The picture above I found on the Internet, no name was associated with the picture other than Navajo woman in Spanish dress. It fit todays subject.
182 Navajos in Hispanic homes in Rio Arriba County in 1870. That is a lot of Navajos, boys and girls and some women. That according to the Federal Census. Reference the publication titled "Herencia, The Quarterly Journal of the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico, in Volume 16, Issue 3, July 2008". This article was researched and written by a lady by the name of Lorraine Aguilar.
I was surprised so I looked at the census myself and she is correct. In her article she notes she was just looking for Navajos. And there were other Indians, not Navajo, living in other households. So I went to look in San Miguel, Colfax, Valencia, Taos, Socorro and Mora counties in the 1870's. Lo and behold, none that I could find.
Well, there were less than 10 Indians living in Hispano households in Arroyo Hondo in Taos County. In one Arroyo Hondo household there was Felipe Talachi age 64, an Indian and Lorenza, age 56 keeping house. Lorenza was listed as white. Also Josefa, a 35 year old listed as an indian and finally Dolores age 3 and listed as white. The Talachi household seems to be a mixed race place.
So were the folks in Rio Arriba County the only ones who had Navajos, or other Indians, living with them? What was going on in 1870? The census taker in Rio Arriba was Trinidad Alarid, in San Miguel it was Demetrio Perez. In Taos County it was Juan Santistevan. Judging by their writing, they seem to read and write well, so they had a fair amount of education. So why the discrepency? Was one or two advised to note this and the other not? Was one inclined to note this and the other not? Did one recognize the Indians and the other not?
Trinidad Alarid nor Juan Santistevan would not have known who was and who was not Indian, Navajo or otherwise. They had to have asked, they had to. Otherwise why would Trinidad Alarid have some born in Navajo Country and other Indians born in New Mexico. He was asking. Now was he asking for the purpose of being thorough? Was he instructed to ask or just inclined to ask? If I had to guess I would say he was inclined to be thorough, at least as compared to Mr. Demetrio Perez who was working San Miguel County. There could not be that many in Rio Arriba County and none in San Miguel County. And keep in mind there were only 13 counties then, so they had to be bigger.
4 comments:
Sure would like to have you contact me re some NM history, especially about the Cienega massacre. I have unlimited cell phone minutes and could call you. Or if you'd prefer to remain anonymous: e-mail: cocalucero@q.com
I am new to blogging & your blog, but find yours very interesting. My ggg-grandfather was Roque Salmeron. I am interested in discussing more family history with you. Please contact me at jsfisher@escapees.com. Good blog. Thanks!
Very interesting, Antonio Jose de la Cruz Alarid was my great grandfather and Matias Alarid was my great great grandfather. I only know my line, which comes through my grandfather, Jose Magdaleno Alarid and finally through my father any myself. Thanks for posting this, and if you have a chance to share some of you memories of Matias' family, that would be very nice.
In the census records of some of my ancestors from Rio Arriba, I noticed the same thing. Some of the households had some Navajo children living there. I do not know as much as I would like about this history of this time, but I would like to know more. I think in one case they were listed as servants (a 7 and 9 year old?). Do you think that they were captured, and forced into a slavery of sorts?
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