Lucien Bonaparte (Luciano) Maxwell - Sept 14, 1818 - July 25,1875

The other day I was discussing my ancestry with a friend and they asked if I knew anything about Lucien Maxwell. I thought to myself, "Where do I begin?" Lucien Maxwell's life read like an old western story, because it was one of the best. 

Lucien Bonaparte (Luciano) Maxwell 

Lucien Bonaparte (Luciano) Maxwell was born on Sept 14, 1818, in Kaskaskia, Illinois, just south of St Louis and just west of the Mississippi River. He was the son of Hugh Maxwell, an Irish immigrant and Odile Menard, a French Canadian. 

Lucien's grandfather, Pierre Menard, was the first Lieutenant Governor of the State of Illinois. Lucien's parents were from neighboring towns of Kaskaskia, Illinois and Ste Genevieve, Missouri. I have always taken notice of ancestors who came from this area because my son his two children live St Louis and we have visited Ste Genevieve. It is the oldest permanent European settlement in Missouri.

Lucien's father and grandfather had trading businesses so it was only natural that the skills of fur trade were instilled in him. His father died at age 43 and Lucien went to St. Mary’s of the Barrens School for 2 years. At the age of 17, he left school and moved west. He was employed by the American Fur Company which had been purchased by a relative, Auguste Chouteau. While trapping in the Rockies Luciano met Kit Carson. They became friends for life. 

Lucien and Kit were in Taos for an annual fur trade fair. Lucien met a French Canadian merchant named Carlos Hippolito Trottier Beaubien. Carlos was married to Maria Paula Lovato. She was from a wealthy Hispanic family in Taos (she was my cousin on both sides of her family) Her parents were Buenaventura de Jesus Valdez (my 2nd cousin 6 generations ago) and Maria Juana Catarina Lovato my 2nd cousin 4 generations ago)

Luciano occasionally worked at Beaubien’s store and while working there, he met Beaubien’s daughter, María de la Luz Beaubien. At about the same time, his friend Kit Carson met Josefa Jaramillo, the daughter of a prominent, well-respected merchant father, Francisco Jaramillo and her mother, Maria Apolonia Vigil, who owned many acres in the Rio Grande area.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
Taos, NM

On March 27, 1842, Luciano and Kit had a double wedding at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church next to Taos Plaza. Luciano married the beautiful, young, dark haired, hazel eyed Luz Beaubien and Kit married the beautiful, young, dark haired Josefa Jaramillo. The event was hosted by Josefa's older sister Ignacia and her husband, Charles Bent.

Both girls just happened to be from my large, prosperous Hispanic family. 

Maria de la Luz Beaubien’s 3rd great grandfather, Jose Luis Valdez was my 7th great grandfather. 

Josefa Jaramillo was related to me on both sides of her family. Her maternal great great grandfather, Domingo Montes Vigil was my 5th great grandfather. Her father, Francisco Estevan Jaramillo was my 2nd cousin 4x removed.

As a wedding gift, Luz's parents gave the couple 15,000 acres of the Miranda-Beaubien Land Grant which consisted in part the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. 

Charles Beaubien died in 1864. He left his share of the grant to his six children. However, Lucien and Luz bought out the other five heirs for amounts ranging from $3,000 to $6,000 dollars over the next five years, paying a total of $35,245 for 1,714,765 acres. They became the largest landowners in the world. They renamed the property "The Maxwell Land Grant" with headquarters in Cimarron.

Land grants have been an ongoing controversy in New Mexico for centuries. This one was no exception. The land was inhabited. In the 1800s, northern New Mexico and southern Colorado was the territory of the Apache and Ute Indians, later the Comanche. Development involved displacement and provoked violent confrontations between settlers and the native inhabitants.

It was such a crazy time in this continent's history. Soon after their weddings, Luciano and Kit Carson signed up with John C. Fremont for western expeditions. Fremont's explorations of the West in the 1840s were undertaken with the sponsorship of the United States government to expand the boundaries of the country, to make maps for Americans who wanted to settle in the area, and to notify Great Britain and Mexico that the U.S intended to expand its borders. Carson served as guide and Maxwell as chief hunter. 

Meanwhile, back home in Taos, Kit's brother-in-law, Charles Bent had been appointed Governor of the New Mexico territory during the Mexican-American War by the Americans. An Anglo American government rule came as a culture shock to the Native Americans who had lived on the land for centuries and then coexisted with Hispanic people during the Spanish colonization and then possession by Mexico. In January, 1847, protesting of the American's possession of the territory, the Taos Revolt broke out and an angry mob mob attacked the home of Charles Bent. They murdered his guards, and then assassinated and scalped Charles Bent, dragging Bent’s mangled body through the streets of Taos. The mob called for a full-scale rebellion against the American occupation and by the end of the evening, 15 others had been killed including Josefa's brother, Pablo Jaramillo and  Luz Beaubien’s 13 year old brother, Narcisco Beaubien. Ignacia and Josefa begged the mob to not kill them. Luz’s grandfather, Buenaventura de Jesus Valdez entered the Bent house too late to save Charles Bent but he intervened and saved the women and children. The attackers left, leaving the family in a state of shock. They went to stay with Luz’s grandparents, Maria Juana Catarina Lovato and Buenaventura De Jesus Valdez for three days until they could escaped to Santa Fe. Luciano returned to New Mexico, just as the Taos Revolt ended. 

After the American takeover of New Mexico, Kit Carson and Luciano moved their families to Rayado, on the southern portion of the land grant. They built a trading post and supply station for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. 

Lucien Maxwell House in Rayado, New Mexico

In 1848 they were doing a very prosperous business as a merchant and contractor for the troops. A small army post existed at Rayado from 1847 to 1850. The other grantee of the land grant, Guadalupe Miranda sought refuge near El Paso after the American invasion and didn't return to New Mexico, eventually selling his portion of the grant to Maxwell. When Luciano's father-in-law, Carlos Beaubien died, Lucien bought out the rest of the family and became sole owner of the Maxwell Land Grant. It took two acts of Congress to validate his ownership.

Luciano and Luz's first child, Peter, was born in 1848, followed by siblings Virginia, Emilia, Sofia, Paulita, Odile. By 1851, about 20 families had settled at Rayado. 

I have extremely mixed emotions about this chapter of my family history, as I do most chapters. Simply because I had ancestors on both sides of the aisle. However, it's an informative history lesson and considering our county's current state of affairs with Mexico, it's a history lesson worth knowing. I really do believe that memories are carried in our DNA and I believe our purpose is to learn from mistakes and whatever we don't learn is carried on for generations. That is why I do ancestry research. I want to know what I am working with. I have spent years reading about my family history. What I know to be true is that Wikipedia gives a very white washed version, yet when I read Native American websites the story is very different, graphic and real. For instance, the Native websites brought to my attention that official permission to enter the New Mexico Territory to set up trade would have had to come from Mexico City, 1600 miles away. The opening of the Santa Fe Trail not only allowed American traders set up shop illegally, it very conveniently opened up the west to be invaded by the United States from the east. It's obviously that I had family members on both sides of the aisle just as and I have family members on both sides of the aisle today. 

My thoughts .... Greed is ugly and expecting everyone to think like you and share your beliefs is shallow, selfish and ignorant. 

... back to the story...

A decade after the founding of Rayado, the Maxwells moved to a new town, Cimarron at the spot where the Santa Fe Trail forded the Cimarron River, on a 22-square-mile tract they purchased from Luz’s parents. The Maxwells invited other families to settle on their land, but only rarely transferred ownership. Eventually, up to 500, mostly Hispanic, families lived and worked the land.

When Carlos Beaubien died in 1864, his six children inherited his share of the grant. Over the next 5 years Luciano and Luz bought out the other 5 heirs. The Maxwells now owned it in its entirety. They ran some 20,000 sheep, 1,500 cattle, and 400 horses and mules. A gristmill was completed in 1864. They ran a store in Cimarron and bought the Kitchen Brothers Hotel in Las Vegas. They owned a spacious home, with one room reserved for Luciano’s favorite diversion, poker. The Maxwell home in Cimarron was a meeting place for all sorts of people, from sheep herders to Native Americans, from wagon drivers to wealthy lawyers. They prospered, especially during the Civil War, because Maxwell furnished supplies to U.S. Army forces and grain and beef to the Fort Sumner Reservation while Navajos and Mescalero Apaches were interred there. Luciano also served as Indian agent at Cimarron for the Jicarilla Apaches and Utes who lived on and around the grant.

Life on the Maxwell Land Grant might have continued placidly with only moderate changes as the years passed, but it didn't. In 1868 there were signs of gold and a rush was on. The Maxwell-owned Aztec Mine opened. The Aztec produced about a million dollars in gold during its first year of operation. The Maxwell's income in 1868 was about $50,000, a fortune at the time.

In addition to a surge in income, discovery of gold on the grant meant an unprecedented influx of people. Elizabethtown and Red River sprang from nothing to a total population of about 10,000 people almost overnight. Maxwell leased claims to miners, sold them goods at a handsome profit, put up smelters, opened new ditches, built roads and sawmills. But life on the ranch was forever changed. 

Luciano Maxwell

Luciano and Luz realized how valuable the grant had become, and decided to sell and move. In April 1869, they were approached by a group headed by Senator Jerome Chaffee of Colorado seeking to buy the grant. Before Luciano was aware of what happened, he was no longer owner of the grant…receiving only $650,000 for the 1.75 million acres.

Luciano and Luz purchased the abandoned buildings and property of Fort Sumner and moved there. They remodeled the adobe officers’ quarters, creating a luxurious 20-room home, with corrals, storehouses and stables. Accompanying the Maxwells to Fort Sumner were a loyal group of employees, 25-30 Hispanic and Native American families from Cimarron. They established a cattle ranch and built an irrigation system five miles north of the post, including a dam. The 12-foot-wide acequia is more than six miles long with 15 miles of secondary ditches. 

Among his visitors at the new home were such legendary figures as Texas cattleman Charles Goodnight and New Mexico cattle baron John Chisum. But it was a legendary old west outlaw who left his mark most permanently on Maxwell’s home, Billy the Kid.

After the move to Fort Sumner, Lucien turned over most of his business affairs to his only son, Peter. His semi-retirement didn’t last long. He died unexpectedly on July 25, 1875 at the age of 56 of kidney failure. He didn’t leave a will. Luz outlived her husband by 25 years. She was a partner in the Maxwell and Brazil Cattle Company that ran 2,000 cattle on the Fort Union Reservation. Both she and Luciano were buried at Fort Sumner.

Lucien Maxwell's grave
In Old Fort Sumner Cemetery

After Luciano's death, his Fort Sumner mansion became the home of his son, Peter. He continued managing the family's cattle and sheep ranching and was responsible for many employees, but he mostly lived quietly in the shadow of his famous father.

Peter "Pedro" Menard Maxwell

Billy the Kid had long been taken in my the Hispanic families in and around Ft Sumner and Puerto de Luna and “The Kid” and Peter Maxwell were friends. More importantly, Billy knew Pete's sister, Paulita, even better. She is thought to have probably been the main reason Billy stayed so close to Fort Sumner even when he knew that Sheriff Pat Garrett was on his trail.

Paulita Maxwell

Billy the Kid was born on the east side of New York City, in 1859, as Henry McCarty. He moved west with his mother and stepfather, reaching New Mexico in 1873. By 1877, using the name William Bonney, he had killed his first man and launched his brief but colorful career as an outlaw. Over the next 4 years, he became one of the most notorious of the Old West’s outlaws. 

Billy the Kid

There are those who say Pat Garrett didn't kill Billy the Kid. I hope he didn't, however, the movie of 1973 "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" not only had my all time favorite soundtrack but Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge and Bob Dylan starred in the movie. So as the story goes... if you are a believer.... One night July 14, 1881, Garrett burst into Peter Maxwell’s home in Fort Sumner looking for Billy the Kid. He woke Peter and asked him if Billy was around. Just as he was asking, “The Kid,” who was visiting Paulita, sleepily stumbled into Pete’s bedroom and asked "Quien es? Quien es?"  Sheriff Pat Garrett spun around, fired his gun, and killed Billy the Kid on the spot.

The Maxwell House
Ft Sumner, NM

The Maxwell’s house in Fort Sumner would have been significant enough for just having been the final home of the West’s largest land baron, however it gained far greater attention as the place where one of the old west’s most famous outlaws was gunned down.

Legends persist that Billy the Kid was not killed that night, and that Garrett staged it all so the Kid could escape the law. Most people in the area, including my family still see Billy the Kid as a favorite son.

That is my very abbreviated version of how the Maxwells became part of my extended family. It's a story that has been repeated time and time again in my personal  written history for over 500 years ...... A cowboy rides into town, marries into the large, prosperous Hispanic family .... The End.

Finally! I Had MY Grandchildren At My house!

This month my eight and a half year old granddaughter, Jackie came to my home for the first time since she was less than a year old. In other words, this would become her first memory of being in her grandmother CiCi's home. Sad but true. She responded exact the way I always dreamed that she would. She immediately saw a framed photo of herself on the table in the entry way and on the walls and with the excitement of an 8 year old she twirled around once with a smile on her face and walked a few steps into the dining room and twirled around again with her arms spread out and said with a bright smile "I love your house! It feels like an art studio!" She had no idea that I had dreamed of this moment for years. 

You can't imagine the joy
I experienced being able to share
my artist space with my only granddaughter
for the first time in 8 years.

Having her wake up at my house
after sleeping with my adorable
kitty cat, Katie was magical. 

So, for the back story. My son's ex-wife is from St Louis. She went to The University of Texas in Austin and that is when she and my son met. Their fist of 2 children, Andrew was born and then they got married. Then they moved to St Louis. Their marriage fell apart just before my granddaughter was a year old. It has been the longest, ugliest eight year custody court battle that you can possibly imagine. My son, Christian has literally spent thousands of dollars on a multitude of attorneys and a guardian ad litem (a neutral person appointed by a court to investigate and advocate for the best interests of the children) And for what? Fighting for the rights he should naturally have as a father, to see his children. 

Nobody in our family had experienced this level of vengeance. I come from a close-knit Hispanic family and the core cultural value is defined by deep loyalty, strong emotional support and the inclusion of extended family. Christian's ex-wife grew up in a family where she was caught in the middle of a very ugly divorce, learning that keeping each other in court is way of life. Being caught up in the middle, children often absorb the stress, feeling forced to pick a side, feeling like they can't be nice to both of their parents. I divorced my children's father when they were very young because I didn't agree with his lifestyle but I never kept my children from him or made the children pick one side or the other.

Vengeance is ugly, hurtful and so very unnecessary. My wise brother, Phillip has always said, "Vengeance is not yours" and I live my life with that in mind. Generational trauma plays a huge part in how individuals handle emotions and relationships even when someone looks "nice" on the outside, you never know what their coping mechanisms have been learned. They may find it challenging to establish trust in relationships. 

Because the well being of 2 children has been the goal, we have had to just continue fighting the good fight, even when fighting doesn't come natural. I can proudly say my son has done more than any father I have ever seen, fighting for his right to be a wonderful father to his children. In general, the court system isn't fair to fathers. Fathers do not get equal treatment in court.

Christian, Andrew and Jackie
during one of their 4 hour visitation at Taco Circus

Christian, Andrew and Jackie
during one of their 4 hour visitation

My 16 year old grandson, Andrew was about 8 when the ugly divorce began. The first 4 years were horrible for everyone, but it was really hard on him. He had been very close to his dad for 8 years then suddenly he only got to see him for 4 hours on Wednesday and every other weekend and sometimes not even that often. 

Andrew and Christian at Andrew's football game

My son would go to his school and have lunch with him but eventually his mother made that impossible. She then took Andrew out of all of his extra curricular activities to keep my Christian from seeing his son at all, other than the mandatory weekly visits. There was one road block after another in the hateful game of keeping the children away from their father. 

There was a time when it had gotten so bad that the courts mandated that once a week the children be dropped off at the court house by their mother. Christian was to arrive shortly AFTER they were dropped off to picked them up. Arriving at the exact time specified, going through a security check, just like at TSA at the airport. Waiting to pick up his children in a small windowless room at the courthouse and returning them at the exact time specified 4 hours later.

Wednesday pick up at the courthouse

When my son first moved out from living with his wife and 2 children, he had opened a new restaurant, Taco Circus and bought a 2 story building with the restaurant downstairs and a very cool, large one bedroom apartment above his restaurant. 

Christian at Taco Circus

Taco Circus

Christian and Jackie at Taco Circus

Taco Circus

Meanwhile, he was having to jump through all kinds of hoops just to have visitations with his children. He had his house inspected by the guardian ad litem and then the ex-wife insisted in court, that my son live in a house where the children had their own bedrooms even though they only came to his house once weekly for 4 hours. So he rented and later bought a large 2 story, 4 bedroom house with a basement and a large yard. Still the children only came over for 4 hour visitations so they never even spent time in their bedrooms because their 4 hours with their father were spent driving to and from the court house and feeding them dinner, then having just enough time time spend a few minutes playing together before their time was up. 

Christian's house

Meanwhile, the ex-wife had remarried to a man with a teen-age daughter. They live in a very small 3 bedroom house, the parents had a bedroom, the teenager had a bedroom, Andrew and Jackie shared a bedroom with bunk beds. Jackie slept on the couch in the living room. It seemed that the petty demands didn't go both ways and the guardian ad litem never inspect the children's mother's house. 

For 4 years holidays were just sad. The children never got to go see their dad or his side of the family for holidays. My son would think of ways to work around the crazy rules. He would put a Christmas tree up in July and have "Christmas in July" and shower them with Christmas gifts.

Having fun posing as

Joseph and Mary for a manger scene

to make it as "Christmas"

as possible in the month of July

At the age of 12, my grandson, Andrew finally started running away from home so the courts allowed him to go live with his dad and has been living with him since. He is now 16. Even though Andrew lives with his dad, my son still pays child support for both children.

So here we are in July of 2023 and for the first time in 8 long years, my son got a court appointed week with both of his children. They flew here to Austin for 5 days. It had been 8 long years of NEVER having my whole family together. Never sitting down to dinner together. Never having a sleep over at my house with my only granddaughter. We had to fit the 8 lost years into a 5 day period and made sure to make every minute count. 

Jackie and Christian

Davis, Sarah, Emmie, Jackie, Sherry, Adriane,
Andrew, Christian, Christina Jeanette
The Whole Ethridge family together
for the first time in 8 years,
except for Dylan

The day they were leaving Austin to go back to St Louis, I met them at Kerby Lane Cafe for one last meal together before they left town. I ordered my usual, 1 pancake, 1 egg and 1 slice of bacon. I asked  my son " Who does this breakfast remind you of?" He said "Grandpa." A look of concern came over my granddaughter's face and she said "Who is Grandpa? Andrew leaned over and said "Grandpa was CiCi's dad, I didn't meet him either because he died before I was born." All of a sudden I realized that she too had been taking notes at all the things she had missed out on in her 8 years of life. There seemed to be a determination that now that she knew there was much more, she was not going to miss out on it anymore.

The Arrival of the Montoya Family in New Mexico Part 1

I've been told many times that I should write a book about my ancestry research. This task would be next to impossible. I would have to settle on one ancestor and there are too many ancestors and too many intertwining stories to fit into one book. I've watched "Finding Your Roots" many times and Henry Louis Gates is usually hard pressed to find one ancestor in the famous person's past who is a historic figure. It's mind boggling to look into my family's past and find Hernando Cortes, Juan Onate, Kit Carson, Billy the Kid, just to name a few.

I started this journey to answer a few questions, then quickly realized the more I learn, the more questions I had. I discovered an extremely complex history filled with thousands of people and just as many challenges. There are so many perspectives from which to tell each story. Fortunately, my family has hundreds of years of recorded history, thanks to the Catholic church. I never expected to be able to look up so many of my ancestors in Wikipedia. There are hundreds of stories filled with exciting, romantic stories of my family immigrating from Spain to Mexico and then up to New Mexico beginning with Hernando Cortes in 1547. There are monuments, schools, buildings (castles) and streets named after many of my ancestors. All the while, I have to take into consideration that they came to conquer so there were atrocities and bloodshed. The pain and suffering has caused deep scars stored in my families DNA. We pass those wounds from generation to generation and the scabs can be picked off and the bleeding begins again until someone in the family is willing to do the work to heal the family dynamics. 

Today, Tuesday, April 18, is World Heritage Day. 

I've decided to write about the time in history when much of the controversy in New Mexico began.

In 1583 King Philip II of Spain's decree for the settlement of New Mexico was a call for a wealthy individual to step up and finance an expedition to what is now New Mexico. Juan de Oñate was not the only nobleman to put in a bid for the position of colonizer, but he was the best connected. On September 21, 1595 Juan de Oñate was awarded the contract by King Philip II  to settle New Mexico. Oñate was the first European to colonize New Mexico, thus extending the Comino Real by 600 miles and he was the state's first colonial governor.

El Comino Real or The King's Highway A single highway which connected Mexico City, and Santa Fe 

The king and his council approved missionaries to go to the Americas with the primary objective to spread Catholicism to the indigenous population. Oñate began the "Entrada" in early 1598 with a large caravan of settlers, missionaries and livestock to establish a colony.

This is all important to my family history because Oñate was my 10th great-granduncle and many of my other ancestors were colonists on this historical expedition. I know it's controversial to even say that these days but I can't change the past and where I came from. I feel like I can be proud of my Spanish heritage without maintaining some of the colonizer values as much as I can be an American today without agreeing with the politics, especially in the state of Texas, where I live.

I have mixed emotions about the statues of Oñate being taken down in 2020. To me, they were beautiful pieces of art and it represented our past. I don't agree with some of the things that have occurred in the name of Catholicism but I don't want all the churches torn down. They are a part of our history. I just have to wonder if toppling statues across America was necessary. It's history and we can't change our history. We can only attempt to do better in the future and maybe use the statues as a reminder.

Is it possible that some colonists came hoping to create a utopian society in the new world. Maybe some enlisted in hopes of extracting all the riches they could from the far off lands. I have often wondered why the Spanish King didn't take into consideration that the native people in the Americas had their own religion and customs. 

Due to the "Entrada" New Mexico became known as "Tierra de Guerra" "The Land of War." Land grants were given to the colonists and empowered them to collect tribute from the forced labor of natives. Oñate wasn't a saint by any means, but at the same time, the Spanish brought with them thousands of horses, cattle, mules, sheep, pigs, goats, wine and the mining industry.

La Jornada

The La Jornada  - Interaction of mothers with
their children on the long journey

La Jornada shows the animals brought
with them on the long journey

Juan de Oñate statue formerly stood in Albuquerque, NM.
The monument was removed in 2020

So as the story goes missionaries came to the Americas with an escolta (military escort or armed guard.) My 8th great-grandfather Bartolome de Montoya was an Alferez (2nd Lieutenant or ensign) He escorted a band of friars Santa Fe on the second Juan de Oñate expedition. The colony consisted of 65 settlers.

The Montoya family alone consisted of my eight great-grandparents Bartolome de Montoya, his wife, Maria de Zamora their 5 children, Francisco, Diego, Jose, Lucia and Petronila. They also had 25 servants, cattle and equipment needed to begin a new life in New Mexico.

The missionaries would bring with them a portable alter as they approached a group of natives and would begin preaching through a translator. They built churches, housing and a defensive wall with heavy gates. The architectural splendor of the missions is a part of the romantic past tied to song, poetry and history. Theoretically, the missions were designed for a ten-year period, after which the missionaries were expected to move on to newly established villas.

The scheduled plan of conversion of natives to Catholicism didn't go as planned because the natives resisted as one might imagine. In the long run, the Spanish immigrants spent much of their time defending their community from native raids. And then to complicate things, after conquering the natives and taking their land, they took their women. I am a product of that behavior. My 4th great-grandfather Esteban Padilla was the son of a woman listed on the census as a Native American servant. This makes telling my story somewhat complicated. I feel the effects of this behavior on a deep level as I look at the stories from many perspectives because the stories are never just black and white. Native Americans say they were tyrannized by Spaniards. Hispanics say New Mexico wouldn't have its unique hybrid Spanish-native culture if it weren't for their ancestors. 

Santa Fe, New Mexico was settled in 1607 making it the first European settlement west of the Mississippi River. It's the oldest Capitol in the United States. Albuquerque was founded in almost 100 years later in 1706 by Francisco Cuervo y Valdes. 35 families were required by Spain to create a settlement and they only had 12 families so as you can imagine they were making their own rules as they went. 

Just a little back story to keep the history straight:

In 1519 Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés (my 1st cousin 11 x removed) led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire in Mexico led by Emperor Moctezuma II and brought it under the rule of the King of Castile. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish explorers and conquistadors who began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.

Bartolome de Montoya was born on January 1,1572 in Cantillana, Andalucia, Spain. He met his wife, Maria de Zamora when he arrived in Mexico (New Spain) She was an Aztec born in 1573 in Mexico City and was the daughter of Pedro de Zamora, the Mayor of Oaxaca, Mexico. Bartolome de Montoya was the progenitor of the Montoya surname in New Mexico and virtually all Montoya families from New Mexico descend from him so his name appears often when doing ancestry research.

Juan de Oñate's parents were from Spain, he was born in Mexico (New Spain) and married to Isabel de Tolosa Cortés de Moctezuma. Her grandmother was Isabel Tecuichpo de Moctezuma (the granddaughter of Emperor  Moctezuma II.

I always assumed that I was a Montoya on my dad's side of the family, because his full name is Felipe Montoya Fajardo. Early on in my ancestry research, I was surprised to discover a 1900 Puerto de Luna census that showed my father's mother was a Labadie. The census was very accurately transcribed my my grandmother's Uncle Lorenzo Labadie. My paternal grandmother, Josefita Labadie) was the daughter of Captain Juan Labadie y Sanchez. He died when she was young and her mother, Dorotea Chavez Labadie, remarried a man named Antonio Montoya. Dorotea and all of her children took his last name, Montoya. Then on the 1910 census, when my grandmother was 16, she was living with her older sister, Jesusita and her husband, Prudencio Duran and she was listed as Josefita Duran on the census. So I don't think there is a DNA connection to the Montoya bloodline on my dad's side even though he grew up with them but I know of 3 connections on my mom's side. Both sides of my family lived in Puerto de Luna, during the last 1800's and early 1900's and it seems like it was a close community who took care of each other.

So I conclude this blog with the history of the Montoya surname. Montoya is a Basque surname which makes sense because I am 14% Basque. It originally comes from a hamlet near Berantevilla in Álava, in the Basque region of northern Spain. During the Reconquista, it extended southwards throughout Castille and Andalusia. The name roughly translates to "hills and valleys."