Saturday, December 27, 2014

Assimalition by New Mexicans - 1598 - 2000+, Extrapolate Backwards


Extrapolate = To infer or estimate by extending or projecting known information.

Lets do that for a moment with the New Mexican population over the years since our ancestors arrived here from Nueva Espana (Mexico).

The folks who came north to New Mexico with don Juan de Onate were some Spanish, many born in Mexico, some Indians from the valley of Mexico and some mestizos. Juan de Oñate married Isabel de Tolosa Cortés de Moctezuma, granddaughter of Hernán Cortés, the conqueror of the Triple Alliance, and great granddaughter of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, so we know that even the leader of the future New Mexicans had mestizo offspring with him.... his son Cristobal Onate.

From 1598 to about 1750 before most Frenchmen started arriving, the only mixing of the races was between the New Mexicans and New Mexican Indians as well as the Indians they had bought with them from the valley of Mexico. This mixing started almost immediately and involved mostly the pueblos in and around San Juan de los Caballeros and later Santa Fe. As time progresses the Indians involved in the mixing with the "Spaniards" grew to include all of the Pueblo Indians and also the Navajos, Apaches and Utes.

Mid to late 1700's - 1825 or so - A few Frenchmen, very few, started to arrive and you see a few names with French origins creep into the mix. There are several and the number here is no where near complete . Alari (Alarid), Beaubien, Laroux, Acheveque, Gurule, to name but a few.

1825 - 1846 - The Americans of whatever stripe start arriving and mixing with the New Mexicans and whatever mixture they represented by this time. They started mixing almost immediately as they figured out that New Mexican women represented the best way to integrate and get access to the wealth of New Mexico. This "wealth" included the licenses that were available only to citizens of the Mexican Republic. Some of these more famous Americans who became Mexican citizens include names as famous as Kit Carson and the future governor of New Mexico, who was later assassinated, Charles Bent. Both of these men married sisters, Kit married Maria Josefa Jaramillo and Bent married her sister Maria Ignacia Jaramillo. Both being the daughters of Francisco Estevan Jaramillo and Maria Apolonia Vigil.

1846 - 1900 - The early American "pioneers" and soldiers came in by the thousands. Literally a flood of the strangers. The era of soldiers, merchants, government workers and the folks brought in by the coming of the railroad. Intermarrying intensified, especially around the forts the Americans built all around the state and next to towns springing up along the railroad. If you don't think this was significant just look at what happened to the population around Santa Fe, Las Vegas and the communities around Fort Union.

1900 - 1950 - The Americans came in droves and soon had displaced the new Mexicans and Indians as the dominant racial group in the area. Incidents if intermarrying increased dramatically during this period. Especially around the towns of Santa Fe, Taos and Albuquerque.

1950 and afterwards - After World War II the intermarrying accelerated to the point to where it is today. Intermarriage of New Mexicans and their descendants to the point that it is no longer uncommon. Whereas before the intermarrying was mostly "Americans" and Hispanic New Mexican women, now the trend included Hispanic New Mexican men marrying outside of the group.

And so it goes.

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