Livestock Brands

I recently attended the We are Cousins virtual conference. One of the talks, More than just a Mark: Livestock Branding, was interesting to me because it was an unfamiliar topic. Here are some notes and books on the topic:

From the Texas stock directory, or, Book of marks and brands, Hathitrust.org

• When searching online use different search terms:  
• Books of Marks  
• Register of marks  
• Cattle growers Association  
• Books of Brands  
• Cattle brands and marks  
• Texas Stock Directory  
• Hidalgo county marks and brands 

Why research livestock brands: 

When you find cattle brands, you can learn relationships between names and people. Sometimes you can narrow down when someone died or moved to a new location. For people with the same initial or first name, you can find out who is the senior and who is the junior. You can also find early records of female women when there are no other records to prove who they were married to or where they lived. 

 

The Texas stock directory, or, Book of marks and brands (1865) 
by W.H. Jackson and S.A. Long 

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002025038 

 

Cattle brands of Baja California Sur, 1809-1885  

by W. Michael Mathes 

Clayton Library call number: M427 BAJAC MEXICO 

 

The manual of brands and marks  

by Manfred R. Wolfenstine 

Clayton Library call number: 636.208 W855 USA 

JO

Indigenous Nueva Galicia: The Native Peoples of Jalisco and Zacatecas

 I attended the lecture "Indigenous Nueva Galicia: The Native Peoples of Jalisco and Zacatecas" as part of the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America virtual conference. The speaker was John Schmal, who previously gave a program for Clayton Library in May 2021. He is well known and regarded for his extensive knowledge of the indigenous cultures of Mexico and runs the website https://indigenousmexico.org/

In this talk he focused on the region of Nueva Galicia, an autonomous kingdom in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It encompasses the modern-day Mexican states of Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit, and Jalisco. In 1621 it was noted that 72 languages were spoken in this province.

This map from Peter Gerhard's book The North Frontier of New Spain shows the location of some of the area's indigenous groups. However, the border lines are not firm, and these groups likely lived in a state of flux, mingling with one another.

The indigenous populations suffered losses from the Spanish conquest, rebellions, famine, enslavement, dislocation, and epidemics. Immunity to Old World diseases manifested about 1650, and the populations stabilized after a dramatic decline.

The most surprising aspect of the presentation was that some indigenous groups from another part of Mexico cooperated with the Spaniards and were used as assimilation tools. Peoples from the Christianized Tlaxcalan and Otomie groups were moved to areas in Nueva Galicia to help acculturate the local indigenous groups and help them adapt to their new existence. A conflict the Spaniards were having with the Chichimeca group basically ended when the Spaniards bribed them with free handouts, giving out maize and beef, clothing, and agricultural tools. 

JO

Migration Patterns in New Spain

 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

Gazetteers in Hispanic Research

One of the big take-aways from the Advanced Hispanic Research workshop at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy was the importance of understanding jurisdiction in order to locate the records you want. Use these seminal resources to narrow down your geographic location.

• A geographical dictionary to Spain 
• Diccionario geográfico-estadístico-histórico de España y sus posesiones de ultramar (often referred to as Dicionario Madoz, after author Pascual Madoz) 
• All 16 volumes are digitized on FamilySearch 
• published 1845-1850 

• A geographical dictionary to Mexico 
• Diccionario Geográfico, Histórico y Biográfico de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (often referred to as Dicionario Cubas, after author Antonio Garcia Cubas) 
• published 1900 
• http://biblio2.colmex.mx/bibdig/dicc_cubas/base3.htm 
• https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31158006991672&view=1up&seq=1 

• Guide to Spanish church archives 
• Guia de los archivos de la Iglesia en España; use bookmarks to jump to diocese 
• https://www.escolapia.cat/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/guia_archivos.pdf 

• History and creation of Catholic dioceses 
• http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/ 

JO