I attended the program Migration Patterns in New Spain by Debbie Gurtler of FamilySearch as part of the Genealogical Society of Hispanic American virtual conference. Please enjoy my notes below!
Migration Patterns in New Spain
Debbie Gurtler of FamilySearch
The term “New Spain” is used to refer to the Viceroyalty of New Spain, a Spanish territory encompassing modern day Mexico, Southwestern U.S., California, Central America, Philippines and Guam.
Travel in New Spain required permission from the king or the governor, who would grant a paper pass. Travel was slow as people transported all their possessions, going from presidio to presidio.
The push/pull factors influencing migration, particularly northward migration, over the centuries included the desire to find a trade route to India, pursuit of the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola, colonial land grab, fame and fortune, military service, religious persecution, and the Mexican Revolution. Those from the Basque region of Spain were particularly motivated to find fortune in New Spain by an inheritance system that benefited only one heir.
If you lose an ancestor, look at roadways or riverways on a map and try looking for records of the towns along it. Are their geographical barriers like mountains that would force your ancestor in limited directions?
Radial Search
Try looking in surrounding cities or parishes.
Look at roads as potential travel paths. Roads haven't changed much over the years.
Use the FAN club method
Consider your ancestor’s occupation. If a farmer or rancher, follow a river. If a miner, check other mining areas, particularly in San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Chihuahua, and Sonora. If your ancestor lived in a rancho, they may have worked in agriculture. Try other agricultural areas.
Recommended website: https://uair.library.arizona.edu/item/79579
Documentary Relations of the Southwest (DRSW) provides the research tools and finding aids to the written record that began with the arrival of the Spanish explorers in the 1530's. The 1,500 microfilm reels of documents, many of them collected by the Jesuit Historical Institute, include the diaries of explorers and reports of missionaries and soldiers. They date from the first written accounts of contact with indigenous peoples in the 16th Century to the Mexican declaration of independence from Spain in 1821.
History books recommended by fellow attendee Frank Dominguez:
El Paso: a Borderlands History by W. H. Timmons
Beginnings of Spanish Settlement in the El Paso District by Anne E. Hughes
JO
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