chair, you'll miss life," he said.

Motto: "Education is freedom, and freedom is everyone's business," from the American GI Forum. 

His advice to students 
o Show up and be on time. Ninety percent of success is taking the first step. 
o Set goals and emulate those who achieved what you want. 
o Know the English language well - effective communication is an asset in all aspects of life. 
o Be careful whom you hang out with. You will become like them. 

To learn more about the Youth MotivationTask Force, call (714) 569-0822 or visit www.ymtf.org

Santa Ana: Partnership between district, chamber of commerce will create vocational programs for Valley High students. For students at Valley High, courses in reading, writing and arithmetic will soon have to make room for those in dental assistance, computer-animated design and robotics.

Santa Ana Unified trustees have approved a plan to enter into a partnership with the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce to start seven vocational and technical schools at Valley High, one of Orange County's poorest performing high schools.                                                                                                                  

 

Dental-assistant students, Damian Ferreyra, Jenny Vasquez and Joe Romero  Photo: Leonard Ortiz

Valley High's vocational and technical schools model is similar to a new effort to overhaul the nation's high schools. One of the early concepts of that change is the "schools within a school" idea. These are smaller schools, centered around career themes, contained in larger campuses.

Many educators, lawmakers and parents have said high schools today should emphasize the real-world relevance of what students learn. This would help curb high dropout rates and improve overall student achievement, they said.

Valley High's seven schools, called academies, will be run by the district with the chamber's help. The program will start in the 2007-08 school year, after a renovation of the campus is completed. The academies will train students in careers in business, health care, new media, transportation, automotive, manufacturing and construction. The chamber will provide professionals from each of those fields to teach in classrooms, labs and workshops at the campus. The chamber will also help students with mentors, internships, apprenticeships and assistance in applying for a job once they graduate if they opt to forgo college.

For the chamber, which conceived the idea about three years ago, the goal of the program is to meet local companies' demands for skilled workers who not only know the most current technology, but can work in groups, communicate well and compete in a global market, said Michael Metzler, chamber president.

"This will be a win-win situation for the district and the business community," Metzler said. "We now will have students finishing high school with better experience and training."

Most high schools already offer some vocational and technical training through Regional Occupational Program classes. But in recent years, budget cuts have forced many districts in Orange County and throughout the state to slash spending for those types of programs.

Enrollment in Valley High's academies will be voluntary for the school's more than 2,500 students, said Superintendent Al Mijares.  "The academies are not intended to replace the traditional classes. They are supplements to what students already learn," Mijares said.

Sylvia Ordoñez, a parent of a freshman at Valley High, said the idea for the academies is long overdue. "The work force is more competitive today than ever before," Ordoñez said. "Students in this program will have such a greater advantage over all the other students."

Program boosts: 
Vocational education courses in public high schools have steadily declined since 1997. But a new local and national movement could reverse the trend.

Fewer drop-outs: Many educators and lawmakers, and some studies, nationwide have said that increasing funding and resources for vocational education would result in fewer high school drop-outs. Students are more likely to stay in school if they have more career training relevant to today's work force, they said.

More funding: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has added $20 million to this year's budget and proposed an additional $50 million for next year's budget for vocational education. The governor has said vocational education has been under funded and neglected because of tight budgets and increased pressure on educators to improve standardized test scores.

Healthcare Academy: training for careers in dental assistance, medical assistance, nursing, and preparation for medical degrees

Automotive Academy: training for career as auto mechanics, and auto repair technicians

Transportation Academy: training for careers in the aviation industry, truck drivers and other transportation and moving occupations

Business Academy: training for careers in finance, real estate, investment, and commercial retail

Manufacturing Academy: training for careers in engineering, factory assembling and robotics

Construction Academy: training for careers in architecture, building, planning and contracting

Sal Tinajero Confidence builder 
Fullerton educator named 
Hispanic Magazine's Teacher of the Year 

Says above all, students need self-assurance.
By FERMIN LEAL 
The Orange County Register, April 1, 2006, 
  
A PUSH TOWARD COLLEGE: Fullerton Union High School teacher Sal Tinajero, 34 year-old, gives suggestions to his speech students. Since he started at the school five years ago, nearly all of his students have gone on to college. Photo: Paul E. Rodriguez


FULLERTON – For Fullerton Union High teacher Sal Tinajero, the difference between a student who just does well and one who flourishes is simply confidence. So as coach of the school's speech and debate team, Tinajero above all has tried to teach his students to believe in themselves. 

"Students not only need to learn to read and write," said Tinajero, 34, a Santa Ana resident. "They need a strong self-assurance to lead them to college and beyond."

Since he began at the school five years ago, virtually all of his debate students have gone on to college, many earning full scholarships to prominent universities throughout the country.  And under his tutelage, the speech and debate team ranks as the defending Orange County champion and one of the state's top programs. 

That's why Hispanic Magazine named Tinajero its 2005 National Teacher of the Year.  Tinajero will travel to Washington, D.C., on Thursday for a ceremony in his honor, and a tour of the White House with first lady Laura Bush.

Tinajero was nominated for the award by parents at the school. U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Garden Grove, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and several other local politicians sent letters of support. 

"This is an incredible honor for someone to say I am one of the best teachers," said Tinajero, who is also a Santa Ana Unified School District board member. "I never had a clue this was coming."  He beat out more than 100 finalists from across the country for the award, which is co-sponsored by the Nordstrom department-store chain.

"There is no other person in my mind who deserves this more," said Manny Gonzales, a parent with one current and one former student in Tinajero's program. "He should not only be the teacher of the year, he should be the teacher of the decade."

Gonzales credits Tinajero with turning his shy, introverted daughter Krystyn into a well-spoken, self-assured student. Krystyn is a freshman at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., one of the country's top colleges for speech and debate.

"Krystyn would not be where she is today without Mr. Tinajero's help," Gonzales said. "It's incredible how she grew as a person in the time that he worked with her. But he does this for all his students, not just a select few."

Tinajero often contacts universities on behalf of his students and persuades recruiters to visit competitions in which his students compete.  "Getting students into college is definitely his first priority," said Bronte Nelson, a sophomore in Tinajero's program.  "When students say they want to go to college, but it cost too much money, Mr. T tells them not to worry because he will find them a scholarship."

Nelson said Tinajero works well with students because he seems more like a friend and not a teacher. "He still demands a sense of respect, but in return, he also respects our ideas," she said.

Tinajero grew up in Santa Ana. As a student at Saddleback High, he always knew he wanted to go to college, something his Mexican immigrant parents strongly promoted. After college, he returned to Santa Ana to teach. At Lathrop Intermediate, one of the county's poorest-performing schools, he started a speech and debate team in an effort to give students that self-confidence.

He was hired at Fullerton Union High in the 2001-02 school year to resurrect the school's once-fabled speech and debate program, which had trained former President Richard Nixon.

Today, parents, teachers and students say the program is better than ever, not only because of all the trophies the team brings in, but also because of the success its students achieve after they graduate.

"This is all because of Mr. Tinajero," Nelson said. "If anyone could describe a perfect teacher, it would be him."

Immigrants from Mexico are assimilating into American life, gradually losing their dependence on their native tongue and manifesting a love for their adopted country, a sociologist noted for his research into Hispanic and Latino issues told a Texas A&M University audience on Tuesday.

"Social science evidence shows that Mexican-Americans are highly patriotic and lose Spanish skills over generations since immigration," said Edward E. Telles, who received his doctorate from the University of Texas and now teaches at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). "But there is a persistent lag compared to white Americans in the education and socioeconomic status of these immigrants.

"This problem, however, is due not to the unwillingness of Latinos to adopt American values and culture but rather to the failure of societal institutions, particularly public schools, to successfully incorporate these individuals, as they did for the descendants of European immigrants."

Telles delivered his remarks on "Latinos: Building America and Becoming America," a lecture co-hosted by Texas A&M President Robert Gates and Executive Vice President and Provost David Prior at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center. Gates noted that he sees such lectures as a means of provoking thoughtful debate on international issues as they impact the nation.

Telles bases his conclusions on empirical research, including his own study of the changing situations of Mexican-Americans living in San Antonio and Los Angeles surveyed by another group of researchers in 1965, then again between 1998 and 2002 by Telles and his colleagues.

"We started out to locate all the respondents to the 1965 survey who were under 50 at that time, and we found two-thirds of them," Telles said. "Then we went on to survey a random sample of their children and grandchildren."

Telles' survey results revealed that the trajectory of Mexican-American assimilation into United States culture followed a path similar to the experience earlier immigrants from Europe and Africa, but also exhibited many differences from both these groups. Most of those surveyed had learned English by the second generation, and by the fourth generation, only five percent of them spoke Spanish to their children.

"As far as adopting American culture, other researchers have found Mexican-Americans to have similar attitudes toward such things as patriotism as 'regular' Americans," Telles said, "although this particular study was concerned more with behaviors than with attitudes.

"One point where the Mexican-American experience deviates from that of earlier immigrants concerns the stubborn persistence of low levels of educational attainment, with school completion statistics for second generation immigrants topping those for later generations."

Telles points to a lack of a supporting immigrant community as later generations move away from their cultural roots, as well as diminishing optimism on the part of parents as they remain in unskilled, low-paying jobs, despite educational striving, as factors helping to produce this educational lag. These problems may be exacerbated by the loss of high-paid industrial jobs in the United States, jobs traditionally occupied by recent immigrants who used their resulting prosperity to gain a better life for successive generations, and by a continued dependence on immigrant labor in some low-paying occupations. In addition, many immigrants attend public schools in the inner cities or in poor rural districts, where schools are the worst, resulting in a high dropout rate, Telles said.

Telles' lecture was seen as a counterpoint to an October talk at Texas A&M given by Samuel P. Huntington of Harvard. At that time, Huntington alleged that Mexican-Americans are failing to assimilate into American culture as past immigrants have done, potentially culminating in the U.S. splitting into two nations with two languages and two different cultures.

Telles characterized Huntington's views as based on flawed analysis and anecdotal evidence, not supported by hard empirical research. Such unsupported opinions may contribute to "Mexico bashing" and bolster a hard line on immigration among some Americans.

"Our research - and common sense - show that assimilation occurs unconsciously, as immigrants participate in the daily life of their new country, as they enter better, more middle class jobs, work alongside non-ethnic co-workers and move into non-immigrant neighborhoods," Telles noted. "The pace of assimilation may vary across immigrant groups depending on the economic opportunities available, the assistance individuals receive from the government, the human capital immigrants bring with them, and racial and social constraints, but, over time, it occurs.

"These new waves of immigration offer Americans the opportunity to embrace the country's intricate ethnic heritage, but for Mexican-American immigrants to fully join mainstream society, more emphasis must be given to educating them to bridge the gap," he concluded.

Contact: Judith White, jwhite@univrel.tamu.edu, (979) 845-4645.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
HHS-HEO DIGEST INFORMING THE COMMUNITIES
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2006.html
Sent by Juan Ramos jramos.swkr@comcast.net
 
Planning tool kits, learning service curriculum guides, and other resources are available at:
http://www.ysa.org/nysd/index.cfm
http://listserv.ed.gov/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind06&L=preventioned&P=139

HELPING AMERICA'S YOUTH

During his 2005 State of the Union Address, President Bush announced that Mrs. Laura Bush would lead a new initiative, which has been named Helping America's Youth, focused on connecting at-risk youth with family, school, and their community in order to help children and teens reach their full potential. Nine Federal agencies have come together to contribute their knowledge and programs to the Helping America's Youth initiative by developing The Community Guide to Helping America's Youth. The Guide will help communities build partnerships http://www.helpingamericasyouth.gov/assessment.htm   assess needs and resources http://www.helpingamericasyouth.gov/assessment.htm  and select from program designs that could be replicated in their community http://www.helpingamericasyouth.gov/programtool.cfm. 

The adolescent years are a time of life that brings special challenges and opportunities. Not yet adults and no longer children, teenagers make important choices that influence their immediate and future health, safety, and well-being. During this period of exploration, youth also start to make choices about their future and develop ideas about who they are in their communities and the world at large. These years provide an important opportunity for families, schools, and communities to support http://www.helpingamericasyouth.gov/background-development.htm and encourage teens to make wise and healthy choices that will help them successfully transition to adulthood.

* The Importance of Family: Parents and family are the first and most important influence in every child's life, providing a foundation of love and support.

* The Importance of School: Schools equip children and youth with the knowledge and skills to be successful throughout their lives.

* The Importance of Community: What matters most in a child's life is a loving, caring adult, whether that is a parent, teacher, coach, pastor, or mentor. The needs of youth are best addressed by communities working together-parents and families, schools, faith-based and community groups, businesses, and government.

Most American youth receive support and guidance from their families, schools, and communities. Today, fewer youth are smoking, using illegal drugs, and drinking alcohol. More youth, including older teens, are enrolled in school and they're more likely to complete high school. Unfortunately, many young Americans are still at risk of not making a successful transition to adulthood. They may live in unsafe environments; their families may not be able to provide the structure and nurturing essential for healthy development; and they may engage in such risky behaviors as using tobacco, alcohol, or drugs; early sexual activity; unsafe driving; and violence. http://www.helpingamericasyouth.gov/background-quickfacts.htm. These risky behaviors jeopardize young people's health, safety, and well-being, and engaging in multiple risky behaviors puts them at even great danger. http://www.helpingamericasyouth.gov/background-factors.cfm.

HHS Offers Improved Computer Tool in Spanish and English; 
National Council of La Raza Takes Family History Curriculum Back to Communities

Calling on all Spanish-speaking Americans to "know their family history," U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., announced the availability of an updated version of a free, computerized tool in Spanish, designed to help Spanish-speaking families gather their health information. In addition, he praised the National Council of La Raza's Institute for Hispanic Health(NCLR/IHH) for developing its own family history consumer outreach program for Spanish-speaking Americans based on the framework made available by the Surgeon General's Family History Initiative.  

To help families organize their health histories, the Surgeon General developed "My Family Health Portrait," a computerized, information-organizing tool that makes creating a family health history easier and more efficient for both patients and health-care professionals. Now, a new, free, Web-based version of the tool is available in Spanish. It organizes a family's health history into a printout that people can then take to their health-care professional to help determine whether they are at higher risk for disease. The Spanish version of the tool is available on the Internet at https://familyhistory.hhs.gov/spanish.  For additional information about the U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative, please visit http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/ . NCLR/IHH has provided 33 "promotores de salud" (lay health educators) with linguistically and culturally appropriate materials to communicate the value of genetic information, and its relation to family history, to Spanish-speaking communities in an effort to improve their health. NCLR/IHH launched the yearlong education and training program in spring 2005.  For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org

HHS-HEO Communities' Digest 
Information on Federal Programs regarding health, education, etc. 


The HHS-HEO Communities Digest Listserv features information on Federal programs and other sources related to health, social services, education and related topics. In addition, information
is provided on employment and grant opportunities. The information's gleaned from Federal agencies such as the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education and Labor, as well as various organizations and institutes associated with the health and social services areas.

The Digest reaches over 1,000 community-based organizations and individuals, and continues to grow. To retrieve back Issues of the HHS-HEO Digest please click on the following URL for the archives at: http://list.nih.gov/archives/heo-info-l.html

To subscribe: send an E-mail message to LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV   In the message area, type SUBSCRIBE HEO-INFO-L Firstname Lastname  (Type Your Name Here)   Send Message


 

Bullfights scaled down for 9 year old boy
by Mark Stevenson, AP via O.C. Register, 5-8-06

Mexico City"s Rafita Mirabal does what few would when faced with an angry, 400-pound animal charging at him: He holds his ground.

He is armed with nothing but a red cape and a short sword. He is also 9 years old.  Rafita already has had about two dozen fights in bullrings since 2005 including his latest challenge Sunday in Texcoco, near Mexico City. •

His contests differ slightly from a regular bullfight. The animals are younger and somewhat smaller, and he does not give the matador's final death blow with his sword. The ban on sword play is to protect the sport's reputation.

Rafita isn't strong enough yet to drive a full sword into a bull's heart, and as a result, "he might just wound the animals, and then they would repeat the thing about (the sport) being a massacre," said his manager, Jose San Martin, citing protests by animal-rights activists. San Martin expects Rafita to be killing bulls by the time he's 11 or 12. Most bullfighters start when they're 15 or older.

In Texcoco, Rafita challenged a 2-year-old "vaquilla"  a cow with horns - and nearly lost. The cow tossed him in the air, then to the ground between its horns and then trampled him, but left him unharmed. Two older bullfighters who accompany and observe Rafita in the ring  but avoid interfering in his fights - distracted the animal, giving Rafita time to dust himself off and return to the fight.

"That was nothing," he said, his eyes tearing "from emotion" and a bruise appearing to form on his cheek. "It was good, very good." San Martin discovered Rafita at a bullfighting school in Aguascalientes state. "He stood out from the rest of the boys even though he's small in stature, because of his seriousness, and his great devotion," San Martin said.

Congressional Gold Medal recipients
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom
Sent by Rafael Ojeda RSNOJEDA

Education: Dr. Antonia Pantoja (Puerto Rico)
Film: Rita Moreno (PR),
Music/singer: Placido Domingo (Spain)
Law: Cruz Reynosa
Activist: Cesar Chavez & Mario Obledo
Head of State/Gov: Luis Munoz-Marin & Luis A. Ferre (Both Governors of PR)
Religion: Sor. Isolina Ferre, Famous NY Nun, sister of Gov. Luis Ferre.
Sports: Roberto Clemente (PR)
http://www.congressionalgoldmedal.com/RobertoClemente.htm
http://dallaslibrary.org/cgi/gold/goldmedals.html
Gama (Brazil), Naon (Agentina) & Saurez-Mojica (Chile) and Manuel De la Puente 

WHAT HISPANIC AWARENESS MEANS TO ME 
by Rogelio Gomez Jr. 9/00
Sent by Dorinda Moreno dorindamoreno@comcast.net
Source: Johnny Silvas johnny.silvas@icdbridges.org

I was born into several inclusive familias without having to go out of my way to join them. I was born in Texas and took my first breath as a baby humano. I was now a member of the human family. A few days later, my birth certificate said I was an Americano. I was happy being an Americano until I was old enough to understand that in South Texas, with a name like Gomez, the law recognized me as a Mexicano. I was cool with that since everyone picking cotton alongside my family was also Mexicano and it was good to be with a group that was warm and referred to each other as comadre or compadre.

When I started school, I found out that because I was born in the great state of Texas, I also have the distinction of being a Tejano. At that stage in my life, it was great to be a Tejano because all my heroes were cowboys and what better place to be from if you wanted to be a cowboy. I went through school being a Humano/Americano/Mexicano/Tejano and it was great to belong to my growing family. 

After graduation, I joined the military as many Humanos/Americanos/Mexicanos/Tejanos did and as a result of that, I became a Veterano. One of the benefits of being a Veterano was that I was able to attend the University in the early 70's. If you were an Humano/Americano/Mexicano/Tejano/Veterano student in Califas in the early 70's, you naturally became a Chicano. I liked being a Chicano and finding out about my roots in the first of many Mexican-American Studies classes taught by real Chicano professors. 

After college, I settled into a government job. I was happy but still felt I lacked a connection so, being the Humano/Americano/Mexicano/Tejano/Veterano/Chicano that I had become; I joined LULAC and became a United League Latino. I was happy being a Latino and working to improve our community. Belonging to these great familias filled me with a sense of responsibility and pride.

A few years back, I found out that I am an Hispano as defined by the good ole U.S. of A. and that time had been set aside every fall to make others aware of my new and expanding family.

I did not choose to be an Humano/Americano/Mexicano/Tejano/Veterano/Chicano/Latino/ Hispano nor any other label. The choice I had was in how these labels would affect and impact my life. I could reject them and say I'm a member of the human family only, as some have said, or I can embrace them as a gift of life and let my actions define who I am, as some have done. 

Having lived, loved and celebrated every occasion is what I will remember when I finally become an Humano/Americano/Mexicano/Tejano/Veterano/Chicano/Latino/Hispano/Anciano. 

'HISPANIC' VS 'LATINO' 

A new poll finds that the term 'Hispanic' is preferred
By Christine Granados

Are you a Hispanic or a Latino? We have been asking ourselves this question since the seventies when the government adopted the term "Hispanic" to keep population statistics and monitor compliance to Affirmative Action laws. And the answer isn't as clear-cut as one might expect. Choosing one term over the other means taking a political, social, and even a generational stand.
Stereotypically, those who call themselves Hispanic are more assimilated, conservative, and young, while those who choose the term Latino tend to be liberal, older, and sometimes radical.
A recent presidential tracking poll by Hispanic Trends, Inc., a polling firm associated with this magazine, wanted to put the identity issue to rest once and for all by asking registered voters which term they preferred-Hispanic or Latino. The result was something of a surprise: A majority prefer the term Hispanic.

Sergio Bendixen, president of Hispanic Trends, says his company decided to put the question in its poll for obvious reasons. "It's something Hispanics and Latinos have been debating for years, and no one seems to have asked the question. So we decided to ask it," he says.

Of the 1,200 Latino registered voters polled, 65 percent preferred the term Hispanic, and 30 percent chose to identify themselves as Latino. Regionally, the results were similar. This random sample showed that 67 percent of Mexican Americans in Texas preferred the term Hispanic, as did 52 percent of Latinos in California and New York. 

Bendixen, who has been conducting polls for 25 years, says the results surprised him. "I thought the term Latino would be the overwhelming winner, because I've worked in California for Univisión and Telemundo, and I was not allowed to say Hispanic on the air. When I did, we got a lot of complaints." 

But 24-year-old Daniel Villaruel, a student at California State University Northridge, was not surprised by the poll results. "That makes sense," says the fourth-generation Spanish American.

"Because registered voters tend to be second- and third-generation Hispanics and they tend to be more assimilated."  Bendixen explains it this way, "I think that the people who don't like the term Hispanic are very vocal." 

'I thought the term Latino would be the overwhelming winner ... I've worked in California for Univisión andTelemundo, and I was not allowed to say Hispanic on the air.'
- Sergio Bendixen, Hispanic Trends 

Like author and poet Sandra Cisneros, who has identified herself as Latina, Chicana, Tejana, and Mexican American, but never Hispanic. Cisneros is so offended by the term that she has refused to be pictured on the cover of this magazine. [HISPANIC Magazine uses the terms interchangeably.] "The term Hispanic makes my skin crawl," Cisneros, 45, says. "It's a very colonistic term, a disrespectful term, a term imposed on us without asking what we wanted to call ourselves." 

What she finds most objectionable about the word Hispanic is that the younger generation is accepting the term without questioning where it came from, and who gave the term to them. She blames the Reagan Administration for applying the unwanted label back in the eighties (although the term itself is much older). "How would Reagan feel if we said, 'We're going to call your people "los gueros"? We're just going to group you all together-the Irish, Polish, Lithuanian, English-and we're going to call you 'pinkies' without asking." 

Cisneros believes that the "dominant culture" imposed this label on Latinos as a way of erasing their identity and their past. And she finds this carefree labeling the most insidious destruction of all. "I'm a poet, so words have their resonance. People don't think about how language can be creative and destructive," Cisneros says. 

'We'll never have agreement on what to call such a diverse group of people. We're not going to solve the debate in my lifetime.'-Sylvia Martínez, Editor-Latina

Celestino Fernández, a professor of sociology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, objects to the term Hispanic for the same reasons Cisneros gives. "It's like the difference between African American, Colored, or Negro," the 51-year-old doctor of sociology says. "That's the issue: Who is naming you? The dominant structure came up with the generic Hispanic term."

He says that the term Hispanic has been used for many years now, beginning at least two censuses ago, and it's fairly ingrained in the daily language. "I have found that the older generation prefers the term Latino and the younger population prefers Hispanic," he says. "I've seen some change over time. Many more people are confused about the term Latino. They don't know where the term comes from, especially the native-born Hispanics." 

The word Hispanic is derived from the word España, the country that led the conquest of the New World and whose language and culture has dominated Latin America. The word Latino traces its roots back to ancient Rome and some say it's more inclusive, encompassing Latin American countries such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and others, according to Himilce Novas' book, Everything You Need to Know About Latino History. 

Zachary González, a 27-year-old human resources specialist, attending Roosevelt University in Chicago, is more comfortable with the word Hispanic. "It's a more politically correct word that people outside the race can understand," he says. However, if he had his druthers, "I'm American first, Hispanic if pressed," says the Mexican American raised in Texas.

Villaruel, the 24-year-old studying for a bachelor's degree in business at Northridge, says he also prefers the term Hispanic because his parents are of Spanish Portuguese descent. But he prefers to refer to himself as Spanish American.

Which leads to another point: "If people were given the choice among several terms they would not pick either Latino or Hispanic, but a term closer to how they think of themselves," says Fernández. "Most people think of themselves as Mexican Americans, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans." 

María E. Martín, executive director of Latino USA, a radio journal of news and culture that is heard on National Public Radio, isn't exactly comfortable with the term Hispanic, but her views regarding the term have shifted somewhat. "My reaction to the term back then [in the seventies] was that it was the dominant culture's attempt to homogenize Latinos," Martin, who is in her forties, says. 

But, "[Hispanic] has become much more a part of our reality, and it doesn't feel so much as something that was imposed on us." In fact, the radio journal uses the terms Hispanic and Latino interchangeably depending on the person being interviewed. They are sensitive to what each interviewee prefers to be called. 

As does Latina magazine. The fashion, beauty and health magazine for Hispanic women chose its name based on focus groups. Women responded to the term Latina more positively than other terms, says editor-and-chief Sylvia Martínez. The bilingual publication is sensitive to a person's preference. She, like Martin, is finding that more and more people are accepting the term Hispanic. 

"It's been a debate that's been going on forever," the 39-year-old Mexican American says. "I'm not hung up on what someone calls me, but I'm also mindful of what term I use whenever I'm speaking. 

Rick Dovalina, the national president for League of United Latin American Citizens, thinks the debate is ridiculous. "I really don't have any comments on this topic because I think it's silly. I don't like to get into that here because there are more important issues for us to discuss out there," the 52-year-old Chicano says.

"The most important thing is whatever you decide to call yourself you need to be in tune with each group. Latinos in South Florida need to be in tune with Hispanics in South Texas and Arizona." 

Perhaps the 37-year-old Puerto Rican, Colombian writer and actor John Leguizamo summed up the younger generation's sentiment about identity best. He said he used to call himself Spanish, but now prefers the term Latino. But he doesn't have a problem with Hispanic. "Now 'wetback, greasy spic,' that's offensive," he told Novas. 

Perhaps finding a term that all Hispanics can agree on is an elusive goal. "We'll never have agreement on what to call such a diverse group of people," says Latina's Martínez. "One thing I know for sure is that we're not going to solve the Latino/Hispanic debate in my lifetime."

What the Hispanic Trends poll did definitively prove was that the debate over the terms Hispanic and Latino will continue to rage. H 

Methodology: The Hispanic Trends Inc. poll is based on a survey of 1,200 Latino registered voters interviewed between September and November 4. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points. Hispanic Trends is a polling firm owned by Hispanic Publishing Corporation, which publishes HISPANIC Magazine. 

That is an interesting debate and one that I can only speak for myself. 

I'm from Texas of Mexican decent and I don't have a problem with the word Hispanic. I realized this is a term originated by Census Bureau in order to track the growth of the Spanish speaking population. I also realized that this is a term used exclusively in the United States. However, I'm more than just Latina. I'm also an American, a Texan, and from Mexican, Native-American, French, and Spanish decent. I'm a "Mutt" and very proud to be such a glorious mixture. 

It reminds me of school math problems where you have sets and subsets. Being Latin or Latino includes people whose origins are Latin base; it refers to the root of their language. This includes individuals coming from France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Albania, and Romania. To me being Hispanic includes only those whose language of origins is Spanish. This means all "Hispanics" are Latinos, but not all Latinos are Hispanic. 

It is our responsibility to assure that our culture and people are portrayed as accurately as possible. If we must be categorized, then let us be categorized with a term that unites us, rather than divides us. The term Hispanic, includes all of us accurately without regard to race, creed, color or national origin. --- Wendy 

Ten years ago, the definition of Hispanic was "an American of Spanish or Latin American Descent". Now, Webster says "a person of Latin American descent living in the U.S.; especially one of Cuban, Mexican or Puerto Rican origin". So now, the Spanish "thread" is gone. In essence, Webster says that a Hispanic is a Latino/Latina. How much does this matter? 

Gabriela DeWitt 

Latinos or Hispanics?  A Debate About Identity 

By Darryl Fears
© The Washington Post

On a recent summer's day, Sandra Cisneros walked into Valenzuela's Latino Bookstore and thought she had discovered a treasure. It was one of the few independent book sellers in her home town of San Antonio, and on top of that, she said, its name appealed directly to her. 

But within minutes, her mood changed. A clerk innocently used a word to describe a section of books that made Cisneros's skin crawl. "She used the word Hispanic," Cisneros said, her voice dripping with indignation. "I wanted to ask her, 'Why are you using that word?'

"People who use that word don't know why they're using it," said Cisneros, a Mexican American poet and novelist. "To me, it's like a slave name. I'm a Latina." 

That declaration -- "I'm a Latina" -- is resounding more and more through the vast and diverse Spanish-speaking population that dethroned African Americans as the nation's largest ethnic group a few months ago. It is also deepening a somewhat hidden but contentious debate over how the group should identify itself -- as Hispanics or Latinos. 

The debate is increasingly popping up wherever Spanish speakers gather. It was raised last month at the National Council of La Raza's convention in Austin. The Internet is littered with articles and position papers on the issue. Civic organizations with Hispanic in their titles have withstood revolts by activist members seeking to replace it with the word Latino. 

Cisneros refused to appear on the cover of Hispanic magazine earlier this year because of its name. She relented only after editors allowed her to wear a huge faux tattoo on her biceps that read "Pura Latina," or Pure Latina. 

Another Mexican American writer, Luis J. Rodriguez, only reluctantly accepted an award from a Hispanic organization "because I'm not Hispanic," he said. Some have called the argument an insignificant disagreement over words that is being blown out of proportion. 

But others believe such labels can change the course of a people, as advocates of "black power" showed when they cast aside the term Negro during their crusade for self-determination amid the 1960s civil rights movement. "I think the debate reflects the flux this community is in right now," said Angelo Falcon, a senior policy executive for the Puerto Rican Legal and Education Fund. "It's almost like a story where you ask, 'Where might this community be going?' " 

Although the terms Latino and Hispanic have been used interchangeably for decades, experts who have studied their meanings say the words trace the original bloodlines of Spanish speakers to different populations in opposite parts of the world. Hispanics derive from the mostly white Iberian peninsula that includes Spain and Portugal, while Latinos are descended from the brown indigenous Indians of the Americas south of the United States and in the Caribbean, conquered by Spain centuries ago. 

Latino-Hispanic is an ethnic category in which people can be of any race. They are white, like the Mexican American boxer Oscar de la Hoya, and black, like the Dominican baseball slugger Sammy Sosa. They can also be Ameri-Indian and Asian. A great many are mixtures of several races. More than 90 percent of those who said they are of "some other race" on the 2000 Census identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino. "As a poet, I'm especially sensitive to the power a word has," said Cisneros, who wrote the books "Caramelo" and "The House on Mango Street." "It's not a word. It's a way of looking at the world. It's a way of looking at meaning." 

Duard Bradshaw has a different opinion. "I'll tell you why I like the word Hispanic," said the Panamanian president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. "If we use the word Latino, it excludes the Iberian peninsula and the Spaniards. The Iberian peninsula is where we came from. We all have that little thread that's from Spain." 

A survey of the community conducted last year by the Pew Hispanic Center of Washington found that nearly all people from Spanish-speaking backgrounds identify themselves primarily by their place of national origin. When asked to describe the wider community, more than half, 53 percent, said both Hispanic and Latino define them. A substantial but smaller group, 34 percent, favored the term Hispanic. 

The smallest group, 13 percent, said they preferred Latino. A survey by Hispanic Trends magazine produced a similar finding. But advocates for the term Latino were unfazed. "The very fact that it's called the Pew Hispanic Center tells you something," said Fernando Guerra, the Mexican American director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. "The fact that Hispanic is in the name of the organization . . . biased the question." 

The term Hispanic was given prominence by the Nixon administration more than 30 years ago when it was added to the census questionnaire in 1970. Although that year's count of the large Mexican American, Puerto Rican and Cuban American populations was a disappointment, a seed had been planted. By the 1980 Census, Hispanic had become fixed as the official government term. It appeared not only on census forms, but also on all other federal, state and municipal applications for employment, general assistance and school enrollment. 

"It's a great gift that the government of the United States gave us," said Vincent Pinzon, the Colombian president and founder of the Americas Foundation. "If you want to acquire political muscle in this country, and you say you're just Argentinian or Colombian, then you have none." But Mexican American activists in California and Puerto Rican activists in New York were not pleased. They favored a term that included the brown indigenous Indians who they believe are the source of their bloodline. "Hispanic doesn't work for me because it's about people from Spain," said Rodriguez, author of the book "The Republic of East L.A." "I'm Mexican, and we were conquered by people from Spain, so it's kind of an insult." 

Rodriguez's views are typical of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles, the epicenter of immigrants from that country, and the Chicano rights movement. The term Chicano is thought to have originated as slang that described immigrants and refugees from the Mexican revolution. The term later evolved to define the uprising of Mexican American reformers and rights activists as well as farm laborers and other workers who lived in squalor while toiling for low pay. As activists from other Latin countries joined the movement, Latino was adopted as an umbrella term for all groups. "In L.A., if someone says he's Hispanic, and he's not from the East Coast, you begin to question this guy," said Guerra, the Loyola Marymount professor. "It means he didn't grow up in a Latino neighborhood." 

In Washington, where the Pew Center is located, Salvadorans who dominate the area's large Central American population say "somos Latinos" -- we are Latinos -- according to José Ramos, director of the United Salvadoran American Civic Committee. "Hispanic is a category for the U.S. Census," he said. "It's a formality. For me, the correct term is Latino. It identifies people who speak the same language, people who share a vision of the historical meaning of our community. I am Salvadoran, and I am Latino." 

But Cuban immigrants in Miami, conservative Mexican Americans in Texas and a group of Spanish descendants in New Mexico are among the groups that strongly identify themselves as Hispanic. 

The word Latin dates to an 18th century spat between England and France, according to a historical resource guide written by journalist Frank del Olmo for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Latin was used to distinguish Italy, France, Spain and their conquered territories in the Americas from the British empire and its colonies. 

Latino was popularized during the social movements of the 1960s, Guerra and other historians said. The disagreement over the pair of ancient terms is an annoyance to some. When the subject came up at the National Council of La Raza's annual meeting, Lisa Navarette, the group's Cuban American spokeswoman, dismissed it. "We've got so many real important issues to work on, we can't be bothered with this nit-picking." The community indeed faces daunting challenges: high unemployment, a skyrocketing high school dropout rate, widespread opposition to immigration reform and crowded communities. But the issue isn't apt to disappear. A few years ago, Bradshaw's group, the Hispanic National Bar Association in Washington, had to fight off a resolution by a group of members to remove the word Hispanic from its name and replace it with Latino. Last semester, students at Southern Methodist University in Dallas talked about changing the name Hispanic Student Services. And earlier this year, Cisneros, the author who abhors the word Hispanic, refused to accept an award from a Hispanic organization. 

At the Latino bookstore Cisneros visited, owner Richard Martinez didn't know what to think. "I don't know which is correct," he said. "I'm a Mexican, a Latino, a Hispanic, whatever. Be who you are. Be proud, like everyone else."

Latin? Hispanic? What's the difference? Actually Latino and Hispanic are not synonymous. 

The word "Latin" comes to us from a tribe in early Italy called the Latins. The Latins lived in Latium whose capital city was Rome. Their language was called Latin. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, as Rome's Empire grew their language, Latin, spread throughout the Roman Empire later evolving into several "Romance" languages; Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. People from these countries are referred to as Latin, their language is derived from "Latin". These languages are very similar as explained by Dr. Lorenzo LaFarelle, a Chicano Studies professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, the word for cave in Spanish is "cueva", in Portuguese is "cova", in Italian is "cava". 

When the Romans invaded the Iberian peninsula they found a city already there called Hispalis (Seville). The name Hispalis appears to be derived from Greek since Hispalus is a mythical Greek hero. Later on the Romans annexed the Iberian peninsula making it a province named Hispania. The Romans spent seven centuries in Hispania leaving a legacy not only of language but of social and cultural characteristics such as family, language, and religion which tied Hispania to the rest of the "Latin" world forever. Sometime later the name evolved from Hispania to España. The word Hispania thus refers to the people and culture of the Iberian peninsula, Spain in particular. The term Hispano (Hispanic) later was used in referring to Spain and its subsequent New World - New Spain, conquered territories which covers most of Latino America. Hispanic thus refers to people whose culture and heritage have ties to Spain and, in the case of second and third generation Hispanic-Americans, who may or may not speak Spanish. 

In the U.S. the term Hispanic (Hispano) gained acceptance after it was picked up by the government and used in forms and census to identify people with Spanish heritage. Hispanic is not a race but an ethnic distinction, Hispanics come from all races and physical traits. The term Hispanic is merely a translation of the Old World word Hispania (Latin) or Hispano (Spanish). 

Latin America is a geographic location. People from Latin America are all Latin but not all are Hispanics. Brazilians speak Portuguese, which makes them Latin but not Hispanic. In the 20's and 50's the term "Latin American" became very popular. Back then people of Mexican descent born in the United States preferred to be called Latin Americans since they were not actually born in Mexico, they felt the term Mexican did not exactly fit them. Besides that often the term Mexican was used with a derogatory note. In 1928 in the Corpus Christi - Laredo area a group of Hispanics spearheaded LULAC (League of Latin American Citizens) to help combat discrimination and prejudice and to help Hispanics acculturate. 

Prior to Texas joining the Union, old Hispanic native families in Texas called themselves "Tejanos". After 1820 the Anglo population called themselves Texans and the term Mexicans was used for all Hispanics whether newly arrived or not. 

The term "Chicano", is a more exclusive term used solely in reference to people of Mexican descent. Chicano was probably first used by the Conquistadores. The original Mexican Indians were called Mexicas. That term was changed to Mexicanos by the Spaniards and probably the "me" was dropped and thus the term Xicanos or Chicanos was born. Sometime ago a popular and elite group of Mexican nationalist fighters called themselves "Los Chicanos" and the name was picked up in the 1970's by young militant Americans of Mexican descent to make a political statement. Although the term "Chicano" is an "old" word, many elderly Hispanics of Mexican descent don't like it because the term had been used, long ago, as derogatory reference to Mexican peasants or peons. 

Boricua is a term used exclusively for Puerto Ricans. The Taíno Indians called their paradise Borikén, the term Boricua derives from that.  So what are we? We, Spanish speakers or people of Spanish heritage are Hispanics or Hispanos. 

You wrote: "But the language I speak is Spanish."

My response: Well just to show an example, I am now writing in English, and I can speak English, but I'm not English.

I don't have a problem with the word Hispanic, I sometimes say that I'm Salvadoran if people want to know what my origins are. I never have liked the word "Latino" when referring to Hispanics in the English language. I know that that word is now even included in English dictionaries, but I won't use it, -I may however, when speaking English use the term Latin for myself.

I think that it is ridiculous that some individuals think that these words have political connotations. I once told someone that rather than get into some controversy about the words Hispanic and Latino, that I just refer to myself as Salvadoran. That person then told me that Hispanic was the term conservative people use and that Latino was the word liberals use, and that because I called myself Salvadoran -that I must be somewhere in between.

In my humble opinion, if I were you I would say that I'm Colombian and on occasion say that I'm Hispanic.  By the way, if any "Hispanic" insists that the word "Latino" should be used, then I would refer them to two articles published in www.HispanicVista.com  written by two different authors. They both say that neither Hispanic nor Latino should be used because these terms negate the Indigenous heritage. Those articles can be found by going to the previously mentioned website and they are titled "Over the years I've been called a lot of things -just don't call us Latinos" by John M. Renteria, and "We are not Latino, not Hispanic" by Olin Tezcatlipoca.

Other related articles in that website are "Si -Chicanos? Latinos? Hispanics? Hyphenated Americans? Brown People? What are we? Should we care? Arose by any other name..." by Ricardo Castanon, "Si...! Present-day Hispanics have an identity problem!" by Ricardo Castanon, "How did Hispanic moniker get chosen instead of Latino or some other ethnic name? The Roots of 'Hispanic' -1975 Committee of Bureaucrats Produced Designation" by Darryl Fears, and "Hispanic Heritage of the United States" by Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, Ph.D.

[[Editor:  About 15 years ago, I happened on a Latin American studies book among the private book collection of a UCLA historian that had passed away. The book used the word Hispanic to describe all the descendants of the Spanish colonization. It was a college text written in the mid 1930s. The introduction said the term was used by historians as an all-inclusive term for countries whose history was shaped by Spanish colonization.]] 

LAS COMADRES PARA LAS AMERICAS

National Latina Business Women Association

left to right, Lorena Maae, founder of the OC Chapter and Past President, Community Relations Officer for Citibank; Zeneida Mendoza, President of the LA Chapter and founding member, owns her own business Nuevo Ink Designs; Sylvia Rios, President Elect of the SAC chapter, owns her own business SReyes & Associates; Norma Andrade, Past President of the SAC chapter and Founder of SAC chapter, is a financial planner for AG Edwards; Theresa Ynzunza, Founder of the organization and President of National Board, owner Ynzunza & Associates, Public and Government Relations company; Carolina Camacho, President of OC chapter, owns CPA firm Camacho and Associates, Janet Cronick, Immediate Past President of OC chapter and owns her own business, Ultimate Gifts; Kenia Davalos Romero, West Coast Chair of the National  Board and partner of Perini Enterprises, Tanya Zabalegui, VP of OC chapter, owns Crafts from Argentina, and your editor, Mimi Lozano. 

Hispanic business growth outpaces U.S. rate.  

It increases at three times the U.S. average from 1997 to 2002.  The number of Hispanic businesses rose 31% percent to almost 1.6 million, bnerating about $222 billion in revenue.   The Hispanic market in the U.S. is about $700 billion a year, "bigger than the GDP (gross domestic product) of Mexico and the GDP of Canada and we expect that to be $1trillion by 2010," said Michael Barrera, president and chief executive of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. OC Register, 3-22-06

Spanish Language Skills and Annual Income 

2003 survey showed that Spanish-only families in Miami averaged an annual income of $18,000, English-only $32,000, and bilingual families $50,376.
Source: Bernd Debusmann, www.reuters.com  Sent by Juan Ramos jramos.swkr@comcast.net

The ranks of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States grew 43 percent, to 1.6 million, from 1997 to 2002 – quadruple the growth of all companies. The companies generated about $222 billion in revenue, up 19 percent, according to a new report on Hispanic businesses from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The rate of growth in Hispanic businesses exceeds the growth rate in the country's Hispanic population, which increased 23 percent to 37 million.  “Hispanics are rapidly assimilating into mainstream U.S. culture. . . . They comprise the fastest-growing market in the U.S.,” said George Belch, chairman of the marketing department at San Diego State University.

In California, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses grew 27 percent, to 427,800, from 1997 to 2002, according to the new report. Comparable population growth figures are not available, but the state's Hispanic population grew 43 percent in the 1990s, according to the San Diego County Chamber of Commerce.

In San Diego County – where starting a business is relatively expensive – Hispanic-controlled firms grew 17 percent, to 33,000 companies, during 1997 to 2002, the Census Bureau said.

The country's Hispanic population grew 47 percent, to 751,000, during the '90s, according to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“The cost of living is very high here, and many Hispanic entrepreneurs go to Los Angeles,” said Ruben Garcia, district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The majority of Hispanic companies in the United States overall and in San Diego County are in construction or service businesses, such as repair and maintenance, the Census Bureau said in its report.

Diana Zuniga, for instance, opened her one-person insurance company in Escondido two years ago, using $70,000 she'd saved from training agents for another firm. The company now has about 200 clients.

About 87 percent of Hispanic-owned companies – both nationally and locally – are one-person operations. Despite that, the county's Hispanic-owned firms did $3.5 billion in sales in 2002.

Language barriers and lack of access to financing and education were cited as the primary hurdles facing would-be Hispanic entrepreneurs in a recently issued study on Mexican-American entrepreneurship.

The study, co-written by economics professor Christopher Woodruff at UC San Diego, found that the median net worth of native-born and foreign-born Mexican Americans were $28,690 and $6,276, respectively, compared with $76,685 for white non-Hispanics.

The disparity in educational levels was equally striking: Non-Hispanic whites average 13.7 years of schooling, compared with 12.6 years for U.S.-born Hispanics of Mexican descent and nine years for Mexican-born immigrants.

Woodruff, director of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies in San Diego, said one way to bring more Hispanics into business ownership is to provide greater access to business loans and other financial support.  “The Hispanic population, in general, uses the financial system at lower rates,” he noted.

Hispanic entrepreneurs who have trouble taking their small operations to the next level typically face the same problems as any business owner, said the SBA's Garcia. “They're underprivileged, in the wrong industry or not qualified,” said Garcia, noting that 60 percent of all small businesses fail in the first year. Moreover, 50 percent of Hispanics prefer doing business in Spanish, limiting their marketing potential, he added.

Zuniga agreed that some Hispanic businesspeople have trouble marketing to other cultures partly because of language barriers. “They are in their comfort zone in their own culture,” she said.  Garcia said his agency works with about 80 loan and venture capital companies to assist Hispanic-owned and other small businesses.

Area nonprofits, such as Accion San Diego, also provide loans to micro-enterprises that are not big enough to land assistance from banks and loan companies, he said.  “The resources are there if people want them,” Garcia said. Frank Green: (619) 293-1233; frank.green@uniontrib.com

Anti-Spanish Legends

Britt Lomond, 'Zorro' villain, dies at 80
So-called Spanish Flu of 1918

Britt Lomond, 'Zorro' villain, dies at 80
1950s TV role brought him fame before he started a second career behind the camera. 
The Orange County Register , March 25, 2006

[[Editor: I find it fascinating that 50 years after the series ran on TV, that a foreign country would issue a postage stamp recognizing the Spanish villain!!]]

Lomond was born in Chicago and grew up in New York City. He served as a paratrooper in the Pacific during World War II and was awarded three Purple Hearts and both the Silver and Bronze Stars. After the war, Lomond went to New York University, where he received a master of fine arts degree and took up fencing. 

He came to Southern California to work as an illustrator, but his fencing skills soon led to a new career in the movies. Lomond found regular work doing the swordfighting scenes in movies such as "Scaramouche," in which he doubled for Mel Ferrer. Lomond was put under contract by Disney, which led to his part in "Zorro." After the show ended, he remained busy as an actor through the late '60s. 

[[Editor:  I have long questioned the use of the term Spanish Flu, as an indication of Anti-Spanish sentiments.  Recent research is questioning the origination of the 1918 flu.]] 

What happened on Cape Cod in the 1918 flu epidemic?
By Duncan Oliver
Yarmouthport Register, MA - Dec 15, 2005
... now believe that the virus started in Haskell County, Kan., in January 1918. ...  still going on, the military quickly and inadvertently brought the flu to Europe ... 

Military and Law Enforcement Heroes

A Legacy Greater than Words

 Stories of U.S. Latinos & Latinas of the World War II Generation

When asked to create the cover for this book I knew it was a large responsibility. The cover is responsible for selling the content. And the content is invaluable. The stories within the book are about men and women who sacrificed for a country that barely recognized them as citizens--before, during and after the war. They held their heads up with pride as American citizens regardless of how the government and the people treated them. Therefore, I wanted the message to be powerful, I couldn't just single one photo or a few to represent the whole, so I decided to put all the individual stories on the cover, and the idea for the flag came from the stories themselves. They are Latinos and Latinas who deserve recognition for their American heroism. And I believe that by looking at the cover, you can get a sense of what you will be reading on the inside.

Melissa J DiPiero-D'Sa
mj_dsa@yahoo.com cell: (512) 784.0167

Virgil has it on sale from $34.95 to $29.95 until next SEP. You can order a
copy by email at:hmhbook@hmh.com or calling: 1-800-247-6553.

Sent by Rafael Ojeda  RSNOJEDA@aol.com

CUENTOS

by Frank Sifuentes 

It was late morning and I was under the house escaping the ever increasing heat as inclement as our mid Texas summers could get. And I was entertaining myself in the only cool spot in the entire vicinity. I loved the smell of the cool dirt which seemed good enough to taste; however when I did the mixture of saliva failed to recognize it a palatable: Plus my teeth could not really chew it, so that the remaining grainy quality of it ended up being rejected by my stomach, which for me was not a matter of simply needing it a food, since mama homemade tortillas, refried beans and papas fritas had me still pacified.

After a couple of attempts to spit it out in  I ended up having to go to the backyard to the water fountain for water to aid me in spitting the dirt out; which turned out to be an effort, I would not have made even if it had been nourishing.

I finally realized how futile smells can become when real food is not in the picture.

My first effort when I started playing under the house was to finds ways to add things to the miniature ranch, I had build with popsicle sticks woven into tiny walls and connected by strings and fine wires. Then I wove another one for the roof.

I also used them as little "rafts' during heavy rainstorms created almost instantly a varying number of 'raging' creeks.

I had built a fence around the ranch house also with popsicle sticks tied together by string. Leveling out the ground and making paths was also pleasurable. . But after that: What? Built a pig pen or a barn, with no idea of how I could get little pigs, nor straw for the barn, and no chickens either. Worse of all, no horses.

Therefore, I had to invent a new games. One that always intrigued me was removing the fine dirt shaped like an inverted little cone created by doodle bugs as a home to hide in. They were tiny little creatures, shaped like a miniature light tan colored boxing gloves.

And I discovered I could victimize small insects, like flies and doodle bugs by flinging them at the black widow's web beneath he front door steps; and then watch the drama of the awesome poison-laden spider with a white spot on its back that come out of its hole and ever so gradually in stop and starts make its way towards the kill, and takes back into its nest  the victim to feast on their juices.

There was no thought that  I was doing the spider a good deed, for it did not need my help to capture food.

From my vantage point, I was able to watch Olivia Lopez and my sister Carmen - who were 9, a year and a half older than me. They were engaged in a duel for the rope jumping championship de la Calle Siete y Chicon.

Olivia was ahead with 101 jumps without a miss, and Carmen was dead set on surpassing her; though the strained look on her face and apparent shortness of breath revealed she was not going to do so.

Just then I saw a l939 GMC truck pulling huge trailer-bed, with a tarp covering large sections of metal and machinery, throwing up clouds of dust. And I immediately realized the carnival was arriving, and shouted: Mira!! El Pulpo..ya viene el carnaval !! And it made Carmen skip a jump, giving her a good excuse to start again after a short rest. However she and Olivia forget about jumping rope and their emerging egos, since they were caught up with the intrigue and excitement of the arriving major event of our long summers.

Carmen, Olivia and I took long looks in both directions of 7th St. to be sure there were no cars, or wagons pulled by horses heading for downtown after unloading huge piles of cotton at the Gin Mill; and then crossed running as fast as we could.

Olivia who was taller and slim darted ahead, as if she was flaunting her zebra like speed. While Carmen and I had the good fortune of actually being fat and resigned over being slow pokes.

Before we knew it Olivia had almost reached the spot where the truck had stopped. And just about that time a l932 Chevy came into the lot, pulling a trailer where the carnival  people slept and cooked. The man driving it honked his horn and signaled Olivia to go no further.

"Go back home you kids, you are just going to get in the way. We don't want you to get hurt! he said with sufficient authority. 'Go tell your friends and family the Octopus is here, and I'll give you all a free ride.

Olivia dashed off to announce to her mom that the carnivals' el Pulpo had arrived.

Carmen and I stood far away enough to remain staring at the trailer, and saw a girl about Carmen's age, a slim, thin, frail looking white girl with long honey blonde hair come out carrying a pan of dirty water to throw out.

When she saw us she decided to come close to us before dumping the water.

"Hi, you'al' my name is Iona St. Therese Patricia Marie Jordan. What's you all's name?"

"My name is Maria del Carmen and this is my brother Kiko. We lived in that house across the street". pointing to our home with a new found sense pride of ownership.

Iona looked at it with a longing and said: "Gosh, I wish I had a neighborhood and a home like yours."

Well, if you like it, why don't you come and visit and play house with us," Carmen said filled with compassion.

Then we heard the voice of a woman inside the trailer shout:.".Iona! Git your little tail over here right now! You know you won't have time to play until we get settled in."

"Alright, mama I coming," Iona shouted back.

"See ya, she said, and be sure to come back. My dad really means it, and will give you a free ride on the Octopus,"  she said as she was leaving.

Carmen and I had only one choice: To run home as fast as we  could screaming: Ama, ama ya vino el CARNAVAL

"Mother the carnival has arrived," Carmen announced in perfect English after entering the house.

It was a Sunday and mama had a day off from her job as a maid for the Stephen F. Austin Hotel, the day Carmen could enjoy the entire day without even having to pick up a broom as soon a mother got home early afternoon on Saturdays.

We both stood in silence looking at the direction where mama was toiling away ironing our clothes. Carmen was more emboldened that I was, so she went up to mama and just looked at her closely. Then she turned around and picked  up the broom, as a way to remind mama that she was the woman of the house when mam was away at work, and therefore most deserving. And she swept faster and more efficiently than she normally did. For she was not going to take any chances, if in fact Mama had coins to spare for us to enjoy the thrills available in an entire block and a half filled by rides and booths and the house of mirrors, etc.

Mama looked at my direction and knew she was going to have me approach her next.  "Ama..'bas a tener dinero pa poder ir al carnaval?"

"Hay, mi'jo, no se donde voy a encontrar el dinero para eso," which to me sounded like a downright maybe.

Carmen continued sweeping the entire house as well as any full grown woman. And then passed by mama rather closely and said: "Ya acabe, mama!"

Then she motioned to me to leave the house with her, and cross the street again. This time we went to the left corner where an old black gentleman had established a Black Smith Shop in a building that had been a Round House for servicing the trains nearby.

We headed straight to the China Berry Tree to enjoy the shade. But we stood on the side where an old horse was tide up awaiting to be shoed. It was a kind of pathetic gentle old creature. And we both decided to get close enough to touch it on it's left side.

The old gentleman who always smiles at us and waved said, "Hi you'sall."

"Hi Mr. Bernard ," we responded, isn't great the carnival is here?.

"Yes, it is I just may get a little work here and there from it,"  he said as he smoked his pipe and set his mind to thought. And then he broke the spell and smiled at us again and said, "When you get tired of the carnival, you're always welcome to come a hear a story or two."

"Sure will' Mr. Bernard we said as we left to get closer to the action.

We saw how fast Iona's dad and his assistants had connected the parts to make the Octopus ride ready for the thrills ahead.

Iona had seen us and came up to us again. Carmen and I were so fascinated by El Pulpo that we scarcely paid attention to her.

"I know its exciting," Iona told us, "but the truth is, I'm sick of it."

"I'm sure you enjoy being in your trailer and traveling around," Carmen said in the sharpest English she could muster since she was speaking to an Americana.

"It aint no fun at'al," Iona said. Nothing better than a real house she told us as she looked at our house with longing.  'Then she said, "sometimes I think I'll go crazy living in a tiny old trailer."

"At times". she said with a tone that betrayed dark secrets, "I feel like I am going to suffocate in the stupid junky trailer."

"IONA..WHAT DID I TELL YOU, we have a lot of chores to do before you can go off and play in the neighborhood." "Well, I have to leave, but I’ll remind my dad to be sure you get the ride he promised."

"Daddy, my friends are ready any time you say," she screamed. "I know, honey, I know. Just another couple of minutes," and then he turn on the juice and started the the eight tentacles with its large metal whirling chairs swirling in the air.

Carmen and I stared at it and saw it was ready for us.  "Climb on board Iona's friends. We need to test this thing a little more anyway, " Iona's dad said.

He put us on board but not together. Each of us was going to ride alone in a separate tentacle. And off we went raising up high and having the seat whirl around. However there was one problem, the speed was faster than any other previous ride on the Octopus, So fast that both Carmen and I
were starting to feel panic.

The fact that we were the only ones on it, unnerved us, as we held on for dear life. Apparently Iona's dad was intent on giving us the longest Octopus ride of our lives.

And it appeared that he had just walked away to let us keep enjoying the ride as long as we wanted. But before long Carmen started yelling "Stop this stupid thing! I want off!"  but was not heard.

Finally she started screaming hysterically "Help, help.. get me off this stupid thing!" I didn't yell but was just as terrified as Carmen. And also was at the point of crying and then screaming too.

"STOP THIS THING, DAMN IT..STOP". Carmen kept yelling until finally they heard her. and brought the ride to a stop.

Carmen and I got off quickly and started leaving area. 'I'm going to tell everyone in the  neighborhood not to ride that monster!" she said giving Iona's dad one of those looks that killed. "Come on, Kiko..forget this carnaval!"

Iona's dad was enjoying a good laugh, as we ran home. "Hey, you'al don't you want another ride. we got this thing fine tuned now?"

"You can keep your stupid rides," Carmen shouted back.  The ride had been normal however. It was just that we were each alone in our seat and since the other 12 tentacles' seats were empty, and the effect was the opposite of enjoyment not having others smiles and laughing.

Iona, went over to speak with her father, wanting to know why Carmen was upset; and all he could do was shrug his shoulders. Besides we forgot about it not too long after.

It turned out our sister Juanita who was 7 had gotten back from he stay with Mamagrande Lupe; and she had gone across the Street with Emilia and Tina Sanchez and together they struck up a conversation with Iona. And when they got back Juanita said she had invited Iona to come a play with her.

And sure enough the following mid-morn Iona came over. Carmen had not gotten upset with her or nothing; so soon all three of them were playing with dolls my sisters had gotten the past couple of Christmases.

Then they started playing Jacks in which they bounced a tiny red ball while picking up a jack until all of them had been gathered. And I decided to join in to show I had a talent for the game.

Each turn we took we had to increased the number of Jacks to pick up until we ended the game and declared ourselves the winner, after we scooped up all 12 of the jacks up at the same time.

Iona made herself at home and walked all around it, and even jump on the beds to try them out. Oh, boy.. how nice to have a real bed of your own to sleep on, she told us.

As the director in charge Carmen decided we should formally start playing house in the back yard where we had an old mattress we enjoyed jumping up and down on. And Carmen started giving us instructions handing a broom to Iona and telling her to sweep an area to rid it of rocks. And then she went into the house to get materials. like an old large sheet to cover the mattress and pillows. Then she found some old curtains and hung them on the back side of the house. And sent me to bring out some chairs and a small table. We used an old crate as a piece of furnisher. And before long we had a 'house' to play in with what was supposed to be a stove to cook on and some pots.

We put the old sheet on the mattress and pillows. And I became the man of the house and Janie was to be the wife with me on the the bed. But Iona decided she wanted to be a wife also, and got on my other side. And since she had literally seen what wives do, she put her arms over me and pretended to smooch.

Alright now, Carmen said, Kiko get up and get ready to go to leave for work. I told Carmen that I was going to get ready to go hunting for foxes, since I was actually the King.

Iona came every day for the entire week to play everything we could think of. Her imagination was somehow better than ours in playing the part of my wife. Which though I was only 8 actually seemed real enjoyable. Janie no longer wanted to be a second wife though.

By the last day before the carnival got dismantled, me, Iona and my sisters had become bonded. And it was really sad when we had to say goodbye.

"Sure have enjoyed myself." Iona told us; and I will be sure to look you all up when we come back next year as she walked away. We stood there and watched her go all the back to her trailer where sometimes she felt she would suffocate.  

Sent by Joseph Puentes, makas@nc.rr.com
Webmaster of: NuestraFamiliaUnida-owner@yahoogroups.com

At first, I intended to either walk the entire way across America or perhaps take a canoe across the same route as Lewis and Clark. Several factors were to play a role in influencing my eventual decision to drive. After high school I joined the United States Marine Corps. We were young and tough. I was lucky to get a commanding officer who was interested in hiking. He asked a group of us to hike through about half of the Appalachian Trail. The memory of that trek encouraged me to consider making my dream expedition by foot. That was an unforgettable experience, but now I was 49 years old. I hadn’t really kept myself in shape, although I even tried training for the walk. My wife Kathy and I walked in our neighborhood every day. We went about two or three miles on each walk. I came home from those walks very sore and fatigued. After about a month I felt that I was not making enough of an improvement to satisfy my goal of walking across America. In addition, I would be carrying 40 to 50 pounds of equipment in a backpack. I tried carrying the loaded pack but it was such a miserable experience that I began to plan an alternative mode of transportation. Another factor was my limited financial resources. I had enough money for 3 or 4 months, but walking across America could take roughly 9 to 12 months. I heard of some people who took as long as four years to make a similar trip. With my physical condition, it would probably take longer to complete the trek. 

Since I wanted to discover my own, and our country’s, history while on this expedition, it would be necessary to collect and carry equipment that would assist me with the history component of this expedition. Doing this out of a backpack would be next to impossible. I was going to be taking a lot of equipment much like Lewis and Clark did when they prepared for their Corps of Discovery. Meriwether Lewis began preparations for their journey starting at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. There were stops in Philadelphia, Lancaster, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before the expedition finally assembled at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Along the way they learned everything they could about medicine, natural history, navigation and the use of scientific instruments. Lewis and Clark had to gather all kinds of equipment and provisions. 

The two and a half year expedition would require a long list of supplies. They packed weapons, clothing, trade goods, paper, medicines, scientific instruments, reference books, maps, tools and camping equipment. They would have to augment the food they hunted with brine, flour, honey, ground corn, salt, sugar, coffee, lard and whiskey. Lewis and Clark had boats and horses to transport everything that they would need for their journey. The supplies I needed were maps and all the research papers on my family genealogy. This file filled a packing box. It would come in handy when I reached Mexico. I needed camping gear. I would be bringing a tent, lantern, stove, cooking utensils, cooler, food, hunting and fishing equipment. I planned to stop at famous battlefields and to participate in Civil War reenactments. 

Since I would be reliving history, I planned to take all my Civil War reenactment equipment and clothing. It was obvious that the scope of my journey was going to either be scaled back or I was going to have to decide on a more practical mode of transportation. I decided to drive. Another influencing factor was the disturbing news that my father and mother were suffering from health issues. My father had just been diagnosed with cancer. My mother had fallen and had broken her leg. They were both 80 years old, so I felt an urgency to get to southern Texas to see them. Traveling by foot would be out of the question. It would take way too long. Traveling by canoe would require a partner and I did not have anyone to help me. Many of the river routes were no longer navigable because of dams. I could not go by water. These key factors shaped my decision. I only had to plan my route and say goodbye to family and friends.

I would begin my journey on June 12, 2004. I did not know when I would return. It was possible that I would be in some areas for an extended period if circumstances dictated. I knew that I might run out of money and would have to get a job while out on the road. I packed clothes that would be comfortable in summer and winter. Even though I thought that I would have enough room in my truck for everything that I needed, it became apparent that I was starting to overcrowd my truck. The back of the truck barely had enough room for me to lie down. My wife was totally supportive of my journey. She always knew of my need to travel and explore. When we were young college students at Indiana University she knew that I had hitchhiked from Chicago to Boston and back to work a summer job at a summer camp that both she and I worked at. After we got married, I took the family on long trips in the car. I think that getting out on the road was in my blood.

My son, Michael, thought at first that I was crazy. But since he traveled around Europe when he was in college, he was more accepting of the fact that his dad was leaving everything to pursue such untraditional goals. I felt good that I had my son’s support. My daughter, Leigh, was indifferent to the whole affair. She was reluctant to show any support, and at times, she seemed to be annoyed by anything that detracted from her own life. I felt like the hassle of just getting together with her to say goodbye was too much for her. We finally did get together. My daughter had always made me proud, especially when she decided to study Spanish at Boston University, eventually studying in Spain. She seemed to have an interest in her culture that I did not see in my son. Since I was embarking on a journey to discover my Mexican roots I thought she would show more interest. Ever since my daughter went to college, she has seemed to be drifting away from the family. My wife and I found her distance frustrating.

My wish is that my children have all of their dreams fulfilled. I think that parents seek approval from their children just as much as children desire the approval of their parents. I found it surprisingly difficult to explain my trip to others. My hope is that someday that all my family will understand why I had to take this journey and come to appreciate the good things that resulted from my explorations. My close friends Orlando and Linda Corona are very liberal thinking individuals. They hate George Bush and are involved in the peace movement. Orlando was a "Moonie" when he was young. Linda was the type that would go to nude beaches when she was young. We have found both of these grown-up flower children to be fun and entertaining and we relate to them in many ways. Orlando is part Mexican and his father still lives in Mexico. Orlando and Linda were supportive of my journey, but I think that Linda was hoping that Orlando would not be tempted to join me because of his home commitments. They have two sons who are still in school. I knew that Orlando wished that he could do what I was attempting to do. I had wished that Orlando could be  the William Clark to my Meriwether Lewis. It was better for me that my children were grown up. I would have hated to leave my wife with the responsibility of having to take care of the family by herself. Even though some occupations, such as being a soldier, require people to leave loved ones. Orlando and Linda focused mostly on the self-discovery aspect of my journey. I didn’t at all feel that this was the major reason. It was one of several reasons that were all of equal importance. 
I was equally interested in the traveling, history and genealogy aspects of my journey. They loaded me up with all kinds of self-discovery books and tapes before I left. On the morning 
of the journey, my two dogs did not have a clue that I would be separating them. Dudley, the male, is one and a half years old. My female beagle, Judge Judy, is about eleven years old. I had to make a decision about whether to take Judy. The two dogs have never been separated. There was not enough room in the front seat of the car for both of them. Judy tends to be more of a wanderer when she is on her own. I was afraid that she would run off if I took her. I finally decided to ask my wife to take care of her even though Kathy does not really like the dogs. I was a little concerned that Kathy and Judy would have a difficult time living together since I was the one who always took care of the dogs. When the day arrived for me to leave, I felt very excited and tired at he same time. I didn’t sleep very well the night before. The thought of going into the unknown is something that explorers over the centuries have had to contemplate. When Lewis and Clark embarked on their journey, it was equivalent today to going to the moon. Many feared that they would never return. Captain Lewis was known as a man who would fret, fume and worry about details. It is easy to assume that he didn’t get much sleep on the night before he started on his Voyage of Discovery. There was a sense of mystery surrounding my journey and concern for how it would unfold. The world’s original explorers were the native peoples. They have migrated across the earth since the beginning of man. There was a practice passed down from generation to generation of natives that was called vision quest. As translated in English, vision quest is a personal journey into Nature’s remoteness where isolation, introspection and deprivation brings the traveler into a new and more focused awareness of one’s existence and helps the individual to achieve a state of harmony in his life. I now was embarking on my own vision quest. Isolation, introspection and deprivation would lead me to my vision quest.

I awoke before dawn and made last minute preparations such as getting Dudley comfortable for the long journey and putting together my food supplies. Kathy and I stopped at the local supermarket to pick up groceries and ice. Kathy and I followed each other in our separate vehicles for about 20 miles. We then pulled over on the side of the road, said our final goodbyes and gave each other a kiss. Dudley and I were on our own. I drove about an hour and then detoured to Orlando’s and Linda’s house to say a final good bye to them. They invited me in for some breakfast. It made me feel good that we could spend these last few minutes together. I then settled into my keel boat with wheels and headed towards Connecticut. Once the adrenalin wore off, I got very tired so I was only able to go 25 miles before I had to pull over at the first rest park to take a nap. It was not a good start but I had to get used to life on the road. I would need to drive much further between stops if I ever was going to travel the first 2,500 miles of my journey.
                                                           My wife Kathy. 
                                                                                           

SURNAME
The Plazola Family in México

By: Alfredo I. Peña Pérez-Plazola II

The Plazola surname appears in Italy, Spain and México. There are several variations to the name, such as Plazaola, Plazolo, but the variation that has been a constant throughout the centuries has been Plazola or Plasola.

The earliest record in México seems to be the marriage between Pedro Plazaola and Cathalina Montaño. They were married on the 3rd of March, 1686 in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

In South America, the earliest record of a Plazola is the one for Ignacio Plazola when he married Juana Lorenza Hernández around 1728 in Venezuela.

In Europe, the earliest records are the ones of Ramona de Llano y Plazola, daughter of Francisco de Llano y Plazola and María de Llano. She was baptized the 2nd of March, 1782 in San Pedro Apóstol, Labaluga, and Vizcaya, Spain. And the one for Ramona Antonia de Llano y Plazola, baptized the 25th of January, 1764 in San Pedro Apóstol, Labaluga, Vizcaya, Spain. She was daughter to Francisco de Llano y Plazola and Nicolasa de Garay. This Francisco de Llano y Plazola y very possibly the same one married twice.

In the sate of Jalisco, México, the Plazola family settled mainly in the towns/cities of El Grullo, Autlán, Mascota, Cocula, Ocotlán, and Ciudad Guzmán. Even though there are Plazola's all over México, the main state where this family settled is Jalisco.


The Family Seal
This family is surrounded by legend, mystery and a very mysterious silence among the members of the family. Also, they have a saying that has survived the centuries, is exclusive of this family and is the "family seal" that identifies the family members. The phrase says:

How many recall these words? I'm sure there are many... practically every member of this family. I have seen young and old, laugh when I mention it to them. They remember it right away. And for all those Plazola that think they're not related to other Plazola's, quickly change their mind as soon as they hear this phrase. They immediately identify it as one that they had been hearing their parents and grandparents mention throughout the years.

The Legend of the Four Brothers
This legend has also survived for quite some time. This is also a very interesting story. It doesn’t mention a time frame, or an event that would help to establish in what century it happened but, from the dates that we have for the first Plazola’s in México, we can safely say that it was possibly at the end of the XVII century. The story says that four Plazola brothers came from Italy to México. All of them went to the state of Jalisco. One settled in Mascota, Jalisco, the second brother in Cocula, Jalisco, one more in Autlán, Jalisco and the last Plazola brother settled very possibly in Ciudad Guzmán.

The story goes on to say, that years later, an emissary from Italy, went to Jalisco looking for them. He told the brothers that they had been mentioned in the last will and testament of a family member. The story doesn’t mention if the family member was a parent or not, but they were to receive an inheritance. None of the brothers accepted to go, because they could not afford the trip. At least, that’s what they told the emissary. The emissary went back and never came back.

Whether this story can be backed with proof, is not known, but the curious thing is that all the branches of the family know about this story.

In Italy, there are many references to families bearing this name. Also, in Spain you can find the Plazola surname. But so far, the Plazola’s that settled in México are all from Spain. The story about the four Italian Plazola brothers, contradicts the origins of the Plazola’s found in Mexico. The earliest records of this family in México, state that they were Spanish, not Italian. Nevertheless, the story is very interesting and will remain a mystery until it can be proved.

The family could very well have Italian roots. We could be talking about an Italian family that moved to Spain and then to México. So far, my research has not taken me to Italy. I am still working on the Mexican side of the family connecting as much branches as possible and discovering the hidden history of the Plazola‘s.

Believe it or not, there is a small town in the state of Jalisco, called Plazola. Could this be the first settlement of this family? It’s likely... but unknown. Only 2,316 people are said to live in Plazola, Jalisco. This place is also referred to as a cerro (hill) called Plazola near La Huerta, Jalisco.

Sense of Family... From a Distance

The Plazola family is very proud of its history, stories, anecdotes, relatives, etc. but they do not frequent each other. At least, not like other families. They know they are related to each other but nobody knows exactly how. Only a handful of family members know the ins and outs of the family relationships.

Why there isn’t a closer relationship between its family members, may never be known. But the fact is that the Plazola family is proud of its origins and the history of the family.

Silence in the Family
For some strange reason, this family doesn’t talk to its members about the history of the family. They do not transmit any genealogical data and do not frequent, as I already mentioned other family members. Why is this? Nobody can explain it. But it’s a fact that continues to this day. The very few family members that know genealogical or historical information have a hard time obtaining it because no one can explain or transmit anything. And yet, they support the recognition of the family by transmitting what I call the seal of the family: "When you see a Plazola, greet him because he is a relative."

It’s surprising that with so much silence, information has survived to these days. Thanks to the elders of the family that were interested in preserving genealogical data and anecdotes, is that we have the very little information about this very interesting and mysterious family.

Even the names of the family members that died were left in the past. The recent generations had no idea of the existence of uncles and aunts. And some of these were the siblings of the parents and their existence was kept in the dark. They were never mentioned. Almost 130 years later I began to uncover the names of several siblings within the family that had never been mentioned because nobody knew they existed and the parents or grandparents never said anything about them. In other families, this kind of information was passed down and the knowledge of aunts and uncles from other times was present in the minds of the newer generations.

Family of Founders and Personalities
El Grullo, Jalisco, is located toward the southwest of the state and to the east of the Autlán region to which it belongs. Unión de Tula and Ejutla are to the north of El Grullo, Autlán is to the south, and on the east side are El Limón and Tuxcacuesco. El Grullo used to be a hacienda that belonged to Don Pedro Regalado Michel Corona since the early years of the XIX century. In 1860, there were only 32 houses on the hacienda grounds. In total, the population was 120. These 120 were the members of the 10 families living on the hacienda grounds. Their last names were: Rosas, López, Naranjo, Espinosa, Pimienta, Villa, Preciado, Zamora, Barbosa and Plazola. Carlos Plazola Horta and his wife Mariana Cobián Madrueño were married on the 20th of February, 1854 in San Miguel, Ejutla, Jalisco, and México. They were the ones that were the co-founders of El Grullo, Jalisco.

El Grullo became a municipality on the 14th of December, 1912. 50 years later, El Grullo received the title of city the 27th of December, 1962. Many descendants of the Plazola family have become distinguished personalities. 

Among them is Lic. Héctor Pérez Plazola. Mr. Pérez Plazola is considered a living legend of the PAN political party. His family was one of the five families that founded the political party in 1939. He also ran for governor of the state of Jalisco in 1988, was the mayor of Guadalajara, Jalisco in the year 2000, was the Secretary of State from 2003 to 2005 and is currently running for senator. Other members of the family became mayors of El Grullo, Jalisco during the 1920’s and 1930’s.

The Plazola family is related to several of the oldest families in the state of Jalisco. Among the many families are the Michel, Corona, Pérez, Peña, Cobián, Hernández, Robles, and Díaz-Infante family.                             Lic. Héctor Pérez Plazola

You thought you had only your first name and last name? Think again! After working on your genealogy for a few months, you realize that you belong to hundreds of families, and have in your past hundreds and hundreds more of surnames.

For many, reading the last names that their ancestors had seems complicated and confusing. But not at all. It just takes time for you to get used to the idea that "in the old days", many circumstances came into play when choosing a name for the baby. For example, preserving family names, surnames that would otherwise be lost forever, surnames that symbolized aristocracy or royalty, etc. A combination of all these could also be found among some of the largest and most ancient families in Mexico.

Church Records and Civil Records
In 1521, Hernán Cortés embarks on a monumental project to conquer Mexico. From that moment, when the Spaniards introduced Catholicism to the natives, church records became the only way to do things. Such as: recording baptisms, marriages, confirmation, etc. There are many records that have survived to these days and are a wonderful source of information for any Mexican genealogist seeking to find his connection to one of the many conquistadors that settled in Mexico. To accomplish this, is a magnificent and very compensating goal.

By the 1860’s, when Benito Juarez was the president of Mexico, a new set of laws came into play that put a strain on the church, called the Reform Laws (Leyes de Reforma.) Now, the law required for all citizens to register also with the government. That meant, that you not only had to baptize your child to have a church record of your child’s birth but you also had to take the baby to the civil registry (Registro Civil) and have a “birth certificate.” The same thing happed with those wanting to marry. You married by the church, but also had to do it at the civil registry.

Some people gave their babies one name at the baptism ceremony and a slightly different one at the civil registry. Although it is not common, it can confuse people. The good thing is, that in Mexico, you find the names of the grandparents in the records. This helps you to make sure that you are looking at the right person that you are researching.

Short and Long Names
Whatever name appears on the records, is the legally recorded name and surnames for the person in question. You should not cut or alter in any way the person’s name just because you think it’s too long. You wouldn’t want someone to cut yours now, just because someone doesn’t like it or thinks it’s too long, right? Well, the same goes for your ancestors. Some people had very simple names such as Margarita Plazola Guerrero. Margarita being her first name, Plazola her father’s surname and Guerrero her mother’s surname. This is the order that you should find and write your ancestor’s name. In American genealogy, the middle name becomes the mother’s maiden name if the baby doesn’t have a middle name. If you do this in Mexican genealogy you will confuse yourself and complicate things for yourself. Keep it the way you find it. That’s the way it’s done in Mexico.

In my research I came across very long names such as: Petra Maria Catarina Ruiz-Esparza Fernandez de Palos. Petra was her first name and Maria Catarina could be taken and two middle names. Ruiz-Esparza, a hyphenated name that has survived this way for more than 500 years, was the father’s surname. Fernandez de Palos was her mother’s maiden name. This woman, was also a descendant of Moctezuma, Mexico’s emperor. Another name that I found was Maria Justa Rufina Garcia de Alba Perez de Alencastre. Maria being the first name and Justa Rufina the two middle names. Garcia de Alba was the father’s name and has survived this way. Many members of this family cut it to just Garcia but the original name is Garcia de Alba. Perez de Alencastre is also a name that was used this way for at least 250 years but did not survive into the XIX century. Many with the last name Perez can be traced back to this family but not all of them. Not all people with the last name “Perez” can claim to be descended from this family.

Even though some of the names that I have mentioned are very long, do not cut them. That was their given and legal name and should be kept that way. Another reason for keeping the name just as you found it, is that if it’s a hyphenated name% 2C it will help you narrow down your family among the many others with a similar surname. For example, the Perez family that I have mentioned, helped me realize that I could discard the many other families that I thought were related. As I went back in time, some of the families that I was about to combine into one, began separating each other from the rest. The same happened with the Garcia de Alba family. Also, hyphenated names tend to be related to very important ancient families that will help you go even further back into the past. Families seeking to preserve their surnames tended to add them to the mother’s name, combine them into one, or give the child both of the father’s surnames and both of the mother’s surnames. It all depended on the importance of the families.

In conclusion, names short or long, ugly, pretty, weird, common, not common, etc., all of them, have a reason for being that way. It takes time and patience to figure out the why, what, where, who and how. Once you do it, an entire world will open up for you. A world that will take you hundreds of years back in your family history search. 

C.L.R.James and the finder, Clive Williams, examined a meter-square enlargement 
of the buckle -earliest illustration of a sport player in the entire Americas.

The buckle shows a well-built mulatto slave playing cricket and ,after research, was shown to date from the middle years of the American Revolution; most likely 1780 and depicting cricket being played in that year in the West Indian island of Barbados in a location in modern Bridgetown, the island’s capital.

The depiction was viewed by the world’s greatest experts and chosen to appear on postage stamps for the governments of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, in 1988 , three enormously successful cricket-playing nations, and part of the famous West Indies Cricket Team which has reigned supreme for many years and constantly puts pressure on all the world’s most powerful countries at the highest level. Royal Mint gold and silver coins and trophies for matches between West Indies and England at the top level also depicted the unique buckle illustration.

As the lucky finder of the artifact, something of an amulet for most West Indian people, it was a matter of incredible luck that I had always been a keen player and supporter of cricket and, in fact, had worked for a while in the nineteen-sixties based in the Caribbean and actually lucky enough to play some cricket and other sports there in Trinidad and in Barbados. Now I’ve returned to England and enjoying cricket there, albeit sometimes longing for the sunshine and the sporting fervour of my cricketing West Indian friends. In England I met with the late, great West Indian historian, Mr C.L.R. James. His remarkable book "Beyond a Boundary" is pretty much top-of-the-list reading for any serious watcher of International cricket and he hacked metaphorical paths through the 18th century history jungles in which I would have surely perished, without ever finding the hidden military, naval and cricket links in American Revolution history to the Buckle Story.
                     

St. Johnnelson

A Colonial Office letter from General John Vaughan’s Adjutant confirmed the arrival of the 86th., 87th., 90th. and 91st. Regiments of Foot in Barbados. The Adjutant Ferguson noted that the 87th Regiment of Foot arrived in the troop carriers "William and Mary","Swan","Polly" and "Grand Dutchess of Russia". The 87th Foot was nominally under the command of Viscount Chewton, a future earl of Waldegrave, but in fact commanded by Finch.

Much still remains to be established of what went on in the Caribbean Theatre of Operations and in the areas of Central America and the South American aspects of the Spanish Mainland too. Great attention has always, logically been paid to Revolution events on the Mainland of what became the United Colonies [States] of North America. It is a significantly neglected area of the history of the Revolution period, in relation to the 1775-1783 times as also the "second American War " which saw the burning of the White House, chasing British forces down to New Orleans and beyond and a great deal of worldwide strife, which is hardly reported.

George, Prince of Wales, (the eventual King George IV - "Prinny" the Prince Regent of the Regency Age) wrote to his brother Frederick, Duke of York commenting in the most glowing terms about "Finch" Winchilsea, when he was still quite groggy on his way home to England through Lisbon. It is fascinating to me that in that same letter to the Duke of York the Prince of Wales mentions that he will soon send some buckles to Frederick by a future messenger, while his brother was serving in command of the army in Hanover.

Early in the buckle research program it became clear that there were a group of influential, aristocratic people who had been at Westminster School, which in terms of cricket importance then held as much sway in the eighteenth-century as Eton College and Harrow and Winchester Schools would command in the nineteenth. They were described as "the lucky hits of Westminster" in allusion to their prowess in cricket and to their later achievements in their chosen careers, business and politics.

Any investigation of such early cricket needed some study of the likes of Old Westminster schoolboys like the second Duke of Richmond [known as the Duke who was cricket] and his close and influential pal from schooldays and Prime Minister, Thomas Pelham Holles, Duke of Newcastle. The "lucky hits" shown below can easily be connected directly to these prime movers in cricket during the mid-eighteenth-century, so it was clear that the last quarter of that illustrious century could safely make these connections and crucially see the setting up of MCC and Lord’s.

After Saratoga and the loss of "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne’s army to American General Horatio Gates the news reached London and seems to have been greeted with stunned incredulity. It was echoed later in the Revolution when the news of the capitulation at Yorktown reached London through Cornwallis’s reports.

That came to hand just as the Lord North Administration were arranging King George III’s speech from the throne at Westminster announcing the forthcoming legislative program. His prepared speech was delivered virtually unchanged, except that mention was made of some ‘setback’ in Virginia Colony. Clearly the writing was on the wall but none of Lord North’s Tory Government were prepared to face the facts, bolstered as they were by "the King’s Party" marshalled in the House of Commons by the Minister at War, Charles Jenkinson. It was Jenkinson who beavered away from mid-1779 onwards to put together so-called "Loyalty Regiments" and secret task forces planned with Lord George Germain to work in profound secrecy for completely global objectives.

A great deal more investigation of events during the 1779-1782 period of the Revolution is called for given the amount of evidence which has now been unearthed by the researching of the Barbados Cricket Buckle Program. What it seems was on the cards with King George, Lord Frederick North the Prime Minister, Lord George Germain and such as Charles Jenkinson, Treasury Secretary John "no sooner say Jack" Robinson, John Montagu Earl of Sandwich as First Lord of The Admiralty added up to a secret range of politicking and naval and military attempts to, quite simply, hold the Empire together.

After Saratoga the French treaty of Amity with Benjamin Franklin and the American Congress had shocked London to the core. Two Etonian cricketers, who were contemporaries on the playing fields on Eton’s riverside with George Finch, were deputed to travel with Henry Clinton and "Governor" George Johnstone to Philadelphia and attempt to meet and treat and calm the "rebellion which subsists"; they were Frederick Howard, earl of Carlisle, the nominal head of the Commissioners and the real - though still ineffectual - force, William Eden the eventual Baron Auckland. Their relationship at school at Eton seems to have been mirrored when they were turned away by Congress. They were civilly entertained but simply the Congressmen had determined that there would be no "meeting and treating" on matters of substance until British forces were removed from the 13 colonies. At Eton the older boy, William Eden was the driving force in this inseparable duo, and the somewhat effete Howard simply fell in line.

Until Yorktown news struck London like a thunderclap it seems that there might have been a simple intention to promote, probably with Benjamin Franklin and his pre-war friends and associates in Paris, a concept of a negotiated "independence" for the 13 colonies and, broadly, a plan to see off the French and Spanish navies and armies in the Caribbean Basin and to attack the relatively-lightly defended Spanish Main by a masterstroke.

Troops would be built up like the four regiments mentioned above, and perhaps another 10 such regiments, and additional drafts of manpower from the 13 colonies and Canada. Simultaneously, with the still ‘most secret’ advantage of having tamed "the longitude problem" with Harrison’s accurate chronometer, there would be task forces assembled with a specific intent. These would be projected to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa and, by all reports, to sail on to the Indian subcontinent where French attempts were known to be afoot to take control of some of the great "factories" with their high profitability. The naval commander for France was to be Admiral De Suffrein!

In fact, these sizeable British fleets and troops allotted would sail direct from the Cape to the Western seaboard of Central America and seek to link up with the British forces in the Caribbean and to force a bridgehead along the boundary of, approximately, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. A substantial. shallow-draught gunship called H.M.S. "Lord George Germain" would be deployed on the Rio San Juan D’Oro and the two lakes, connecting to the Paciific Ocean by forcing a mere 11 miles of canal, presumably using slave labour, and a secured bridgehead allowing for the British forces to deploy north and south from the bridgehead and to seize the Spanish Main - all of it!

"The British Army in The American Revolution", by Edward E Curtis, (Yale University Press 1926) explains a great deal of the troubles which Jenkinson, North and Germain had in putting together such regiments as those who arrived in early 1780 at Barbados, let alone higher-numbered regiments similarly scoured out the gaols and prisons of Britain and Ireland, whose private soldiers were to have cost up to an amazing 8 or even 10 guineas per man in ’bounty money’ to join the colours.

In fact just about all of the rank and file of those regiments mentioned above were to perish from the "unseen bullets" of Malaria, Yellow Fever and Blackwater Fever and, so far as is known they never did meet any of the King’s "rebellious Americans".

Some skirmishing with Frenchmen occurred in various parts of the southern and eastern Caribbean, but apparently none with Spanish fleets and armies . In East and West Florida, which had not joined with the 13 original colonies in declaring independence, at Pensacola and at Mobile, British forces were able to make some advances, but, in time, the forces of King Carlos III under the guidance and command various members of the Galvez family, were to rout what remained of very weakened and sickly troops, some chased and harried almost up to the Great Lakes. It may be that many tens of thousands of troops which were deployed to these grandiose schemes were lost to killer diseases, but not all the Regimental Records for all or any of such green and inexperienced troops seem to have survived.

All the grandiose plans which Germain and his planners had apparently dreamed up at The Cockpit in Whitehall were to fall to the ground. Mostly the sicknesses of tropical jungle life took their toll, but a final straw broke the camel’s back in October of 1780.

Many of the Royal Navy warships which would be needed to carry out the plans and not a few of the freighters and troopships which were crucial to logistical support were savaged by a massive hurricane. It set on at Barbados and, missing only Antigua, tracked northwards through the Antilles and wrought awful destruction on land and at sea up to Jamaica and beyond to the Bahamas and Bermuda.

That put paid to schemes like prevarication with Ben Franklin in Paris and, say, picking off General Washington and the Congress at a later stage, for the taking of any portion of the Spanish Mainland simply did not materialize. There are indications that the pivotal taking and holding down of the Rio San Juan and Lakes Nicaragua and Managua was to employ a Halifax, Nova Scotia built kit-form ship.

The planned shallow sailing pre-fabricated H.M.S. Lord George Germain might be the vessel I have found to be lost in the Caribbean under the captaincy of the eventual Admiral Sir Alexander Ball. He was one of Admiral Horatio Nelson’s famous "band of brothers" when battling with France under the leadership of Napoleon I rolled around onto history’s world stage.

King George wrote to Germain and made mention of The Rio San Juan D’Oro plans, but whether it was clever smokescreening or perhaps a bit of arrogance and a celebratory mood after a recent successful and lucrative raid on Omoa in Honduras is not clear. The King called it "the John River".

In early 1781 Admiral George Rodney, with General Vaughan, mentioned above, took alternative action and captured one of the Congress’s main import centres, St. Eustatius, in the Dutch Antilles [together with other tiny islands and Demerara now Guyana] and it fell to William Hotham to convoy a massively valuable assemblage of ships back to England. He was jumped by the French Navy in the Western Approaches ( through the brilliant espionage work of a French spy living in Bond Street, London) and as much as £5 Million of contraband was made available to the uses, one imagines, of Rochambeau, Lafayette and perhaps George Washington in time for the "setback in Virginia Colony" that was Yorktown.

Writers on Naval history matters have on occasion alluded to some of the aspects of this story but, until the cricket story revealed by the buckle showed so many top drawer aristocratic connections in considerable secrecy, like George "Finch" Winchilsea ,on duty and rubbing shoulders with the likes of people who linked up with turncoat Benedict Arnold for his raids in Virginia and up in Connecticut at New London.

It is also fascinating that cricket memorabilia items have survived from the early years of MCC and Lord’s and one such is an embroidered handkerchief which shows, among others, a portrait of cricket-lover Colonel Tarleton, who had the temerity to chronicle his own stories of his activities in the Southern Colonies. This memorial of cricket and cricketers so soon after the American Revolution might be significant in that it appears to date from a time when Winchilsea was pretty much king of all he surveyed at MCC and Lord’s. Finch and Tarleton must surely have been known to each other - maybe even on military duty in the Revolution battles.

If the 1814-built wooden pavilion at Lord’s Cricket Ground had not burned down on the night of July 28th., 1825 , a few hours after a Winchester versus Harrow match, we might have much more considerable evidence of cricket played in a fairly modern and a sophisticated way in a patch of cleared sugar cane field in Barbados in 1780.

Intriguingly, recent discoveries made through the Internet lead to suggestions that the newly acquired British colonies of New Zealand and Australia may have formed part of the planning from Lord George Germain and Charles Jenkinson and their war planning people. Given that Captain James Cook had been able to accurately determine longitude in his cruising around the Pacific Ocean, it is now suggested that British fleets headed for the Western seaboard of the American continent may have indeed been intended to round the Cape of Good Hope, thence to visit New Zealand for "wood and water" and Botany Bay, Australia for additional manpower.

In John R Alden’s 1969 "History of the American Revolution" (London:Macdonald) he included an ‘Essay upon Authorities’ which at length tells of many shortcomings in the telling of the Revolution story. The 37 years since Mr Alden’s great book do not appear to have filled many of the gaps and my own experience has shown that documents are still archived and available which tell all!

After the Creeks were moved to the Indian Territory, or Oklahoma, they still played the game and had regular schedules for the teams. Their playing field was across the road from my wife's grandmother's house, so that my wife could get to see the games from a safe distance. This was on the outskirts of Henryetta, OK, named for Henry and Etta, the two Creeks who had the only general store in that part of the Creek nation. The little city of Henryetta grew up around Henry and Etta's store. With my regards, Granville W. Hough

From: gwhough@oakapple.net   To: joaquinsd@hotmail.com

Moving Gold to Mexico City
    One of the current topics of great interest to Rev. War historians is how the war was financed and where the gold and silver came from.  We know that everything moved from the mines, mostly in Northern Mexico, to the mints and processing centers in Mexico City, then to Veracruz.  
There the newly minted coins were carefully packed and shipped to Havana, thence to Spain, then on to France and Holland, or sometimes direct in French ships to the French forces in America.  American pickups generally had to go through Havana.  Now it would be of interest to know how the supply side worked, which mines were operating, and how the gold and silver was moved from the mines to Mexico City.  It would appear that you ancestor was a mining assayor and a responsible official in that chain.  Clearly, Commandante-General Teodoro de Croix was involved in some way.  Soldiers had to guard the shipments, but that would have been a minor part of the total logistics.  As an essential resource in the war, the mines also had to be guarded and supplies of 
black powder assured to them for their blasting operations.  So I encourage you to continue your research.         With my regards, Granville W. Hough.

PATRIOT ANCESTORS FROM CUBA, (Part 6, continued, S – Z)

Granville W. Hough

This is the last part of the listings for those Spanish soldiers, sailors, and other Patriots who served Spain while it was in the war against England from 1779 into 1783. For the names showing an asterisk, the authors, Granville W. Hough and N. C. Hough, saw records which would
qualify a descendant to join the Sons of the American Revolution. Others may also have served during the war years, but descendants would have to find the supporting records. Previous editions of Somos Primos have listed the references used. Those interested in joining the Sons of the
American Revolution may get advice and assistance from Granville W.
Hough at gwhough@oakapple.net.
*Joseph de Saavedre (1734- Utrera), Capt. in 1782 and 1786, Havana Regt. married. Tanner:202, 204, Captain in post-war East Florida. Legajo 7264:XVI:1, Lt Col, Havana Inf, 1799.
*Juan Saez (1744- Ciudad Burgos), at Mobile in March 1780 and Pensacola,16 Oct 1780, 1st Sgt, Havana Regt, 1780, married. Legajo 7291:VIII:60, Sub.Lt of Grenadiers, Inf Regt of Louisiana, 1792.
*??? de Saint Domingue. MP:217, 231, Captain of the frigate Courageuse in 1781, which was to take Saavedra to Veracruz.
Juan Safores. Sgt, Inf Militia of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XII:45.
*José Salaberría. Beerman:181, 182, naval Comandante at Havana and chief of squadron, 1782.
*Juan Salado. Ch1:21, Capt, gunboat, San Diego, Feb 1781.
*Bartolomé de Salas (1744-), entered service 1778, Surgeon, Havana Regt, 1786 and 1788.
Manuel de Salas, entered service as a Lt. with this unit in 1786, possibly with prior service in some other unit. Lt, 1789, Inf. of Cuba, Legajo 7260:VIII:29.
Ignacio Salazar. Lt, 1799, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7264:XVI:38.
Nicolás Salazar. Surgeon, 1799, Bn Mil Inf, Cuba & Bayamo, Legajo 7264:XI:7.
*Sancho Salazar/Zalasar (1746-), entered service 1763, Capt, 1789, Inf Vets of Havana, Legajo 7260:VIII:12.
*Pedro Salcedo/Salzedo (1743 - ), entered service 1759. Legajo 7261:XXVII:4, Capt, Arty Corps of Havana, 1787 and 1791.
*José Saldivar/Saldibar (1751 - ), entered service 1769, Capt, Blancos of Havana, 1787.
*Alfonso Saldos (1752 Logrono, Castilla Vieja - ), 1st Sgt in Feb 1783 and 1786, Havana Regt, single. A4:XVI:83, 2d Lt, c 1789. Legajo 7259:XII:77, Sgt, Havana Inf, 1786.
*Leandro Salgado. A3:XII:22, soldier, c 1782.
*Joaquín de Salva. Capt de llaves, 1800, Staff at San Cristóbal, Havana, Legajo 7264:II:3.
*José Samartin (1734-), entered service 1748. Adjutant, grad Capt, 1787 and 1795, Mil Inf, Havana, Legajo 7262:IX:67.
Antonio Sánchez. Sgt, Inf Militia of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIII:92.
*Bartholomé Sánchez (1758 Florida-), entered service 1777, SubLt in 1781 and 1788, Havana Regt, single. Legajo 7264:XVII:28, Adjutant, Cuban Inf, 1799.
*Domingo Sánchez. Legajo 7264:XI:11, Capt, Bn Inf Mil of Cuba y Bayamo, 1799.
*Domingo Eugenio Sánchez (1740 - ), entered service 1755, SubLt, 3rd Comp, Cuba Blancos. Legajo 7263:XVIII:2, Lt, Cav, Cuba y Bayamo, 1797.
Francisco Javier Sánchez. Cadet, Comp. Cav, Urban, of Cuba y Bayamo, 1797. Legajo 7263:XVIII:5.
*Francisco Sánchez Griñan (1742-), entered service 1761, Sub-Inspector, Pardos, Cuba y Bayamo, 1787. Adjutant, 1799, Bn Inf Mil, Cuba & Bayamo, Legajo 7264:XI:2.
*Ildefonso Sánchez (1716 Florida - ), entered service 1735, Capt in 1777 and 1786, Dragoons of America, married. Legajo 7260:III:8, Capt, Escuadrón de Dragoons de América, 1790.
*Josef Sánchez Griñan (1769 Cuba - ), Cadet in Jul 1783 and 1786, Havana Regt, Legajo 7264:XVI:48, SubLt, Inf of Havana, 1799.
Juan Sánchez. Legajo 7260:X:69, Sgt, Cav Mil of Havana, 1789.
Juan Sánchez Griñan. Cadet, Inf of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVI:89.
Manuel Sánchez. Sgt, Inf Militia of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIII:114.
Miguel Sánchez. Distinguished Soldier, Cav Militia of Havana, 1793. Legajo 7262:XX:87.
*Pedro Sánchez (1758 - ), entered service 1776, 1st Sgt, Inf Blancos, Havana, 1787.
*Pedro Sánchez Griñan (1771 Cuba - ), Cadet in Jul 1783, Sub.Lt, Inf of Havana, 1799, Legajo 7264:XVI:49.
*Pedro Antonio Sánchez. K:122, Col, militia of Cuatro Villas, 1792. Legajo 7261:IV:1, Col, Bn Mil de Cuarto Villas, 1792.
Pedro Gabriel Sánchez. Cadet, Bn Militia of Cuatro Villas, 1799. Legajo 7264:X:68.
*Ramón Sanchez (1766 Havana - ), Cadet, March 1783 and Cadet, 4th Comp, Dragoons of America, 1786, single. Legajo 7265:II:183, Lt, Dragoons of America, 1809.
Salvador Dionisio Sánchez. Cadet, Militia of Cuatro Villas, 1799. Legajo 7264:X:69.
*W. San Martin. M:350, Capt, brig galley El Correo de Cadiz in May 1782 invasion of Nassau.
Torcuato Sanson. Cadet, 1789, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7260:VIII:78.
*Antonio Santa Cilia. Capt, 1797, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7263:XV:8.
Pedro Santa Cilia. Lt, 1800, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7264:XVII:33.
Ramón Santa Cilia. Lt, 1799, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7264:XVII:42.
*Marqués de Santa Clara. Historia:229, Archer:45, Capt-General of Cuba, 1796.
*Agustín Santa Cruz. Legajo 7261:XI:28, Lt, Havana Inf, 1792.
Joaquin Santa Cruz. Col, Inf Militia of Havana, 1809. Legajo 7265:I:3.
*Juan de Santa Cruz (1744 - ), entered service 1763, Capt, Blancos of Havana, 1787. K:185, Capt, age 37, 1781, in Cuban militia. Legajo 7262:IX;5, Capt/Lt Col, Inf Mil of Havana, 1795.
Juan Santalices. Chaplain, 1799, Plana Mayor del Bn Pardos, Havana, Legajo 7264:V:11.
Domingo Santaya. Lt, 1800, Staff, San Cristóbal, Havana, Legajo 7264:III:8.
*José Santaya (1750 - ), entered service 1768, 1st Sgt, Inf Blancos of Havana, 1787. Lt, 1800, Staff, San Cristóbal, Havana, Legajo 7264:III:12.
*Elías Santiago. A2:IX:7, soldier, c 1779.
*Juan Santin. C&C:101, soldier Regt of Havana, killed at the Village, 1781.
*??? Santo Domingo. Beerman:198, naval capt of the French frigate, Courageuse, involved in money transport for Havana, October 1781. This is the ship mentioned by Saavedra as carrying 1,000,000 pesos, at the same time the vessel he was on was carrying 300,000 pesos to support the
invasion of Jamaica.
Gabriel Santoyo. SubLt, Militia Dragoons of Matanzas, 1799. Legajo 7264:VII:16.
Lorenzo Sanz. Sgt, Inf Militia of Havana, 1793. Legajo 7262:XXI:88. N. Sapian. MP:151, Captain of the Carmen. Mir:174, at Pensacola, 1781.
Francisco Saquet. A2:VI:7, soldier, c 1776.
Juan Sarabia. Lt, 1800, Corps Prov Cav Lanceros de Veracruz, Legajo 7276:XIV:14.
Mariano Sarachaga Adjutant, 1800, Vol Inf de Santa Marta, Legajo 7282:XVI:6.
*Lordo Saratain. M:350, Capt brig galley La Susana in May 1782 invasion of Nassau.
Manuel Sarate. A3:XI:1, mentioned, c 1781.
José Sardina. Distinguished Soldier, Cav Militia of Havana, 1793. Legajo 7262:XX:110.
*J. B. Sarrgoitia. M:350, Capt brig galley La Begnona in May 1782 invasion of Nassau.
*Josef Sastre (1751 Ceuta - ), entered service 1762, Lt, Capt grad in 1781. M:114:App G, Lt, Navarra Regt, recommended for promotion after Mobile, 1780. Lt, Capt grad in 1786 and 1788, Havana Regt, married. Legajo 7264:XVI:2, Lt Col & Commandant, Inf of Havana, 1799.
José Cayetano de Sastre. Cadet, Inf of Havan, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVI:99.
José Sauri. SubLt, Militia of Cuatro Villas, 1799. Legajo 7264:X:27.
*Phelipe Saussier. Mob:611, Capt, balandra Besaña, at Mobile, 1781.
*Pedro Savatie. Appeals Case 95, boatswain, Nov 1782 on the Spanish San Antonio.
*Felipe de Sayas/Zayas (1741 - ), Capt, Inf Vets of Havana, 1788. Col Commandant, 1800, Castillo del Morro, Staff, San Cristóbal, Havana, Legajo 7264:II:6.
José Rafael de Sayas. SubLt, Bn Inf, Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIV:26.
Manuel de Sayas. Cadet, Bn Inf, Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1799. Legaj9 7264:XIV:43.
*Melchor de Seguera. Lt in 1780, served at New Providence and Havana, 1782, Capt, San Carlos de Perote, Regt Corona of New Spain, 1800, single, Legajo 7277:???
José Sehiso. Sgt, Inf Militia of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIII:113.
*Antonio Seidel (1742 - ), entered service 1756, Sub-Inspector, grad Capt, Morenos, 1787. K:123, SubInspector, 1789, Cuban militia. Legajo 7264:VIII:1, Col, Bn de Morenos of Havana, 1799.
*Gregorio de Selva (1744 - ), . Sgt, 1788, 2d Comp, Squadron, Dragoons of America, Legajo 7259:III:23.
Rafael Sequeira. Cadet, Inf of Cuba, 1792. Legajo 7261:XII:54.
José Esteban Serantes. Cadet, Inf of Cuba, 1791. Legajo 7261:XXVI:68.
José Ramón Serantes. SubLt, Inf of Cuba, 1797. Legajo 7263:XV:52.
*Pablo Serra of Havana. Chávez:225, in 1781 lender of money to the French navy.
Antonio Serrano. Sgt, Comp of Inf from Cataluña in Havana, 1792. Legajo 7261:IX:19.
José Serrano. SubLt, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:72.
José Toribio Serrano. Distinguished Soldier, Cav Militia of Havana, 1792. Legajo 7262:VII:110.
*Juan Serrano (1740 Moratalla - ), 1st Sgt in 1769, SubLt, Havana Regt,1786, single. Lt, 1799, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7264:XVI:30.
*José Serrato. MP:153, Capt of frigate, commanding chambequín/tender Caymán, Pensacola, 1781.
*Iñigo Sevilla. Beerman:204, operated prisoner transport and clandestine operation from Havana, 1781-82.
*B. Seyrera. M:349, Capt, letter La Mesericordia in May 1782 invasion of Nassau.
*Vicente de Siera (1751 - ), entered service, 1761, SubLt, Inf Vets of Havana, 1788. Lt, 1797, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7263:XV:29.
*Francisco Antonio de Sierra. A2:IX:48, soldier, c 1779.
*Francisco de Silva. Lt, 1793, Comp Cav, Urbana, Cuba & Bayamo, Legajo 7262:XXV:2.
*Joseph Silva. A3:XI:12, 1781, and A4:XVI:19, soldier, c 1789.
*Gabriel Sistaré. Lewis:86-87, interpreter at Nassau, 1783.
Miguel Socarras. Cadet, Bn Inf Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIV:50.
Ubaldo Socarras. Cadet, Bn Inf Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIV46.
*Marques del Real Socorro (1751 Havana - ), entered service 1767, Col Blancos of Havana, 1787.
*Francisco de Sola (1741 - ), entered service 1760, Lt Inf Vets of Havana, 1788. Woods:79, Sgt of pickets, Prince's Regt, marr. wit., 1779, New Orleans. Legajo 7264:II:11, Capt, Commandant of the Castillo de la Punta, Staff of San Cristóbal, Havana, 1799.
Francisco Sola. Cadet, Comp Inf of Cataluña in Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:VI:21.
*Josef Solano y Bote, Marqués del Socorro, also called José de San Martín (1726 Zorita, Cáceres – 1806 Madrid). Caughey:208, Harrmann:127, Spanish Chief of Squadron at Pensacola. Starr:205, he arrived with 1600 Spanish soldiers. Tides:169, made 1780 report on Gulf of Mexico. Floyd:157, Chief of Squadron at Havana who provided 13 ships for the Black River Campaign in 1782. C&R:125, wife was Rafaela Ignacia Ortiz de Rojas of Buenos Aires, and their family was in Santo Domingo for part of the war years.. Beerman:75, 79, 167, 296, received title of Vizconde de
Feliz Ardid in 1780.
*José Soler. Mob:18, Capt, galley La Pura y Limpia Concepción, at
Mobile, 1780. M:349, Capt same vessel in May 1782 invasion of Nassau.
Fulgencio Solis. Cadet, 1790, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7260:IV:75.
Felix Solorzano, Cadet, 1789, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7260:VIII:90.
Bernardo Sori. Cadet, Militia of Cuatro Villas, 1799. Legajo 7264:X:55.
*Pablo Sori. Capt, 1793, Mil de las Cuatro Villas, Legajo 7262:XVII:7.
José Sosa. Sgt, Squadron of Dragoons of America, 1799. Legajo 7264:XV:31.
Juan de Sosa. Sgt, Inf of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVI:87.
*Manuel de la Sotarriba. Cadet, Feb 1780, SubLt, May 1780, in Havana and New Providence Expeditions, 1782, Capt, San Carlos de Perote, 1800, Inf of the Crown, single, Legajo 7277:III:27.
*Antonio Soto (1762 Ciudad Cadiz - ), sailed from Cadiz in 1780 and stopped at Isla de San Christóval. Cadet, 1786, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7259:XII:114.
*José de Soto. Sgt Major, 1799, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7264:XVII:4.
*Francisco Sotolongo (1762 Havana - ), Cadet in 1781 and 1788, Havana Regt, single. Legajo 7261:XI:40, SubLt, Havana Inf, 1792.
José María Sotolongo. Cadet, Cav Militia of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XII:81.
*Juan Sotolongo (1735 - ), entered service 1751, Lt, Blancos of Havana, 1787. Legajo 7264:III:11, Staff, San Cristóbal de La Havana, 1800.
*Tomás Domingo de Sotolongo (1750 - ), entered service in 1780, Capt, Havana Cav, 1787. K:185, Capt, Vol Cav Regt, age 31 in 1781. Legajo 7264:XII:7.
*Josef Suárez de Navarre. Ch1:19, unm CI recruit who joined Matanza Dragoons in Havana, Aug 1779.
José Antonio Suárez. SubLt, Bn Inf Militia of Cuba 6 Bayamo, 1799. Legajo 7264:XI:18.
*Joseph Antonio Suárez (1762 - ), entered service, 1778, Cadet, 1st Comp in Cuba of the Blancos, Cuba y Bayamo, 1787.
Fermin Subiran. Sgt, Inf of Cuba, 1792. Legajo 7261:XII:43.
Diego Sucre. ???, Inf of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVI:12.

Juan Tabela. Adjutant, 1799, Plana Mayor del Bn Morenos of Havana, Legajo 7264:VII:9.
*Gonzalo Tablada (1721 - ), entered service 1732, Sgt Major, Grad Lt Col, 1787 and 1791, Bn Inf Mil of Cuba y Bayamo, Legajo 7261:XVII:2.
*Andrés Tacón. NavChronIV:355, Capt of the Santa Rosalía, 34 guns, on the voyage to West Indies in Apr 1780 under Admiral Solano. MP:166, Starr:208, Naval Captain, 1781, at Pensacola. Mob:446, in 1780 Pensacola convoy. C&C:94, Capt, frigate, Santa Rosalía, at Pensacola.
Hilario Tamayo. Lt, 1797, Comp Cav Urbana of Cuba y Bayamo, Legajo 7263:XVIII:7.
José Fabino Tamayo. SubLt, Bn Inf, Militia of Cuba Y Bayamo, 1799, Legajo 7264:XI:42.
Manuel Vicente Tamayo. Cadet, Bn Inf, Militia of Cuba y Bayamo, 1993. Legajo 7262:XIX:46.
Marcos Tamayo. SubLt, Comp Cav, Urban, of Cuba y Bayamo, 1793. Legajo 7262:XXV:5.
*Fermin Tarro (1748 Barcelona - ), in the conquest of Providencia in 1782, Sgt, Havana Inf, 1788, single. Sgt, 1789, Comp Inf of Catalonia in Havana, Legajo 7260:V:16.
*Carlos Telles (1758 Havana - ), entered service 1775, at Pensacola 16 Oct 1780, SubLt, Havana Regt, 1786, single. SubLt, 1792, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7261:XI:32.
*Joseph Tenton. Cummins:64, Spanish observer in Santiago, Cuba, who reported on British activities in Jamaica.
*Luís Lorenzo Terrazas. Beerman:82, 83, Lt of the navy in Mobile operation, 1780.
*Carlos Testona/Festona of Havana. Chávez:225, in 1781 lender of money to the French navy.
*Antonio Tirada. M:350, Capt, sloop galley San Diego in May 1782 invasion of Nassau.
*Juan Tirri/Terry y Lacy. Col, 1809, Dragoons of America, Legajo 7265:II:174.
*Antonio Toledo(1731 -), entered service 1748, Capt, 1786, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7259:XII:19.
*Antonio de Toledo (1762 Florida - ), entered service 1777, at Pensacola 16 Oct 1780, SubLt of Bandera, Havana Regt, 1786, single. SubLt, 1788, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7259:II:50.
Benito Toledo. Distinguished Soldier, Cav Militia of Havana, 1793. Legajo 7262:XX:108.
*José de Toledo (1764 Havana - ), entered service as Cadet in 1782, Cadet 1788, Havana Regt, single, Legajo 7259:II:85.
Miguel Tornes. Lt, 1797, Mil Inf of Havana, Legajo 7263:XI:20.
*Salvadór del Toro (1738 - ), entered service in 1753. Ch1:23, Lt, Arty, of Havana Regt, aboard Caymen, Feb 1781, for Pensacola. Capt in 1788, Corps of Arty, Havana, Legajo 7259:IV:3.

José Torralva. Sgt, Inf of Cuba, 1792. Legajo 7261:XII:48.
*Antonio María de la Torre (1726 Havana - ), entered service in 1740, grad Lt Col in 1781, Sgt Major and Plana Mayor, Havana Regt, 1786, widowed. K:126, Sgt Major of 1st Bn, Cuban Inf Regt, in 1788. Legajo 7263:XXII:2, Comandante/Col, Havana Inf, 1796.
Antonio María de la Torre. Cadet, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:101.
*Bernabe de la Torre. Legajo 7264:XIV:4, Capt, Bn Inf Mil, Puerto Príncipe, 1799.
*Joaquín de la Torre. Mob:813, signed the map of Mobile, 1781. Legajo 7264:XVII:65, SubLt, Cuban Inf, 1799.
Joaquin de la Torre y Cardenas. SubLt, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:73.
José Francisco de la Torre. Sgt, Bn Militia of Cuatro Villas, 1799.Legajo 7264:X:30.
José Ignacio de la Torre. SubLt, Inf of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVI:60.
José María de la Torre. Cadet, Inf of Havana, 1797. Legajo 7263:XIV:93.
*José María de la Torre (1756 Havana - ), entered service in 1769, Lt in 1782 and 1786, Havana Regt, married. Legajo 7261:XI:47, SubLt, Havana Inf, 1792. Legajo 7264:XVII:13, Capt, Cuban Inf, 1799.
*Marquís de la Torre, Felipe de Fonsdeviela y Ondeano (1725-1784). ND5:1339-1340, Cummins:208, Captain General of Cuba, 1771-1777.Abbey:58, Spanish official, 1776. Historia:215, MP:99n69, former Governor of Havana in 1777.
Rafael de la Torre. Cadet, Inf of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVI:114.
*Seb. Torrens. M:349, Capt, letter St. Vincente Ferrer in May 1782 invasion of Nassau.
*Antonio Torres. A2:IX:16, soldier, c 1779.
*Manuel de Torres (1758 - ), entered service in 1775, 1st Sgt, 1788, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7259:II:75.
Manuel Torres. SubLt, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:62.
Matías de Torres. Sgt, Inf of Havana, 1797. Legajo 7263:XIV:83.
*Miguel Torres (1751 - ), entered service 1769, 1st Sgt, Inf Blancos of Havana, 1787.
*Miguel Torres. Soldier and Cpl in 1780-82 in Grenada, Veracruz, Havana, and Guarico operations, 1st Sgt Grenadiers, Inf of Mexico, 1800, single, Legajo 7277:IV:65.
*George Townson. Lewis:121, ship captain who took messages from Havana to Nassau, c 1783.
*Angel de los Toyos (1743 - ), entered service in 1761, 1st Sgt, 1787 and 1789, Mil Cav of Havana, Legajo 7259:VI:56.
Francisco Toyos. Sgt, Cav Militia of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XII:72.
*Jaime Tremoll. Mob:448, Capt, galley Jesús María y José, Pensacola convoy, 1780. Mob:611, Capt, galley San Francisco de Paula, Mobile, 1781.
Luis Trevejos. Cadet, Inf of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:VVI:90.
*Antonio Tur (c 1745 Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain - ), entered service 1764, 1st Sgt in 1781 and 1786, Havana Regt, married. H:224, Sgt 1st Cl, Dragoons of America, md.
Henríque Turen. BR:710, soldier of Light Inf of Cuba, bur 14 Aug 1792, SJO.

Francisco Uberty. Sgt, Squadron of Dragoons in America, 1797. Legajo 7263:XIII:22.
*Antonio Ugarte. SubLt, Inf of Havana, 1789. Legajo 7260:X:20.
*Domingo de Ugarte. Capt, 1799, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7264:XVI:7.
*Martin de Ugarte. Sgt Major, 1792, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7261:XII:2. Prob same as Martin de Ugarte, Col, 1799, Cav Mil of Havana, Legajo 7264:XII:1.
*Tomás Ugarte (1757 Havana - ), entered service in 1775, wartime service in Louisiana Regt, Capt of Grenadiers, grad Lt Col, Havana Regt, 1786. Capt, grad Lt Col, 1799, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7264:XVII:8.
*Luís de Unzaga/Unzaya y Amezaga (1717 Málaga – 1793 Granada & Málaga). Beerman:296, Caughey:55-56, Governor of Louisiana from 1769 into 1776 who began helping Americans. Abbey:57, footnote 1, ordered to collect info on English in 1775. Woods:97, wife was Elizabet de St Maxent of Louisiana, bap ch in 1776 and later. Tanner:17, 21, Governor of Cuba, 1782. Cummins:208, Captain General of Cuba, 1782-85. Legajo 7259:XVI:54, Lt Col, Inf of Havana, 1765.
*José Uriarte y Borja. Ch1:23, Lt of frigate, San Ramon, Feb 1781.
Vicente de Uriarte. Surgeon, 1799, Mil Inf of Havana, Legajo 7264:XIII:59.
*Diego de Urra. Lt, 1788, Corps of Art of Havana, Legajo 7259:IV:10.
*Juan de Urra. K;185, SubLt, 1st Bn, Vol Inf of Cuba, 1781.
*Juan Ignacio de Urriza. MP:100n74, Caughey:192, Spanish Intendant of the Army in Havana reporting to José de Gálvez, Minister of the Indies, 1781. Cummins:65, Intendant of Cuba, 1777, arranged aid for the American Revolution. Lewis:35-37, Indendant of the Exchequer, Havana, Cuba, 1781-1782.
*Manuel Urrutia (1760 - ), entered service in 1776, SubLt, Blancos of Havana, 1787. Capt, 1799, Inf Mil of Havana, Legajo 7289:XIII:12.
*Sebastián Uruño. Adjutant, 1787, Plana Mayor del Bn Pardos of Havana, Legajo 7259:VII:3.

*Antonio Vaillant Bertier (1758 Cadiz - ), entered service 1772, Lt Havana Cav, 1787, Capt 1799, Staff of Bn Pardos Militia of Cuba y Bayamo, Legajo 7264:IX:1.
*Juan Bautista Vaillant (1736 Cataluña - ), entered service 1753, Col, Havana Cav, 1787. Historia:242, K:121, 126, Havana militia officer, commander of Cav Vols, 1778, later Governor of Santiago. Legajo 7259:VI:1, Col, Vol Blancos, Cav of Havana, 1787.
*Diego Valderas/Valladares. Mob:610, 667, Capt, packetboat, Jesús Nazareno, at Pensacola, 1781.
*Andrés de Valderrama. Tides:70, Captain ship San Juan Nepomuceno at Havana, 1775. Rush:55, frigate captain at Pensacola, 1781.
*Juan Valentin (1730 - ), entered service 1748, Capt, 1787, Mil Inf of Havana, Legajo 7259:V:4.
*Antonio Valenzuela (1744 San Agustín de la Florida - ), entered service 1758, 1st Sgt of Grenadiers, Inf Blancos of Havana, 1787. Lt, 1797, Mil Inf of Havana, Legajo 7263:XI:74.
Francisco Valera. Cadet, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:98.
Miguel Valera. SubLt, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:52.
Juan Valiente. Cadet, Bn Inf of Cuba y Bayamo, 1799. Legajo 7264:XI:29.
*Pablo José Valiente. Tanner:114, Cuban intendant, 1787.
*Antonio Valland Bertier. Capt, Plana Mayor, 1799, Bn Pardos Mil, Cuba & Bayamo, Legajo 7264:IX:1.
*Antonio Ramón del Vallé. Cummins:129, 164, Secretary to the Captain General, 1779, arranging aid for the American Revolution. MP:100n73, Capt of Engineers, Secretary to the Captain-General throughout the war years.
Fernando de Valle. Cadet, Militia of Cuatro Villas, 1799. Legajo X:56.
*Juan Martínez Vallejo (1742 - ), entered service 1761, Adjutant Mayor, Grad Capt, Havana Cav, 1787.
Francisco Vallejos. SubLt, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:63.
*Conde de Vallellano (1750 - ), entered service 1764, Capt, grad Lt Col, Havana Cav, 1787. Commandant, grad Col, Cav Mil, Havana, Legajo 7264:XII:4.
Joaquín de Vallenilla (1733 la Fuerza, Araya - ), married by 1787. Lt, 1779-1787, Inf Vets Cumanà, Legajo 7293.
*José Vallière/Valiere. Beerman:58-59, Spanish officer, born in France, took the Bernardo de Gálvez war diary from Havana to Madrid, 1779.
*Marcos Valls/Balls. ZPR:199, Corporal, normally at San Fernando de Omoa, Honduras, but absent in the Castillo de San Juan, Nicaragua, 1779.
Antonio Valverde. Cadet, Squadron of Dragoons of America, 1799. Legajo 7264:XV:32.
*José Valverde (1724 Valladolid - ), entered service 1735, Capt Proprietario in 1764, Capt Dragoons of America, 1786, married. Lt Col, grad Col, 1799, Escuadrón de Dragones of America, Legajo 7264:XV:1.
*Pedro Valverde (1754 Havana - ), entered service 1772, SubLt of Grenadiers in 1782, Lt, Havana Regt, 1786, single. Adjutant, grad Capt, 1796, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7263:XXIII:17. Chávez:225, paymaster, Inf. Regt of Havana, in 1781 lender of money to the French Navy.
Vicente Varas. SubLt, 1790, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7260:IV:41.
*Francisco Varela (1741 Tordezillas - ), entered service 1759, Lt Grad in 1781, Lt in Havana Regt, 1786, married. Capt, 1796, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7263:XXII:10.
*José Ignacio Varela (1740 - ), entered service 1758, Lt, 1787 and 1799, Cav Mil of Havana, Legajo 7264:XII:20.
Miguel Varela. Cadet, Inf of Cuba, 1792. Legajo 7261:XII:68.
*Nicolás Varela of Havana. Chávez:225, in 1781 lender of money to the French navy.
*Alfonso de Vargas. Lt, 1789, Mil Inf of Havana, Legajo 7260:IX:74.
José de Vargas Manchuca of Havana, Cuba ( - 1780), he and wife Juana Rodríguez had ch during war years.
Manuel de Vargas. Sgt, Staff, Bn Pardos Militia of Cuba y Bayamo, 1799. Legajo 7264:IX:8.
Agustín de Varona. Cadet, Comp of Cav, Urban, of Puerto Príncipe, 1797. Legajo 7263:XIX:6.
Esteban Varona. Cadet, Bn Inf Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIV:47.
Fernando Varona y Cespedes. Cadet, Bn of Militia Inf of Puerto Príncipe, 1793. Legajo 7262:XXVII:45.
*Ignacio Varona. Capt, 1799, Bn Inf Mil, Puerto Príncipe, Legajo 7264:XIV:5.
José Varona. Cadet, Bn of Inf of Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIV:42.
Serapio Varona. SubLt, Bn of Inf Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIV:22.
Andrés Vasallo. Sgt of Grenadiers, Militia of Cuatro Villas, 1799. Legajo 7264:X:29.
*Antonio Vásquez Urriola. Capt, 1796, Bn Inf de Castilla de Campeche, Legajo 7297:I:32.
*Francisco Vásquez (1743 - ), entered service 1764, Capt, 2d Comp in Bayamo, Blancos of Cuba y Bayamo, 1787. Legajo 7264:XI:36, Capt, Bn Inf Mil, Cuba y Bayamo, 1799.
*José Vázquez. Legajo 7261:XII:13, Capt Cuban Inf, 1792.
*José Vázquez (1751 - ), entered service, 1768, Legajo 7259:II:20, Capt, Havana Inf, 1788.
*Juan Salvador Vásquez (1764 - ), entered service, 1780, Cadet in 2d Comp in Bayamo, Blancos of Cuba y Bayamo, 1787. Legajo 7264:XI:50.
*Lorenzo Vásquez (1758 - ), entered service, 1773, SubLt of Bandera, Blancos of Cuba y Bayamo, 1787. Legajo 7264:XI:45.
Manuel Vásquez. SubLt, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:69.
*Pedro Vásquez. Tanner:24, naval captain, 1784.
*Rafael Vásquez (1754 - ), entered service 1769, SubLt, 6th Comp in Bayamo, Blancos of Cuba y Bayamo, 1787. Legajo 7264:XI:43.
*José de Vega (1736 Granquillo - ), 1st Sgt in 1763 and 1786, Havana Regt, married. Sgt, 1788, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7259:II:135.
Agustin Velasco. SubLt, Bn Inf Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIV:20.
*Cristóbal Velasco. Capt, Bn Militia of Inf at Puerto Príncipe, 1791. Legajo 7261:XX:4.
Joseph María de Velasco. A3:XII:51, mentioned, c 1782.
Juan de Velasco. SubLt, Bn Inf Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1799. Legajo 7204:XIV:21.
*Vicente Velasco (1754 - ), entered service 1771. Legajo 7260:IX:96, Sgt, Inf Mil of Havana, 1787 and 1789.
Juan Bautista Velazquez. Cadet, Inf of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVI:116.
Luis Velazquez. Cadet, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:119.
*Francisco Velez (1749 - ), entered service in 1770, 1st Sgt, 4th Comp in Mayamo, Blancos of Cuba y Bayamo, 1787.
Ignacio Pablo Velez. Lt, 1797, Comp Mil Cav of Trinidad, Legajo 7263:XVI:2.
Juan Francisco Velez. Lt, 1799, Bn Inf Mil Cuba & Bayamo, Legajo 7264:XI:40.
Ramón Velez. Cadet, 1789, Inf of Cuba, Legajo 7260:VIII:91.
*Pedro Venero. A2:IX:46, SubLt, c 1779.
Alonso de Vera. Sgt, Inf Militia of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIII:42. 
José Antonio Vergera. Surgeon, 1799, Plana Mayor del Bn Morenos of Havana, Legajo 7264:VII:12.
*Francisco Verna (1754 - ), entered service 1772, SubLt, Havana Arty, 1787. Lt, 1796, Corps Arty, Havana, Legajo 7263:XXII:11.
*Joseph Vial/Viel. Appeals Case 95, mariner in Nov 1782 on the Spanish San Antonio.
Francisco Viamonte. Cadet, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:116.
*Nicolás Viamonte. K:185, SubLt, age 39, in 1781 Cuban militia.
*Alonso/Alfonso de Viaña (1756 Almazán - ), entered service 1772, at Mobile and Pensacola in 1780, SubLt, Havana Regt, 1786, married. Lt, 1800, Staff, San Cristóbal, Havana, Legajo 7264:III:10.
*Andrés Viciedo (1728 - ), entered service, 1748. Lt, grad Capt, 1795, Inf Mil of Havana, Legajo 7262:IX:64.
Juan Viciedo. Cadet, Inf Militia of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIII:122.
*Antonio Pasqual Vidal. M:350, Capt sloop galley San Juan Evangelista in May 1782 invasion of Nassau. Lewis:130, ship captain posted at Fort Montague, New Providence, 1782/83.
*Ignacio Leite Vidal (1742 Oporto, Portugal - ), SubLt in 1781 and 1786, Havana Regt, married.
Ramón Vidarrueta. Sgt, Militia of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XIII:97.
*Antonio Viejo. Lt, 1793, Mil de Cuatro Villas, Legajo 7262:XVII:13.
Joaquin Vigil. SubLt of Bandera, Militia of Cuatra Villas, 1799. Legajo 7264:X:70.
Pablo Vigil. Sgt, Militia of Cuatra Villas, 1797. Legajo 7263:VIII:56.
*Julián Vilar (1736 Baza - ), entered service 1752, Lt, 1st Comp, grad Capt, Dragoons of America, 1781-86, single. Capt, 1794, Escuadrón of Dragoons of America, Legajo 7262:XII:7.
*Juan Vilaró. Mob:19, Capt, brig San Juan Bautista, at Mobile, 1780.
*Juan Vilaró (1749 Barcelona - ), at Mobile and Pensacola, Sgt, Havana Regt, 1788, married. Legajo 7262:XI:13, Sgt, Comp Inf, Cataluña in Havana, 1794.
*Pedro de Villa. Capt, 1797, Comp Mil Cav, Trinidad, Legajo 7263:XVI:1.
Pedro José de Villa. Cadet Militia of Cuatro Villas, 1799. Legajo 7264:X:65.
*??? De Villages. Beerman:197-198, navy captain who transported one million pesos from Havana to Yorktown, 1781, with the frigate Amazona.
*Pedro Villalobos (1744 - ), entered service 1762, 1st Sgt of Grenadiers, Inf Blancos of Havana, 1787. Lt, 1799, Mil of Cuatro Villas, Legajo 7264:X:14.
*Benito Villalon (1755 Cuba - ), SubLt in 1778, SubLt in 1786, Havana Regt, married. Capt, 1799, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7264:XVI:19.
*Jose Villanueva (1764 - ), entered service as a Cadet in 1782, 4th Comp, Dragoons of America, still a Cadet in 1788, SubLt in 1809. Legajo 7265:II:185.
Diego Villar. Cadet, Inf of Cuba, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVII:121.
*Juan Villar (1729 - ), entered service 1751, Lt, 1787 and 1791, Mil Cav, Havana, Legajo 7261:XVIII:10.
Marcus Villar. Sgt, Comp of Inf from Cataluña in Havana, 1794. Legajo 7262:XI:22.
*Agustín Villarreal (1754 Havana - ), entered service 1772, SubLt in 1779 and 1786, Havana Regt, single. Capt, 1799, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7264:XVI:20.
*Seb. Villaseca. M:351, Capt, sloop La Leche in May 1782 invasion of Nassau.
*Juan Pablo Villasoca. A3:XII:3, Capt, c 1782.
Juan Villavicencio. Distinguished Soldier, Cav Militia of Havana, 1793.Legajo 7262:XX:73.
José Vilena. Cadet, Inf Militia of Havana, 1792. Legajo 7261:VI:43.
*Jorge Villers (1771 Havana - ), Cadet in March, 1783 and 1786, Havana Regt, single. Legajo 7264:XVII:53, SubLt, Inf of Cuba, 1799.
*Juan Villers (1770 Havana - ), Cadet in 1782 and 1786, Havana Regt, single. Legajo 7264:XVI:44, SubLt, Inf of Havana, 1799.
*Ramón de Villers (1740 Igualada - ), entered service 1755, Lt, 2d Comp, grad Capt, 1782 and 1786, Dragoons of America, married with “vastante familia,” “su muzer y 7 hijos…” Capt, 1799, Squadron of Dragoons of America, Legajo 7264:XV:15.
*José Villuendas (1753 Obonlugar, Aragon - ), entered service 1774, in 1st Bn at Pensacola 16 Oct 1780, 2d Sgt Grenadiers, 1782, 1st Sgt, Havana Regt, 1786, single. Adjutant of the Plaza, 1800, Staff of San Cristóbal, Havana, Legajo 7264:II:2.
*??? Virgili. Mob:667, Capt, frigate, Santa Rosalía, Pensacola, 1781.
*??? Vitori. Mob:447, head of transport boat, Pensacola convoy, 1780.
*Manuel Vizcayas (1728 - ), entered service 1744, Sub-Inspector, grad Lt Col, with Pardos, 1787.

Francisco Werty. Sgt, Squadron of Dragoons of America, 1794. Legajo 7262:XII:20.
*Federico Winterfeld. Capt, Inf of Cuba, 1791. Legajo 7261:XXVI:16.
*William Woodsides. Lewis:116, 121, pilot for the Spanish fleet during the Expedition to the Bahamas, 1782.

*José Ximénez (1736 - ), entered service 1743, Lt Blancos of Havana, 1787.
*Juan Ximénez (1753 Sadava, Aragon - ), entered service 1773, in Expedition to Providence, 1782, 1st Sgt Havana Regt, 1786 and 1788, married.

Juan Yague. Legajo 7262:XI:19, Sgt, Catalonian Comp of Havana, 1794. 
*Mateo Ydoyage. M:349, Capt, ship San Luciano in May 1782 invasion of
Nassau.
*Gaspar Yeo/Feo (1737 Canary Islands - ), entered service 1755, SubLt,
Havana Cav, 1787.
*Felipe de Yturrieta. Lewis:86-87, 96-97, 136, Intendant of New Providence at Nassau, 1783.
Félix Yusta. Sgt, Cav Militia of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XII:67.

*José Zaldívar. K:185, Lt Col, Vol Inf Regt of Cuba, age 60 in 1781.
Legajo 7263:XI;6, Capt/Col, Inf Mil of Havana, 1797.
*José Manuel Zaldívar, first Conde de Zaldivar. K:185, SubLt, Vol Inf
Regt of Cuba, age 30 in 1781. Legajo 7265:I:81, Lt Col/Col, Havana Inf Mil, 1809.
Martín Zaldívar. Legajo 7262:XXI:42, Cadet Inf Mil of Havana, 1793.
*Manuel Zárate. A2:X:25A, soldier, c 1780.
*Rafael Zarilla. A3:XI:37, Cpl, 1781.
*Felipe de Zayas (1741 Malaga - ), Capt in 1776 and 1786, Havana Regt, married. Legajo 7259:II:6, Capt, Havana Inf, 1788,
Félipe de Zayas. Cadet, Inf of Havana, 1797. Legajo 7263:XIV:98.
Francisco de Zayas. Sgt 1st Cl of Grenadiers, Bn Inf Militia of Cuba y Bayamo, 1799. Legajo 7264:XI:22.
Francisco de Borja Zayas. Cadet, Inf of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVI:113.
Francisco de Paula Zayas. Cadet, Inf of Havana, 1797. Legajo 7263:XIV:102.
*Joaquín de Zayas. K:185, Capt, 1781, age 36, Cuban militia. Legajo 7259:V:10, Capt, Inf Mil of Havana, 1787.
Joaquin María de Zayas. Cadet, Inf of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264:XVI:93.
José Pablo de Zayas. Cadet, Comp Cav, Urban, of Puerto Príncipe, 1797. Legajo 7263:XIX:5.
*Juan Bruno de Zayas. K:185, Capt, 1781, age 36, in Havana militia.
Manuel Zayas. Cadet, Bn Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1795. Legajo 7262:X:45.
Rafael Zayas. Legajo 7262:X;29, Sub Lt, Bn Inf Mil, Puerto Príncipe, 1795.
Manuel Zenea. Cadet, Inf of Havana, 1797. Legajo 7263:XIV:109.
Manuel Zequeira. Adjutant, Inf of Havana, 1799. Legajo 7264::XVI:29.
Manuel José Zequeira. Cadet, Bn Inf Militia of Cuba y Bayamo, 1799. Legajo 7264:XI:55.
*José Zerralbo (1751 born in Don Sancho country - ), at Mobile and Pensacola, 1780, Sgt, 3rd Comp, Dragoons of America, 1786, single.
*Antonio de Zespedes/Cespedes (1768 Havana - ), in Providence Expedition in 1782, SubLt of Bandera, Havana Regt, 1786, single. Legajo 7260:IV:37, SubLt, Inf of Cuba, 1790.
*Fernando de Zéspedes/Cespedes. Tanner:12, 17, 23, Lt in attack on Mobile, one of 50 men from the Havana Regiment, on 14 Mar 1780. He was son of Vicente Manuel de Zéspedes. His battalion was transferred to Spain at the end of the war. Woods:100, md Catalina de la Ronde in 1782.
*Thomas de Zéspedes/Cespedes. Tanner:23, in 1784 with a regiment in Spain. Son of Vicente Manuel. This may be Tomás de Cespedes, Capt, 1800, Staff of San Cristóbal, Havana, Legajo 7264:III:6.
*Vicente Domingo de Zéspedes/Cespedes (1757 Havana - ), SubLt in 1775, Lt in Havana Regt, 1786, single. Tanner:23, sub-lieutenant in Havana Regiment, 1784, went to East Florida with his father. Lt, Inf of Cuba, 1791, Legajo 7261:XXVI:24.
*Vicente Manuel de Zéspedes/Cespedes y Velasco. Wright:136, 142, 143, Tanner:xi, 12, Governor of East Florida, 12 Jul 1784-1790. He had been in charge of Havana defenses during the war and later Lieutenant Governor at Santiago, Cuba. In 1782, he loaned money to the Army during a financial emergency. His wife was María Concepción Aróstegui/Anostegeri. Woods:100, Col. from Havana. Capt, Lt Col grad, 1765, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7259:XVI:3.
Felix Zocarras. Legajo 7263:XIX:2, Lt, Cav Urban Comp of PuertoPríncipe, 1797.
*Jose Zocarras. Legajo 7263:XIX;1, Capt, Cav Urban Comp of Puerto Príncipe, 1797.
José Tomás Zocarras. SubLt, Comp Urban Cav of Puerto Príncipe, 1797. Legajo 7263:XIX:3.
Miguel Zocarras. Cadet, Bn Inf of Puerto Príncipe, 1795. Legajo 7262:X:51.
Ubaldo Zocarras. Cadet, Bn Inf Militia of Puerto Príncipe, 1795. Legajo 7262:X:48.
Mariano Zubieta. Cadet, Comp of Inf from Cataluña in Havana, 1788. Legajo 7259:I:28.
José Claudio de Zuñiga. Lt, 1799, Inf of Havana, Legajo 7264:XVI:37.
*Maricio de Zuñiga (1749 - ), entered service 1761, Capt, Inf Vets of Havana, 1788. C&R:153, in Pensacola battle, later its commandant. Legajo 7264:XVII:11, Capt, Cuban Inf, 1799.
CubaPat6, 6 May 2006..

ORANGE COUNTY, CA

Anaheim Hills' first museum opens in adobe, by Diane Reed, The Orange County Register, Monday, May 1, 2006

Anaheim The newest thing in Anaheim Hills is also the oldest.
The Ramon Peralta Adobe, built in 1871, is the Hills' first museum.

Matthew Southgate of Orange is painting a 40-foot mural showing the history of Santa Ana Canyon for the Ramon Peralta Adobe. He wants to paint on the museum’s exterior.  Photo: Joshua Sudock

Collections of historical objects fill the previously bare Ramon Peralta house, built in 1871. Sandra Day and Connie Cooper-Ness, president of the historical council, are co-chairwomen of the museum. Cooper-Ness is a descendant of the pioneering Lugo, Peralta, Yorba and Dominguez families. "We've worked very closely on this project  
for more than a year," Day said.

Museum organizers solicited items dating to the Rancho/Adobe period for part of a historical collection. They range from Spanish swords and riding saddles to animal skins, quilts and kitchen utensils of the era. Many are on loan from descendants of pioneer families. The adobe has long been a field-trip destination for Orange County schoolchildren and Scouts. The building had been preserved but had few furnishings and no museum collection until now.

The most striking feature of the new museum is a 40-foot mural by Matthew Barrios Southgate, 34, depicting the history of Santa Ana Canyon. The Orange resident, who decorated the Bowers Kidseum and the La Habra Children's Museum, has also created a large family tree depicting how the early families intermarried.

"Someone saw my work in La Habra and contacted me about this project," Southgate said. "Ranger Sam Edwards came up with the (mural) ideas."

Although Southgate's arms are weary from working on the ceiling-level mural, he hopes to paint on the exterior. He said he's learned more than just local history during many late-night painting sessions. "As far as I can tell, there are no ghosts in the Peralta Adobe," he said.

Two grand-opening events were held on the weekend. On Friday, the Santa Ana Canyon Historical Council hosted "Fiesta Fandango," a benefit for the museum's endowment fund.

Anaheim Mayor Pro Tem Richard Chavez cut the ribbon, opening the 125-year-old building to guests Friday night. On Saturday, the county held a public open house. Descendants of early settlers conducted tours at both events.

The adobe is the only such structure from the era of the Spanish and Mexican land grants still surviving in the Santa Ana Canyon area. Built in 1871 in what was then known as the town of Peralta, the adobe stood in a fledgling community of nine such adobes, a combination saloon and pottery shop, and a school. In 1920, the Peralta Adobe was converted into a roadside restaurant and gas station, and, for the next four decades, catered to the increasing motor traffic between Riverside and Orange counties on the newly paved Santa Ana Canyon Road. The county acquired the property in 1977 and had the structure restored as a historic site. Source: Orange County Parks Department

Address: 6398 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road
Information: (714) 476-2086
Hours: Open to the public from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month
Admission: Free

CONTACT US: (714) 704-3787 or dreed@ocregister.com  

* The OCCT Arts Center will screen the film at 5 p.m. JUNE 3 at its new location, 2215 N. Broadway, Santa Ana (S. of Buffalo and Main Place mall). Eeeet'll be a family friendly event. *

NALIP members, Sandra Peña-Sarmiento and Victor Payan, announce their newest documentary project, "I am OC" which features the lives of Latino youth living in Orange County. The documentary is scheduled to air on KOCE in the fall and will begin it's rounds on the festival circuit soon. For more info, visit www.occtac.org or write to: iamoc@occtac.org
.
Hope you can join us for the film's opening on June 3rd in the heart of OC -- where U can meet our amazing kids! Sandra Peña-Sarmiento  pocharte@aol.com

This six-week program will cover: "Business Basics 101" 
Entrepreneurial training program designed to teach the basic tools to operate a successful business!

Limited space! Last day to register was Friday, May 26, 2006, but Call (714) 724-7762 or email: rsvp@nlbwa-oc.com

Program valued at $1,000 per person includes: - Six hands-on workshops - All classroom material - Textbooks - Business plan writing software - Free credit report - Access to one-on-one business coaching - Dinner/refreshments at each class - Graduation celebration!

NLBWA-OC's signature program will provide entrepreneurial training for members seeking to learn how to start a new business or expand an existing one!

Thank you to our Emerging Latinas team Program Facilitator:
Alicia Maciel, MBA Harvard Business School
Instructors:
Francisca Gonzalez-Baxa - Law Offices of Francisca Gonzalez-Baxa
Maggie Rodriguez, State Farm Agent 
Kathleen Urquidez, CPA - Bezich, Rose &Urquidez, CPAs 
Mark Mitchell - SBDC Orange County 
Linda Pinson - Out of Your Mind and Into the Marketplace 
Greg Hellman - Citibank

For membership information contact:
Jody Agius, Membership Co-chair at: jody@nlbwa-oc.com
Patty Saldivar, Membership Co-chair at: patty@nlbwa-oc.com
For any other questions, call our office at 714.724.7762
Visit our website at www.nlbwa-oc.com   to learn more about our organization.
National Latina Business Women Association - Orange County Chapter
888 W. Santa Ana Blvd. #150, Santa Ana, CA 92701 - Phone 714.724.7762

Capistrano honors native Frances Louise Sherrill,
Eighth-generation Los Rios resident has American Indian burial.
Oct. 3, 1925 to April 27, 2006

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Traffic stopped Friday as 200 mourners walked through the streets of town following eighth-generation Los Rios resident Frances Louise "Mona" Sherrill to her final resting place, a traditional funeral procession reserved for the community's founding families. Sherrill died April 27 at age 80.

 Her family has lived in the Rios Adobe on Los Rios Street since 1794, qualifying it as the oldest continually occupied home in the western United States. She was a proud member of the Acjachemen Nation and was credited for helping to revive its culture in the 1970s with her aunt Juanita Rios.

"She was a culture bearer," her daughter Jacque Nuñez said between hugs from loved ones. Nuñez continues to keep Acjachemen traditions alive through basket weaving and as an award-winning storyteller.

Sherrill's grandson Jackson Rolling Thunder Nuñez, adorned in a feather headdress and vibrantly colored regalia, led the procession. Others waved boughs of smoking sage, rattled bamboo instruments and chanted. Representing her Catholic faith, two parish priests and acolytes also joined in the walk.

The usual bustle of Ortega (74) Highway was halted as people in cars and those at gas stations were transfixed by the scene. The last such funeral remembered in town was about 15 years ago for city matriarch Evelyn Villegas Lobo.

The procession left the Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano after a funeral Mass, crossed the San Diego (I-5) Freeway overpass and ended at the Old Mission Cemetery. Only residents tracing their ancestry back to the early mission days are buried there. A drumbeat and American Indian song echoed through the graveyard. The sounding of a conch shell ended the burial ceremony.

Those closest to her remember Sherrill as a fun-loving woman, always ready for a party. She was known for her glamorous appearance - makeup, long red nails and false eyelashes. A package of them was tossed on top of her casket.

"I called her the first Acjachemen diva," Jacque Nuñez said.

Family said Sherrill's health started to decline after her son Kevin's slaying in 1989. But it wasn't until her stroke nine years ago that the outgoing and active woman became bedridden. She lost her ability to speak but her room had no door, so she could continue listening in on the activity in her daughter Jacque's home. She suffered a second stroke in January.

When she was in better health, she was a docent for Mission San Juan Capistrano and loved to weave baskets, a challenge given her long nails. She worked as a nurse for a few years before giving birth to her four children.

Sherrill's efforts to pass her heritage to future generations will be missed.

"Every time we lose someone like her it hurts because who's going to take her place?" said Ernie Longwalker, a spiritual leader for the Dakota Nation.

June 24:  Los Angeles
Beginning Hispanic Family History Research
 Viola Sadler & Mimi Lozano 

 1:30 p.m. Free of Charge
Public is Invited
East Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles Public Library. 
The workshop is open to the public, starts at 
4837 E. 3rd St.  Los Angeles, 90022
For more information, call, Liana Juliano, 323-264-5841

The Glory of Their Times, the Chorizeros

The Chorizeros were the Yankees of East L.A. in the years after World War II. In the barrio, baseball wasn't just a game, it was an event.
By David Wharton, Times Staff Writer, April 6, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-chorizeros6apr06,0,1211902.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Sent by Johanna De Soto CasaSanMiguel@aol.com

On a Sunday morning washed bright and blue near the start of baseball season, only ghosts ramble around an empty diamond at Fourth and Evergreen streets. There is a puddle out by second base and kids playing soccer down the foul line. Hard to imagine how it used to be. You have to squint your eyes against the sunlight, look back a ways.

Back to the late 1940s, when baseball at Evergreen Park was a genuine social event in Boyle Heights. After church, whole neighborhoods congregated there, wives and friends, gossip and laughter, children hanging on the fence to watch.

The memories run hazy with smoke from carne asada on the grill, an old man selling nuts from a cart. The adults brought beer to drink as they sat on crude wooden bleachers and listened to mariachis. On special occasions, a local priest blessed the field.

They came by the hundreds — sometimes thousands — for the Carmelita Chorizeros, the New York Yankees of barrio baseball. In the years after World War II, the Chorizeros ruled over a loose affiliation of Latino amateur and semi-professional teams that played every weekend throughout Southern California and across the border into Mexico.

"I mean, we had some players," recalls Armando Perez, who joined the Chorizeros after three seasons of minor league ball with the Baltimore Orioles. "This was our existence."

The man who ran the club — he owned a chorizo factory down the road — made sure the lineup was always well-stocked, his guys dressed in crisp uniforms. The Chorizeros won strings of games, claiming one city championship after another, but this wasn't about just hits and runs.

Fifty years later, as Los Angeles roils with demonstrations over proposed immigration changes, the legacy of the Chorizeros is entwined with the story of the Latino community. Frank Lopez, the owner's son, could see it in all of those faces at the games.

"There was a lot of prejudice in those days," Lopez says. "This was a way to do something. Something for us."

Old photographs of Mario Lopez Sr. show a fit man with jet black hair, an avid ballplayer as a kid growing up in Chihuahua, Mexico. Immigrating to the United States in the early 1920s, he eventually opened a gas station called Mario's Service, then tried another line of work. 

At the time, despite a growing influx of Mexicans to Southern California, few grocery stores carried ethnic foods.

"You couldn't find chorizo anywhere," recalls Saul Toledo, a longtime friend of the Lopez family. "So Mario started making that and pickled pig's feet and chicharrones."

The original factory on Carmelita Avenue turned a healthy profit with its pork sausage, the kind that is crumbled into eggs for breakfast, and Lopez became known for his generosity. This trait extended to the ballclub he first organized at his service station, then continued with his new business.

The Chorizeros — the "chorizo makers" — had uniforms with the team name stitched in cursive across their chests, smart-looking ball caps and jackets. Lopez brought packages of chorizo to give away in the bleachers, and afterward invited everyone to a nearby restaurant, picking up the tab for tacos and cerveza.

"Oh, we'd run up a big bill," says Rich Pena, one of nine brothers who for many years formed the core of the Carmelita roster. "It was nothing but first class with him."

Lopez also arranged for a good manager, Manuel "Shorty" Perez, who guided the team for a quarter-century. No one can recall Shorty yelling or acting gruff, but if a player had a bad game, chances are he would be out of the lineup the next week.

The Chorizeros inhabited a gray area somewhere between the top recreation leagues and the lower rungs of semi-pro ball. The infields were all dirt, so Shorty would arrive hours before the first pitch to drag the surface smooth. Pena recalls a particular Sunday, after a week of rain, when the ground was too soggy to play.

Shorty, who ran a gas station in Boyle Heights, showed up anyway. "I was taking my wife to the movies and I saw him out there," Pena says. "He sprayed gasoline on the infield and lit it on fire. Flames shooting up. I swear to God. He was trying to make it dry."

Years later, the manager fell ill. Pena arrived at his house to find the family in tears and Shorty laid up in bed. "Hey, Rich," Shorty whispered to him. "We're home team tomorrow, so you've got to get out there early and drag the field."

Evergreen wasn't the only home for the Chorizeros. They played at nearby Fresno and Belvedere parks. The major leagues had yet to land in Southern California, so championship games were held at the city's two largest ball fields, Wrigley and Gilmore, where the Los Angeles Angels and Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League played. But Evergreen is the place that players — the ones still living — recall most fondly.

The park sits in the middle of Boyle Heights, with shade trees at the edges and a recreation center in back. The way it was configured then, left field ran short, so anything over the wall was a ground-rule double. To earn a homer, batters had to hit the ball farther out, past a chain-link fence and into the community pool.

"Each team brought one new ball to the game — you could call it a two-ball league — and the winning team got to keep both balls," says Al Padilla, who rooted for Carmelita as a boy. "There was a guy who jumped in the pool to retrieve the ball and throw it back."

Padilla later played for Ornelas Market, one of many rivals that included Manuel's All Stars and Jalisco Athletic Club. The Chorizeros also took on Mexican teams, either in Los Angeles or south of the border, and ventured outside barrio baseball to compete at the highest level of the municipal leagues.

"If we were playing the Watts Giants or one of the Caucasian teams from the other side of town, it was a machismo game," Frank Lopez says. "It was hard baseball."

That meant an occasional brush-back pitch or runners sliding into second with spikes high. Amid families who watched from the stands, the picnics and bilingual chatter, gamblers circulated.

These men would hang around the dugout, asking players how they felt, was anyone hurt, Armando Perez recalls. During games, a fair amount of cash changed hands.

"They'd get in fights," Perez, who was no relation to Shorty, says of the gamblers. "You got a feeling that baseball was sort of important, so you'd better play hard."

The recreation and parks department does not have records for its municipal leagues from the 1940s through the '60s, but the Lopez family claims that Carmelita won 19 city championships. Players recall several 20-game streaks, including one that was ended by a young pitcher named Joe Moeller, on his way to becoming a stalwart for the Dodgers. After the final out, with the team sitting around dejected, Mario Lopez Sr. stormed into the dugout to ask what happened.

"You can't win them all," Shorty told him.  Lopez was incredulous. "Why not?"

Looking at old Chorizero photographs, Perez points out a dozen men who played minor league ball at one point or another. Mario Lopez Sr. always watched for fresh talent, guys who had been stars in high school. 

After Pena came back from the minors, the owner persuaded him to play centerfield by giving him a job at the factory. Armando Perez would get a $20 bill — good money in those days — slipped in his hand after a big win.

In this way, a talented 16-year-old might break into the lineup and a steady outfielder might hang around till his 30s, but skill wasn't always the deciding factor. Of the nine Pena brothers, perhaps six truly merited a spot, which left less room for others.

No matter, the team fulfilled a role that extended beyond numbers in a box score.
During the late 1940s and early '50s, the Mexican American community in East Los Angeles was struggling to forge a cultural identity, according to Samuel Regalado, a history professor at Cal State Stanislaus who has written extensively about Latinos and sports. 

Some community leaders urged assimilation into American society while others held tight to their heritage. Youth gangs were gaining momentum in the aftermath of the Zoot Suit Riots. Amid such turmoil, Regalado says, baseball "was a magnet for everyone. It crossed over generations, political persuasions, bridging a lot of gaps. It was a language that everyone understood."

So the Sunday afternoon crowds at Evergreen included immigrants who had learned beisbol in Mexico and longed for a familiar sight in a strange new land. There were hard-core fans too. For them, neighborhood teams offered a chance to root for Mexican athletes at a time when baseball's color barrier had only recently been broken and the sport was far from integrated.

"If you're living in East L.A. and it's 1953 or '54, your heroes aren't coming out of the Brooklyn Dodgers," Regalado says. "Your heroes are guys playing at Belvedere Park. Those were the players who meant something to you."

One weekend, Mario Lopez Sr. stopped showing up for games and, Toledo says, "We knew something was wrong."  The owner died in October 1966, only 57 years old. Armando Perez figures the Chorizeros lost their leader and their soul: "He loved the game so much that his intensity carried over to us." 

Not too much later, Shorty died and was buried in his uniform with a baseball signed by his players.
By the early 1970s, the glory days had ended for the Chorizeros and the rest of barrio baseball. All that was left was the team logo — a pig with a bat — on a sign at the new Carmelita factory beside the 710 Freeway.

There simply wasn't a hunger for the games, partly because Los Angeles could root for two big league teams, the Dodgers and Angels, and partly because soccer had become such a big draw.
"And there's television," Regalado says. "Sunday afternoons were spent watching the NFL or major league baseball or anything else."

The players drifted apart, some falling out of touch over the years, until they were summoned to a reunion last week at the library at Cal State Los Angeles.

The university, working with a local historical group called the Baseball Reliquary, had gathered mementos and oral histories of Mexican American baseball in Los Angeles, spanning from amateur teams to Fernando Valenzuela in the big leagues. One hundred or so people attended the exhibit's opening, which runs until June 9.

The half a dozen or so Chorizeros, in their 70s and 80s, hair graying and shoulders a little stooped, were easy to spot because Frank Lopez brought pale blue hats for them to wear. There were hugs and shouts of "Hey, vatos!" and stories to tell.

Their reminiscing underscored how times have changed. Evergreen can still draw a crowd, but for different reasons: Last week, young demonstrators filled the park to rally against proposed federal legislation that would make felons of illegal immigrants.

Even the diamond looks different now, switched around, no more swimming pool beyond the left-field fence. With the arrival of another spring, there were no teams playing baseball that Sunday afternoon, only memories. 

The Mexican state of Jalisco seems to inspire a sense of cultural identity and pride that is not nearly as evident with other Mexican states. Even among some second- and third-generation Americans, loyalty to and interest in Jalisco is commonplace among Mexican Americans. To many people, Jalisco represents the essence of Mexican culture, tradition and music. The Tapatiós are well-known for their energetic and colorful dances, which are usually accompanied by the mariachi music that made Guadalajara famous.  The state itself has been contributing large numbers of immigrants to the U.S. since the early Twentieth Century and continues to send many Jaliscans to California, Texas, Illinois and other American states.

One of the founding fathers of Los Angeles, Luis Quintero, was born in Guadalajara and his descendants, numbering in the thousands, live throughout Los Angeles and neighboring counties. In my own personal and professional dealings, I have known at least a couple hundred people who either came from Jalisco or whose ancestors came from the place.  In fact, my nieces and nephews have ancestors from Tequila and Hostotipaquillo in the valleys of northern Jalisco, not far from the Nayarit border.

Thousands of Jaliscans have been arriving in Los Angeles and throughout California each year for the last half-century, and, today, the sons and daughters of Jalisco work in California's banks, health care companies, publishing companies, schools, libraries and factories.  Many of them attend elementary school or are making their way through college, while others stand on street corners, looking for day laboring opportunities. Today, without a doubt, the lifeblood of Jalisco flows through the heart of California.

I spend a few hours of each month as a volunteer Family History Consultant for people who are seeking to find their roots in Mexico and have met with many individuals who were interested in exploring their Jalisco roots. Many of them also have ancestors from Michoacán, Zacatecas, and Guanajuato, but for some reason, they have a compelling urge to explore their Jalisco origins first and foremost. (Michoacán runs a close second, in large part because some people have a sense of pride for their Purépecha/Tarascan roots in Jalisco’s neighbor to the south).

Some of the most successful, rewarding and enjoyable research that I’ve done is Jalisco research. Jalisco’s parish priests and the civil registrars followed a rigorous system of record-keeping that was not nearly as meticulous in some of the other Mexican states. As an added benefit, a significant number of Jalisco's parish records after 1850 are indexed, offering great opportunities for the family history researcher.

The most endearing characteristic of Jalisco records after 1800 is what I call The Abuelos Factor. Unlike some Mexican states and most countries of the world, a baptism record in the Jalisco parish books gives the family historian six new names to research: the padres (parents), abuelos paternos (paternal grandparents), and abuelos maternos (maternal grandparents) of the person being baptized.

As an example, the following baptism – translated into English from Spanish – was recorded on September 29, 1885 for Juana Luevano in the northern Jalisco town of Villa Hidalgo (a hop, skip and jump from the border with Aguascalientes):

     In  the  Parish  of Paso de Sotos on the 29th of September of 1885, I,
     Father  Estevan  Agredano... baptized solemnly and poured Holy Oil and
     Sacred  Chrism  on Juana, who was born on the 27th day at seven in the
     morning  in  this  place,  legitimate daughter of Tiburcio Luevano and
     Manuela  Martinez.  Paternal grandparents: Pablo Luevano and Manuela
     Serna.    Maternal   grandparents: Timoteo   Martinez  and  Fermina
     Rubalcaba. Godparents: Paulin  Diaz  and  Epifania  Aguallo, whom I
     advised  of  their  spiritual  and  parental  obligation.  In witness
     thereof, I signed it.

For the most part, people researching in Michoacán, Guanajuato and several other Mexican states do not usually have the benefit of the Abuelos Factor. But many post-1800 records in Zacatecas, Aguascalientes and Chihuahua are influenced by the Abuelos Factor which makes jumping from one generation to another an easier process.

The  most  important  repository  of  Jalisco records for most Americans to research  are  available  through  the  Family History Library in Salt Lake city. This library probably has the largest genealogical resources for the state of Jalisco in the world and its catalog can be accessed at the following link:

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp

For the state of Jalisco alone, the Family History Library owns at least 20,000 rolls of microfilm, covering roughly 200 cities, municipios, and villas. Of the 165 towns and villages whose Catholic churches are represented in this collection, 46 have registers going back to the 1600s while another 37 have records stretching back to the 1700s. Each roll of microfilm in the FHL collection can be ordered from any local Family History Center for $6.05. That roll of film will stay "in-house" for one month and can be renewed at the end of that period.

Most of Jalisco's 124 municipios are also represented in the FHL catalog. Although Mexico enacted civil registration in 1859, most of the municipios of Jalisco did not start keeping birth, marriage, and death records until 1867 or later. This collection is constantly being updated for some cities. In addition, the 1930 Mexican census is available for almost one hundred of the municipios. Another invaluable resource for the Hispanic researcher is the International Genealogical Index (IGI). In this database, many of the church records held by the FHL have been indexed. Of Mexico's 30 million baptism and marriage entries in the IGI, Jalisco accounts for about 3.5 million. In my own research, I have found this powerful and dynamic database to be of enormous value for pre-1880 baptisms and marriages.

Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico, is the capital of Jalisco. Founded in 1542, Guadalajara became the administrative capital of the province of Nueva Galicia. As the second largest tourist destination in Mexico, the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area enjoys the highest quality of life in Mexico. With a present-day population of around 4 million people, it is not surprising that many Mexican Americans search for their roots in the parish registers of Guadalajara and its immediate vicinity.

The FHL owns an impressive 3,400 rolls of microfilm dealing with Guadalajara. Fifteen Catholic churches, some with baptism and marriage registers stretching back as far as 1635, are represented on 1,500 rolls of film. Padrones (local census lists) from 1639 to 1875 comprise 48 rolls of film and can be a very useful resource. Property and water rights records can be found on 269 rolls of microfilm and date back to 1584. Notarial and probate records, dating back to at least 1583, make up almost 1,300 rolls.

It is interesting to note that, as one goes back in time, the records of some cities actually become more detailed. For example, a researcher exploring the marriage records in Lagos de Moreno between 1650 and 1670 will find that they are amazingly detailed, even for Indian couples who have no surnames.

In pre-Columbian times, many indigenous groups inhabited Jalisco, and, in fact, the present-day territory of Jalisco was crisscrossed by a large number of small autonomous states speaking a multitude of languages, some of which are long forgotten. The area around Guadalajara was inhabited by Cocas and Tecuexes, while the northern Altos region was dominated by the Caxcanes and Guachichiles. The Otomies lived around Zapotitlán, Juchitlán, Autlán in the south, but it is possible that they were transplanted Indians who came to fill a demographic void left by the original inhabitants after epidemics had reduced their numbers.

The Purépecha Indians (Tarascans), identified with the State of Michoacán, inhabited some of the southern border regions. The Tepehuán Indians, presently inhabiting Chihuahua, Durango and Nayarit, once lived in some of the northern mountains of Jalisco’s Three-Fingers Border Region with Zacatecas. The Huicholes, who now live in Nayarit, also inhabited some regions of northern Jalisco until shortly after the Spanish contact.

An integral part of genealogical research is historical perspective and understanding Jalisco’s indigenous past is a step towards understanding your own family history. Only three authors have dealt with the topic of Jalisco’s indigenous people at great length. The following two books may be of assistance to the determined researcher:

Peter Gerhard, The North Frontier of New Spain. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1982.

Eric Van Young, "The Indigenous Peoples of Western Mexico from the Spanish Invasion to the Present: The Center-West as Cultural Region and Natural Environment," in Richard E. W. Adams and Murdo J. MacLeod, The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Volume II: Mesoamerica, Part 2. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 136-186.

In addition, Dr. Phil Weigand of the Centro de Estudios Arqueologicos, El Colegio de Michoacan, in Zamora, Michoacán, has spent years studying the archaeology and history of the indigenous peoples of Jalisco and Zacatecas. Dr. Weigand has written many books and articles on the topic of indigenous Jalisco, both pre-Hispanic and later, and most of these works can be found in the California University library system. Although most of his works are in Spanish, a few are in English.

Many people have come to me talking about the etymology of their surname and how it came from a certain place in Spain at a certain time. Sometimes they give very intricate details about a surname’s history, without really knowing exactly how they connect to the surname, and sometimes their sources of this information are just quotes off the Internet, not from published academic sources.

This is all good information to know and may turn out to be useful (and hopefully accurate), but it is important for people to realize that there is only one way to actual trace your own family tree and that is to look for your ancestors one generation at a time, baptism by baptism, marriage by marriage, going back gradually through time. Like any genealogical research project, tracing your roots in Jalisco demands a certain amount of patience, perseverance, and determination, as well as an open mind. Once you get the hang of it, it is really quite simple and the rewards can be spectacular.

Jalisco is still a vibrant and proud state. People who come from there have difficulty shedding their cultural ties to their tapatió heritage and generally maintain a sense of identity about their Jaliscan origins. The State of Jalisco, with its rich cultural inheritance, has become, in many ways, part of California society as well. But no matter how American you are, it doesn’t hurt to know about your ancestors from Jalisco and the evolution that transformed them from Indian warriors and Spanish settlers into American citizens.

Copyright © 2006 by John P. Schmal. All Rights Reserved.

Source:  John P. Schmal and Donna S. Morales, Mexican-American Genealogical Research: Following the Paper Trail to Mexico (Heritage Books, 2002).

CALIFORNIA

Report on the SHHAR quarterly meeting, May 27th, Orange, California

http://www.specialbooks.com/historic_repro.htm

Douglas Paul Westfall, publisher, was one of the guest speakers at the SHHAR meeting, May 27th. Well known historian, dedicated to giving visibility to the diverse cultural heritage in California, he spoke of the Nieto Ranch, which included most of Orange County and the land divisions of California, from the original 40 Spanish grants to some 800 Mexican land grants.  His passionate delivery both entertained and enlightened.  Doug's publishing company specializes in special interest topics of historical significance. Here are the front covers of just a few of the books that can be found on his website.  Doug is a long time friend of SHHAR, having designed our logo as a gift, many years ago..  It is a pleasure to see Doug's  love becomes his profession.
Photo by Pat Lozano

               Barry Starr and Robin Collins
                            Photo by Pat Lozano

California is one of our nation’s most special treasures, from it’s deserts, graceful beaches and magnificent rugged coast to the lush, pastoral, legendary hills and valleys with their incredible animal and plant life. Another of California’s resources is the diverse history, embracing the cultures of the past. Only here are so many historic variations of western cultures still represented and active. All should be recognized.

"We want to give children the experience of feeling what life was like in the days when horses were an important part of every day survival,"  said Robin Collins.

"No one can say how the history of the world might have unfolded if there had been no horses. Equestrian nations have shaped the face of our world as we know it. And the mind of man, holding the whole world in it’s grasp across oceans and continents, reaching beyond our earth in these very days, saw the guideposts pointing beyond the horizon from the back of the horse for the first time."

For more information or how you can support this effort, please contact:
Director Barry Starr at 209.694-1608 or email hdcinc@netptc.net
Check out their website at http://www.knxu.com/~HDC/
http://www.knxu.com/~HDC/RDSabout.html

Guide to the La Purisima Mission State Historic Park Collection
Sent by Barry Starr bstarr@MetLife.com

La Purisima Mission State Historic Park Lompoc, California
Contact Information:  La Purisima Mission State Historic Park
2295 Purisima Road
Lompoc, CA 93436
Phone: (805) 733-3713  Fax: (805) 733-2497
Email: lapurmis@sbceo.org

The La Purisima Mission State Historic Park Collection contains correspondence, administrative materials, architectural records, committee documents, news clippings, reports, and financial materials documenting the restoration of the mission beginning in 1934. In addition, the collection includes records of the Citizen's Advisory Committee, a civic group that played a major role in the restoration process along with the personal papers of its key leaders Pearl Chase, M. R. Harrington, Edith Webb, and Glen Main. The collection also contains original mission records, in English and Spanish, including annual and biannual reports, correspondence, inventory lists, and books of confirmations,m burials, marriages, and baptisms, ranging from 1787 to 1851. Materials in this collection range from 1787-2002 with the majority dedicated to the mission’s existence as a public institution from its initial restoration by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1933 to 1941, and continued restoration through 1971.

Physical location: collection is located at La Purisima Mission State Historic Park, Lompoc, Calif. 

I forwarded the request to California historians and genealogists, Joan De Soto and Cindy LoBuglio.  Both Joan and Cindy are related to  most of the early California families, and are generous in their assistance.

Neither were able to find the connection that the researcher hoped was there. Joan checked the 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 Federal Census and found he was not in any of the earlier records. The 1930 Census does list a Vallejo family, but her ancestor was not among them. 
Note, the fourth, head of the household.

Both searched for birth and death information. 
Cindy found the Vallejo name in Texas at the correct time period, and a birth of a male in Los Angeles which put the connection in 1946, not earlier.

Two organizations assist researchers with early California lines: 
Los Californianos www.loscalifornianos.org
Los Pobaladores.www.lospobladores.org

“Bringing Families Together!”

STORY ROAD TAMALE FESTIVAL  
Hosted  by CACIQUE & Super Mercado Mexico
This is a Non-alcoholic event

Saturday  June 3,   2006,  San Jose, CA
Source of information: Kentara@kentara.info

2nd Annual Story Road Tamale Festival being held in San Jose at Emma Prusch Farm Park,  (located on Story Road and King Road), East San Jose. Story Road exit off Hwy 101 South or north in San Jose and go East when exiting.

There will family fun, foods, beverages, arts & crafts, giveaways, and more. The event will feature a competitive contest for the BEST Tamale in the Bay Area, by a business or individual. Come and savor in the many tamales competing that day. See if your taste preference matches the selection of the "Tamale Judges".  Who will be crowned the Tamale King & Queen!

There will be live entertainment featuring Mexican, Chicano and Latin sounds, Mariachi and folklorico dancers for your enjoyment. This year, the headliner will be legendary recording artists, "EL CHICANO" direct from L.A., performing their hits that sold millions! Hear "Cha-Chita", "Viva Tirado", and "Tell Here She's Lovely" plus others. This is "El Chicano's" debut in San Jose of 2006. Opening for "El Chicano" will be "Mystique". All Chicano Latin Soul Rock at it's best! It's an all day FREE Event. 10 am till 6 pm  

As if what we have examined in the previous chapter was not mysterious and mind boggling enough, there is yet more solid, and I do mean solid, evidence that the Loya kinsmen were among the very first, albeit not recorded, pioneers and explorers of the United States.

Faced with the task of rounding up the Indians that lived there and taking them away because of the atrocities they had committed against the white man, in a beautiful act of kindness which shows that the American soldiers were not the ruthless killers of Indians that some today make them out to be, Lafayette Houghton Bunnel, the Army surgeon attached to the 36th Regiment of the Wisconsin Volunteers who were serving with the Mariposa Battalion, called that beautiful valley Yosemite Valley. Dr. Bunnel named the valley so with the express intent of perpetuating the name of the Yosemite Indian tribe the U.S. Army was now forced to dispossess.

In the middle of the Yosemite Valley stood one of the most striking and impressive sights in that beautiful place. In his book "Yosemite: It’s Wonders and It’s Beauties", John S. Hittel described this formation:

"Just opposite to the great fall is Sentinel Rock, a narrow promontory jutting out a quarter of a mile into the valley, and at the point of the mountain is an obelisk, about 2000 feet high, and three hundred feet thick, the summit reaching an elevation of 3000 feet. The sides show beautiful vertical cleavages in the granite."

After describing this magnificent rock formation, Hittel goes on to say that the name of this rock is "Loya"!

I was absolutely amazed at the fact that this 3000 foot high beautiful and natural granite wonder is called Loya! I was just amazed! I sat there taking in the awesome realization that this natural 3000 foot high natural wonder was called, is called by my surname, Loya! This sense of wonder was multiplied when I found out that immediately across the valley was a set of three mountaintops called the "Three Brothers"! With the "Three Brothers" on one side, and "Loya" on the other, the beautiful Yosemite Valley lay in the middle as a silent witness that perhaps the three Loya brothers who had come to what would be the United States in the 1535 had not, after all, been content to be established in Texas and had proceeded north west, and as the map shows, in a straight line, looking for what to them must have been the end of the world, being stopped in their quest only by the Pacific Ocean. I was a little disappointed to learn that these three mountaintops located across the valley from Loya were called the Three Brothers by Bunnel himself in 1851. Never the less, as a theologian, I saw the hand of Providence in that these Three Brothers should be forever established across the valley, directly facing Loya as a perpetual reminder of the three Loya brothers who were among the very first Europeans to cross the Atlantic to this New World and be established in what would be the United States of America. 

After I got over the awesomeness of discovering that Yosemite Valley’s Sentinel Rock was originally called by my own surname, Loya, I turned to think about it. As I thought about it, I knew there had to be there in the Indians’ folklore some clue, some indication that even though the 1851 military expedition into Yosemite Valley is reputed as being the first time white men ever saw that heavenly place, white men had to have been there before. Because this was in California, I figured that in the Indians’ tradition there would be hidden a memory of the presence of Spaniards at Yosemite Valley. I figured this because although Loya is originally an Italic French name, it had been introduced to what would be the United States by Italic Frenchmen who had become and had come as and with the Spaniards. There had to be in the Indians’ traditional memory some indication of the presence of Spaniards in the area.

As I did more research, sure enough, I found that such was the case. In chapter four of his "Discovery of the Yosemite" L.H. Bunnel himself, the man who actually discovered and named Yosemite Valley, states that "Loya" is a name the Indians got from the Spaniards in the undetermined past, before Bunnel and the Mariposa Battalion discovered YosemiteValley in 1851. I also found out a fascinating fact that is almost too much to take in! When Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the Spanish conquistador and explorer from Andalucia arrived in California in 1542 having sailed up the Pacific Coast with the task of exploring the northwest coast of New Spain, he got reports from the Indians that there were "men like us" in the interior of California! (David J. Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America, p.42)

Although historians generally believe that the Indians report of white men at this time referred to members of the Francisco Vazquez de Coronado’ expedition 1540 which reached as far northwest as 150 miles east of San Diego, the report that Cabrillo heard from the Indians of the presence of "men like us" in the interior of California in 1542, considering the mysterious presence of a 3000 foot high rock called Loya in the interior of California, perfectly coincides with the record of the three Loya brothers and their families who are registered as coming to the New World seven years earlier in 1535.

And it is not as if the surname Loya applied to the Sentinel Rock is an isolated mystery pointing to the presence of white men in the area of Yosemite in times past. In his "Ballico (A Fanciful History)" Haney describes a mystery of history not unlike the mystery of the lost colony of Roanoke:

"Cities both north and south of Ballico boast names of Spanish language origin, yet history yields neither physical evidence nor written record which suggests that there was a Spanish-speaking community at the site that either established or preserved the name ‘Ballico’ as persons of Anglo origin increasingly populated the area"

According to Haney, one theory says that Ballico may have been so called by Spanish friars when they first began to penetrate California, which would have been between 1769 and 1790, but, in reality, Ballico, like Loya, is a place whose name and history is engulfed in mystery. Ballico, population 150, is two hours west of Yosemite Valley, but in a direct line of access following or canoeing down the Merced River. There is, as Haney points out, no physical evidence or written record of the presence of Spaniards, or Italic Frenchmen who came as Spaniards, in the area, yet the names of places are a silent testimony to their presence in the undetermined past.

These Hispanized Frenchmen, like the British colonists of Roanoke, disappeared without a trace, but they left trace of their presence in the names of the places they discovered and established. I specifically mention that not only Loya but also Ballico are trace of the presence of Hispanized Italic Frenchmen in the area because, interestingly, Ballico is reminiscent of the surname of the Balli family from South Texas where the Loya were first established and which, like the Loya family, is an Italic French family having originated in the same places of both France and Italy that the Loya family came from. Although I have not found any marriages between the two families, there is a long association between the Loya and the Balli families which dates from the Medieval days of castles, knights and kings. This is a fascinating story that I will examine in another chapter. Certainly, the association between the Loya and Balli families is ancient and consistent enough that I would not doubt one little bit that representatives of both the Loya and Balli families ventured to the far west very early in the age of exploration and gave their names to both Loya and Ballico.

Cabeza de Vaca walked across Texas and Mexico with only four companions, why should it be hard to believe that a Loya kinsman ventured out searching for the Pacific Ocean, surely with others, perhaps a Balli, and arrived at Yosemite, giving his own surname to the magnificent rock formation that stood like a sentinel guarding the Yosemite Valley? The migration habits of the Loya family group very strongly support this, I would say, fact.

What are these migration habits of the Loya family that so strongly indicate that Loya in Yosemite Valley is called after a Loya kinsman who surely discovered that earthly paradise? Well, the Loya family group started off in Tuscany from where they were scattered very early in Medieval times. As I mentioned before, a large group of Loya kinsmen settled in the area of Labourd and Navarre in France at that early stage while Navarre was still all French. After the Spaniards invaded Navarre, the Loya clan was divided and some came to America to the area of New York and Vermont with Samuel De Champlain, while others came to the area of Texas with the Spaniards.

Notice the following migration pattern: The Spaniards invade and annex French Navarre, adjacent to Labourd, in 1512, the Loya arrive in Spain by boat in 1526, Penitas, Texas was founded in 1520, the three Loya brothers are recorded as having migrated to the New World in 1535, news arrive at Hispaniola in the summer of 1561 of three vessels full of silver and gold that sunk off the coast of Texas near Penitas, the Loya are in trouble by December of that same year for trying to smuggle unregistered silver into Spain, and then again in 1563 when they disappear from the record after being released from prison. Parral was founded in 1630, a Loya kinsman is recorded there in 1632. The city of Chihuahua was established as a city in 1705, the Loya increase in that area in 1707. San Elizario, Texas proper was founded in 1789, the Loya are fully established there by the year 1799. When Benito Juarez was in exile in El Paso, Texas, he issued a decree that any who would be willing to work the land in the Chihuahuan desert around present day Juarez could have several acres of land, immediately a Loya family from San Elizario, Texas picks up its bags from Texas and moves across the Rio Grande into Chihuahua. The train arrived to Mesilla, New Mexico in 1878, the Loya got there in 1880.

This pattern should not be ignored, it establishes an entrenched attitude in a family group of moving on as soon as news arrive that a new place is available for settlement or of financial gain. It really is a wonder they did not move on to California as soon as news got to Texas that a settlement had been started there or in pursuit of fabled cities of gold! Think about it.

But, is that the case? That migration pattern was so entrenched in the Loya family group that not moving on to California and staying in Texas as soon as news got to Texas about any Spanish settlement in California or of any opportunity to find gold was truly out of character! The presence of Loya, the Sentinel Rock, then, is consistent with the well established migration pattern of the Loya family group. As we briefly saw and we will see, the evidence strongly suggests an even earlier date than the founding of the Spanish missions in California as the date in which surely Loya kinsmen discovered Yosemite Valley.

Consider as well that not only did the Loya kinsmen move as soon as news arrived of an available settlement, which is why they are present in all the oldest of the oldest towns of Texas, but they moved to the furthest of the furthest frontier. At some point in time while it was yet an unexplored wilderness they had moved to Texas, to the furthest, most isolated settlements of Spain in the New World along the north bank of the Rio Grande, it would be totally consistent with the Loya family group’s habit to move or attempt to move further into Northern California. The presence of that magnificent granite oblique called Loya is definite evidence that, true to their entrenched habit, they did so, and on their way to the Pacific Ocean they stumbled upon this paradise called Yosemite Valley and called the Sentinel Rock Loya.

And let me make it perfectly clear that although I am awed and amazed at the thought that this natural wonder is called after my surname, Loya, and although it makes me feel very happy to realize just how much of an American this makes my family and I, it is not something I am proud of or approve of. In fact, I refuse to approve of this or to let myself be proud of this, and I exhort you, my children, when you grow up, and I exhort every Loya kinsman to refuse to approve or feel pride in the fact that one of the most magnificent natural wonders on American soil is named after our own surname. The reason for this is because I am perfectly aware of what the Bible teaches concerning those who call places after their own names and of their descendants who approve of it:

"…They call their lands after their own names… This is the way of those who are foolish, And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah" (Psalm 49:11-13 NKJV)

The word "Selah" in the Hebrew text means "think about it". So let’s do just that and think of why God would say those who call places after their own names are foolish, and so are their descendants who approve of it. In context, the reason God says so is because, in context, people call places after their own names in a vain attempt to perpetuate themselves, in an attempt to, in a way, "live forever" apart from God. Biblically, an individual is able to live forever not by calling a piece of land, or a natural obelisk at Yosemite Valley, after his own surname, but by, and only by, putting his faith in Jesus Christ. The posterity of those who call places after their names are foolish when they become conceited because a certain place is called by their family’s name because of what an ancestor did because, for example, as permanent and as eternal as the giant rock Loya seems, this life and this present earth, Biblically, is only temporary. Life is not about the here and now, an eternal inheritance is not in the passing down of a surname or naming a place after our family, but life is about, and a true inheritance is about passing down to our children our faith in Jesus Christ, who alone is the source of life and immortality.

Nevertheless, the fact that the Indians called this Sentinel Rock Loya before its recorded history, the fact that it was a name the Indians, according to Bunnel, learned from the Spaniards, the fact that Cabrillo heard reports from the Indians of "men like us" in the interior of California in 1542, and the fact that the mystery of the Sentinel Rock’s name being Loya matches and coincides with the extremely early dates of the migration of the Loya family group to America from France through and with Spain and the towns they were settled in, starting at the coast of Texas and up the north bank of the RioGrande (1535, 1520, 1563, 1580, 1598, 1630, 1705, 1789), are way too much to be coincidental! Indeed, the fact that the Sentinel Rock is called Loya is itself solid evidence of the early migration of the Loya family group to what would be the United States.

When Bunnel discovered this 3047 foot high rock formation, he was at a loss to explain how the Yosemites got the name Loya from the Spaniards. Bunnel tries to theorize how this happened, but the very first thing he should have done was to apply the method I mentioned in chapter 19 of this book in which scholars compare the similarity of place names in different geographical areas to determine relationships between ancient peoples and migration patterns. If Bunnel would have done so, he would not only have been credited for being the first person to describe Yosemite Valley to the outside world, but also for being the man responsible for solving the mystery of how the Sentinel Rock came to be called Loya.

If you remember, I mentioned how scholars determined that the Etruscans from the Italian Peninsula migrated to the Iberian Peninsula at some point in the past because of the similarity of place names such as Tarragona in Spain and Tarracina in Italy. In the same manner, scholars determined a migration of people from Asia Minor, the area of the Aegean Sea, Turkey and Greece, to the Italian island of Sardinia because of the similarity of the name of the island, Sardinia, or Sardegna, to places in the Aegean area such as Sardis, Sardessos etc. Well, to be scholarly, Bunnel should have applied this method when he discovered Loya, and we, and scholars, really should apply this method to our present discussion. Is the name of the Sentinel Rock, Loya, similar to to the name of another place or people group? Where is this place? Where did this people group, whose name is similar to the name of the Sentinel Rock, come from? Are there any historical circumstances that would indicate a possibility of the transference of the name? Scholars really should ask these questions to determine in a scholarly fashion how the Sentinel Rock came to be called Loya, and to solve the mystery.

As I shared in chapter 20, there is another place called "Loya" located in the outskirts of the city of Hendaye on the Southern Coast of France. What is absolutely fascinating, however, is that here we have not just a similarity in two place names, like Tarragona to Tarracina or like Sardis to Sardinia, which would lead scholars to conclude there had to be an expedition of people from the French area to the are of the Yosemite in California, but we have the actual, same, exact name! That is mind boggling! And what is more, these two places look in areas, so like each other that it is uncanny! In fact, the physical similarity between the volcanic, cliff rock formations in the Bay of Loya in France is so uncanny similar to the volcanic rock formation in the Yosemite Valley called Loya, that not only is it quite obvious the Valley of the Yosemite was discovered by Hispanized Italic Frenchmen before Bunnel and his men did, but, if I was not aware of the existence of the Tuscan word Loia and its Etruscan etymology, I would think Loya is a French Gascon word to describe just that kind of rock formation!

Loya at the foot of the French Pyrenees Atlantiques on the French Atlantic Coast is a place that, just like the Valley of the Yosemite, fascinates geologists and tourists alike because of its magnificent rock formations. Like the Valley the Yosemite and its Loya Rock, so the Bay of Loya and its place called Loya in France elicit exclamations of those who visit and write about it such as "marvelous folds of the pile of plates… splendid sedimentary instabilities in the Bay of Loya!" (Patrick Lafargue, Geolval ala Decouverte de la Geologie des Pyrenees, a geologists’ discussion, 2001.) and "The park is opened to the public and one can discover there splendid, wild and difficult to access splits (of rocks) like that of Loya!" (Juria Jean Pierre, 44 Data bases Leclerc, 64700 Hendaye, in an appeal to tourists to visit the area). Compare these descriptions of Loya, France, to the description of Loya in the Yosemite Valley in California by Hittel which I quoted earlier, "The sides show beautiful vertical cleavages in the granite". Placing these descriptions of these two places side by side really makes the point, "The sides show beautiful vertical cleavages in the granite" (Loya, in Yosemite Valley, California) "marvelous folds of the pile of plates… splendid sedimentary instabilities… splendid, wild and difficult to access splits (of rocks) like that of Loya!" (Loya, in Labourd, France), although the descriptions of the Loya place in France sound awkward because they are a literal, electronic translation of French into English.

And then we have a family group which originated in the place of Loya in France whose surname is Loya in between the two rock formations and the historical reality of their migration to the New World in the year 1535, the geographical reality of the concentration of the Loya family group in very specific areas of Texas along the north bank of the Rio Grande from the coast of Texas to El Paso, and the historical reality that this concentration of Loya kinfolk is in the oldest towns of Texas which I mentioned.

Let’s put it this way to drive it home: What do we have?

1. We have the existence of a beautiful, huge 3047 foot

high rock formation in Yosemite Valley, California which is mysteriously called Loya.

2. We have the existence of a place in the province of Labourd in France by the city of Hendaye in which there are beautiful, huge rock formations which is called Loya as well.

3. We have the fact that the area around the two places called Loya, in both Yosemite Valley and the foot of the French Pyrennes in France are remarkably similar beyond the rock formations.

4. We have the fact the L.H. Bunnel, the discoverer of Yosemite Valley, wrote that the Yosemite Indians got the name Loya for that rock formation from the Spaniards.

5. We have the fact that Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was told by the Indians of California in 1542 that their were "men like us" in the interior of California.

6. We have that the Loya family group which was established in North America originates in the place of the Loya, where the rock formations are, in the outskirts of the city of Hendaye in Labourd, France.

7. We have the fact that this family group arrived in Spain by boat from France in 1526. (Archivo General de Indias, General Archives of the Indies, reference code ES.41091.AGI/16414.48.1//JUSTICIA.822: Autos Fiscales. Contratacion, (Judicial Records).

8. We have the fact that this Loya family group is recorded as travelling under Spanish jurisdiction to the New World in 1535. (Archivo General de Indias, General Archives of the Indies, reference code: ES.41091.AGI/16419//Pasajeros.L.2.E.990).

9. We have the fact that this Loya family group is and has been established in the oldest towns of Texas along the Rio Grande from the Coast of Texas in Penitas, which dates to 1520, through San Juan Bautista, which dates to 1580 and on to San Elizario in El Paso County, which dates as a city to 1789 but which had a foundational settlement which dated to 1598.

10. In conclusion, we have the Loya family group arriving to Spain in 1526 from the place of the Loya where the rock formations are in France, traveling to the New World as Spanish subjects in 1535, a report of white men in the interior of California in 1542 and a huge rock formation called Loya which got its name from the Spaniards surrounded by an area remarkably similar to the area of the Loya in the French Pyrenees, of which Loya is the foot in the French side.

Scholarly speaking, this is the evidence necessary to solve the mystery of where the Sentinel Rock got its name Loya. Scholarly speaking, there is only one conclusion. It is quite evident by comparing the name, the appearance and the surrounding area of Loya in the Yosemite Valley to Loya on the southern coast of France, and considering the early migration and existence of the Loya family group in the oldest towns of Texas, and their migration and settlement patterns, that Loya in the Yosemite was, if not called after the surname of the one who discovered it before Bunnel, it certainly is called after the place of the Loya where his family came from in France. More than likely, it is called Loya after both. When the Loya kinsman saw the Sentinel Rock in the YosemiteValley, it obviously reminded him of the place his family had come from just across the Spanish border in France, obviously!

Around the Sentinel Rock called Loya in the Yosemite Valley there are beautiful waterfalls and lakes, as well as majestic mountains and rock formations, it is uncanny how exactly the same thing can be said about the beautiful waterfalls, lakes, rock formations and majestic mountains of the French Pyrenees Atlantiques around the Baie de Loya at the foot of the Pyrenees! Many of those formations look almost exactly the same! It is unbelievable! It is quite evident that the Sentinel Rock was called Loya as a point to mark the beautiful Yosemite Valley just as the huge, beautiful and majestic rock formations in the Baie de Loya mark the foot of the French Pyrenees Atlantiques in Southern France.

What does the fact that whoever called the Sentinel Rock Loya was obviously reminded of the place of the Loya in France tell me? You and I can compare pictures of both areas and see the obvious similarity, but whoever named the Sentinel Rock Loya didn’t have our advantage, he had to draw from his memory, and it is evident that that memory was imbued with the beauty of the French Pyrenees Atlantiques near the Baie de Loya and the rock formations at Loya so that when he came into Yosemite Valley he immediately noticed the similarity. Only somebody who had spent his childhood in the French Pyrenees around the Baie de Loya would be so reminded. The intimate familiarity of whoever called the Sentinel Rock Loya in the Yosemite Valley with the area of the French Pyrenees that rises from the place called Loya at the first buttresses of the Pyrenees tells me that the discoverer of the Yosemite Valley who called the Sentinel Rock Loya had to be one of the three Loya "brothers" who are registered as coming to America in 1535 who had previously arrived by boat to Spain from France in 1526. Who among the early Spanish explorers would have been reminded of the rock formations and the French Pyrenees around the place of Loya in Southern France? Who among the early Spanish explorers was so imbued with the beauty of the French Pyrenees of which Loya is the foot on the southern coast of France? Of all the people who are registered among the earliest explorers or colonists of the New World in the 16th century, only Juan, Bernardo and Bernardo Loya would have been so reminded.

But how do we reconcile what the records I examined suggest, that the Loya brothers and their families stopped at the Island of Hispaniola in 1535, traveling back and forth to Spain and not moving on to the coast of Texas but until 1563? You will recall that this is suggested by the record of two of the three "brothers" and their families , one of the Bernardos became silent after 1535. The existence of the Sentinel Rock Loya in the Valley of the Yosemite, coupled with Cabrillo’s report of "men like us" in the interior of California in 1542, the presence of the Loya family in the town of Penitas near the coast of Texas which dates to 1520, the port of entry of Brazos Santiago which dates to 1523 and the record of Bernardo Loya which stops at Hispaniola in 1535, which was under the same Spanish jurisdiction of Jamaica that Texas was under as opposed to Cortez’s jurisdiction of Mexico, while his brother Juan and his nephew Bernardo keep doing business after 1535, strongly suggests that the three Loya brothers indeed moved on to Penitas, Texas in 1535. While Juan and the younger Bernardo (Jean and Bernard Loya in their original non-hispanicized cognominal form) continued to do business with Spain through the window of opportunity of attempts of colonization of Texas which closed in 1563, when the record suggests Juan and his son Bernardo and their families finally stopped doing business settling in Penitas, the older Bernardo evidently moved on from Texas, perhaps in search of the fabled Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, following the Rio Grande to its end in Northern New Mexico, and then moving on to California where he, and surely others with him discovered the Valley of the Yosemite. This phantom expedition would have occurred between the date of the Loya brothers and their families’ registration as coming to the New World in 1535, and Cabrillo’s report of "men like us" in the interior of California in 1542, which would indicate to us that the Loya "brothers" ( Juan and his son Bernardo and Bernardo the uncle) and their families indeed arrived at Penitas, Texas soon after their registration in 1535.

Whatever the case may be, the very fact that that magnificent wonder of nature, that solid giant of granite in that beautiful paradise called the Yosemite Valley is called Loya, like the very similar "splendid, wild, marvellous sedimentary instabilities in Loya" at the foot of the French Pyrenees Atlantiques in France, is itself the most solid evidence that these two places are indeed historically linked, and this connection is underscored by the uncanny similarity of the areas around both Loya locations. To apply the scientific method of determining migration patterns and relationships between people groups, is the name of the Sentinel Rock, Loya, similar to to the name of another place or people group? The answer is yes! Yes it is! There is a family group which came to America in 1535 whose surname is the name of the 3000 foot high rock in Yosemite Valley, Loya, which comes from a place in France called Loya which has the same type rock formations and the remarkably similar area as that of Loya in Yosemite. The similarity between these two places is such, and the one is so obviously called after the other, that I would not be at all surprised if in some old archive somewhere it was found that the Yosemite Valley was at some point in the past called the New French Pyrenees Atlantiques. The Sentinel Rock called Loya in Northern California, and the awesome rock formations in Loya in the southern coast of France are themselves the silent and eternal witnesses that, indeed, the Loya family group, that hispanicized Italic French family group, true to their character continued their move to the furthest frontier and discovered the Yosemite Valley 300 years before the Mariposa Battalion did in 1851, and they are solid trace evidence of the extremely early date of migration of Europeans to the United States, ultimately supporting the historical tradition passed down within the Loya family and preserved on the historical marker, that Penitas, Texas, was founded and has been continuously inhabited by the descendants of the first Europeans since the year 1520.

NORTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

"They Were Not Familiar with His Majesty, nor Did They Wish to Be His Subjects"

Edited, Translated, and Annotated by
Richard Flint and Shirley Cushing Flint
http://www.smu.edu/SWcenter/Flint.htm

Complete Muster Roll of the Coronado Expedition of February 22, 1540
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nmbernal/musterc.htm
Sent by John Inclan   fromgalveston@yahoo.com

Two Discoveries, Two Conquests: Vázquez de Coronado 
By Félix A. Barboza-Retana, B.A.; M.A. 
Historian and Museologist, Museum of Texas Tech University 
http://www.fcs.ucr.ac.cr/~historia/articulos/coronados.htm

BLACK

Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874 The Freedman's Bank records show depositors' names and sometimes other personal information such as age, place of birth, and occupation.

U.S. Federal Census, 1870 The 1870 census is the first U.S. Federal Census to list formerly enslaved African Americans by name (in previous censuses they were included only as tally marks on a page).

1850 and 1860 Slave Schedules Slaves were counted separately during the 1850 and 1860 U.S. censuses. Unfortunately, in most schedules, only the names of land owners were recorded; individual slaves were not named but were simply numbered and can be distinguished only by age, sex, and color.

Civil War Service Records These records include more than 5.3 million men who served in the war. Each record provides the soldier's name, company, unit, the individual's rank when inducted and rank when discharged.

Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy, 1718- 1820 This database includes detailed information on more than 100,000 slaves who arrived in Louisiana between 1718 and 1820. The records include personal details such as name, gender, race, birthplace, family names and relationships, skill or trade, personality traits and information about how the person was freed.

Slave Narratives A collection of one-on-one interviews with more than 3,500 former slaves collected over a ten-year period from 1929 to 1939. The interviews, written exactly as they were dictated to preserve the spoken dialect of the former slave, are very rich in family history data and often identify ages, places of residence and birth, and names of spouses, children, siblings, and parents.

Selected Family and Local Histories 
This collection is a compilation of journals, memoirs, and other first-hand personal narratives that provide poignant picture of daily life, from everyday challenges to extreme hardships.

Mexico city -Mexico has redrawn its congressional districts to try to increase the number of Indian lawmakers.  Xochiti Galvez, Indian affairs adviser to President Vicente Fox, said there will be 28 new districts with an Indian majority when the presidential and congressional elections are held July 2. While about 13 million of Mexico's 103 million people are Indians, there are currently three Indian federal congressional representatives in the 500-seat lower house and no Indian senators.

Keeping Dakotah language alive through Scrabble
Game also could save tribal culture
By Tom Berg, Knight Ridder/Tribune news, April 27, 2006

Copyright © 2006, Knight-Ridder/Tribune (KRT)

SEPHARDIC

Ana Kurland

I was told when I was very little that our ancestors were Jews. It was superficial talk, and I think it was meant to show that we were Spanish and not the regular Puerto Rican mix.

Mom's family has the most. My great-grandparents came from Spain to Puerto Rico in the mid 1800s. They were converses and practiced one-half Catholicism and one-half Judaism.

The first thing I noticed was a big celebration on New Year's Day, when I was eight years old. I asked why we have a New Year's celebration when everyone else (school friends) celebrated Christmas. Christmas celebration was minor. I was told it was my grandfather's saint's day. Being a good Catholic school girl, I went to a saint's day book. Grandfather's name was Manuel. I didn't find St. Manuel anywhere. My mother kept insisting on that reason for this holiday. I asked an aunt. She said that was the day of Jesus' circumcision. To this day, she denies saying this,

My grandparents were Ana and Manuel. Mom is Ana. My sister isAna. My grandmother is Ana. All of my female cousins are Ana. All the boys are Manuel, used as a middle name. I was told on the Internet that this was a custom used for protection against the Inquisition. If the Inquisition came to a house and wanted, for example, Ana Moreno, they couldn't take you because they didn't know which one you were. The Inquisition kept precise records. There is no proof of this custom.

There weren't any crucifixes, saints, altars, or pictures of Jesus in our house. We were told that the priests were drunks and liars within the family. We never went to church, not Christmas or Easter, even though I went to Catholic school. My family came to San Juan from Galicia in Spain. It was a Celtic area. Mom had red hair and hazel eyes.

I think my aunt who told us about circumcision was assigned to carry on the story of our heritage. When I was twelve, I had a crisis of faith and stopped believing in Catholicism. I researched other religions and didn't like most. I read about Judaism and couldn't find anything to eliminate it. I studied twelve years, took classes and read on my own. Then I decided to convert. I am a practicing Jew now. My husband was born an Ashkenazi Jew. The rest of the family has not converted. As long as I believe in God, they'll leave me alone.

It is possible Mom was not told about our heritage. When I converted, Mom told my godfather, and he thought it was great. There were certain lists of families that were okay to marry up to my grandparents' generation. If there was intermarriage with Indians or Africans, they would rather they married Spanish Catholics.

My brothers were not circumcised. Our parents were secretive. They never prayed to Jesus. It was always Father God. They never prayed to the Virgin Mary or saints. They never mentioned the Trinity. I didn't go to Sunday school. I went to Catholic school because that was the best education, We worked Saturday and Sunday.
Grandmother's mother died when Grandmother was thirteen. A lot of things didn't get passed on. After birth, women stayed in the house forty days.

We were told about the Old Testament by Mom. Children's names in the family are Old Testament names and only Old Testament names going back generations- Manuel, Joseph, Angel, Rachel, Anibel, Elizabeth. Mom said the Old Testament was better than the New Testament. New Year's Day was the only time of no work.

We would eat roast calf on a spit in Puerto Rico. It was common to roast a pig on Christmas Day. Christmas, as we grew up, became less and less important. When I was very little, women wore Spanish mantillas in church until about 1965. It was a Catholic thing, but the Catholic Church stopped doing that. My oldest aunt might know something but won't say. She denies telling me about circumcision or the reason for celebrating New Year's. I think that I found my soul. I knew it was right and felt it.

A Research Tool Online for
Sephardic Genealogy / Jewish Genealogy
http://sephardim.com
by Harry Stein
Sent by Bill Carmena  JCarm1724@aol.com 

This site is a research tool for Sephardic and Jewish genealogy. We will attempt to cover many facets of Sephardic culture and attempt to add new information daily. If you have any comments, wish to link or report a broken link, or are considering advertising, please send your comments to: 
http://sephardim.com

Hobbled by diabetes and years of self-exile in México, Mr. Tijerina, born 79 years ago to a family of cotton pickers in South Texas, spends his days at a community center here, or in a modest two-room house across the border in Ciudad Juárez, searching for a way for his wife to return legally with him to the United States. Immigration authorities have refused to grant residency to his Mexican-born wife, Esperanza García, whom Mr. Tijerina married more than a decade ago in México.

"It's as if I'm being pursued because of my past acts," Mr. Tijerina said in a rare interview, accompanied by one of his 10 children and two of his 35 grandchildren.

His existence is far removed from the days when he was a leader in the land-rights struggle in New Mexico. He was thrust into the national spotlight in 1967 after leading an armed raid on a courthouse in Rio Arriba County in which two men were shot and others taken hostage. That violence led to a manhunt for Mr. Tijerina and more than two years in prison; his exploits were celebrated in folk songs like "The Ballad of Rio Arriba."

That event injected radicalism into the Chicano rights movement and was the crowning moment for a man with an unconventional personal trajectory. Largely self-educated, Mr. Tijerina traveled throughout the United States as a Pentecostal evangelist before founding a utopian religious community in the Arizona desert with 17 families in 1956.

It was as leader of that group, Valle de Paz, where Mr. Tijerina says he had a vision involving three angels, an event advancing him into advocacy over the land grants the Spanish crown had given settlers centuries ago in what is today's Southwest. He formed the Alianza Federal de Mercedes Reales, which claimed that Anglo speculators took control of much of that land in violation of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War in 1848.

Since the turbulent 60's, however, Mr. Tijerina has largely fallen from public view. His politics evolved from confrontation to coalitions, and he wrote a lengthy memoir in Spanish, "Mi Lucha por la Tierra" ("My Fight for the Land"), published in Mexico in 1978. After his house in New Mexico was destroyed by fire in 1994, Mr. Tijerina moved to Uruapan, in central Mexico, where he married for a third time and lived quietly until decamping last month to Juárez.

"People are continuously surprised to find out he's still alive," said Rudy V. Busto, a professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of a new book on Mr. Tijerina's religious thinking.

"He could easily be dismissed as absolutely crazy, but if you sit with him and give him an opening he will convert you," Professor Busto said. "His worldview is internally consistent and based upon an adherence to divine authority found in sacred and historical texts."

Mr. Tijerina still employs a preacher's mastery of communication, citing Scripture and law, repeating his main points and reaching out to his audience, sometimes tapping them on the shoulder. On immigration, he said illegal immigrants were "simply coming back to their land," a nod to Mexico's control of the Southwest until the mid-19th century.

"Bush's own ranch is on stolen land," he said, explaining how Texas, including President Bush's ranch near Crawford, was wrenched away from Mexico by secessionists in 1836.

Rose Díaz, a research historian, said, "Reies has a right not to trust government." Ms. Díaz secured Mr. Tijerina's personal papers for the political archives at the University of New Mexico. The documents, which include declassified parts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation file on Mr. Tijerina, show that the agency monitored him for more than a decade while repeatedly trying to infiltrate the Alianza.

At times, Mr. Tijerina's thinking veers into the bizarre. He insists with prophetic intensity and theological references, for instance, that the United States is flirting with nuclear disaster through its military actions in the Middle East. He is also immersed in Jewish Scripture and history, and frequently refers to Israel's military strength and tension with radical Islam.

Mr. Tijerina rejects charges of anti-Semitism, however, saying he believes that many Spanish- speaking inhabitants of the Americas are descended from Semitic peoples or Sephardic Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition. "I'm an Israelite by blood and faith," Mr. Tijerina said.

Guiding a visitor over the bridge connecting El Paso and Juárez, Mr. Tijerina lamented the difficulty in securing a visa for his wife. His cinderblock home on the corner of Héroes de Carrizal and Bobícora Streets in a rundown barrio has concrete floors, a bed, some plastic chairs and no telephone.

Mr. Tijerina said he relied on his wife to prepare healthy meals and ensure he took diabetes medication. Ms. García said she had been trying to get the visa for three years, stymied most recently by a requirement for an additional financial sponsor in the event of Mr. Tijerina's death.

"We're living a type of punishment," Ms. García, 60, said softly in Spanish.

Neither Mr. Tijerina, unable to draw on Social Security after never holding a formal job, nor Ms. García, a former seamstress, has retirement income. A granddaughter gave them a small television set for their home in Juárez last week.

Mr. Tijerina said he dreamed of returning to northern New Mexico, where he owns land near the town of Coyote. His spine straightened as he touched on the struggle for land ownership in that area, and on the machinations of its shift long ago from the fringe of one empire to another.

TEXAS