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.