May  2002
Editor: Mimi Lozano, mimilozano@aol.cOM

                     
Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian Adventurer 

Among the multiple-colonization theories is the that of Dennis Stanford.  Stanford, an anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, has even suggested some American ancestors could have come from Spain [the Iberian peninsula] during the Ice Age, arriving in Maine after skirting the ice of the North Atlantic in boats.  

Heyerdahl's 1947 voyage on the Kon-Tiki brought him worldwide fame.  His book about that trip sold tens of millions of copies and his 1951 movie about the voyage won an Academy Award for best documentary.  Following the Kon-Tiki, Heyerdahl sailed on several other reed rafts seeking to show that ancient people could have sailed from the Old World to the New on these small rafts.

Source: Two articles: Associated Press, Doug Mellgren via Orange County Register, 4-19-02
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Editor: On a personal note. I have always felt a special tenderness towards Thor Heyerdahl.  In the 5th grade my daughter wrote to Mr. Heyerdahl.  He kindly responded with a hand-written postcard which has remained a family treasure.  A response from the Mr. Heyerdahl opened a world-view to our daughter, who is now an attorney. 

1883 Pensioners Online: The U.S. Congress directed the Pension Office to prepare a listing of individuals receiving pensions for war service. The Pension Office produced a list called "Pensioners on the Roll" as of January 1, 1883. The Roll apparently contained all pensioners, although only a small portion is presently online. http://www.arealdomain.com/pensioners1883.html
Alabama*  Arizona*  California  Colorado  Florida*  Illinois  Indiana  Iowa  Kansas*  Kentucky  Maine  Massachusetts Michigan*  Minnesota*  Missouri*  Nebraska  Nevada* New York  North Carolina  North Dakota*  Ohio  Oregon Pennsylvania  South Dakota*  Tennessee  Texas  Washington West Virginia  Wisconsin  Wyoming*     *=Entire state   More than 600 counties

The pensioners were primarily Union veterans from the Civil War and survivors of the War of 1812 but also included other service as well. In addition to the veterans themselves, family members receiving pensions based on said service were also included. Pensioners on the Roll was prepared from the official government records of the time, so this listing is likely to be one of the most complete and accurate records of the time. Rights reserved, 1999, 2000, 2001. Gordon Byers 
Sent by Johanna de Soto

Judge Edwards writes: My article "Spain's Involvement in the American Revolutionary War" was printed in the National Genealogical Society Newsmagazine, Vol. 28, No. 2, March/April 2002, pp. 122-125. This magazine goes to all members of the National Genealogical Society.

The Mexico Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, MXSSAR, was chartered on Feb. 17, 2002. I was elected as the charter president and national trustee. We now have 79 members. We are seeking descendants of the following, who are eligible for membership in the SAR:
1) Carlos, III King of Spain (the current king, Juan Carlos, is a member of SAR)
2) General Bernardo de Galvez, and all members of the Spanish Army and Navy during the period 1776-1783.
3) Members of the militia in New Spain from 1776-1783, who lived in what is now Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hispanola, South America, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California.
4) Ranchers along the San Antonio River and other nearby rivers, who provided cattle, mules and horses to the army of Gen. Galvez; and the vaqueros who drove the cattle from Texas to Louisiana.

The MXSSAR First Board of Managers meeting will be held at the Neuvo Posada Hotel in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico on May 10-12, 2002. Information contact: Judge Edward F. Butler  Judge58@aol.com

Brown has over 40 years' experience as a teacher, and is author or coauthor of books on several languages He emphatically  states that Latinos who learn to speak and read English will continue to progress regardless of social barriers. "How Latinos Learn English" Estimated U.S.  price, $8.95.

About Bibliolatin:  Small publishing house located in the heart of San Francisco populous Mission district, a point of community encounter for generations of Latino immigrants. Bibliolatin publishes versatile adult education books that address the linguistic needs of the Hispanic community.
bibliolatin@aol.com    Source: Jaime Arcila  jaime1007@autoresyescritores.com   415 680 2489

he National Council of La Raza (receiving $7.2 million) will create 14 early college high schools—eight new schools and six redesigned schools—most, if not all, of which will be charter schools —most, if not all, of which will be charter schools.  All La Raza early college high schools will enroll large percentages of low-income Latino youth and challenge them with a rigorous and accelerated academic program that bridges the traditional gaps between high school and college.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/education/schoolgrants/announcements/announce-020319.htm
The Foundation has free subscription for an online calendar.   Sent by Johanna de Soto

MIDWEST CONSORTIUM FOR LATINO RESEARCH  
http://www.indigenouspeople.org/natlit/mclr/related.htm   Editor: This is an amazing web site.  
This information could form the foundation of resources for schools starting Chicano Studies.  

Bill To Allow Back Pay For 'Braceros' Passed First Hurdle  PR Newswire - April 23, 2002 
Mexican workers recruited to work in the United States in the 1940s moved one step closer today in their quest to receive pay that was deducted from their paychecks and never paid back. 

In a unanimous vote, members of the California State Assembly's Judiciary Committee moved to the floor a bill (AB2913) that would amend the state statute of limitations to allow the Mexican workers, known as braceros, to seek the back pay.

The funds in question are millions of dollars taken from the paychecks of the 300,000 Mexicans who were recruited to work in America's fields and railroads in the 1940s to replace men who had gone to war. As part of the international agreement between Mexico and the U.S. for the "bracero program," 10 percent of each worker's paycheck was deducted with the promise of the return of the "savings" upon their return to Mexico. The U.S. government extracted 10 percent of their wages from each check and Wells Fargo banked the garnished wages for transfer to Mexican banks yet few braceros ever received the forced savings.

"The time that has passed is hardly a reason to deny braceros justice, rather it is an indictment of those who counted on a conspiracy of silence to hide this crime against this most vulnerable group," said California Assembly Majority Floor Leader Marco Firebaugh, who introduced the legislation. "The legislation," he explained, "is based on previously passed legislation that extended the statute of limitations for Holocaust victims and Korean slave- workers."  Howard Shorr Howardshor@aol.com 

STEVE DEMARA of Orange, California traces a direct line back to JUAN MAXIMINO DEMARA, a soldier serving in the Spanish military but of Italian ancestry, born in Pescadia, Italy. In the early 1700, Juan Maximo married Locenza Queodicame a Pima Indian in Sonora, Mexico and started a direct line of ancestry which Mr. Demara has been able to trace.

Maximo and Locenza's son Lorenzo Demara married Juana Sabati, a Pima. Grandson, Juan Lorenzo Demara married Agustina Narrufo, a Pima. Great grandson, Jose Francisco married Josefa Escalante. Son Francisco Demara came as a soldier to California and married Luisana Arriola.

Francisco Demara, Steve Demara's great grandfather retired from the military and settled in San Gabriel, California. Francisco's son, Antonio Demara,  was Steve Demara's grandfather.  Antonio was born in 1849 in Los Coyotes, close to Buena Park, California. Antonio married Alta Gracia Martinez, a Gabrieleno Indian. 

The Demara's skill with horses facilitated cowboy life for Antonio as a ranch hand. Antonio and Alta Gracia's son Juan Jose, also worked as a ranch hand. Juan Jose married Ysidora Jacome, Steve's mother, a San Pasqual Indian.

In the 1870s Orange County real estate was being promoted vigorously. Town lots were selling for twenty to forty dollars. Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana was laid out as the city of Orange, a town of 40 acres of town lots surrounded by 60 10-acre farm lots. Soon the city of Orange fulfilled its name. In 1872 a different kind of orange tree was found among the Florida navel oranges planted by Albert B. Chapman. These, named Valencia by an Spanish employee, were sweeter, juicer, and more desirable than the navel which had been grown since the 1850 in Los Angeles.

Soon friends and relatives of the Demaras were migrating to Orange from Sonora and Jalisco, Mexico, buying lots and houses close to one another and picking oranges for employment.

Steve Demara was born in Orange County in 26th December 1917. He attended school, married Concha Poblano, 3 August, and 1940 settled in the city of Orange. After serving in World War II, Steve became a government postal worker, retired after 30 years of faithful service. Steve and Concha have three daughters, all educated, married and still living in Orange county.

A life long goal was completed in April of 1993. "I wanted to prove my Native American heritage. It took me nearly 40 years, but I did it." He was formally accepted into the Cahuilla Band of Juaneno of San Juan Capistrano.

Other surnames: Poblano, Jacome, Martinez, Arriola, Escalante, Narrufo, Sabati, and Queodicame.
member of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research.

Congratulations to Fredrick P. Aguirre  - Newly Appointed to Orange County Superior Court     

Mr. Aguirre and his wife Linda  are interviewing World War II  Mexican-America Veterans to be compiled into a book.  Their goal is to document  the contributions of Mexican-American Veterans and give positive visibility.

Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research Quarterly Meeting
Saturday, May 25, 9 a.m. to 12 noon 
Open to the Public, FREE
Orange Multi-Regional Family History Center
674 S. Yorba
Orange, California

9-10 a.m.: Networking, Tour of Library, 
10-12 noon - Three outstanding speakers:
John J. Schmal: Mexican Border-Crossing Records
Teresa Maldonado Parker: Gathering family information through personal travels
Irma Cantu: Strategies that Work for Documenting Data 
Read below for details on the Speakers

If you are a beginner or advanced family history researcher, don't miss the opportunity of attending this meeting, networking with other researchers and learning what other researchers are doing. 

John Schmal, genealogist and Staff Historian for www.somosprimos.com , will give a lecture about Mexican border-crossing records. This presentation will include several handouts, showing the various kinds of border-crossing documents that people will find relating to their ancestors. John will also show people the websites that provide information about published resources available through the National Archives. (These websites will be included in an outline that will be passed out to the audience.)

The second part of the presentation will be a description of border-crossing statistics from the 1930s to the present. John has compiled yearly statistics from at least 1943 to the present for all the border ports of entry and will discuss relevant trends.

John is the coauthor of "Mexican-American Genealogical Research: Following the Paper Trail to Mexico," which will be introduced to readers in Heritage Book's July catalog. We hope that you will be able to attend.

In December Teresa Maldonado Parker took a trip to Romita, Mexico on a personal guest to meet with distant family members.  Accompanying her on this adventure was Jennifer Mena a reporter with the  L.A. Times and also a photographer.  Teresa's story appeared on December 26th.  The full text could be read in the February 2002  issue of Somos Primos.  Theresa will share episodes and feelings of this life-changing experence.

Irma Cantu is the co-author of "Baptisms of Our Lady of Montserrat Catholic Church, 1767-1792" (Cruillas, Tamaulipas), published by Los Bexareños Genealogical Society, P. O. Box 1935, 
San Antonio, Texas. Extractions by Irma Garza Cantú Jones and María de la Garza Dellinger.
Price: $28. You may order from the above address or from Lupe Martinez at  Lupeml@aol.com

The introduction to this book of extractions consists of a brief history of Cruillas. Northeast Mexico was settled later than most of Mexico, largely because of the depredations of the Indians determined to drive out the intruders. José de Escandón was charged with exploring and subjugating the region, congregating the Indians into missions and bringing in Spanish settlers to found towns. Cruillas, which was founded in 1765, was among the last villages founded by Escandón. Its site was selected as a strategic location to control the Indians. A census taken a few months later lists settlers who went to Cruillas from Cadereyta, Valle del Pilón (now Montemorelos), Guajuco (now Santiago), San Fernando, Santa Catarina, Burgos, Salinas, Saltillo and a real de minas in Guadalajara. If you have ancestors from Northeast Mexico, there is a good chance that you had either direct ancestors or cousins in Cruillas.

Also individuals with historical connections in the development of Southern California are included. 
This is an example:
1001 * Antonio F. Coronel (1817-1894) Papers, 1770-1912. 10 linear feet (Boxes: 28 legal, 2 ov; 2 mc drawers). Physician, Mayor of Los Angeles, and California State Treasurer. Correspondence, documents relating to Coronel's appointments to office; Los Angeles city ordinances, political handbills, posters and related materials, largely 1858-80; deeds, papers connected with lawsuits and similar documents; telegrams; real estate maps, almanacs, lithographs, photos, and memorabilia. Includes material on the Los Angeles City Council, Los Angeles Board of Education, California State Board of Horticulture, and the Democratic Club of California. Persons prominently mentioned include Manuel Coronel, Jose G. Estudillo, Pablo de la Guerra, J.M. Guinne, Helen Hunt Jackson, Augustine Olvera, Andres Pico, Pio Pico, Manuel Rodriguez de Poli, Jose L. Sepulveda, Ygnacio Sepulveda, Mariano G. Vallejo, and Benjamin D. Wilson. There are unpublished finding aids in the repository. The collection is also described in "The Antonio F. Coronel Collection" (1906) and in the Los Angeles County Museum quarterly, vol. 14, n. 4 (1958), pgs. 4-7. Arranged by accession number. The material is related to the repository's Del Valle Family Papers (Gen. Col 1002) Sent by Johanna de Soto

A History of Mexican Americans in California: http://www.ohp.parks.ca.gov/5Views/5views5.htmIn 1846, the United States invaded and conquered California, then part of the Republic of Mexico. This event, one aspect of the 1846-1848 U.S.-Mexican War, led to U.S. annexation of California through the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexican American history in California had begun.  The information starts with the Mexican War and projects into the future.  Sent by Johanna de Soto

California Newspaper Project     http://www.cbsr.ucr.edu/cnp/cnpmore.html 
California's newspapers, beginning with the Californian published in Monterey in 1846, express the state's rich heritage, from mining towns now long gone, to farming communities which have become bedroom suburbs, to the growth of California's major cities. The state's newspapers, published in 39 languages, reflect culturally and ethnically diverse populations - Oakland's Portuguese, San Francisco's Greek and Chinese, Fresno's Armenian, Cambodian and Hmong, and California's many Spanish-speaking communities.

For the sheer volume of information they contain, newspapers are the single most important printed records of human activity, relied upon by historians, genealogists, and other scholars to provide a first-hand, and sometimes the only, account of local news. Tracing California's newspapers shows how ethnic communities moved and settled. The daily lives of the state's residents are documented in the newspapers, which often serve as the sole source of such information.

So far, the CNP has identified and described, 11,000 of an estimated total of 20,000 California newspapers published since 1846, representing 954 California cities and towns. 2,513 libraries, historical societies and museums and 526 publishers have been surveyed. OCLC, a bibliographic database available to libraries around the world, carries information on the location of current newspapers subscriptions and back issues posted by the CNP.  Sent by Johanna de Soto

The California Cooperative Latin American Collection Development Group is a consortium of California libraries. CALAFIA enjoys the support and strength of the libraries at Stanford University, the University of California System, and the University of Southern California. The combined Latin American holdings of the CALAFIA group number more than one million volumes and are surpassed only by the Library of Congress’ Latin American Studies Collection.   http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/hasrg/latinam/calafia/                             Sent by Johanna de Soto

The Founders of Santa Barbara: Who They Were and Whence They Came
by Mary Triplett Ayers

The fourth expedition for the settlement of Alta California was that led by Capitán Don Fernando Xavier de Rivera y Moncada in 1781. Most of the founders of Santa Bárbara were members of the Rivera y Moncada Expedition.

The Rivera y Moncada Expedition was sent to Alta California with a four-fold purpose: (1) the founding of the pueblo at Los Angeles, (2) the founding of the ninth mission at San Buenaventura at the southern end of the Santa Barbara Channel, and (3) the founding of the fifth Presidio in the middle of the Santa Bárbara Channel. Santa Barbara is the fifth presidio, because Loreto is the first before San Diego. And, (4) the expedition was also supposed to found two other missions in the Santa Barbara Channel, Mission Santa Barbara near the Presidio in the middle of the Channel and Mission La Purísima Concepción at the northern end of the Santa Barbara Channel.

The members of the expedition were recruited in Sonora and Sinaloa by Capitán Don Fernando Xavier de Rivera y Moncada from December 1779 to November 1780. Actually, Rivera went from Loreto, Baja California to Guaymas, Arispe, San Miguel de Horcasitas, and Real de Los Álamos in Sonora and La Villa del Fuerte, La Villa de Sinaloa, Culiacán, Matzatlán, and Rosario in Sinaloa. He was authorized to recruit as far south as Guadalajara. He was able to recruit almost as many as he needed in Sonora and Sinaloa.

The expedition members reassembled at the Real de los Álamos, Sonora on February 2, 1781. The expedition split into two groups. In one group were the settlers and their families accompanied by seventeen soldiers and their wives and children. It was required that all the soldiers and most of the pobladores were married. Some of my ancestors that were members of this expedition were married in the Álamos parish of La Purísima eleven days before the expedition left. Rivera y Moncada had a relatively easy time recruiting the soldiers. People were more reluctant to enlist as pobladores. Soldiers were paid more than pobladores.

This group was under the leadership of Lieutenant José Zúñiga. They crossed the Sea of Cortez or Gulf of California to Loreto, Baja California. They traveled by lancha, small boats with two sails, north to the Bahía de San Luis Gonzaga. There, they left their little ships and walked up the Baja California peninsula and arrived at Mission San Gabriel August 18, 1781.

In the First Book of Baptisms of Mission San Gabriel (SG Bats I), it is written, "On 18 August 1781, Lieutenant José de Zuñiga and Ramón Lasso de la Vega arrived here with eleven pobladores with their families and seventeen soldados de cuera from Lower California via San Diego."

The other group was the 37 officers and soldiers and their families who accompanied Rivera y Moncada and brought the livestock -- 931 head of horses and mules. This group traveled the Anza trail from Álamos to Guymas, Pitic (now called Hermosillo), San Miguel de Horcasitas, Tubac, Yuma, San Pablo, and arrived at San Gabriel July 14, 1781.

In the First Book of Baptisms of Mission San Gabriel (SG Bats I), it is written, "On 14 July 1781, Alférez Cayetano Limón and Alférez José Dario Argüello under the command of Teniente Diego Gonzalez arrived at the mission with a troop of thirty married soldiers with their families and five unmarried soldiers from Sonora via Yuma for the Santa Barbara Presidio.

On September 4, 1781, the pobladores accompanied by priests from Mission San Gabriel and an escolta from Mission San Gabriel walked eight miles for the founding of the second pueblo in Alta California, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río Porciúncula. The pobladores were given land for houses and fields to farm, and the mighty City of the Angels was begun by eleven families from Sonora and Sinaloa.

Rivera y Moncada had remained behind with the ailing livestock who ate and trampled the Indians’ food crops. Rivera y Moncada and the six men who stayed behind with him were massacred at the Colorado River by the Yuma, now called Quechan Indians. The Quechans also killed most of the inhabitants of the two pueblos on the Colorado. The effect of this massacre was that Anza’s route to Alta California was closed.

The following spring, Fr. Serra and Governor Felipe de Neve accompanied by soldiers of the Rivera y Moncada expedition left San Gabriel to accomplish the second and third purposes of the expedition, the founding of Mission San Buenaventura and the Presidio of Santa Barbara. Capitán José Francisco Ortega had been called from the San Diego Presidio to be Comandante of the new Presidio at Santa Barbara.

Governor Neve asked Fr. Serra for two friars for San Buenaventura and Santa Barbara. There being no supernumerary friars in Alta California, Fr. Serra himself came to San Gabriel from Monterey, and he summoned Fray Pedro Benito Cambón, O.F.M. from San Diego. They did not wish to delay the founding of the new missions, and they agreed to serve the spiritual needs of the new establishments until six new missionary recruits arrived.

The day before the group left for San Buenaventura, March 25, 1782, pobladores José Fernando Velasco y Lara, Antonio Mesa, and Luis Quintero, who had been declared unfit for farming in August of 1781 on their arrival at San Gabriel, were expelled. Lara and Quintero joined the expedition to found the Presidio at Santa Barbara. Mesa disappeared. There are no records of him in the California mission registers.

Fr. Serra confirmed more than 100 people at Mission San Gabriel on 22 March 1782, ages two months to fifty years.

In the First Book of Marriages for Mission San Gabriel (SG Mats I), it is written, "The expedition to found the new Mission of San Buenaventura and the Presidio of Santa Barbara left San Gabriel 26 March 1782."

They traveled north of San Gabriel and undoubtedly turned west through the Santa Clara River Valley and not over the Conejo Grade as the El Camino Real bells along Highway 101 would lead you to believe. On March 21, 1782, Mission San Buenaventura the ninth mission was founded by Fr. Junípero Serra. This was to be the last mission founded by Fr. Serra. He died in August of 1784, and the tenth mission, Mission Santa Barbara, was not founded until 1786 by Fr. Fermín Francisco de Lasuén.

The first mission register record for Mission San Buenaventura is the burial of a 3 day old infant on April 15, 1782. He was José León Rodríguez, the son of Joaquín Rodríguez, soldier of the escolta of the mission. The baby had been baptized privately by his grandfather, Luís Quintero. The priest who wrote the burial record was Fr. Benito Cambón.

Neve was recalled to San Gabriel with his escort. He returned to San Buenaventura about the middle of April. He was satisfied with the progress made at San Buenaventura.

Leaving Fr. Cambón and a sergeant and fourteen men as an escolta or guard for the new mission of San Buenaventura, Governor Felipe de Neve, Capitán José Francisco Ortega, Fr. Junípero Serra, and thirty-six soldiers and their wives and children walked on to Santa Barbara to found the Presidio of Santa Barbara.

On April 21, 1782, the cross was raised, the flag was raised, and the Presidio of Santa Barbara was founded. Mass was celebrated under a ramada, and Fr. Serra sang the Alabado. The ceremonies of blessing dirt, water, and pulling grass were performed. The natives were friendlier than expected. Yanonali, their chief, was willing to exchange presents.

There was much strife and dissension between Fr. Serra and Governor Felipe de Neve. Serra thought he was founding a mission. Neve intended to found a presidio. Neve won. In the original registers, you can read Serra’s writing, "this mission de Santa Bárbara", and the word "mission" is crossed out and the word "presidio" written above. It is very clear.

Building of the presidio began at once. Oak was felled for the shelters and enclosing palisade. The Chumash were hired to work and were paid in articles of food and clothing.

When it became apparent to Fr. Serra that there was no immediate prospect of founding Mission Santa Barbara or the third mission on the Santa Barbara Channel (La Purísima), he wrote to Fr. Fuster at San Juan Capistrano to replace him at Santa Barbara, and Fr. Serra returned to Monterey, arriving May 13, 1782. It is not certain that Fr. Fuster ever came to Santa Barbara and probable that there was no priest at the presidio after Fr. Serra returned to Monterey.

The first record of baptism in the Santa Barbara Presidio Book of Baptisms was signed by Fray Benito Cambón. Numbers 2 to 13 in 1783 were signed by Fray Vicente Dumetz, O.F.M. who was at Mission San Buenaventura after Cambón returned to San Diego.

The following is a list of the Santa Barbara Presidio Company which was written July 1, 1782, just three months after its founding. There were seven officers and fifty soldiers:

Lieutenant José Francisco Ortega
Alférez José Darío Argüello
Sergeant Pablo Antonio Cota
Sergeant Ignacio Olivera
Sergeant Hermengildo Sal
Corporal Alejandro Sotomayor
Corporal José María Ortega

Soldiers:
Luis Lugo
Alejo Ruiz
Luis Peña
José Gonzáles
Martín Reyes
Anastacio María Féliz
Francisco Lugo
Joaquín Higuera
Ignacio Olivera
Francisco Paula García
José Lobo
Melecio Váldez 
Ignacio Lugo
José Manuel Valenzuela
Manuel Orchaga
José Esteban Romero
Francisco Xavier Mejia
Juan Andrés Montiel
Loreto Salazar
José Miguel Flores

Remember, that a sergeant and fourteen men were left with Fr. Cambón at the new Mission San Buenaventura. Those men were members of the Santa Barbara Company but did not come to Santa Barbara on April 21, 1782 for the founding of the presidio.

I can tell you the names of the soldiers whose names appear in the Mission registers of San Buenaventura during the years 1782 and 1783. These probably are the sergeant and fourteen soldiers who were left at San Buenaventura in April 1782 with Fray Benito Cambón.

 In 1782 the names in the San Buenaventura records are: Sergeant Pablo Antonio Cota, Josef Manuel Valenzuela, and Concepción Quintero wife of José Miguel Flores. In 1783: María Petra Rubio, wife of Luis Quintero, Pablo Antonio Cota, José Ignacio Valencia, Justo Lorenzo Hernández, Ciriaca de León wife of Justo Hernández, María Rita Zamora wife of Cabo Juan Ygnacio Valencia, Francisco Lugo, Cabo Alejo Soto, María Rosa Monreal wife of Efigenio Ruiz, José Polanco and his wife María de Jesús León, Joaquín Rodríguez, Cabo Alejandro de Sotomayor and his wife María de Concepción Montiel, José Polanco, María Nicolasa Beltrán wife of José Lobo, Juana Delgado wife of Esteban Romero, María Norberta de Jesús León wife of José Polanco, María Rosa Lugo wife of Sargento Pablo Antonio Cota, and Loreto Salazar. If I have repeated any of the names, it is because they appear two or three times. I will not say that the above named people were not at the founding of the Real Presidio de Santa Bárbara, but it appears that they may not have, because their names appear in the 1782 and 1783 Mission San Buenaventura registers.

I have told you who the founders of Santa Barbara were. Now, I must tell you from whence they came.

I used to think that just as all the pobladores of the Pueblo of Los Angeles came with the Rivera y Moncada Expedition, so did the entire Company for the founding garrison of the Santa Barbara Presidio. This is not true.

Five of the officers and seven of the soldiers on the July 1, 1782 list for the garrison of the Santa Barbara Presidio came in 1769 with Portolá. They were: Lieutenant José Francisco Ortega, Sargento Pablo Antonio Cota, Sargento Ignacio Olivera, Cabo José María Ortega, son of the Lieutenant, Cabo Alejandro Sotomayor, and soldiers Luis Lugo, Ignacio Olivera, Ignacio María Ortega son of the Lieutenant, Luis Peña, Martín Reyes, Alejo Ruiz, and Francisco María Ruiz.

There was one officer recruited by Rivera y Moncada in 1781. He was Alférez José Darío Argüello. Thirty-nine soldiers of the July 1, 1782 list came with Rivera y Moncada in 1781. They were: José Carmen Arana, Francisco Calvo, Ildefonso Domínguez, Anastacio María Féliz, Victorino Féliz, Rosalino Fernández, Felipe Gonzales and his sons José Gonzales and Tomás Gonzales, Julián Guerrero, Justo Hernández, Agustín Leyva, José Lobo, Ignacio Lugo, Juan Ignacio Martínez, Francisco Xavier Mejia, Juan Andrés Montiel, Juan Olivas, José Ontiveros, Manuel Orchaga, José Parra, Victorino Patiño, José Polanco, Vicente Quijada, Ignacio Rodríguez, Joaquín Rodríguez, José Esteban Romero, Efigenio Ruiz, Fructuoso Ruiz, Loreto Salazar, José María Samaniego, Guillermo Soto, Eugenio Váldez, Melecio Váldez, Juan Ignacio Valencia, José Manuel Valenzuela, José Velarde, and José Villa.

I cannot find out when Sargento Hermengildo Sal came to Santa Barbara. He was born in Valdemora, Toledo, Spain. He appears in the Monterey records as early as 1775 and later at San Francisco. I haven’t found his name in the early Santa Barbara records.

Most of these people came from Sonora and Sinaloa--about fifteen from Sonora and thirty from Sinaloa. The town that furnished the most soldiers for the new Presidio of Santa Barbara was Real de los Álamos, Sonora. Eleven soldiers were recruited there, and many of them were born there: Anastacio María Féliz, Juan Ignacio Martínez, Juan Andrés Montiel, Manuel Orchaga, Victorino Patiño, Vicente Quijada, Joaquín Rodríguez, Joaquín Rodríguez, Loreto Salazar, José María Samaniego, Eugenio Váldez, Ignacio Rodriguez, and the expelled poblador, Luis Quintero was recruited there.

Ten came from the Villa de Sinaloa, Sinaloa: Ildefonso Domínguez, Felipe Gonzáles, José Gonzáles, Martín Reyes, Joaquín Higuera, José Lobo, Francisco Lugo, Ignacio Lugo, Francisco Xavier Mejia, and José Manuel Valenzuela.

Six were from the Villa del Fuerte, Sinaloa: Rosalino Fernández, Efigenio Ruiz, Fructuoso Ruiz, Melecio Váldez, Alejo Ruiz and Cabo Alejandro Sotomayor. (Alejo, Alejandro, and Alex Sotomayor or Soto are one in the same person.)

Four were from Real de Cosalá: Guillermo Soto, José Carmen Arana, Francisco Calvo, and Victorino Féliz.

Four were from Loreto, Baja California: Sargento Pablo Antonio Cota, Cabo José María Ortega, Mariano Cota, and Francisco María Ruiz.

Two were from Rosario, Sinaloa: Tomás Gonzales and Juan Olivas

Two were from San José del Cabo, B.C.: Sargento Ignacio Olivera and Luis Peña.

Two came from Spain: Sargento Hermengildo Sal from Valdemoro, Toledo and Francisco Paula García from Puerto Real Obispado de Cádiz, Andalucia.

Lieutenant José Francisco Ortega was born in Celaya, Guanajuato. 
He enlisted in Loreto, and his sons were born there.
Alférez José Darío Argüello was born in Querétaro; 
Luis Lugo in Palo Blanco, Jurisdiction of Culiacán, Sinaloa;
José Miguel Flores in Juchipila, Zacatecas; 
José Velarde on the Piaxtla River, Sinaloa; 
Ignacio Olivera in San Antonio, Baja California; 
José Esteban Romero in Real de San Antonio de la Huerta, Sonora; 
Agustín Leyva in Tepic, Nayarit; 
Juan Ignacio Valencia in Real Presidio de Santa Rosa Corodeguachi, Sonora; 
José Ontiveros in Chametla, Sinaloa; Justo Hernández in Culiacán, Sinaloa; 
José Parra in Amatlán de las Canas , Nayarit; José Villa in Horcasitas, Sonora, 
Julián Guerrero in Pueblo del Nombre de Dios; 
José Polanco in Cocula near Guadalajara, Jalisco; 
Ignacio María Ortega in Real de Santa Ana, Baja California.

Bibliography:
Bancroft, Hubert Howe, History of California, Wallace Hebbard, Santa Barbara, 1963 Historical Society of Southern California, Annual, 1931
Baptismal, Confirmation, Marriage, and Burial registers of Missions San Gabriel, San Buenaventura, and Santa Barbara
Baptismal, Marriage, and Burial registers of El Real Presidio de Santa Bárbara
Mason, William Marvin, The Census of 1790: A Demographic History of Colonial California, Ballena Press, Menlo Park, CA, 1998; 
Files of Rudecinda Lo Buglio List of Compañía de Santa Bárbara July 1, 1782

San Diego Historic Adobe Structures    http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/testing/html/mss0129f.html
Mandeville Special Collections Library Geisel Library University of California, San Diego
Papers of Lewis Geddes, San Diego photographer and historical researcher. The bulk of the materials relate to historic adobe structures in San Diego County, Baja California, and Arizona. Included are notes and photographs created in the 1930s relating to the historic buildings. Also included are typescripts of works by others, concerning pioneer experiences in San Diego County in the 19th century, and genealogical information on early San Diego County residents.

ST. MONICA'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
BAPTISM RECORDS (1886-1889) and ASSORTED CENSUS RECORDS
Compiled by John P. Schmal © 2002

The First Teachers in California 
Sent by Rita AVILA - OLD SPANISH CA. FAMILY >>  GoElRio2

NORTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

AHORA
PEDRO de ALBERNI 

PEDRO DE ALBERNI

On March 7^th, the Alberni District Historical Society was delighted to participate in the recognition of Pedro de Alberni. The City of Port Alberni, the Alberni Valley Museum, the Maritime Heritage Society and the Historical Society joined together with a number of representatives from Vancouver, Ottawa and Spain to recognize the accomplishments of this very Special man.

There was an afternoon of discussion and discovery sharing what knowledge each representative has. There was a special reception in the Museum to Celebrate Alberni’s Life. About time! It was the 200^th anniversary of his death.

Over the years, the Historical Society has been able to gather some information about this man. It would seem that Cook, Vancouver, Quadra and many others were more colorful. It is time the determination, creative skills, and humanity of Pedro de Alberni be recognized. What follows is a very brief look at a small part of the life of a very special person. This is the first of a series of articles so you too will have a chance to get to know this dedicated soldier and humanitarian.

Special thanks go to the volunteer archivists of the Alberni District Historical Society who have continued the search for the story of this man for so many years. Copies of theses, letters, reports and newspaper articles are available to any researcher who is interested. If you have any information to add, please bring it along to the archives located in the Museum any Tuesday or Thursday between 10AM and 3PM.  Alberni District Historical Society   adhs@uniserve.com
P.O.Box 284  Port Alberni, BC, V9Y 7M7 Phone 1-250-723-2181

ALBERNI WAS A SOLDIER: Don Pedro de Alberni was a career soldier. At the time of his death, at the age of 59, he had been in Military Service for 47 years. He became a cadet in the Second Regiment of Light Infantry of Catalonia in 1757, at the age of 12. In 1762, still as a cadet, he participated in the campaign against Portugal.

At the age of twenty two, in 1767, he volunteered for service in the Americas. Alberni was promoted to sub-lieutenant under the command of Augustin Calis, captain of the newly organized Company of Catalonian Volunteers. He was listed as 4^th in command. He saw action in the Sonora Indian Wars from 1767 to 71. Still listed as a sub-lieutenant, he is now listed as 2^nd in command and sent to Mexico City for reassignment. About 1780 a Second company of Catalonian Volunreers was formed. These two companies were used much the way today’s Peacekeepers are used: mainly policing, keeping order, transporting prisoners etc. in the small communities that were developing as immigration, mainly from Spain, increased. This of course also meant skirmishes with various Indian bands. In 1782, when the current captain of the First Company of Catalonian Volunteers died, Alberni, though still only a lieutenant, applied for and got the position of Commander of the Catalonians, overseeing both Companies of Volunteers with Royal Approval.

Somewhere in this time period, he married Juana Velez of Tepic. They had one daughter who sadly died at an early age.

In 1789 we find Alberni and his troops in Guadalajara. They were keeping order, transporting prisoners and other duties. The men had not received their pay for July and August so Alberni protested and demanded immediate restitution. After numerous letters and visits to the paymaster, he presumably got a trifle exuberant and his actions were considered a threat. He was reported to the Regent, the King’s representative in Mexico and ordered to place himself under house arrest. He refused to do so. The men were paid in late September. Then came orders to prepare for reassignment to Nootka, Spain’s northernmost outpost in the Pacific Northwest. Alberni then demanded new rifles for all his men. The ones they were using were at least 10 years old. They also needed to be re-outfitted for the conditions of a long sea voyage and much colder and wetter conditions than northern Mexico. Soldiers usually had to pay for their uniforms and equipment. In this case they only paid a portion. Then came the march to San Blas, in January of 1790. It would have taken over a week.

San Blas, Mexico, at that time was the major seaport on the Pacific coast of Mexico. The ships for exploration were built there and sailed throughout the area from there. Quadra, a Naval officer, was the Commandant of the port at this time. Preparation for the trip North continued. When it came time to depart, Quadra was ordered to place Alberni "under arrest for insubordination" for the 60 days of the voyage because of that earlier dispute. A total of 80 Volunteers sailed in 3 ships. Presumably the trip was uneventful and upon arrival Alberni did write a rather tongue in cheek letter of apology and took up his official duties as Commandant of Arms and Governor of the Fort of Nootka. The mission was to guard Spanish vessels and reestablish fortifications. After two and a half very eventful but peaceful years he went back to San Blas. He is remembered mainly for his diplomatic dealings with the local Natives, his gardens of fresh produce for the locals and visiting ship crews, his daily weather records, and the buildings his men built under his direction.

At this stage, Alberni is promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Spanish Army, although still Captain of the Companies of Catalonian Volunteers. The next two years are spent in Guadalajara.

In 1795, back in San Blas, Alberni and 72 Catalonian Volunteers were sent to California. By this time Spain is at war with France and invasion of the coast was feared. In 1796 Alberni was appointed Commandant of the San Francisco Presidio. He was the Overall Commander of the four garrisons in California. He was the highest ranked soldier in the Californian Territories..

In 1800 he was assigned to the defenses at Monterey and again became Commandant. When Pedro de Alberni died in March 1802 it brought an end to the amazing career of a dedicated, compassionate soldier.  But, this is only part of the story. The Man is even more fascinating than the Soldier.

We do know that he married a lady from Tepic, one Juana Velez, and that they had one daughter who sadly died at an early age. He wrote a will leaving everything to his wife when he died in 1802.
Was he in contact with any of his family back in Spain? did he ever see any of them again after he left in 1767 for Mexico? There are so many questions. Maybe someday .....The next article will be about some of the incidents leading up to the journey to Nootka and what happened there. You will become acquainted with that part of Canadian coastal history and why our inlet has the name it does.

Paso al Norte Migration History Museum  Update
First half of the article written by Emanuel Anthony Martinez:
Segundo Barrio  http://www.segundobarrio.com/april2002/pasoalnorte.htm
Sent by Roberto Camp camp1@prodigy.net.mx

Now the University of Texas at El Paso is leading the charge to create the Paso al Norte Immigration History Museum and Research Center in El Paso, a place to share, record, and explore these stories. The project, like the history it seeks to tell, is an epic idea that is difficult to track in the moment and only becomes clear over time. It is an often-frustrating process that is years in the making, and, some say, a closed circle that does not include the community in which it resides.

“To me, ‘Paso al Norte’ has the promise of highlighting many stories, both the famous and the unrecognized, recording the dignity of the human spirit and the quiet courage of those who ventured north,” said Vicki L. Ruiz, historian and author of “Cannery Women-Cannery Lives: Mexican Women, Unionization, and the California Food Processing Industry, 1930-1950” (University of New Mexico Press, 1987).

Another prominent historian and author, Mario T. García, favored the idea of El Paso as the proposed site for a U.S.-Mexico immigration museum. “I’ve always felt that El Paso is the logical location for something like this. Historically, it has been the gateway for immigration from Mexico,” he said. In his book, “Desert Immigrants: the Mexicans of El Paso, 1880-1920” (Yale University Press, 1982), García wrote, “Between 1880 and the beginning of the Great Depression almost 1 million Mexicans entered the United States, thousands first arriving in El Paso.”

In July, 2001, the Smithsonian Institute co-hosted with UTEP and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus a reception in Washington, D.C. honoring the proposed museum. At the event, UTEP President Diana Natalicio shared her own vision of the impact the museum may have on preserving the stories of El Paso del Norte’s travelers. Taken from a transcript of the event, she said:

“For centuries, the cities of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez in Chihuahua have served as the ‘Southwest Ellis Island’ for hundreds of thousands of immigrants,” she said. “These ‘New Americans’ started their journey from different points of origin, from Mexico and Latin America, from Asia and the Middle East ... (and) the stories of their experience reveal a common thread: the sense of pride that accompanies the telling of these stories by their descendants. I have heard many such stories—and with them, the wish that this history could, in some way, be preserved and commemorated.”

Natalicio said the idea for the proposed museum came from a Christmas gift she received several years ago—the novel “Rain of Gold,” by Victor Villaseñor. “Rain of Gold” tells the epic story of Villaseñor’s family migration from Mexico through El Paso to California. “I was suddenly struck by the fact that there was no place where immigration across the southern border was commemorated, as immigration from Europe is celebrated — and honored — at Ellis Island,” she said.

Oscar Martinez, an historian and author of the recently published book, “Mexican-Origin People of The United States” (University of Arizona Press, 2001), said community leaders and activists had been dreaming of a U.S.-Mexico immigration history museum for years.

“Involvement goes back to the 1970s with LULAC. People talked about it and it has been discussed for decades in other southwestern cities,” he said. Martinez recently has raised questions about the project, citing lack of community involvement in the decision-making process.

In 1972, UTEP established a program that may be considered, in retrospect, a seed for the museum — the Institute of Oral History. The Institute was created to “preserve the history of the region” and currently claims a collection of more than 1,000 interviews ranging in topic from immigration and labor to politics and business. The Institute is included as part of the Paso al Norte museum effort, is made part of museum promotional materials, and has been referred to by Natalicio as a possible “intellectual base” for the proposed museum.

The revived and current interest in establishing the Paso al Norte museum came after a $50,000 Andrew Mellon Foundation grant to UTEP in 1998. The grant was aimed at supporting assessment and planning for an immigration center in El Paso. Natalicio said the response from this initial work was encouraging and that soon, “we had a large and enthusiastic base of support.”

The Mellon Foundation grant was followed by a pair of Ford Foundation grants — $260,000 to UTEP in 2000, and $260,000 to the University of Texas Board of Regents the following year.

Also, in July 2001, the National Endowment for the Humanities contributed $10,000 to assist with consultation fees and planning. The 77th Texas State Legislature additionally provided UTEP with an appropriation of $100,000 for the 2002-2003 biennium.

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-El Paso) also has expressed his support for the museum. Reyes filed the Paso al Norte National Museum of Immigration History Act (H.R. 2162) — a $15 million appropriations request — in the last Congressional session. However, the funding request was not successful. Karl McElhaney, grants coordinator for Reyes’ office, cited a tight fiscal-year budget as the reason. “We will be resubmitting another request for the next Congress,” McElhaney said.

The same Congress, however, chose to pass a bill establishing another comparable museum project — the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Created by Public Law 107-106, the 23-member commission was appropriated $2 million and has nine months to come up with a plan for establishing the national museum.

For the Paso al Norte museum, financial support from grants and appropriations has totaled $680,000 to date. “A fund of this size is good seed money,” said Adrián Bustamante, interim director for the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico in Albuquerque. “It’s enough for planning and architectural work.”

Marguerite Rivera Houze, Executive Director of the Paso al Norte Immigration History Museum and Research Center, said she is also looking to the Rockefeller Foundation and the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives for additional funding.

PLANNING THE PASO AL NORTE IMMIGRATION MUSEUM

Administrators at the University of Texas at El Paso began the development and planning process for the museum in early 2001. In January 2001, a group of local historians, community activists, professors, and students met in a small room in an administrative building at the corner of Stanton and Arizona. Michael Topp, professor of history at UTEP, stood before the group and asked them to brainstorm a few general questions: What should be the scope of the museum? What should be its mission? Whom should it represent?

These same questions have remained central throughout the museum development process and would soon create controversy over its direction. 

“We can romanticize and glorify that immigrant experience without asking very critical questions,” Garcia said in a later conversation. “It needs to be a museum that looks critically at this experience, particularly because these experiences are still going on today,” he added.

Ruiz, the author of “Cannery Women,” said the histories of Spanish-speaking peoples in the United States have often been ignored or overlooked, both in academic writing and museum exhibits.

“In U.S. history textbooks, for examples, Mexican Americans are mentioned only here and there, with predominant focus on Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers,” she said. “Indeed, though Chavez is a significant historical figure, his legacy is not the only Latino story.”  Added Martinez: “The immigration museum goes to the core of Mexican American history and identity.”

n March 2001, participants in a three-day planning forum organized by UTEP at the Camino Real Hotel tackled similar questions as those from the previous January. National and international scholars, museum directors, and other notable leaders in the field of immigration and museum planning attended.

With the assistance of James E. Sims, principal of Virginia-based Threshold Studio, UTEP and the group developed a draft conceptual plan for the museum.

“We’ve worked for a year and a half basically to conceptualize, to bring together the content and the vision for the audience. We’ve been listening to consultants from El Paso, Juárez, and around the United States,” said Sims, formerly the senior designer of the National Museum of American History and Acting Director of the Museum Studies office of the Smithsonian Institution.

The conceptual plan includes four broad exhibit themes to guide the continued work:

• The Crossing — What is the story of the crossing? What happens when two cultures meet at the border?
• Places on the Journey: Border, Town, and Path — What is the story of migration? How are villages linked and changed as a result of people leaving one village and creating a community in the United States? What is the path physically and metaphorically?
• Being Mexican in the U.S. — What does it mean to be Mexican in the United States?
• Policy and Politics: A Global Landscape — What are the politics and policies of border migration?

It took four years after state approved its funding for Albuquerque to build the first phase of the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico, said Bustamante. “It will take another 18 months to complete our new performing arts center,” he added.  “A major exhibit will take two to five years to develop,” said Sims.

According to the proposed timeline, the Paso al Norte museum will display its first exhibit in two years. “We’re hoping to be on our feet by 2004,” said Houze.

As an organization, UTEP ultimately envisions a Paso al Norte museum as an independent non-profit with its own board of directors and it own independent funding sources. “UTEP does not plan to make the museum part of its administrative structure,” Sims reiterated.

Currently, the museum project is in its second phase of development. The proposed timeline for the Paso al Norte museum states that this phase, “begins with planning interpretive strategies that will shape the audience’s experience of the museum. The phase ends with a review of sketches and maquettes, a narrative walk-through of the visitor experience, and an outline of the artifacts, key images, and text to be presented in each section of the permanent exhibitions.”

Guiding this process is the Paso al Norte Immigration Museum International Advisory Council. The Advisory Council was established late last year and is comprised of nearly 30 scholars and museum professionals from throughout the United States and Mexico. Advisory Council members were selected because of the particular expertise, knowledge, or skills they brought to the table, said Houze.

The Advisory Council held its most recent meeting in El Paso on Jan. 11, 2002, and plans to meet again in New York in June.  

Houze is also working on holding focus groups throughout the country to gather ideas, information, and stories to support the museum. “Developing this museum isn’t strictly an academic exercise,” she said. “It’s a personal story telling.”

She emphasized that the project is in a planning stage and the final museum concept has not yet been developed. “There are other voices and experts that will help define the museum,” she said. “This is the idea of the focus groups.”   

A Tale of Two Identities: 
The Lives of Some Black Latinos Reflect a Unique Blend of African Roots And Hispanic Culture
By Edgar Sandoval, Allentown, PA Morning Call, February 26, 2002
Sent by Howard Shorr  HowardShor@aol.com

Following are two examples:
May 4th, 490: Palenque Maya Lord Kan - Xul I is born according to the museum at Palenque 

May 4th, 1863: After the Minnesota uprising of the Santee Sioux, and their subsequent defeat, their lands are forfeited. The surviving Indians, including those who opposed the uprising and helped the whites, are ordered to be shipped to a reservation in Dakota Territory. 770 Santee Sioux board a steamboat in St. Paul for the journey west. Eventually 1,300 Santee Sioux are transported to an area which can hardly support life. During the first year, 300 Santee die. 

May 5th, 1763: Near Fort Detroit, Ottawa Chief Pontiac addresses a group of Huron, Ottawa, and Potawatomi warriors. He asks them to join him in his fight against the British. 

May 5th, 1800: William Augusta Bowles is an adventurer in the southeastern part of the United States. With Creek and Cherokee supporters, he proclaims a new nation, Muscogee, out of lands claimed by Spain along the Gulf coast, with himself as "Director-General". Bowles declares war on Spain, and begins a campaign against their outposts in his "nation." Some sources list this as happening on April 5, 1800.  indigenous_peoples_literature@yahoogroups.com  Digest Number 657

"In my efforts preceding the census, I kept telling people to put down "American Indian," even if you are mixed race like I am," said Zunigha, director of the Delaware Tribe Housing Authority in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. "I just wanted the Indian count to be as high as possible to have numbers to substantiate federal funding," Zunigha said.

The issue has especially been a concern with the American Indian population, which demographers had forecast may have higher proportions of people identifying with more than one race because Native Americans, historically, have married outside their race more than other groups.
Sent by Cindy Lo Buglio, Reno Gazette-Journal, 3-14-01 

Cheyenne Coming Home Denver Post Article, Sunday, April 14, 2002 
Coming home: Driven from their Colorado land more than a century ago, 
Cheyenne Indians are returning to the state of Colorado  By Bill Briggs, Denver Post Staff Writer, 
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,171%257E519144,00.html

Over the blur of several generations, the Cheyenne nation has nearly evaporated from Colorado, an area many still consider a sacred home. That dark equation, Cheyenne people say, seems to sum up the blood and tears of their history: Roughly 3,000 men, women and children thrived in these parts a century and a half ago. Today, according to U.S. Census, 328 full-blooded Cheyenne live in the state.  Editor: Note the underlined sentence which seems to indicate that the Cheyenne were apparently not affected by the 350 years that the Spanish were on the continent.  

Christianity Among the Indians of the Americas
http://www.marquette.edu/library/collections/archives/indians.html
The Marquette University Archives is committed to documenting the ongoing story of Christianity in Native North America. Since 1977, the department has acquired the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions records and 16 other collections. This material documents the histories of urban and rural missions and parishes; the values and attitudes of clergy, religious, and laity; the history and customs of Indian tribes; and the cultural interaction between Native Americans, church leaders, and U.S. government officials. Documentation is significant for tribes within Alberta and Ontario, Canada; Chiapas, Mexico; and 17 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. In addition, the library's general collection holds over 30,000 related titles.

THE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES OF MEXICO
by 
John P. Schmal

Medievil Sourcebook: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1p.html

• General
• Visigothic Spain
• Al-Andulus: Moorish Spain
• The "Reconquista"
• Leon and Castile
• Aragon
• Portugal
• The Life of Christian Spain
• Seferad: Jewish Spain

http://www.library.ci.corpus-christi.tx.us/santander/V1SEC9.HTM

It was founded on the 19th of May of 1752; its captain is Don Domingo de Unzaga Ibarrola, who established it without any cost to the Royal Treasury at a time in which the apostates of the Nuevo Reino de León, in possession of that land, had forced out the residents who had remained in the nearby town called San Antonio de los Llanos which they had almost completely destroyed. It has 58 families of settlers with 272 persons, and 11 civilized Indians who also serve in whatever is needed in the campaign, which compose 66 families with 298 persons; it has a large flowing irrigation canal from the San Antonio River and a few other smaller ones from nine springs with which they water and fertilize their lovely valley which is very fruitful, and this past year the settlers reaped from it much more corn than they needed for their use and some sugar cane and beans. A church of stone and mortar and part of it of adobe is being built at the cost of said captain with the help of the settlers for the well adorned statues and good jewels which he has brought from Mexico. 
Sent by Johanna de Soto

The De Zavala Flag has a white star in the center of a blue field with one point straight up. The letters T-E-X-A-S are between each star point. Lorenzo De Zavala, "a Texan by adoption and by choice" is credited with designing this "Lone Star Flag of the Republic of Texas" and is often called the "First Republic of Texas Flag".

A statesman, Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala was one of the most talented and capable of the many native Mexican citizens involved in the struggle for Texas independence from Mexico. Born in the villiage of Tecoh in Yucatan, Mexico, on October 3, 1789.

In Texas, de Zavala settled his family on Buffalo Bayou across from what would become the site of the Battle of San Jacinto. He represented Harrisburg Municipality at both the Consultation of 1835 and the Convention of 1836, where he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico.

De Zavala resigned as vice-president in October. The following month, on 15 November 1836, he died and was buried in the family cemetery on property which is now part of San Jacinto State Park.

De Zavala county was formed in 1858 and named in his honor.In 1931, the state of Texas erected a monument at his gravesite.                                                                      Sent by Johanna de Soto

"I fly the flags every April 6 and August 18 to commemorate the short-lived First Republic of Texas that began on April 6 and ended at the Battle of Medina on August 18 in the year 1813. A historically- minded friend of mine in St. Paul, Minnesota, also flies THE GREEN FLAG on these days. As far as I know, we are the only ones anywhere who commemorate the First Republic of Texas, which was a Texas counterpart to the First Mexican Revolution. So, you see, we still have a lot to learn about our Hispanic heritage."  Robert Thonhoff  profk@karnesec.net 

Editor:  I hope you Tejanos will do some research on the Green Flag and Burgundian Cross Flag and share the history of that time period and the First Republic of Texas. 

The Borderlands Encyclopedia:  http://www.utep.edu/border/govern.html
A digital encyclopedia of current happenings.  Educational Resource On Contemporary United States-Mexico Borderland Issues. University of Texas, El Paso.             Sent by Johanna de Soto

The Family History of San José and the Fresnillo Ranchos
http://www.texancultures.utsa.edu/ranching/chapters/ElFresnillo/chapters/tocelfresnillo.htm
Website of Andres Sáenz and Andrés Tijerina Genealogical data             Sent by Johanna de Soto

BEXAR COUNTY COURTHOUSE: http://users2.ev1.net/~tarin/documents/archindx001.html
This is a wonderful index with some information even  back to 1517. An informal Catalogue of the Red Numbered Miscellaneous Folders located in the Spanish Archives of the Bexar County Court House.  Compiled by Robert L. Tarín, Jr. 1991  Sent by Johanna de Soto

FRIO Co, TX Naturalization Applications http://historicdistrict.com/Genealogy/Frio/natural.asp?PG=5
Registrations August 1877 through 1906 plus one registration from 1909 and two from 1916.  In addition to a window  for a specific search, an alphabetical  listing includes the name and location This listing was made by John Hawley in 2000 from information compiled from Mormon microfilms.  Information includes Point of arrival and Place of birth.              Sent by Johanna de Soto

The Hispanic influence in the northwest region of Louisiana was felt earlier with the establishment in in 1721 of a presidio and a mission Los Adaes, near the French fort in Natchitoches.  In 1729, Los Adaes was made the capital of the Spanish province of Texas and remained the administrative seat of government for 44 years.  The Louisiana connection with Texas by way of El Camino Real paved the way for exploration commerce, religious activity, and colonial settlements.

Dr. Arnulfo G. Ramirez, professor of Spanish and linguistics at Louisiana State University, will direct the Institute and serve as the principal resource.  He supported by a prestigious staff.  For more information e-mail at ramirez@lsu.edu  or 225-578-6616 (work) or 225-767-8785 (home)
Sent by Bill Carmena  JCarm1724@aol.com 

Bu the early 1800s so many people arrived in Louisiana from the American states that the Spanish governor complained about lack of passports.

From 1824 until 1849 passport issuance was transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior.  The issuance of passports (or passes) dwindled quickly in the face of rapidly diminishing boundaries.  Passports became just a footnote in history, but can still provide valuable information about the movements of individuals of time.

The Genie, Vol. 35 #3, (3rd Quarter, 2001), Ark-La-Tex Genealogical Association, Shereveport, Louisiana via The Family Tree April/May 2002

Research in the Orleans Parish Civil Court Records  http://nutrias.org/~nopl/inv/cdcdemo/text2.htm
These are examples of the kind of information that is available on this site:

Louisiana. First Judicial District Court (Orleans Parish)

Records of First Judicial District Court, 1813-1846.

Index to suit records, 1813-1846

Lousiana. Court of Probates (Orleans Parish)

Index to Suit Records, Numbered Series, 1823-1845

Digging Up Roots in the Mud Files:  The presentation included here, "Digging Up Roots in the Mud Files," sprang from our recognition that many researchers are sometimes confused and perhaps intimidated by the complexity of the civil court systems that existed in Orleans Parish from the territorial period to the present. As a result of this confusion, we feared that researchers might be missing valuable information. We make the presentation available in NUTRIAS in hope that it will reach a much wider audience than the eager folks who crowded into our auditorium early in May of 1998. We hope that it will help to cure the "court phobia" of genealogists looking for wills, successions, divorces and other "genealogically-significant" court records. We hope also that historians and researchers using the Orleans Parish civil court records for their own purposes will find these pages helpful. The civil court records are an incredibly rich source, and their historical significance is virtually limitless.

Ana S. Gutierrez, who is running for the House of Delegates from Montgomery County, credits much of the change to sheer numbers, which she says will soon make Latinos an impossible force to ignore. "The census brought it home, and all of a sudden it's, 'Oh, we have to pay attention,'" she said. The 2000 Census shows that Maryland's Hispanic population grew by 82 percent during the 1990s . . , with the majority moving to the Washington suburbs. While Latinos make up just 4.3 percent of the state population, in Montgomery County they account for 11.5 percent.

Sen. Alex X. Mooney of Frederick put in a bill this session to require the state to award 2 percent of its contracts to Hispanic-owned businesses, a proposal that is unlikely to pass. "It's a complete outrage that they would leave us out," he said of the governor's minority business initiative last year, which established procurement set-asides for women and African-Americans.

"It's a big mistake to ignore them," he said of Latinos, "because 20 years from now their kids will be citizens, will speak English and will vote."

Sent by Howard Shorr   Howardshor@aol.com