Dedicated to Hispanic Heritage 
and Diversity Issues 

 TABLE OF CONTENTS                                                                 MARCH 2001, Issue 3

Editor: Mimi Lozano, mimilozano@aol.com

". . . . .  immigrants make us more, not less, American."

 Inaugural address by President George W. Bush, January 20, 2001

Features:
Ruben Barrales Bush appointee 
Soza Surname Scholarship
Sevilla Family kidnapped

United States
Spanish Patriots in the U.S. 
    Revolution
Birth of Whiteness
Latino Vote
POW-MIA Records
Increased Records Available

Orange County, CA
Mar 3,   We Give Thanks
Mar 15, Libreria Martinez
Mar 17, Libros Para Ninos
Mar 24, SHHAR QUARTERLY
Mar 21, NARA Military Records
Mar 29, NARA Ships' Arrivals


Los Angeles, CA
Anti-Mexican Contest
Restoration 1929
St. Francis Dam

California
2002 National in Ontario
Gates Grant
Mar 17, NARA Family Day
Humanities Newsletter
Mar 6-11, Film Festival

San Diego Indians
San Francisco Genealogy
Portuguese Voters, 1872
Old Radio Broadcasts

Texas
El Paso Border Crossings
San Elizario Society
Remembering the Alamo
Abandoned Cemeteries
Confederate Statues         
Roma Historic District Website
Villarreal Website
Hogar, Dallas, Texas
Mugs and caps
Trevino Website

Southwestern United States
History of Mexican-Americans
Bisbee Deportations 
Decade of Betrayal
Land Grants Reviewed
Center of Southwest Studies
Gallop Diocese
History/Genealogical Books

East of the Mississippi
Speaking Speaking in South
Hispanic Liaison in Place
Blurred Racial Lines

East Coast
Mar 14, Cuban/Irish Storyteller

Mexico
Locality Analysis
Zacatecas
Baja California
Mexico City National Cemetery

Caribbean/Cuba
Study Medicine in Cuba
Colonial Possessions and    
    Slave Populations

International
Microfilm Project
Spanish Pedigree Website
Jewish genealogy Website
Dossier Documental
Los Niños de Colombia

History
Liberation of the Philippines
Ships Passenger Lists

Miscellaneous
Headstone Hunters
Cousins Twice Removed
Family Tree Magazine
Rootsweb in the News
Hispano America, USA
Genealogical Graphics
Translation Service
DNA and Surnames
Hay Dios Mio, bilingual Poem


Society of 
Hispanic Historical
and Ancestral
Research 

Founded
1986

Calendars of activities websites:  http://members.aol.com/shhar

MARCH 24, SHHAR Quarterly Meeting:             Orange Family History Center, 
674 S. Yorba, Orange California
Beginning Family History:  9 A.M.
General Meeting: 10 A.M. 
Click for Details
Questions: 714-894-8161
SHHAR Board Members:

Bea Armenta Dever
Edward B. Flores
Mimi Lozano Holtzman
Carlos Olvera
Gloria Cortinas Oliver
Peter Carr
Charles Sadler
Laura Arechabala Shane

  Sources and Contributors:
  
     ***Johanna de Soto ***

Ruben Alvarez
Carol Anthony
Theresa Arzate
Mary Ayers
Beth Dempsey
Bill Doty
Frank Dominguez
Marftha Galindo
Anthony Garcia

Dr. Jaime Gomez
George Gause
Greg Hernandez
Lorraine Hernandez
Dr. Granville Hough
Iris Jones
Alex King
Cindy LoBuglio
Frank Longoria
Elaine Macey
Judy Mann
Judy Mann
Rueben Martinez
Donie Nelson
Dr. Nancy Porras-Hein
Sam Quito-Padilla
Iris Rodriquez
Dr. George R. Ryskamp
Antonio Sacre
Susan Sharpe
Sister Mary Sevilla
John Schmal
Mira Smithwick
Edward Soza
Stephen Townsend
Elvira Zavala-Patton
 

Bush Grabs Another High-Tech Executive
Ruben Barrales

     

 TheStandard.com, Wednesday, February 21, 2001
By Scott Harris

In a move that deepens ties between the Bush administration and the high-tech industry, the White House announced on Wednesday the appointment of the CEO of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley to serve as a deputy assistant to the president and director of the office of intergovernmental affairs.

In a brief phone interview, Ruben Barrales, who will assume duties March 5, said he will serve as "a portal" between the Bush administration and state governors and mayors of larger cities. Among his pressing concerns, Barrales said, will be coordinating efforts between the states and the federal government in addressing the West's energy crisis. Building up the nation's broadband infrastructure, Barrales said, is "an emerging issue" that will be another priority.

Barrales, the bilingual son of Mexican immigrants, also adds to the diversity that has distinguished this administration from its Republican predecessors. In 1992, Barrales became the first Latino elected to the San Mateo (Calif.) County Board of Supervisors and was re-elected in 1996. Tabbed as a rising star by GOP leaders, Barrales ran for state controller in 1998 but was defeated by incumbent Kathleen Connell.

He was later named president and CEO of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley in December 1998, overseeing an organization of business, government and education leaders that conducts research and creates programs designed to enhance the region's economy and quality of life.

Barrales, who lives in Redwood City, Calif., with his wife, Kelly, and two children, is the latest individual with strong Silicon Valley roots to take on official duties in the Bush White House. Stanford University Provost Condoleeza Rice is national security adviser; former San Jose Congressman Norman Mineta is transportation secretary; former TechNet co-CEO Lezlee Westine oversees the White House office of public liaison; and Margita Thompson left duties with National Venture Capital Association to become press secretary for Vice President Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne.

As an elected official and activist, Barrales is known for his efforts in addressing crime in East Palo Alto, Calif., and for helping to create of one of California's first public charter schools. He has served as a member of the Speaker's Commission on the California Initiative Process, and as an adviser for the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

The appointment was saluted in bicoastal press releases. President Bush said he is "pleased that a former local elected official, who brings such a strong background in the policy issues facing state and local governments, has agreed to head the office of intergovernmental affairs."

San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales said, "Washington will be an excellent opportunity for Ruben, and I look forward to having him in the White House as a Silicon Valley contact to help us with critical issues that affect the people in our communities."

Visit www.thestandard.com for The Industry Standard's full coverage, news, and analysis on the Internet Economy. Get free email newsletters at www.thestandard.com/newsletters.

Forwarded by Theresa Arzate, Executive Assistant to Chairman Cynthia P. Coad, Chairman,
California Orange County Board of Supervisors, as received from Ruben Alvarez, Executive Director for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Orange County.

This article was up-loaded from the online Politico magazine, excellent resource, available free. 

Politicomagazine.com  delivers timely news and analysis of political events and culture impacting the Latino community nationwide. An online magazine and weekly e-letter, Politico brings you features, spot news and analysis about events from your home town to the halls of Congress. To receive our free e-letter, contact  us at Politico1@aol.com.
                                                                                                    

                                       Edward and Phyllis Soza Scholarship Endowment

Ernest H. Elwood, Seal Beach, CA is the founder of the above scholarship endowment through The University of Arizona Foundation, University of Arizona-Tucson in recognition of my 30 year Soza family genealogical research. Six books resulted from this work, and are in 17 major university libraries, plus the Library of Congress.

Interested parties can gather more information by contacting Mr. Michael Duran at The Office of Scholarship Development, 1111 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721. Gifts should be designated for the Edward and Phyllis F. Soza Scholarship Endowment. Gifts are tax deductible and will be documented by the University of Arizona Foundation.

It is hoped to award the first scholarship on August 2001 to a candidate with surname including,
but not limited to Soza, Sosa, Gonzales, Rodriguez, Fimbres, Sanchez, Valenzuela, Vasquez, Arbizu, and Molina.

Edward Soza   ed_soza@hotmail.com
                                                                                        
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1915 Portrait: The Sevilla family was kidnapped by Villa and taken to Chihuahua


A revolution that affected, generations

                            The Orange County Register ACCENT Friday, Nov. 17, 2000
                                                       by YVETTE CABRERA 
                                                         Register columnist 

Mexican revolution? Oh yeah, my grandfather fought with Pancho Villa during the war! I had heard those words, so often I imagined hundreds of thousands of Mexicans following Francisco "Pancho" Villa on horseback across the Chihuahua desert. Could so many have fought with this legendary leader of the civil war, which lasted from roughly 1910 to 1920? I was skeptical.

It was almost a relief when I asked my dad if my grandfather, too, had fought with Villa" and he responded, "Oh, no; your abuelito didn't fight in the revolution. He was a 'friend of the revolution’."

Dubbed by newspapers as "el amigo de la revolución" or friend of the revolution, my grandfather, Luis Cabrera Lopez, a guitarist, traveled throughout Northern México entertaining the weary troops with waltzes and mazurkas.

"He would offer to take up arms, but more than anything the soldiers wanted him to play. So when night fell and they had to rest he would grab his guitar and they would all surround him," my father tells me, describing how the soldiers solemnly placed their sombreros on the ground whenever my grandfather played the national anthem.

I can understand the urge to be connected to the revolutionary upheaval. It changed the political make-up of modern México and ended, the three-decade dictatorship of Mexican President Porfirio Diaz

Monday marks the 90th anniversary of this revolutionary period's beginnings. Almost a century later, the legends of Villa and Emiliano Zapata survive because we are connected to this history through our family tales. Family tales inspired Sister Mary Sevilla, a 65-year-old nun with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, to dig deeper into the story of how her grandfather Manuel Sevilla was kidnapped by Villa.

"I didn't know a whole lot. I didn't even know when the Mexican Revolution was," says Mary, who began researching her family's history in 1988 "But once I started looking, I got hooked."

As a youngster, Mary had heard bits and pieces about the kidnapping. Her grandfather Manuel died when Mary was only 2, but thanks to the oral history passed along by her late aunt, Ruth Sevilla Crisp Patten, Mary learned how he and his family were kidnapped in 1915 by Villa, and then later escaped to Texas.

Ruth, is caught on video three months before her 95th birthday in her Seal Beach home recounting the winter day that she, her father, her siblings, and their boarding school nun Natalia were whisked away to Chihuahua by Villa and his men.

Manuel, an engraver who minted Méxican money during the Revolution, was important to Villa, who wanted his image printed onto the Mexican money, says Mary. Her Aunt Ruth could not always remember exact dates, so Mary began piecing together the story by traveling to Mexico.

Natalia and Manuel, who had begun a romance at the boarding school, were married in Chihuahua. Through marriage certificates, Mary determined that the kidnapping took place in January or February 1915.

She traveled to Chihuahua to photograph the house at Calle Allende 300, where the Sevilla family was held hostage. It was from that house that Manuel and his son Enrique (Mary's father) escaped by hitching a train ride with Villa's troops. They later arranged the release of the rest of the family.

"It just gives me chills to think of how courageous they were. The family stories are full of trauma and tragedy, but also joy and the fact they were able to overcome this past and become productive citizens," says Mary, who now lives in Lakewood.

In 1996, she began compiling her notes into a family history book. The book, spiral bound and printed this week will make its debut at a family reunion Sunday.

It concerned me that one day if I get feeble, all this information is going to sit here and nobody is going to know what to do with it," says Mary, who titled the history: "The Book! A Collection of Family Stones, Genealogy and Serendipitous Events That Resulted From the Search."”
Now, thanks to Mary, future Sevilla descendants will know that during the revolution Mary's grandmother Rita, who died in 1913, boldly headed to the market during the daily one-hour cease fire period because the maids were too afraid to go.

They will know that Mary's Aunt Ruth and an uncle traveled alone to El Paso on an ice-cold, bullet-riddled train in search of their father Manuel, after his escape. And that a kind man named Agustin Meráz, bundled the siblings in corn sacks in a railroad storage to warm them.

What Mary has done - by tracking down birth records and marriage certificates, by making four trips to Mexico to visit with cousins and writing down their memories, by visiting the building where her grandfather once ran his business - is to bring history to life.

"It's awesome-to think - Pancho Villa was either a terrible man or a wonderful man, depending on who you talk to, but if it weren't for him we wouldn't be here right now," Mary says.

There are probably thousands of stories like Mary's. But how many of these stones will be told 90 years from now?

Mary reminds all of us that history is not meant to be recorded only by academics. It is meant to be passed along at the dinner table or on the front-porch. It is meant to be spiral-bound and read at night to great-great-grandchildren, who will one day say, "Yeah, my grandfather fought with Pancho Villa during the war - let me tell you the story."'

Write to Yvette Cabrera The, Orange County Register P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711  ycabreraGnotes.freedom.com or Call: (714) 796-3649 of- Fax (714) 796-5052

The Wedding of Manuel and Rita Sevilla 
Parroquia De La Asuncíon, 
(Sagario De La Catedral)

May 21, 1898, Mexico City

   


Sister May Sevilla has completed a family history book, The Book!  It is a collection of family stories, genealogy, and serendipitous events that resulted from the search. It is mainly about Sevilla, Villagrán,Tresarrieu and Gospodnetich, Ostoja, Dominis, their ancestors in Europe and their descendants in Mexico and the United States. The Book! demonstrates beautifully the
example of the great mixture of the diverse nationalities who settled in Mexico, intermarrying and assimilating into the Mexican culture and ultimately some migrating and assimilating into the American culture.  
The Book! is quite different from a strictly genealogical book with
 its "just the facts" approach of names, dates, and places.  Sister May has gone beyond that, including many photos of people and places, copies of documents of births and marriages, pedigrees, and wonderful stories.  

"I'm greatly enjoying your book, Sister.  And as a librarian, I'm impressed with all your research and the photos you were able to find . . .  Regards," 
Gerry Shelly,  Librarian for Los Californianos
 


"I treasure your book. Unlike Maurice Bandy who read it all but four pages, I didn't read any until yesterday. People kept borrowing my copy. It is a delight. So well written. Lots and lots of pictures. I will put a review of it in the next issue of Noticias, and you may receive more orders."  Mary Ayers

 "Wonderful to hear THE BOOK is becoming a best seller and paradigm of Family History Books! No wonder, you really put your heart and soul into it. I'm looking forward for my copy and celebrating with you."  Carmen Boone de Aguilar

A few remaining copies are available for sale.  Please contact her directly  MaryS1256@aol.com
or call, (562) 924-0401 

  Sister Mary will have copies of 
The Book!  at the March 24th meeting.

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UNITED STATES

Through a donation, a limited numbers of  Spanish Patriots in the American Revolution by Granville and N.C. Hough are available free to Family History Centers.  The studies which are available are Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Louisiana.  Each book is about 180 pages.  

Family History Directors may select two volumes.  Please send postage cost of  $3.95,  a  mailing address, and the name of the Family History Center where the volumes will be placed to: 
SHHAR, P.O. Box 490, Midway City, CA 92655-0490.


           
                                        The Birth of Whiteness: 
                  Race and the Emergence of  U.S. Cinema by Diane Negra 

F
ilm Quarterly Summer, 1998, Book review extract 
Edited by Daniel Bernardi. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1996. 

Diane Negra is Assistant Professor and Graduate Advisor in the Department of Radio, TV and Film at the University of North Texas. She is currently engaged in a study of white ethnic stardom entitled Off-White Hollywood:  American Culture and Ethnic Female Stardom. 

"In recent years the accumulating body of work in whiteness studies has crossed a number of disciplinary boundaries, to be informed by the work of sociologists, anthropologists, literary scholars, historians, and others. Drawing upon the seminal contributions of authors such as David Roediger (The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class),
Ruth Frankenberg (White Women, Race: The Social Construction of Whiteness),
and Richard Dyer ("White"), scholarly articles theorizing whiteness as a social construction through a variety of modes of study have recently proliferated. Richard Dyer's forthcoming White and Mike Hill's Whiteness: A Critical Reader promise to continue the trend, while "The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness," the conference held recently at the University of California, Berkeley, seemed to herald the arrival of whiteness as an emergent subject of academic inquiry. To the list of contributions in this burgeoning field we may now add Daniel Bernardi's useful anthology on race and silent cinema.

Concerned with the way in which cinema "represents and narrates race" (3), the contributors to The Birth of Whiteness address themselves to a wide variety of genres and performers in early film, considering the cinema of Oscar Micheaux, Sessue Hayakawa, Robert Flaherty, D.W. Griffith, and Cecil B. DeMille, among others. They shed new light on such canonical texts as The

Birth of a Nation (1915) and Nanook of the North (1922) while also excavating and persuasively arguing for the importance of more obscure films such as The Birth of a Race (1918), The Forbidden City (1918), and the Jack Johnson fight films of 1908-1910. The collected essays cumulatively serve to make a strong case for the race consciousness of early cinema.
Organized into four sections, "Representation and Resistance (?)," "White Nationalism," "The Fear of Miscegenation," and "The Colonial Imagination," The Birth of Whiteness explores in each a different facet of cinematic racial practice...(p.53)" ... 

... "The third section, "The Fear of Miscegenation," turns to the depiction of interracial relationships in early cinema. Among the strongest work in the volume, Chon Noriega's sharp analysis here of the texts of Ramona (in particular the Helen Hunt Jackson novel and the D.W. Griffith film made for Biograph) details how the fictionalization of a figure who symbolized
miscegenation and the necessary displacement of racial others from the land evolved both a historical and ideological usefulness, ultimately coming to serve as a myth of origin which both romanticized and rationalized twentieth-century white settlement of the West. As Noriega observes, cinema's reorientation around a middle-class audience worked in tandem with an adaptational process that defused elements of social protest in the novel, and moved the film into a touristic/nostalgic register. The film thus came to mark "the appropriation and romanticization of californio history [which] bespoke the inevitable succession of superior `races' in the pursuit
of higher forms of social organization" (p.211)."

This selection was printed from FindArticles.com, located at   http://www.findarticles.com

THE LATINO VOTE: Here are the five states with the most Latino registered voters in the U.S.

http://www.HispanicTrends.com         Chronicle Graphic
California:       2,550,000
Texas:           2,190,000
New York:         896,000
Florida:              761,000
Illinois:               387,00
0
If you want to call the Congress or Senate here is a toll free number. When the operator answers just ask for the name of the Member you wish to speak to and you will be connected to the Washington, D.C. office. (877) 762-8762, a toll free number checked on February 6, 2001.
                                                                                               
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POW-MIA RECORDS

Database contains 11848 records (6916 distinct surnames)
Most information in this database comes from the United States Department of Defense, Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). This information is current as of 7/16/2000 and additional information may be available on the DPMO Internet Web Site, or war specific as follows:

Cold War: http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/pmcold/
Vietnam War: http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/pmsea/
Korean War: http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/pmkor/

Other records contributed by the Orange Co., California CAGENWEB Project http://userdb.rootsweb.com/pow_mia/

Sent by Johanna de Soto

                            Great things ahead for Family History Research

As an FYI item, the Church News of January 20 has an article entitled: A billion names soon to be accessible Online. It quotes Bro. Richard E Turley, Jr., who is the managing director of the Family and Church History Department.

It reads: "Beginning in February, a massive new stream of uploads to the site will bring the total of online names to 1 billion, expected by the end of the year. Included in these uploads will be 2.2 million records of middle America-Mexico, the Sweden records of the Scandinavian Vital Records Index with 1.1 million names, the Social Security Death Index with 64 million names and most significantly, an update of the Church's International Genealogical Index, with an addition of 125 million names.

Vital records from other areas will follow. Uploads such as these will be ongoing throughout the year, and patrons should check frequently to see if information they need has been added
recently."

Other facts that were mentioned - The Family History Library has more than 2.16 million rolls of film, 173,795 sets of fiche, 288,000 books, 14,000 serials and 8,000 maps. The Church has 300 cameras in nearly 50 countries capturing 75 to 80 million images a year. There are 30,000 extractors working around the world to index records. In 1999 the collection at the FHL increased by 4,100 rolls of film and 700 books. There are more than 3,500 family history centers in 75 countries that order 70,000 olls of film a month. The church is adding some 200 centers
per year.   Bob Givens, Director, Fresno California North Stake FHC

Sent by Lorraine Hernandez and Elvira Zavala-Patton
                                                                                                    
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March 3, We Give Thanks 

The first We Give Thanks Menudo/Pozole Breakfast fundraiser to be held  Saturday, 
March 3rd from 9:00-11:00 a.m. at:  
Casa 7 Mares Restaurant
802 W. La Palma Avenue, Anaheim, CA   
Tickets are $10.00 each and will go for youth scholarships. Saturday Breakfasts will be held every month. Everyone is invited. 

You may purchase your tickets in advance by emailing your request to Frank Dominguez, Executive Director  ThankyouOC@aol.com

March 15 . . . If you live in Orange County and are not receiving the series of Free lectures, readings, book signing and activities offered at Libreria Martinez, you are missing out!  On Thiursday March 15th at 7pm: Art Rodriguez, author of "East Side Dreams," and "The Monkey Box," will be here for a book signing and reading from his books.

Libreria Martinez, 1110 N. Main St, Santa Ana, Ca 92701, (714) 973-7900, (714) 973-7902 

http://www.latinobooks.com                          Ruben Martinez:  rueben@latinobooks.com

March 17. . . "Libros Para Ninos" Bookstore, Santa Ana  

Located next door to its parent bookstore, Libreria Martinez,at 1200 N. Main St., Libros Para Ninos is dedicated to promoting children's love of reading and a tolerance for diversity. The grand opening on January 20th was a huge success, with shoulder to shoulder attendees.  Another Free family fun day is planned for March 17, with storytelling, games, and book signing.

Libros Para Ninos, 1200 N. Main St Suite 100D, Santa Ana, CA 92701, (714) 479-0600
    March 24 . . .  Society of  Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research

                    
Quarterly Meeting, Orange Family History Center, 674 S. Yorba, Orange
If you would like to start your own family history research, plan on getting hands-on help.  

9:00 a.m
.   Beginners will tour the facility and learn the basics of searching on the computers.
10:00 a.m. General meeting, sharing, networking, latest news. Special sharing.
          Sister Mary Sevilla will share
The Book! and her documentary involvement..
         
Crispin Rendon will explain his database of 35,000 Tex/Mex names.
          John Schmal will share two family b
ooks of many Mexican lines which he co- authored.

Spring 2001 Genealogical Workshops
National Archives and Records Administration, NARA, Pacific Region

Introduction to Military Records at NARA
Wednesday, March 21 - 9:30 AM

A course for beginners and experienced researchers in basic military resources for genealogy, from the Revolutionary War through conflicts of the 20th century.

Call to reserve a place, $5. per workshop 
Intro to Naturalizations and Ships' Passenger Arrivals, Thursday, March 29 - 9:30 AM

A course for beginners and experienced researchers in immigration and citizenship records, with particular attention focused on naturalization records.

Bill Doty, (949) 360-2641

La Voz de Aztlan, Los Angeles, Alta California, February 8, 2001
http://www.aztlan.net/contest.htm


Anti-Mexican Photo Contest

(ACN) La Voz de Aztlan has learned that the extremist Anti-Mexican group American Patrol led by white supremacist Glenn Spencer is holding a contest for what they call the "best" photo or video of Mexican migrants crossing the US/Mexico border. "FIRST PRIZE $ 1,000.00 !" says a flyer that was distributed to anti-immigrant and white supremacist groups throughout the United States. The purpose of the contest, La Voz de Aztlan has learned, is to collect material for the production of a propaganda documentary designed to incite hate against migrants of Mexican descent. According to Glenn Spencer the documentary is to show white America that an invasion of the US is occurring by Mexicans! He does not seem to get it into his brain that Mexicans were here way before his ancestors from England came to this region.

The rules of the contest instructs participants to "Go to the border between February 24 and March 31 (When border crossings are at their highest) and "shoot" a video of intruders. Submit your clips to American Patrol by April 7. The First Prize of $1,000 will be awarded on April 22 during a special viewing of the best video clips. To qualify, video clips must show when and where the "shot" was taken. We would like to see shots of as many people in a group coming in as possible. We are also interested situations where intruders are doing harm to property or the environment." The instructions ends with "Find a good hot spot."

CITIZENS' RESTORATION COMMITTEE
Report on Death and Disability Claims
St. Francis Dam Disaster in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties
July 15, 1929.

http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/stfrancis-claims071529.htm#wipedout

William Mulholland's great St. Francis Dam broke at three minutes before midnight on March 12, 1928, sending a 180-foot-high wall of water crashing down San Francisquito Canyon through the fertile, peaceful Santa Clara Valley, down through the historic Newhall Ranch, over a portion of the city of Santa Paula and onward to the sea. The disaster claimed approximately 470 lives by the time the floodwaters reached the Pacific Ocean at Ventura.

Fifty-two million tons of water, imprisoned at a height of two hundred feet, suddenly was released to spill down the narrow canyon, carrying with it power houses, derricks, homes, dynamos, rails, livestock, bridges, and hundreds of human beings trying vainly to fight their way to safety.

The Counties of Los Angeles and Ventura went into immediate action. After emergency measured were taken, two Restoration Committee were established, one in each county,  funds were allocated. This site has lists of people who made claims against the counties, in addition to those that were killed or were never found. 

Three hundred and forty-eight (348) wrongful death claims were presented, which covered two hundred and ninety-four (294) deaths; and sixty-five (65) claims were filed for personal injuries.  Many people never filed claims.

CLICK TO CONNECT: 

Editor's note: I found the data on this tragedy of particular interest.  In 1947 my sister, Mom and  I stayed with Grandmother Petrita for a short period.  She lived in a small, single story, old wooden house, somewhere north of Los Angeles. I remember wondering and then asking my Grandma why the houses all around seemed so much newer than the house she was in. There were no other houses that even seemed close to the age of the old house. 

Grandma explained that about twenty years before a dam had broken and the water had washed  all the other houses away.  The house had been saved by a huge boulder that stopped resting against the back of the house.  It parted the water and saved the house from destruction. In that area, the huge boulder, which was the size of one-car garage and the old house was all that had remained. 

Let me encourage you to start asking questions of your grandparents, aunts and uncles.

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St. Francis Dam Floodpath
San Francisquito Canyon

http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/gr0840.htm

On the hillside in the distance (looking west), the Ruiz family cemetery can barely be discerned. The dam break claimed the lives of six Ruiz family members, Rosaria and Enrique Ruiz and four of their children, ages eight to thirty, who were buried in the little cemetery. 

Sent by Mary Ayers and Cindy LoBuglio

2002 NATIONAL CONFERENCE of  the 
FEDERATION OF GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES to be held in
ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA, AUGUST 6-10th

CALL FOR PAPERS ---- A copy of the FGS Conference Speaker Compensation Policy can be sent upon request. Please send a self-addressed, stamped-envelope with your request to the FGS Business Office, P.O. Box 200940, Austin, TX 78720-0940, or  fgs-office@fgs.org

National Council of La Raza

Receives Historic $6.7 million grant from Gates Foundation to establish 15 new schools, most of them in California.  By the end of the five-year grant period, NCLR hopes that the new schools will be serving historically-underserved communities in San Diego, Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Jose. 

California Council for the Humanities

"The humanities explore human histories, cultures, and values.  They inform the conversations that are vital to a thriving democracy. . .  The purpose of the California Council for the Humanities is to create a state in which all Californians have lifelong access to this shared inheritance.  A free newsletter is available.  The website also has a calendar of events that can be explored by date.   http://www.calhum.org/learn/index.html

                       Free Family History Day at the California State Archives

Family History Day at the California State Archives is scheduled for Saturday, March 17, 2001 from 10:00 am - 4:30 p.m. at the California State Archives and the Golden State Museum , 1020 O Street, Sacramento, California. The event is co-sponsored by California State Archives, ROOT CELLAR [Sacramento Genealogical Society] and the Genealogical & Historical Council of Sacramento Valley. 

Family History Day will include Classes on Research and Resource Information,  Computer Demonstrations, Preservation Techniques, along with displays by Genealogical, Historical Societies, Heritage Organizations and Preservation Centers. Introductory Classes will be offered on basic Genealogy, English, German, Hispanic and Scandinavian research, as well as classes on records preservation, how-to use the Family History Center and how-to use the State Archives for research. 

For more information log onto ROOT CELLAR, Genealogical & Historical Council of  Sacramento Valley, call (916) 331-4349 or Email, Iris Jones at  ijones@ns.net

http://www.rootsweb.com/~carcsgs/rootcellar.html 
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March 6-11, 8th Annual 
San Diego Latino Film Festival,
 

Over 65 outstanding programs representing the  best of Latino Cinema Hazard Center, San Diego's Mission Valley area at 7510 Hazard Center Dr.

Advanced tickets can be purchased on the festival's website http://www.sdLatinoFilm.com   or by calling (619) 230-1938.

Sent by Anthony Garcia

Ticket prices are $7.50 General Audience and $5.50 Student/Seniors. A Film Pass can be purchased for $65 (includes entrance to 11 films, FREE souvenir festival poster, and no waiting in lines). A Festival Pass can be purchased for $165 (includes all 65 programs, no waiting in lines, FREE t-shirt, VIP seating, and entrance into Opening Night Friday Night Gala Celebrations). Festival Pass and Film Pass are transferable. 

California Indians in San Diego County, California

http://www.rahunzi.com/costano/census1928names/SanDiego.html

The Costanoan-Ohlone Indian Canyon Resource

Imported from a Filemaker Database which is about 1/2 complete (so this final County(ies) page will be about twice the size you find it now). This 2 year old project is getting to the point where we will have the complete 1928 California Indian Census online for you. At this point, May 4 1998, we sorted the database by county and last name. If you are searching for your family here, scroll down until you find the last name. The BIA number in the last column will help you get a copy of the INDIVIDUAL ORIGINAL INTERVIEW from the BIA. The Following is an example.

 
ACOSTA ROSALIE CHAVEZ AND ONE CHILD PALA San Diego 4647
AGUAIRE PASIANO AND TWO CHILDREN BOX 241 SILVA, EL CAJON
4776
Aguirre Felicita Mary and one child Dehisa
2451
Albanas Vicente
Valley Center
2378
Albanas (Albanes) Jose Oribus
Valley Center
2366
Alto Rosalie
Spring Valley
2457
Alto Domingo and one child Spring Valley
2456
Alto Fernando

Sent by Johanna de Soto                                                           Return to Table of Contents

University of California, at Riverside Museum of Photography

http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/photo/collections.html An amazing gathering of photographic collections.  
http://photo.ucr.edu/california/  One collection is of the 21 California missions - Beautiful!. 
Sent by Johanna de Soto

The California Birth & Death indices:  (1905-1995 for births & 1940-1995 for deaths). 
Found on fiche at many Family History Centers is now available online http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi 
Sent by Donnie Nelson
San Francisco Marriage Notices
San Francisco Genealogy
 Part of the USGenWeb and CAGenWeb Projects
Over 2,200 online
 
This is an free online collection of marriage records regarding people who had a San Francisco connection.  Most of these records were transcribed from historic San Francisco newspapers, and are for marriages that occurred before 1906.  A few more recent records included as well.  All of the records in this collection include a source citation, so that you can determine where the record can be found.  While most of these records are from historic newspapers, there may be other record types as well, such as church records and actual marriage licenses and certificates. The source does not have copies of the documents, nor do they answer questions.

If you have any San Francisco marriage records among your research notes, particularly if they are from pre-1906, we invite you to submit them to be included in this growing collection.  Records regarding your own families of interest may include your e-mail address if you wish that other researchers be able to contact you.  Records for families that are unknown to you are welcome, too, so please consider sharing them as well....they may be of great help to another researcher!  For those records, you will be listed as the transcriber, but we will not include your e-mail address.

Sent by Johanna de Soto                                                                   Return to Table of Contents

Portuguese Voters of 1872 in California
Copyright © Jim W. Faulkinbury, 1996-2000

http://www.dholmes.com/voters.html

ote: This database, compiled by Jim W. Faulkinbury, is a valuable tool for the Portuguese genealogist, especially for people whose Portuguese ancestors came very early to California and who don't have many options for where to find their ancestor's village of origin. It is with great appreciation to Mr. Faulkinbury that he allowed us to have on this website this database specifically designed for the Portuguese genealogist. There are other California voter lists equally as valuable to the researcher for the last years of the 19th century. These are available from your nearest LDS (Mormon) library. All these places should be checked to gather each and every scrap of evidence of your ancestor's past.

The California Registration Act of 1866 required the Registrar of Voters for each California county to establish a 'Great Registers of Voters' and to enroll all eligible voters in their county. The registrars were instructed to include in these voter rolls or registers the voters name, age, nativity, occupation, date registered, and if naturalized, the date, place, and court of record for the naturalization. It was not until 1872 that the majority of the counties had complied with this Act. The naturalization information contained in these registers can be extremely valuable in locating naturalization papers which may provide important genealogical information.

The following website has a listing of the 1,155 California citizens on the rolls of the various California counties in the year 1872 who were born in Portugal or Portuguese territories. This list represents less than a 2% subset of a database of 61,691 citizens found on these rolls in that year who were of foreign-birth. The searchable webbase of all 61,691 citizens can be found on the Federation of East European Family History Societies (FEEFHS) website This and the full webbase are a finding aid to "The Foreign-Born Voters of California in 1872" compiled by Jim W. Faulkinbury, CGRS.

Sent by Johanna de Soto

Old Radio Broadcasts Available for purchase:  Ranchos Become Cities and Death Valley Days

I would love to say I was but an infant when the following aired, but in reality I was seven and eight years old, and well remember hearing these wonderful programs--all of which I thought were 100% accurate and factual, just as most listeners did. They were very popular, and because they were on KNX, well listened to. It is possible that they influenced many an "Old California Family."

Until today, I had no idea these broadcasts (or the many others listed on his home page) were available. My mother would have loved to have heard them again.

I am pretty sure there was a book by the same title, but whether it contained the same stories, I cannot say. RANCHOS BECOME CITIES by W. W. Robinson contains some chapters concerning
the same ranchos listed below, but I doubt the information is identical even though the source of the material is the same Title Insurance and Trust Company.

976 broadcasts (out of a possible 1,074) of DEATH VALLEY DAYS are also available. Those broadcasts probably influenced many a listener too with regard to life and love in early California.

Best wishes from the Sierra, Cindy Lo Buglio

Series: "ROMANCE OF THE RANCHOS" CBS/KNX SPONSER: TITLE INSURANCE & TRUST CO. FRANK GRAHAM AS "THE WANDERING VACARO"

7021 A1 "SAN RAFAEL" 1 09-07-41 :29:30 GLENDALE
7021 A2 "SANTA GERTRUDES" 2 09-14-41 :29:30 DOWNEY -SANTA FE SPRINGS
7021 B1 "SAN JOSE" 3 09-21-41 :29:30 POMONA
7021 B2 "AGUAJE DE LA CENTINELA" 4 10-01-41 :29:30 SANSAL REDONDO - INGLEWOOD - 
7021 C1 "RODEO DE LAS AGUAS" 5 10-08-41 :29:30 BEVERLY HILLS
7021 C2 "SAN PEDRO & PALOS VERDES" 6 10-15-41 :29:30 SAN PEDRO -PALOS VERDES
7021 D1 "PASO DE BARTOLO VIEJO" 7 10-22-41 :29:30 WHITTIER
7021 D2 "EX-MISSION DE SAN FERNANDO" 8 10-29-41 :29:30 SAN FERNANDO
7022 A1 "LOS CERRITOS & LOS ALAMITOS" 9 11-05-41 :29:30 LONG BEACH
7022 A2 "TIBURCIO VASQUEZ" 10 11-12-41 :29:30
7022 B1 "SAN VICENTE Y SANTA MONICA" 11 11-19-41 :29:30 BOCA DE SANTA MONICA
7022 B2 "SAN FRANCISCO" 12 11-26-41 :29:30 NEWHALL
7022 C1 "SAN ANTONIO" 13 12-03-41 :29:30 HUNTINGTON PARK
7022 C2 "BENJAMIN D. WILSON PART 1" 14 12-10-41 :29:30
7022 D1 "BENJAMIN D. WILSON PART 2" 15 12-17-41 :29:30
7022 D2 "CHRISTMAS AT SAN GABRIEL" 16 12-24-41 :29:30 Christmas Program
7023 A1 "SAN JOSE DE BUENOS AYRES" 17 12-31-41 :29:30 Westwood/Homby Hill/Bell Air 
7023 A2 "JOSEPH CHAPMAN" 18 01-07-42 :29:30 MONTEREY, SANTA BARBARA
7023 B1 "AZUSA DALTON" 19 01-14-42 :29:30 AZUSA
7023 B2 "JEDEDIAH SMITH" 20 01-21-42 :29:30
7023 C1 "RANCHO LA PUENTE" 21 01-28-42 :29:30 WORKMAN -ROWLAND
7023 C2 "SANTA CATALINA ISLAND" 22 02-04-42 :29:30
7023 D1 "HUGO REID" 23 02-11-42 :29:30
7023 D2 "LA BALLONA" 24 02-18-42 :29:30 CULVER CITY, VENICE, PLAYA DEL RAE
7024 A1 "JUAN FLACO" 25 02-25-42 :29:30
7024 A2 "PHINEAS BANNING" 26 03-08-42 :29:30 WILMINGTON (CHANGED BACK TOSUNDAY)
7024 B1 "RANCHO SAN FRANCISQUITO" 27 03-15-42 :29:30 MISSIONLANDS
7024 B2 "WATER DEVELOPMENT" 28 03-22-42 :29:30
7024 C1 "JOAQUIN MURIETTA" 29 03-29-42 :29:30
7024 C2 "RANCHO SAN PASQUAL" 30 04-05-42 :29:30 "Easter Day Ranch" Pasadena/Altadena
7024 D1 "DON JUAN TEMPLE" 31 04-12-42 :29:30 LONG BEACH
7024 D2 "RANCHO LA BREA" 32 04-19-42 :29:30 LA BREA TAR PITS
7025 A1 "PUEBLO OF LOS ANGELES" 33 04-26-42 :29:30 LOS ANGELES
7025 A2 "TRANSPORTATION" 34 05-03-42 :29:30
7025 B1 "CARRILLO FAMILY" 35 05-10-42 :29:30 LAST SHOW OF THE SERIES

Questions, please contact Jerry Haendiges    Phone/Fax: 562-696-4387   jhaendiges@aol.com
Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs at http://www.otrsite.com/radiolog/#R

 
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Report of the Status of El Paso Border Crossing Records
by John Schmal


I recently found out that the El Paso border crossing records for 1903 to 1924 have not been worked on. The El Paso records, consisting of 482 reels from 1903 to 1952, are only available for purchase from 1924 to 1954. The woman at the National Archives who was processing them for publication was pulled off of that task to work on the 1930 census and will return to them in March, but she only works two days a week. So the Mexican border-crossing records have been put on the back burner.

And yet, passenger arrival films are available for all the ports of the United States. If your ancestors were German, Russian Jewish, Italian, Hungarian or Irish and they came through New York, New Orleans, or Baltimore, you have complete access to those records.

But then we have the largest port of entry for Mexican Americans (El Paso) being put on the backburner and ignored. I guess this is the result of budget-cuts, but they sure picked a poor time to cut funding on the processing of Mexican border-crossing records. This is the site discussing these records: http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/immigration/mexican.html#eaglepass

And a quote at the end of the site reads as follows:

Future Microfilm Publications:
Additional Mexican border crossing microfilm publications will become available over the next several years; to receive availability announcements, send your name, postal mailing address, and email address to: Claire Prechtel-Kluskens (NWCC1), National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001. 

I would image that if you think that the delay on the El Paso publications is unfair and unwise, we might be able to write to the National Archives and possibly to this person in particular.

I would think the National Archives might welcome the additional revenue from selling El Paso microfilm records for 1903 to 1924. 

John Schmal conducts how-to classes for Hispanic family history researchers at the Los Angeles Family History Center. His very successful classes have attracted the attention of both students and professors at UCLA. His range of interest includes Early California, Tex/Mex, Puerto Rico and Spain.

For class schedule information, contact JohnnyPJ@aol.com          
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                       The San Elizario Genealogy & Historical Society 

The Society has a full schedule of activities, monthly meetings, community projects, annual conference, website, and assistance in doing family research.

Go to their site for more information on the following historical articles.
§  San Elizario is the site of the first Thanksgiving in what is now the United States, 23 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. 
§  The site of the Salt Wars of 1877, the only time Texas Rodgers were defeated.
§  The Historic San Elizario Jail (1850) is the only jail Billy the Kid ever "broke into" to help a friend escape.  

The San Elizario Genealogy/Historical Society is seeking family documents, pictures, letters, and other information dating from 1700 to 1920 to be included in a book on the life and founding of San Elizario.  Please contact the San Elizario Genealogy Society, Tuesday through Sunday, 10 AM to 2 PM, (915) 851-1682  or send copies to: P.O. Box 1090, San Elizario, Texas 79849
http://www.rootsweb.com/~txsegh/#TOC

Sent by Mira Smithwick
                                                                                           
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                                            Rio Grande River Project

San Elizario High School in San Elizario, Texas  are among the thousands of students - on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border - who have benefited from Project del Rio, a year-long program that teaches students about the role the Rio Grande plays in their lives.  

More than 2,000 high school students in 65 schools along the 1,900-mile Rio Grande are being exposed to the consequences of environmental problems.  The project culminates in a Binational Student Congress held each spring in El Paso.    

Modern Maturity, January-February 2001


Today in History
Archives Yesterday
Select a month and day and read about the events that occurred on that date.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/mar06.html

Remembering the Alamo
The Alamo
Alamo,
San Antonio, Texas,
Robert Runyon, photographer,
ca. 1900-1920.
The South Texas Border, 1900-1920

This photograph of the Alamo is from the Robert Runyon Photograph Collection of the South Texas Border Area, a new addition to the National Digital Library from The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin. The collection of over 8,000 items is a unique visual resource documenting the Lower Rio Grande Valley during the early 1900s.

Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna recaptured the Alamo, a former mission in the Mexican town of San Antonio, on March 6, 1836, ending a 13-day siege. No less than 183 of the 184 defenders of the structure were killed, as were an estimated 1,000 to 1,600 Mexican soldiers. Texans fighting for independence from Mexico had seized the Alamo and ousted Mexican troops from San Antonio the previous December.

The cost entailed in regaining San Antonio contributed to General Santa Anna's defeat less than two months later at the Battle of San Jacinto. On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston, commander of the Texas army, led 800 troops, inspired by the sacrifice of their comrades at the Alamo, in a surprise attack on Santa Anna's 1,600 men. Houston's decisive victory at San Jacinto secured Texas independence from Mexico.

Texas remained independent for nearly ten years. In 1845, its legislature voted for annexation to the U.S. The Mexican War soon followed, a two-year conflict resolved by the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Sent by Johanna de Soto                                                       Return to Table of Contents

                    “Important Legislation Pending related to Genealogy & Texas History”

                                  HR 1030 - Preservation of Abandoned Cemeteries

State Rep. Carl Isett (R) <e-mail: carl.isett@house.state.tx.us  > of Lubbock has introduced HR 1030, that will amend the Texas Government Code, Sec. 1, Chapter 442, sec. 442.017 by adding:

“Identification and Preservation of Abandoned Cemeteries. (a) The [Texas Historical] Commission shall establish a program to identify and preserve abandoned cemeteries across the state. (b) The [Texas Historical] Commission is encouraged to use volunteers to the maximum extent possible to implement the program and to model the program to the extent appropriate on the Adopt-a-Beach program conducted by the General Land Office. (c) The legislature may appropriate money to the [Texas Historical] Commission to implement the program.”

State Rep. Glenn Lewis (D) of Fort Worth is a joint sponsor of the bill. The bill has been referred to the State, Federal and International Relations Committee of the Texas House of Representatives
that is Chaired by State Rep. Bob Hunter (R) of Abilene.

Please contact your State Representative and the members of the Committee in support of this important legislation. If you do not know the names of your state legislators, contact your local library for assistance. You can find information on-line for the Texas House of Representatives at: http://www.house.state.tx.us/ and the State, Federal and International Relations Committee at: http://www.house.state.tx.us/house/commit/c305.htm
 
Sent by Mira Smithwick


HB 953 - Removal of Confederate Statues from the University of Texas at Austin

State Rep. Lon Burnam (D) of Fort Worth <e-mail: lon.burnam@house.state.tx.us  >introduced HR 953 that will permanently remove, from public view, all Confederate statues at the University
of Texas at Austin. There are no joint sponsors of this bill and it was referred to the State, Federal and International Relations Committee.

“The University of Texas of Austin shall remove from public view all statues of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America; Robert E. Lee, General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate States; John H. Reagan, Postmaster General of the Confederate States; and Albert Sidney Johnston, General of the Confederate States Army, located on the campus of the university. The statues may be placed in storage away from public view or disposed of in any other way considered appropriate by the board of regents of The University of Texas System.”

Sent by Mira Smithwick                                                                Return to Table of Contents

Roma Historic District

http://www.esconett.org/tx2k/theroma.htm
Source: J. D. Villarreal juandv@vsta.com
Villarreal web page

http://www.vsta.com/~juandv/rio.html
Source: J. D. Villarreal juandv@vsta.com
http://members.aol.com/mrosado007/mexico.htm

Source: Pres. Arturo Garza, HOGAR de Dallas
Dorina Alaniz de Thomas - Programs
(214) 324-3677  dorinat@earthlink.net

New from the Hispanic Genealogical Society http://www.hispanicgs.com mugs and caps with Spanish coat of arms. http://www.brokersys.com/~joguerra/cap.html
Pedro T. Rodriguez, has an excellent site and makes connections to Bartolome Trevino. He also has the will of Bartolome under the section "Wills". His website address is: http://home.att.net/~PTrodriguez.ptrinform/

Sent by Mira Smithwick, SagaCorpus@aol.com
                                                                                                 
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A History of the Mexican-American People by Julian Samora and Patricia Vandel Simon

http://www.jsri.msu.edu/museum/pubs/MexAmHist/toc.html

                                      The entire book is available on this  Internet site.
                         The following two paragraphs are taken from the introduction.

Our study of Mexican-American history stems from an interest in the subject which spans many years. During this time, the authors have been deeply concerned over the inadequacies of American history as it is taught in schools throughout the United States, whether at the elementary, secondary, or college level. Invariably, this history is biased because it begins with the Pilgrim fathers and English colonists, and emphasizes the - westward movement of English culture. It neglects almost entirely events which occurred on the North American continent prior to 1600. . . . 

It is our belief that any history of the United States - and specifically the southwestern United States - is incomplete and fails to provide a basis for understanding contemporary society unless the Mexican-American contribution is fully covered. Present-day American society is a consequence of fusions of various cultures which have occurred over a period of several hundred years. In order to understand the present, it is necessary to understand the factors contributing to its development.

Sent by Johanna de Soto                                                              Return to Table of Contents

                                                   Bisbee Deportation

http://digital.library.arizona.edu/bisbee/index.php

Cindy LoBuglio writes, "I don't know how much you know about this black eye on Arizona History, but my Paternal Grandfather (Lovre Skochelich) was one of the deportees, Bisbee Deportation & the People Involved -  1917: Lists of Special Federal Census of  Columbus, New Mexico, Defendents, Plaintiffs, Juries, Deputies, Lawyers, Attorneys, Volume I  (Tucson, Arizona: Arizona State Genealogical Society, 1990) 

My Dad always told me about this, and I only wish he was here to read all this material, and the other great books that have been published since his death in 1974. He was two days away from his 7th birthday when he saw his Dad for the last time and the final view was of him being rounded up and packed into a cattle car.

My Dad had always thought it was just men who were then called Bolsheviks (Yugoslavs) that were deported. How wrong he was. The majority of the deportees had Spanish surnames.  Thanks to the University of Arizona, most of the information is available on line--Government documents,
pictures, newspaper articles, reminiscences, etc..

Here is the breakdown of the 900 identified. I believe there were many more actually involved, but only 900 identified (some were lucky and escaped into Mexico before they were actually rounded up; some escaped in the march to the cattle car transport; and others escaped enroute to the Concentration Camp in Columbus, New Mexico, etc.--my paternal grandfather, a Croatian, was #7 on the list, was a property owner, had a bank account, had taken out his second and final papers for citizenship, etc. as had so many others as shown below). The make up of the deportees was:

Married Men.....................................................230
Men with children..............................................226
Men having taken out First Cit. Papers of US ....241
Men having taken out " & Fin " " " " 71
Men purchased Liberty Bonds 169
Men registered for selective army draft 355
Men owning property 773
Men with Bank Accounts 281

The Nationalities Identified: 

Americans 167
Armenians 1
Australians 40
Austrian 40
Bohemians 3
Bosnians 1
British 32
Bulgarians 2
Canadians 6
Croatians 35
Dalmatians 14
Danish 5
Finnlanders 76
French 3
Greeks 1
Germans 20
Hungarians 4
Hollanders 2
Irish 67
Italians 8
Lituanians 3
Mexicans 229
Montenegrens 24
Norwegians 4
Polish 2
Russians 7
Scotch 3
Sevians [sic] 82
Slavonians 3
Spanish 7
Swedish 18
Swiss 4
Ukranians 1
Welshmen 7

 

Alex King reported that "Officials later discovered, the scholars found, that 60% of those deported had been born in the United States."  and recommends the following site: http://www.latimes.com/print/metro/20010225/t000017090.html
                                                                                                 
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                                                 Decade of Betrayal: 
   Mexican Repatriation by Francisco E. Balderrama and Ray Rodriguez

"As the Depression engulfed the United States in the early 1930s, fear and anxiety spread that Mexicans were taking jobs and welfare benefits away from "real" Americans.  Local, state, and national officials launched massive efforts to get rid of the Mexicans.  Eventually more than a million were shipped back to Mexico. In this book the impact of the forced relocation on both sides of the border is carefully appraised."

Summary by the publisher, shared by Rueben Martinez


                                        LA VOZ DE AZTLAN EXCLUSIVE

                
U.S. Government to Review New Mexico Land Grants 
                              Under the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

                                 Albuquerque, Nuevo Mexico, January 31, 2001

(ACN) La Voz de Aztlan has learned from Juan José Peña, Vice-Chair of the Hispano Roundtable de Nuevo Mexico, that the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) has released an Exposure Draft of a report that will review land grants that were issued by Spain and later by the Republic of Mexico.

The land grants were to be honored by the U.S. under the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo that was signed at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. The Exposure Draft seeks input from
Nuevo Mexicanos that have a claim for land under the treaty or that wish to submit comments, information or documentation on the matter. This is a great victory for all

Nuevo Mexicanos and specially for Reies Lopez Tijerina founder of the Alianza Federal de Mercedes which in 1967 led a valiant bloody fight in Tierra Amarilla for land rights under the treaty. Tijerina and other leaders of land grant rights hope that the same government review occurs in California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado and other regions that were ceded by Mexico under the treaty.

La Voz de Aztlan has a full report on our website at http://www.aztlan.net  including instructions on how to obtain a free copy of the Exposure Draft from us through e-mail, from the Hispano Roundtable de Nuevo Mexico or directly from the Government Accounting Office (GAO).

                                                                                                  
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CENTER OF SOUTHWEST STUDIES
FORT LEWIS COLLEGE
Durango, CO 81301

The Center of Southwest Studies' World Wide Web site address is:
http://www.fortlewis.edu/acad-aff/swcenter/

Editor's note: Must see site for New Mexico researchers, including indigenous researchers.

Preface to the site

Fort Lewis College has a distinctive history in the field of public liberal arts education.  For over one hundred years, it has been a first-string player in helping to educate Indian students (academically qualified Native Americans attend tuition-free).

Originally established as a military post at Pagosa Springs, Fort Lewis in 1879 was moved to Animas City, now north of Durango, Colorado.  The next year the garrison migrated sixteen miles southwest to a site on the La Plata River.  In 1892, the fort became an Indian boarding school.  After being sold to the state of Colorado in 1911, Fort Lewis evolved from a rural high school to a junior college (1933).  In 1956, the campus was removed to its present location overlooking the City of Durango, and six years later became a four-year liberal arts college.

The Center of Southwest Studies was established in 1964 to serve as a museum and a research facility and to develop an interdisciplinary Southwest curriculum (a separate Department of Southwest Studies was established in 1992).  The Southwest curriculum at Fort Lewis College draws from courses in anthropology,