National Endowment for the Humanities in partnership with the 
White House Millennium Council
has prepared a special resource manual: 

My History Is America's History, 15 things you Can Do To Save America's Stories

The project aims to help Americans make connections between families, the past, and hopes for the future.  The guidebook, My History Is America's History provides 15 ways to preserve family memories and treasures through activities that make history an exciting adventure for the entire family, complete with many examples of how other families have discovered and saved their own stories. A website has been established to be a virtual "front porch" for every American. Once you enter www.myhistory.org, you can explore other tales that will help you understand your own stories and those of your ancestors.  Once you post your family stories and photographs in the online collection, you can discover more about your ancestors as you create your family tree and see how each branch connects with the nation's history.

Free copies of the 100 page manual can be obtained for the $3.75 cost of postage and handling.  Write to My History, Pueblo, Colorado 81009 or call toll free: 1-877-634-4478  You should also check out the website: http://www.myhistory.org .

Return to Table of Contents

 
United States Releases Control of the Panama Canal

        The new millennium begins with a historic turn-over. On December 31, 1999, the Panama Canal became Panama's canal. Ninety-five years of American  control over the canal - and over much of Panama - came to a close. The end of an era. The Panama withdrawal has been slowly taking place over the past 22 years when the government under President Jimmy Carter ceded control of the land back to Panama. On June 30, 1999, a U.S. Army Color Guard removed the American flag for the last time during the Fort Sherman Transfer Ceremony in Colon, Panama, northwest of Panama City.[1]  
    In fact, the Canal zone never belonged to the United States. Washington had controlled the canal and its ancillary properties under a treaty signed with Panama in 1903. But the U.S. never purchased the real estate. [2] The American presence was largely military. Local resentment over U.S. privileges emerged almost from the start, and the United States sometimes meddled in Panamanian politics to get rid of inconvenient governments. Panamanians have run the canal for the past 10 years, and 93% of the 9,000 canal employees are locals.[2]
    Many worry that America's loss of  control is a strategic blunder because much control of the canal is falling into Chinese hands as a result of extensive port concessions awarded to a Hong Kong company. However, Panama's president Mireya Moscoso tried in August to reassure doubters: "We will guarantee the world safe passage through the canal, just as the United States did." [1]

1)  Abstract from Story by John Rice, The Associated Press, Panama City, Panama
     Graph Data from Orange County Register, December 9, 1999
2)  Editorials, Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1999

               Portuguese Return Macau

    On December 20 China claimed possession of Macau from Portugal. After 442 years of Portuguese rule, at the stroke of midnight, the Portuguese flag was lowered for the last time.  The red flag of China took its place.  It was raised over the tiny sliver of territory upon which Portuguese traders established their first formal settlement in  1557.
Orange County Register, 12-20-99

Los Angeles Times, 12-20-99

Celebrating the California Sesquicentennial
November 13, 1849 - November 13, 1999

Project 150

    To commemorate the ratification, by election, of the California Constitution on November 13, 1849, a Symposium was organized by Los Amigos of Orange County, the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research, in cooperation with the programs of Chicano-Latino and Latin American studies, the department of Spanish and Portuguese and the vice Chancellor, Student Affairs of the University of California, Irvine. The event was held exactly 150 years later, on November 13, 1999. Attended by historians, professors, teachers, students, legislators, and early California descendants, it was the only event held in the state of California celebrating the birth of the state of California. Neither was the date included in The Associated Press' daily listing of important   historical events.  
    Project 150 is trying to locate descendants of the signers of the California constitution  Descendants are being asked to register with Project 150 and show their historical heritage connection to their Mexican/Spanish colonial roots. The results of this effort will benefit all Californians, and the nation also.  In the 1990 Census, California and Texas together represent almost 75 % (74.4) of the Mexican-heritage population. Yet neither state has ever elected a Hispanic surname U.S. Federal Senator.  New Mexico, who did not become a state until 1912, has had three.   (Texas statehood, 1845. California statehood, 1850)  
    The relationship between the United States government and Hispanics living in the states of New Mexico, California, Texas is historically very different.  Although New Mexico did not become a state until 1912, in contrast to Texas and California, New Mexico had a national political presence since the mid 1850s.  Their political connections and small population helped Latinos in New Mexico to maintained their unique identity.  The results is that Southwest Hispanics have been viewed through the filter of the New Mexican culture, which historically is very different from the Hispanic culture which developed in  California and Texas. National understanding of the Southwest centers on the historical, political and cultural aspects of  the state of  New Mexico; however, twenty times more Mexican-heritage individuals live in California. 
    The lack of understanding of the history and strength of Mexican-heritage individuals in California is continuing to perpetuate through national projects of preservation, restoration, archeological, anthropological, humanities, etc.
    The Smithsonian in Washington D.C. has a southwest display which is specifically New Mexico.  In addition, of the eight family stories included in the newly published My History Is America's History by the National Endowment for the Humanities, two are Hispanic, one is a New Mexico family, Madrid, and the other a Colorado family, Romero.

    U.S. Census 1990: I-7  Mexican-Origin Population, population distribution among states as:
 

    Understanding Hispanic/Latinos in California historically will generate needed awareness and understanding. The following graph are California State Constitutional forefathers.  The graph was   compiled by Galal Kernahan for Los Amigos of  Orange County California. The first column identifies the number of years in residence in pre-California statehood. The graph clearly reveals the power structure and political changes taking place in California during the mid 1850s.

    If you know anyone that has California lines, please put them in touch with the Project 150 committee, either:   Galal Kernahan, pepejose@oc-net.com
Maria Moreno,  mgmoreno17@hotmail.com  or your editor, Mimi Lozano, mimilozano@aol.com .

Of the forty-eight (48) Constitutional forefathers, only six (6) had been born in California.                    
All six had Spanish surnames. For  more information: http://users.oc-net.com/pepejose

Thirty-four (34) had lived in California less than 10 years. 
Fourteen (14) had lived in California three years or less. 
Thirteen  (13) had lived in California one year or less.                                                                                                     

   The following by Ed Allegretti is an example of  the kind of personal information that California family historian have gathered. Ed has traced his lines back to his fourth great grandfather who was a second cousin to two signers of the California constitution, Jose Antonio Carrillo and Mariano Vallejo.

    He writes, "for your reference: Franciso Lugo was the grandfather of Jose Antonio Carrillo (through Jose Raymundo Carrillo and Tomasa Lugo) and of Mariano Vallejo (through Ignacio Vallejo and Maria A. Lugo). Franciso Lugo's sister was Maria Serafina Lugo (who married Jose C. Espinosa). Her grandson was Isidoro Soto (through Ygnacio Soto and Maria Barbara Espinosa). 
    Isidoro Soto, my fourth great grandfather, was thus a second cousin to both Carrillo and Vallejo, who both participated in the convention. Isidoro Soto was an officer in the Mexican Army and was stationed primarily at Monterey, where he died about 1846. 
    His son, and my third great grandfather, was also a soldier. He was in charge of supplies and horses at the Battle of Natividad and was grantee of the Rancho Canada de la Segunda, which was in Carmel Valley and included the land surrounding the Carmel Mission. The only items of possible interest that I have are pictures of Lazaro Soto's daughter, my second great grandmother, and a Mexican style mortar and pestle believed to be from the Rancho Canada de la Segunda." For more information: eallegretti@brixcom.com

New web mounted by Maria Moreno for the founders of  the city of Los  Angeles. httP//www.members.tripod.com/los pobladores200/default.htm.

    Vanessa O'Neill, a recent graduate with a business degree, picked up a video camera and produced a 35-minute documentary called "Voices from the Past: the First People of California".  The film traces the Gabrieleno and Juaneno Indians, the tribes most closely associated with Orange County, California. The Indian experience is viewed through the eyes of elders and younger members who have immersed themselves in tradition. It appears to be part of a reawakening of interest in the long and often painful history of Southern California's native tribes, stripped of land and culture by early settlers and vastly reduced in numbers.
Orange County Register, 12-20-99

 January 7, 1789: the first U.S. presidential election was held. Americans voted for electors who, 
a month later, chose George Washington to be the nation's first president.

January 7, 1942: The World War II siege of Bataan began.

January 7, 1959: U. S. recognized Fidel Castro's new government in Cuba.

January 8, 1815: U.S. forces led by Gen. Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans -- closing engagement of War of 1812.

January 8, 1894: Fire caused serious damage at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

January 8, 1959: Charles de Gaulle inaugurated president of France's 5th Republic

January 9, 1788: Connecticut becomes fifth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

January 9, 1861: Mississippi seceded from the Union.

January 10, 1861: Florida seceded from the Union.

January 10, 1920: The League of Nations was established as the Treaty of Versailles went into effect.

Jan 11, 1757: The first secretary of the U.S. Treasury-Alexander Hamilton-was born in the West Indies.

January 11, 1805: The Michigan Territory was created.

January 11, 1861: Alabama seceded from the Union.

January 12, 1915: The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.

January 12, 1932: Hattie W. Caraway became first woman elected to U.S. Senate.

January 14, 1639: First constitution of Connecticut adopted

January 14, 1784: U. S. ratified peace treaty with England ending Revolutionary War.

January 15, 1559: England's Queen Elizabeth I crowned in Westminster Abby. 

January 16, 1547: Ivan the Terrible was crowned Czar of Russia.
 
January 16, 1992: Officials of the government of El Salvador and rebel leaders signed a pact in Mexico City ending 12 yrs of civil war that  left  75,000 people dead.  

January 20, 1839: Chile defeated a confederation of Peru/Bolivia in the Battle of Yungay.

Spain's Support of the American Revolution

         Little is know of the very important role that Spain played in supporting the American Revolutionary war. Granville W. (Ph.d.) and his daughter N.C. Hough have dedicated themselves to the task of gathering records to promote that awareness. The goal of the Houghs is to produce books identifying the Spanish soldiers serving in the states of California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and Florida between 1779-1783, and to examine the consequent of their activities as it relates to the formation of the United States. Dr. Hough, a retired professor from California State University, Long Beach and his daughter have completed the first three books in the series: Spain's California Patriots (Part 1 and 2) and Arizona Patriots.  
         The following is the Preface to Spain's Arizona Patriots in its 1779-1783 war with England During the American Revolution. 
         In 1996, the authors became aware that neither the NSDAR (National Society for the Daughters of the American Revolution) nor the NSSAR (National Society for the Sons of the American Revolution) would accept descendants of Spanish citizens of California who had donated funds to defray expenses of the 1779-1783 war with England. As the patriots being turned down as suitable ancestors were also soldiers, the obvious question became: "Why base your membership application on a money contribution when the ancestor soldier had put his life at stake?" This led to a study of how the Spanish Army and Navy had worked during the war to defeat the English and thereby support the fledgling English colonies in their War for Independence. After a year of study, the results were presented to the NSSAR; and that organization in March, 1998, began accepting descendants of Spanish soldiers who had served in California. The acceptance is based simply on service during the time period of 1779-1783 while Spain was at war with England. 
         We had not by March, 1998, studied the organization of the Spanish Army in the Spanish Borderlands from Texas through California. We now know how the forces were deployed and used in an effort to unify the frontier and counter the influence of English or any other foreign forces. We know that orders going to California also went to Texas, New Mexico, Sonora, and all the other border provinces of Northern New Spain. In fact, the whole frontier and bordering provinces had been united in 1776 into a military command under a Commandante-General who reported directly to the King (or at least to his ministers). The Northwestern realm, with its unidentified border with England, was a continuing concern to the highest Spanish authorities, particularly to Jose de Gálvez, Minister of the Interior. During 1776 while the English Colonies were declaring Independence, he reorganized the military structure of the Provincias Internas; he authorized his nephew, Governor Bernardo de Gálvez of Louisiana, to begin clandestine help to the English Colonies; and he supervised the Anza Expedition to settle San Francisco Bay. He visualized that he could regain the Floridas, lost to Britain earlier; unify the whole northwestern frontier from the Mississippi River to the Pacific; and counter the British wherever they appeared. 
         Indeed, Gálvez' aims were partly accomplished. He did establish California and wipe out any historic English claims from the time of Sir Francis Drake. He did recover Florida. He made progress unifying the northern outposts, but there were not enough resources to do what he visualized. Indian tribes who were already on the vast land could not be incorporated into the Spanish way of life fast enough. Events in Europe intervened and took higher priority. So, in due course of time, the land from the Mississippi River to the Pacific became American rather than Spanish. 
         However, we still have the Americans of Spanish descent who fought to move the frontier forward to counter the British. They helped the English Colonies to become the United States of America. They held land in trust for future expansion of the United States. Both the NSDAR and NSSAR accept descendants of soldiers and sailors who served under Governor Bernardo de Gálvez. The NSSAR accepts descendants of soldiers and sailors who served in California. It has also accepted descendants of soldiers who had served in Texas and descendants of Texas cattlemen who drove cattle to Louisiana to support Governor Bernardo de Gálvez in his campaigns. Why not accept other Borderlands soldiers who served the same King, received the same orders, and fought and died trying to carry out the common strategy? That became our question. 
        Our first two books covered California. This third book covers Arizona, or at least the southern third of the state. This land was part of Pimería Alta in the Province of Sonora. It does not have a separate history as does New Mexico and Texas. Records are fewer and more scattered. Actually, Pimería Alta remained in Mexico until it was divided by the Gadsden Purchase into a Sonoran part and an Arizona part. Sonora had been very closely associated with California for a few years, and there was great hope that it would become a roadway to that area. Many Pimería Alta families have close blood ties with families who settled Northern California. However, any hopes for an overland route from Sonora to California were cut in 1781 when the Yumas rebelled and rejected Spanish culture. Pimería Alta became a forlorn frontier area ravaged by frequent Apache attacks. A few frontier soldiers and settlers hung on, and this book is their story. 

SHHAR is pleased for the privilege of publishing the Hough series. We believe it is a major contributions to Hispanic history.  It is a practical, easy to use manual for  Hispanics researching family history in the borderlands. Hispanics/Latinos must look at their history as inclusive to the development of the United States. That insight can be shared through identifying and promoting the contributions of ancestors. 

California Patriots, Part 1 and  Part 2 are $14. each, or 2 for $25. 
Arizona Patriots, $14 or two copies for $25.
Postage cost is $2.50 for the first book, additional books $.75. 
Please write directly to SHHAR Press at: 
P.O. Box 490, Midway City, CA 92683

Texas

    Cenizo, a Texas border town has become the nation's first to pass an ordinance requiring that all official government business be conducted in Spanish. "Eighty percent f the people, who live in El Cenizo speak (only) Spanish, and 100 percent of the residents understand it, " said Gloria Romo, a member of the El Cenizo Council, which passed the Spanish-only ordinance August 3. "If you want people to contribute to their city and participate in city meetings, you have to talk their language," Mrs. Romo added. 

    "We used to have arguments and fights at those meetings (because of the language barrier).. . Most of the people who attended always asked to have an interpreter present, or they asked that the meetings be in Spanish," said the commissioner and council member.    

    The new Spanish-only ordinance stipulates that local government transactions be conducted in Spanish and that English translation be provided with 48 hours of notice. In compliance with state and federal laws, written ordinances will be adopted in English and translated into Spanish.

Joyce Howard Price, The Washington Times, 9-99
Submitted by Rick Aguirre

Sources for the History of African-American Texans 

University of Texas at Austin, 

compiled by John Slate

General information on Black history in Texas:
Barr, Alwyn.  Black Texans: A History of Negroes in Texas, 1528-1971.  1973
Glasrud, Bruce A. 
Black Texans, 1900-1930: A History. 1969
Rick, Lawrence D. 
The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900. 1967
Sance, Melvin M. 
  The Afro-American Texans. 1987
Woolfolk, George.  
The Free Negro in Texas, 1800-1860: A Study in Cultural Compromise. 1976

Black Texans and Reconstruction

Dorsett, Jess.
Blacks in Reconstruction Texas, 1865-1877, 1981
Smallwood, James M.
Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans During Reconstruction. 1981

Black Texans in the Development of the American West
Carroll, John M.   
The Black Military Experience in the American West. 1971
Durham, Philip.  
The Negro Cowboys. 1966
Fowler, Arlen L. 
The Black Infantry in the West, 1869-1971
Leckie, William H.   
The Buffalo Soldiers; A Narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the West. 1967
Porter, Kenneth W.  The Negro on the American Frontier. 1971

New Mexico Baca Ranch

    To the public it is a paradise lost - 95,000 acres of  National park quality scenery that has been privately owned for more than a century. The government granted the land to its first owner, Luis Maria Cabeza de Vaca, in 1860.  For most of the early years it was a sheep ranch.  In 1962, when James P. Dunigan bought the land from Frank Bona and Son, Inc., the Baca Ranch raised cattle.    


Return to Table of Contents   

       The Mexican state of Zacatecas, located in the north-central portion of the Republic, is a land rich in cultural, religious, and historical significance. Surrounded by Coahuila on the north, San Luis Potosi on the east, Aguascalientes and Jalisco on the south, and Durangoon the east, Zacatecas is the eighth largest state in Mexico. The name Zacatecas is derived from the fusion of two Nahuatl words, Zacatl (grass, hay) and co (located). Thus, the literal translation of the state name in English would be "the place where a lot of hay is found."
       By virtue of its large size (75,040 square kilometers), Zacatecas has contributed its fair share of immigrants to the United States during the last century. In the days preceding and during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), many inhabitants fled Zacatecas for the American states of Texas and California. During the height of the Revolution, the capital city of Zacatecas became the focus of national attention when it was seized by the forces of Pancho Villa in the famous battle known as La Toma de Zacatecas (The Taking of Zacatecas) on June 23, 1914.
       In pre-Columbian times, Zacatecas was home to many indigenous tribes. By the time the Spaniards first arrived in the region (1531), the Zacatecos, Caxcanes, Irritilas, Guachichiles, Tecuexes, and Tepehuanes were still making their homes in the area. Most of these Indians put up a fierce resistance to the Spanish encroachment upon their territory. However, in 1546, silver was discovered in Zacatecas. With this discovery, the Spanish incursion into Zacatecas became ever more determined and, in time, the Spanish forces – superior in weaponry and tactics – subdued all the native tribes. Today, Zacatecas has more than fifteen mining districts which yield silver, lead, zinc, gold, phosphorite, wollastonite, fluorite, and barium. 
       The richest resource available to Americans who are trying to find their roots in Zacatecas can be found in the Family History Library (FHL), whose catalog can be accessed at its website, http://familysearch.org/search/searchcatalog.asp. When you go to this website, you can utilize the place search by simply entering the name of your ancestral town. The FHL owns church, civil or census records for at least ninety-four separate localities in Zacatecas, and you can view these microfilmed records at your nearest Family History Center.
       The Family History Library owns the Catholic church records for eighty-six distinct locations in Zacatecas, the earliest of which (the city of Zacatecas) goes back to 1605. All told, eleven towns in Zacatecas have church records going back to the 1600s, while another sixteen localities have records reaching back into the 1700s. For the most part, the baptism and marriage records of the Zacatecas churches are remarkably detailed. With few exceptions, starting around 1800, the baptism records listed the abuelos paternos and abuelos maternos. In addition, marriage records will not only give the age, birthplace, residency, and occupation of the newlyweds, but the same information for their parents and witnesses. 
       Mexico enacted civil registration in 1859. Within the next decade, nearly all of the fifty-six municipios of Zacatecas started to collect birth, marriage, and death records. The Family History Library has compiled the municipio civil records for forty-nine of these municipios. Most of their records begin between 1861 and 1867. As an added bonus, the FHL also has the 1930 census records for at least forty-two municipios on microfilm. 
       If you are interested in an online exchange of information, you may access the GenWeb page for the state of Zacatecas, which can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7016/zacatecas/. A subdivision of the Mexican GenWeb page (accessed at http://www.rootsweb.com/~mexwgw/), this website is dedicated to helping all interested persons in tracing their roots in Zacatecas. On the website’s message board, you can post messages to solicit or exchange information with others.
       There are three preliminary steps to take in a successful search for your Zacatecas ancestors: First, you should locate your ancestral town on a map. Secondly, you need to find out the name of the municipio in which the town was located since civil records were only recorded in the capital city of each municipio. Thirdly, it is important to be aware of the names of adjacent villages where your ancestors may have attended church or baptized their children.
       For the first step, it is important to realize that maps of Zacatecas in atlases and tourist brochures only show the largest and most historically significant cities. For this reason, I strongly advise that you visit a college or university map library to locate a large scale map (preferably 1:250,000). If you have an ancestral community which you have not been able to locate on a conventional map or in the FHL catalog, you will understand the reason for this course of action.
       Last year, I was trying to locate the church and civil records for a family that had lived in the small Hacienda de Santa Monica, Zacatecas, during the Nineteenth Century and the first decade of the 1900s. However, I was unable to find the hacienda on any conventional maps of Zacatecas. My next step was to pay a visit to the UCLA Map Library where I located a gazetteer of Zacatecas. Having pinpointed the geographic coordinates of Santa Monica in the gazetteer, I subsequently consulted a large-scale present-day map of Zacatecas, which showed Santa Monica as a small town. I made note of the fact that Santa Monica belonged to the municipio of Sain Alto and was a short distance from the small town of Rio de Medina.
       Once I had become familiar with the terrain surrounding Santa Monica, Zacatecas, I was able to check the FHL catalog. I found that the Catholic church records for Rio de Medina went back to 1899. I also checked the FHL inventory for Sain Alto and found that Sain Alto’s civil records went back to 1862, while some of their church records went back to 1792. I was able to locate the family in question in the records of both towns.
       The point of this example is to state that a successful search for your Zacatecas ancestors may be contingent on some extracurricular research. If you are able to do the essential footwork and locate your ancestors, you may be able to trace your ancestors clear back to the Seventeenth Century. 

Happy hunting, John P. Schmal        
 JohnnyPJ@aol.com