Information, what there is, on some of the killings of residents of Las Vegas, New Mexico in July and September of 1862 by the Navajos.
Juan Ygnacio Quintana was killed by Navajos on 9 July 1862 in New Mexico. He was buried on 10 July 1862 in Las Vegas, New Mexico. We do know that Juan Ygnacio left a widow and four (4) children.
See a short genealogy for Juan Ygnacio below.
Jose Maria Nieto was killed by Navajos on the 9th of September, 1862 at a place called Vermejo. Jose Maria Nieto was the son of Jose Dolores Nieto and Maria Marcelina Crespin of Pena Blanca, New Mexico and was working as a shepherd for Florencio Sandoval. Jose Maria was buried on the 15th of September of 1862 in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Demetrio Baca, the son of Antonio Baca and Romualda Baca was eighteen (18) years old when he was killed on September 10, 1862, also the day after Jose Maria Nieto and the same day as Jose Esquipula Mares. He was buried on September 13, 1862 in Las Vegas. The death/burial record does not indicate where he was killed.
Jose Esquipula Mares was also killed at Vermejo on September 10, 1862, the day after Jose Maria Nieto, while tending sheep owned by Antonio Baca. His parents are identidied here as Jose Maria Mares and Maria Salome Baca. He was buried on September 16, 1862.
Jose Maria Nieto was tending the sheep of Florencio Sandoval, Demetrio Baca and Jose Esquipula Mares were all probably killed by the same group of Navajos while tending the sheep. Demetrio and Jose Esquipula were tending Demetrio's father, Antonio Baca's sheep.
The priest Juan Franciscio Pinard, a Frenchman imported by Archbishop Lamy was the Catholic official officiating at all four of the burials.
The two (2) paragraphs below come from an article by Mark Simmons.
At the first sign of Indian attack, the native shepherds had instructions to scatter the flock. Raiders, always in a hurry, would gather what they could and ride on.
When the owner came, he might find his shepherds dead, but he could send the dogs out to
seek and round up what was left of his sheep.
First Generation
Juan Pedro Quintana married Maria Josefa Vigil daughter of Ygnacio Vigil and Ana Maria Cayetana Lopez. Maria was born in New Mexico.
They had the following children:
2 M i. Jose Maria Quintana was born on 12 Mar 1825 in Santa Cruz de la Canada, New Mexico. He was christened on 13 Mar 1825 in Santa Cruz de la Canada, New Mexico.
+ 3 M ii. Juan Ygnacio Quintana was born on 1 Jun 1826. He died on 9 Jul 1862.
4 M iii. Jose Antonio Quintana was born on 24 Sep 1828 in Santa Cruz de la Canada, New Mexico. He was christened on 25 Sep 1828 in Santa Cruz de la Canada, New Mexico.
A few thoughts/comments on sheep herding from a Mark Simmons article:
"At the first sign of Indian attack, the native shepherds had instructions to scatter the flock. Raiders, always in a hurry, would gather what they could and ride on."
"When the owner came, he might find his shepherds dead, but he could send the dogs out to seek and round up what was left of his sheep."
Second Generation
3. Juan Ygnacio Quintana (Juan Pedro) was born on 1 Jun 1826 in Santa Cruz de la Canada, New Mexico. He was christened on 3 Jun 1826 in Santa Cruz de la Canada, New Mexico.
Juan Ygnacio Quintana first married (1) Juana Maria Miguela Marquez daughter of Juan Prudencio Marquez and Tomasa Hinojos on 16 Dec 1849 in San Miguel del Vado, New Mexico. Juana was born on 5 May 1831 in New Mexico. She was christened on 7 May 1831 in San Miguel del Vado Mission, New Mexico.
Juan Ygnacio and Juana Maria Micaela had the following children:
5 M i. Jose Severiano Quintana was born on 20 Feb 1852 in Las Vegas, New Mexico. He was christened on 29 Feb 1852 in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
6 F ii. Margarita Quintana was born on 22 Feb 1854 in Las Vegas, New Mexico. She was christened on 26 Feb 1854 in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
7 F iii. Maria Felipa Quintana was born on 26 May 1856 in Las Vegas, New Mexico. She was christened on 1 Jun 1856 in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
8 F iv. Maria Panfila Quintana was born on 26 May 1856 in Las Vegas, New Mexico. She was christened on 1 Jun 1856 in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Juan Ygnacio Quintana next married (2) Anastacia Apodaca on 10 Feb 1859 in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Anastacia was born in New Mexico.
Juan Ygnacio was married to Anastcia at the time he was killed. They had been married a three and one half (3 1/2) years at the time of his death.
3 comments:
I read that Simmons article -- how New Mexico came to have sheep versus cattle. He never sources anything, however, and rightly or wrongly it leaves me wondering.
I enjoy reading the details of those peoples' lives that you post, however. It makes it possible to think of them as real people. And by the nature of the information I know that they had had real lives.
I'm curious about the name Ygnacio. Is that a variant of Ignacio and/or Ignatius?
The spelling of individual's names is all over the board in the records. Ygnacio and/or Ignacio is pronounced the same. There are others in the records that are similar. Trujillo/ Truxillo, Venavidez/Benavidez. The list of names spelled differently is long.
Also as to Marc Simmons, I have most if not all of his books, and have found them to be accurate. And as to scattering the sheep if attacked, It makes perfect sense to me to do so, for various reasons.
Thanks NM. That's fascinating about the names. I must confess my interest in the alternate Ygnacio spelling is personal, having just bought a little house on San Ygnacio Road in the South Valley and, while I'm waiting for the deal to close, and before I'm consumed with moving, sanding floors, patching stucco, etc., etc., etc., trying to learn more about my new neighborhood.
I wrote a post on my blog a year or so ago, (and you commented on it) in which I said I believed some of New Mexico's uniqueness may have to do with its relative isolation, the vast distances -- far from Spain, far from Mexico, far from other populated areas of the US. I pointed to the old dirt roads, off the side of the paved ones, that you can still see in some places, as evidence that there wasn't a lot of interaction with other places until relatively recently. I remember too your account of visiting relatives in Denver by bus. Not long before that it was only wagons and horses and oxen, or walking. Maybe people had never seen those names in print. They knew the names, but just spelled them the way they thought they might be spelled. What do you think? Now, people can jump in the car, visit relatives in Denver or El Paso or Los Angeles or Amarillo, catch up on how they're doing things, and be back that night or that same weekend. Not then. It would have been a journey of what, days or weeks? So this allowed New Mexico to evolve on its own, relatively unaffected and undiluted by the culture at large.
By the way, do you know of the John Wayne movie The Comancheros? I saw it as a little kid but remember nothing about it, but in reading about NM history I've come across references to Comancheros.
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