De Hidalgos a Peon's, Que Paso?

Hispanic New Mexican's who came north from Mexico with don Juan de Onate in 1598 were promised "hidalgo" status for their efforts if they stayed here a specified amount of time. Now hidalgo status was a granting of nobility at it's lowest rung. Yet by the time the United States annexed the province there were mostly folks whom the Americans classified as peon's, landless poor.

Here is what I think happened. and there seems to be several causes.

1) Between the "entrada" in 1598 and Mexican Independence from Spain on Sep. 16, 1821 New Mexicans of every stripe were ignored by the Spanish authorities in both Mexico City and Madrid, Spain. Utterly ignored by any measure being used at the time. By being ignored by their government my ancestors had to make do with what they had on hand, they had to adjust, adapt AND adopt. Adjust to the fact hidalgo status was not worth what they had been led to believe, adapt to the local conditions and adopt methods of survival used by the Indians. Especially when they could not go back, it was decreed that abondoning the colony was not to be condoned. And in reality it was enforced. They could not leave so they had to adjust, and they did.

2) Between Sep. 16 1821 and when the Americans occupied the province on Aug. 15, 1846 New Mexicans were further ignored by the new government in Mexico City. But by this time they had adapted to the harsh conditions. And hidalgo status be dammed, you had to survive. And the way to survive was to copy the Indians just as they had been doing before. They had been surviving here for untold generations.

3) My ancestors were seen as landless poor by the Americans as they came here and they documented that. By comparison my ancestors may have been poor, but most were landless only in the way the Americans viewed land ownership. Most land was held by individuals or by community grantees as mercedes or land grants. But most of the American who came early, fur trappers, did not appreciate the New Mexicans and they did not hesitate to document it, if they could write, by word of mouth if they couldn't. The traders who started arriving a bit later , but still in the early 1800's, thought the same way, and most of them could document this in writing. When the Army of the west arrived on Aug. 15, 1846 the "peon" label was attached to all with the glue provided by writings of the military. And it stuck. 

Jews in New Mexico in the Spanish Era

A relative and a friend offered a subscription to the magazine "La Herencia". The magazine is great reading, but it is not a genuine "historical" document. A good read, but too much mitote in there. There are some great stories in there and I like the publication, it is just that there are many stories in there from New Mexican families claiming to be Jews.

Where is the proof? Who were our ancestors who were "Jews"? Name one, or two or three! There is no documented evidence that any people of the Jewish faith came north with either don Juan de Onate or don Diego de Vargas. There is no evidence of any Jews coming north from Mexico period. Yet there are many that claim to be Jews and from the same time periods discussed here. And I can't be blamed for not looking, I have read several books dedicated to the subject. And at best it states that there could have been some Jews in the colonists of either Onate or Vargas. "Could have been" is a long ways from proof, a very long way.

Some are even attempting to use DNA as proof. My thoughts on that is "how does DNA determine religion. At best it might point to a Semitic race. If it does point in that direction, the odds are that it would be Arab as compared to Jewish. The Arabs, and lots of them,  were in Spain over 700 years. 

Jews were there also, but at some point they were forced to convert or leave. It is these that everyone seems to be "connecting" to. It is stated that even if one could trace a family member to one of these there would be no more "Jewish" customs OR religious customs in the 20th and 21st century.

Now the Spanish had no love for either as documented by their efforts to get rid of the Arabs and convert or expel the Jews. So maybe a few "conversos" did make it through. But 400 and some years later no trace is left of them. The religious folks were diligent in this effort and some were accused and taken to Mexico in chains only to be found innocent.

Now in the early 1800 they did start to arrive, but from the United States. A lot of them, and maybe they intermarried with the locals. That is a distinct possibility and probability. But don't let folks tell you that all Spanish names are in reality Jewish words. That is just not true, no matter who states it. Ask for proof and none is forthcoming.

Peasants and Peons in New Mexico AND the United States in the Mid 1800's

The first image is a photo titled "peon". And the second image is of a peasant, click on them to make them larger.

The early history of New Mexico's people dealing with "Americans" begins just prior to the Spanish being expelled from New Mexico by the new rulers of the soon to be named "Mexico". So in reality New Mexico was here before the country of Mexico came into being. Mexico came into being in the early 1800 as it aquired it's independance from Spain and New Mexico was already New Mexico in the mid to late 1500's. Anyway, just prior to the overthrow of the Spanish New Mexico had begun to see "Americans". They came first as trappers and then as traders on the Santa Fe Trail.

And make no mistake about it, the traders, in particular, were spies first and traders second. They were carrying back to the "States" stories of the wealth, or lack therof, in New Mexico. New Mexico's strengths and weaknesses. They tended to refer to the people here, my ancestors, as peasants or peons. They used these words in pejorative terms. Wikepedia defines this as "Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt. The adjective pejorative is synonymous with derogatory, derisive, dyslogistic, and contemptuous. When used as a noun, pejorative means "a belittling or disparaging word or expression".

I have always wondered if there were any peasants in Kearney's Army of the West?  Were there any peons in Kearney's Army of the West? Were there any pesants or peons back in the "states"? Anyway, do a search on Google and you will soon see that there were indeed both peasants and peons in the "states" back in the mid 1800's. A lot more than in New Mexico as the population of the "States", as compared to New Mexico, was huge. Huge! But they did not refer to them as such. Only Mexicans were pesants and peons.

Anyway, I never heard the term pesant when I was growing up. But I did hear the term peon. And it was not a bad word. It was used to describe a worker. And not someone held against their will. My grandfather would sometimes refer to us as his peon's. Always with affection. But it goes to show how the word can be used by different folks and give it a completely different meaning. But I will have to admit that using the dictionary meaning for the terms, a lot of my ancestors were, in non-pejorative terms, pesants and peons.

Las Ruedas, New Mexico to Rowe, New Mexico, the Transition

The last mention that I can find of Las Ruedas, New Mexico as a community is from page 22 of the publication New Mexico Marriages Pecos, October 1862 to April 1904 and published by the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico. 

There it states "January 31 of 1881. I married Manuel Archuleta, single, legitimate son of Ramon Archuleta and Gertrudes Newman with Marta Alari, daughter of Matias Alari and Josefa Valencia, from Las Ruedas. Padrinos were Francisco Archuleta and Maria Montoya."

Then the first mention of Rowe, New Mexico is from page 26 of the very same publication. There it states " November 15, 1889. I married and veiled Catalino Sanchez, single, son of Ramon Sanchez and of Luz Lobato with Maria Segura, single, daughter of Manuel Segura, deceased, and of Cristina Archuleta, from Rowe. Padrinos were Ramon Archuleta and Eulalia Neuman."

Seems like Ramon was there at the end of the line for Las Ruedas and the beginning of Rowe, New Mexico.

My guess is that the movement of people from the Los Trigos Land Grant, of which Las Ruedas and Pajarito seem to have been the only towns, was essentially from Las Ruedas to Rowe and some to Pajarito as the work on the railroad created the jobs people needed to survive. 

What is the possibility? What is the probability?

This is a picture of Sebestiana Benavidez. Click on the image to make it larger. It has been copied too many times. Sorry about that.

Marianna Duran, one of my maternal great grandmothers, was born circa 1834 in Teseque, New Mexico. There has been a persistant story that she was a Tesuque Indian and married one of my maternal great grand fathers, Juan de Jesus Archuleta. It is known that he was much, much older than her. Thirty six (36) or there abouts. Juan de Jesus had been married before. These stories can only be attributed to Marianna's daughter, my grandmother or Marianna's grand children, my mother and uncles. They all knew her. And there is a church record that does list Marianna as the "adoptive" daughter of Pablo Duran. The term "Adoptive" was sometimes used to indicate Indian children taken into Hispanic homes.

Sebastiana Benavidez is my great grand aunt.  Our common ancestors are Jose Rafael Benavidez and Maria Dolores Garcia de Alviar. She is the sister of one of my paternal great grandmother's, Maria Simona Benavidez. In my records I have no information on either Sebestianas birth date or birth place. It is my guess she was born some where around 1843 - 1848. I base this on the fact that she married Pedro L'Esperence in March of 1863. I do know that some of my great grandmothers siblings were born in Tesuque.

Anyway there is an article in June 2008, Volume Number 47, Issue Number 2 of the New Mexico Genealogist, The Journal of the New Mexico Genealogical Society by Laurie Tavino Pioggia that makes a case for Sebestiana being an Indian from Tesuque Pueblo. The author states there that Sebestiana's grand daughter Constancia L'Esperance left written information on a family bible that indicated that was indeed the case. And that Sebestiana was adopted by the Benavidez family.

Now what is the chance that the family of my great grandmother Marianna, living in Tesuque in the time period when she was born, 1834, and the family of Sebestiana, born circa 1843 - 1848, knew each other? I think there is a very good chance that they did indeed know each other. Now what is the chance that both of these women were Tesuque Indians? That is harder to determine, It certainly is possible, but is it probable? Who knows. The author of the article and I have communicated via email and over the phone and discussed Sebestiana.

Any way, it is interesting to speculate. And the author certainly has better information on Sebestiana than I do. And she also has better information on Sebestiana than I do on Mariana. I have some unanswered questions on the relationship  my great grandfather, Juan de Jesus Archuleta, had with the family of his father in law Pablo Duran in Tesuque, New Mexico. You see his first wife was a woman named Maria Antonia Duran who was the daughter of a man named Jose Duran. Seems like there were quite a few Benavidez, Archuletas and Duran's living in the area.

Also one needs to keep in mind that there are two Tesuque's. The Indian Pueblo and the old Hispanic village. Located in close proximity to each other.

Las Ruedas, New Mexico in 1870, Demographics

Las Ruedas, New Mexico was a Hispanic community located on the Pecos River below present day Rowe, New Mexico. The census was taken on the 26th of July in 1870 by the census taker Demetrio Perez. The village consisted of 84 people in 19 households. 

Three Americans had married into the local Hispano community, Samuel Dean Jr. Born in Maine, John B. Boles born in Virginia and O.P. Anderson born in Georgia. Roque Samaron was listed as being born in Mexico and he also married into the local Hispano community.

Personal notes: I knew Marta Alarid , then age 8. I knew her in the 1950's living in Rowe, New Mexico. Pablo Archuleta the younger was the son of the older Pablo Archuleta here. Also Felix Sameron, here 2 months old, would  in 1905, along with his wife Maria de los Angles Flores, baptize my mother, Maria del Refugio Benavidez.

1 - Antonio Ortiz age 55 a farm laborer who could read but not write.

His wife Albina a houskeeper age 40 who could not read nor write.

Agapito, age 23 a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

2 - Samuel Dean Jr. age 31 a farm laborer who could read and write. Samuel was born in Maine.

His wife Juliana a housekeeper age 19 who could not read nor write.

Cruz age 2.

Roberto at 5 months old.

Juana Archuleta age 12 who could not read nor write.

Victor age 7.

3 - Miguel Sena age 45 a carpenter who could read and write.

His wife Ynes a housekeeper age 38 who could not read nor write.

Justo age 18, a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

Cecilio age 15 living "at home" and could not read nor write.

4 - Matias Alarid age 49 a blacksmith who could not read nor write.

His wife Josefa a housekeeper age 40 who could not read nor write.

Gertrudis a seamstress, age 18 who could not read nor write.

Jose de la Cruz age 10 and who could not read nor write.

Marta age 8. 

Casamiro age 6.

Maria 7 months old.

Nicolas listed as age 15 and a domestic servant who could not read nor write. 

5 - Gregorio Gonzales age 37, a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

His wife Ygnacia a houskeeper age 38 who could not read nor write.

Jesus Gutierrez age 13 living "at home" who could read but not write.

Jose age 3.

6 - Jose Antonio Valencia age 33, a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

His wife Ramona a houskeeper age 18  who could not read nor write and whom Jose Antonio married the previous January.

7 - Antonio Maria Archuleta age 66, a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

Luis a farm laborer age 33 who could not read nor write.

8 - Pedro Barranca age 55, a farm loborer who could both read and write.

His wife Maria de la cruz a houskeeper age 34 who could not read nor write.

9 - Ponciano Archuleta age 28, a farm laborer who could read but not write.

His wife Salome a houskeeper age 25 who could not read nor write.

Manuel age 8.

Teresa age 5.

Candalerio age 2.

10 - Francisco Archuleta a farm laborer age 25 who could read but not write.

His wife Mariana a housekeeper age 15 who could not read nor write.

2 month old son Eugenio.

11 - Francisca Lovato a housekeeper age 64 who could not read nor write.

Juan J. Montoya age 22, a farm laborer who could both read and write.

Dario age 19, a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

Leonardo age 15, living "at home" and who could both read and write.

Manuela age 12 and living "at home" and who could not read nor write.

12 - Pablo Archuleta age 64, a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

His wife Dorotea a housekeeper age 64 who could not read nor write.

Marcos age 38 a farm laborer who could both read and write.

Pedro age 37 a farm laborer who could neither read nor write.

Sotero age 28 a farm laborer who could read but not write.

Antonio age 19 and a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

Albino a ge 25 and a faarm laborer who could not read nor write.

Maria de Jesus a washerwoman age 19.

13 - Pablo Archuleta age 33, a farm laborer who could read but not write.

His wife Trinidad a Housekeeper age 25 who could not read nor write.

Ricarda age 8.

14 - Jesus Valencia age 36, a farm laborer who could read but not write.

His wife Salome a housekeeper age 26 who could not read nor write.

Maria a seamstress age 16.

Zeferina living at home at age 12 and could not read nor write.

Rosario living at home and could not read nor write.

Juan age 4.

Alcario age 2.

15 - Roque Samaron age 32 a farm labor who could not read nor write. Roque was born in Mexico.

His wife Librada a housekeeper age 24 who could not read nor write.

Felix at 2 months old.

16 -  Juan Maria Martinez age 51, a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

His wife Isabel a housekeeper age 40 who could not read nor write.

Domingo age 12 living at home and who could not read nor write.

17 - Juan Encinias age 58, a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

His wife Estefana a housekeeper age 50 who could not read nor write. .

Pablo age 26, a farm laborer who could not read nor write.

Matilde a seamstress age 23 who could not read nor write.

Anastacio age 15 living at home and who could not read nor write.

Cresencio age 9.

Juan age 7.

18 - John B. Boles age 43, a farm laborer who could both read and write. John was born in Virginia.

His wife Manuela a houskeeper age 21 who could not read nor write.

Manuelita age 3.

Thomas G. age 1.

Maria de Jesus Sena a washerwoman age 75 who could not read nor write.

19 - O.P. Anderson age 56 a farm laborer who could read but not write. O.P. was born in Georgia.

His wife Antonia a housekeeper age 40 who could read but not write.

Severiano age 14 living at home and who could both read and write.

Isidora age 5.

Las Ruedas, New Mexico

Click on the google image to make it larger. You can't make out the details otherwise.

This is an aerial view of the Picacho, Rowe and Las Ruedas area of San Miguel County in New Mexico. Las Ruedas was just east of Rowe on the Pecos River and is where a lot, if not most of the early settlers of Rowe came from. They came as a result of the Santa Fe Railroad arrival and its replacement of the Santa Fe Trail.

Las Ruedas was the only village on the old Los Trigos Land Grant. and was depopulated as a result of the railroad arriving in the area. I do not know who was the last person to leave but it probably occurred in the late 1800 or very early 1900's. I have access to the 1860 and 1870 Territorial Census and will post here on the demographics of the village. I will do it as I find time.

When I was a kid in the 1950's the church was still there, in ruins, but still there. You could still see the remnants of the rock fence around the church. The presence  of a church there indicates that my ancestors lived there for a while. There were stone remnants of the houses on the semi flat areas close to the river. There was also the concrete remnant of a water holding tank that the railroad used to pump water to the railroad at Rowe for the steam engines.

When we walked down there to go fishing or swimming we would always look for lead along the old pipeline. We used the lead as sinkers for our fishing lines. Just cut a notch in a small piece of lead with a knife attach it to the line and bite down on it and wa laaaa, a custom made sinker. There was a cool place to swim on the furthest point east in this photo that the river reached. "El Remance" was well known to all of the kids in Rowe.

The Los Trigos land Grant, of which Las Ruedas was part of, ended up in the hands of "Buddy Folgensen and his actress wife Greer Garson. When they passed away the property was split up and the Pecos National Monument ended up with parts of it. I do not know who exactly owns the old village site. I am told that Jane Fonda and Val Kilmer own the rest. Anyway this post is about Las Ruedas, not the Los Trigos Land Grant. There are references to Las Ruedas  in the book titled "Four Leagues of Pecos" written by G. Emlen Hill and another titled "Before Pecos, Settlement Aggregation at Rowe, New Mexico" written by Linda S. Cordell and published by UNM Press. The place is pretty near to being totally forgotten.

El Gusano, New Mexico on July 26, 1870

An aerial view of modern day South San Isidro courtesy of Google Earth. Click on the image to make it larger. The areas to the west and south of the village are those that were irrigated and planted as "milpas". Milpas were family plots or large gardens where folks grew their vegatables.

El Gusano, now South San Isidro, on July 26, 1870 consisted of 13 families made up of 67 individuals, here is a snapshot of the community as provided by the 1870 territorial census compiled by Demetrio Perez. All of the Benavidez and Encinias listed in El Gusano, as well as some of the others, are relations of mine and were relatives of my maternal grandfather Roman Benavidez.

Only 3 of the residents could read and only 1 could write. Juan Andres Benavidez listed in the 1870 territorial census as 27 years old was actually 30, having been born the 6th of November of 1840, could read and write. Juan Andres was my maternal great grandfather. Pablo Encinias age 37 and his son Tiburcio age 14 are listed as being able to read, but not write. 

Every male was listed as a farm laborer and the women for the most part were listed as housekeepers except for 1 washerwoman and 3 seamstresses. The men were probably tending farm fields along the Pecos River. El Gusano is on the river and a few acres can be irrigated. So the men were tending their own fields.

The washerwoman was Susana Garcia, age 25. The seamstresses were Manuela Garcia age 20 and her sister Teodora age 16 were sewing as was Catarina Garcia, age 15. Susana, Manuela and Teodora were all sisters and living with Marcelina Encinias, my maternal great great grandmother, and the other Garcia siblings. There were 3 males and 6 females in the family living with Marcelina. Marcelina was the widow of Camilo Garcia who died a couple of years previous.

Here are the heads of households.

1, Juan Cristoval Benavidez, my maternal great great grandfather.

2, Gregorio Benavidez was Juan Cristoval's brother.

3, Ponciano Benavidez was Juan Cristoval's brother also.

4, Cresencio Garcia.

5, Marcelina Encinias, my maternal great great grandmother and sister in law of Crecencio.

6, Pablo Encinias, Marcelinas brother and son of Tomas Encinias..

7, Tomas Encinias at age 97 living with his third wife and the father of Marcelina was my maternal great great great grandfather.

8, Tomasa Segura, married Jose Marcos Garcia and into the family.

9, Juan Garcia.

10, Simona Cordova listed as being 46 was in reality 44 as she was born on the 28th of October in 1826 in Pecos, New Mexico. She was the widow of Juan Ortiz. Listed as living with her was her grandson, Asencio Benavidez, a relative of mine and her son Trinidad Ortiz who would later marry into the family.

11, Domingo Archiveque married to Socorro Encinias, Marcelina's sister .

12, Antonio Encinias, son of Tomas Encinias and his third wife and half brother to Marcelina.

13, Jose Andres Mejia.

So just 1 of the families living there there seems to have no connection. But that is just a guess on my part. 

Margarita Archuleta

Click on the image to make it larger.

This is a picture, from an old tin type, of my maternal grandmother Ignacia's older sister Margarita Archuleta. I do not have any idea as to when it was taken, but my guess is the 1880's or 1890's. I knew this lady, she was born circa 1860 and died circa 1952. She actually stayed at our house for a while late in life. I understand that she was married more than once. By the time I remember her she was a widow. She had no children. My guess is that she is buried in Rowe, New Mexico.

For information on her first marriage to Juan Nicolas Butierrez refer to page 169 of the publication Santa Fe Marriages, St. Francis Cathedral, Jan 1858 to Oct 1889 published by the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico. Witnesses/padrinos were Francisco Garcia and Francisca Butierrez. She is listed as the legitimate daughter of the deceased Juan de Jesus Archuleta and Mariana Duran.

She is inumerated in the 1920 federal census. She lived and died in a very difficult period for New Mexicans. She was born 16 years or so after the American occupation of New Mexico. She lived under the territorial administrations and later witnessed first hand the early statehood period.

Volunteer "Historians"!!!!!!

Click on the image to make it larger. This is a picture of the San Miguel Mission Church, the oldest church in the USA. 

Hispanos in New Mexico, especially Santa Fe, need to step up to the plate and volunteer in places where they are "making presentations about us". Or others will and we may not like the results. An example follows. If you do happen to volunteer be truthful and do not promote agendas...

I went and paid my $1.00 to go into the San Miguel Mission, the "Oldest Church". I went into the church itself and sat down to listen to the "historical account" a person was making to what seemed like a group of German tourists. The presentation was no where close to factual. Not even close.

He told them that several hundred Indians from Mexico had decided to relocate/migrate and that when they got to Santa Fe they decided to build the San Miguel Mission on top of another Native American holy place. So that the Mission had had religious significance for over 800 years. But no where in his presentation did he tell the tourists that the "Indians from Mexico" had come with don Juan de Onate. 

I personally think that was a horrible oversight. I don't know what effect the talk had on the Germans, but they did not hear the whole truth.