Southwestern Mission Research Center

07/30/2026

On August 8, 2026, at 10:00 am, the New Mexico Genealogical Society presents "1776-1783 in New Mexico" webinar to be given by Henrietta M. Christmas. This webinar lecture highlights New Mexico's role in the American Revolution, and the soldiers and others who gave money to help George Washington win the war again Britain. Some of the military men from the colonial southwest who gave their support included: Diego Manuel Baca – Ysidro Antonio Rodriguez – Anacleto Miera y Pacheco – Bernardo Miera y Pacheco – Viterbo Rivera – Jose Miguel Griego – Jose Maria Cabeza de Baca - and Alcalde Antonio Jose Ortiz. To register, go to: https://www.nmgs.org

The American Revolution briefly touches New Mexico's history. Soldiers and others gave money to help George Washington win the war against Britain — insight into some military men during this time in the Colonial Southwest.

06/30/2026

The Southwest Colorado Genealogical Society (SWCGS) will host a workshop on “Tracing Your Hispanic Family History,” with an emphasis on ancestors who migrated to Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado from the Chama River Valley. This workshop will be presented by Henrietta Martinez Christmas on Saturday, August 22, 2026, from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm at the Southern Ute Cultural Center & Museum, 303 Ouray Drive, Ignacio, Colorado. Henrietta is a native New Mexican and a highly regarded genealogical and historical researcher. A descendant of eleven soldiers who accompanied Juan de Oñate in 1598, she has dedicated her career to preserving and sharing the stories of New Mexico’s colonial past. Henrietta is the author of several books on New Mexico’s small towns and history and has published over 150 articles focusing on the region’s colonial families. In recognition of her decades-long contributions to historical research and cultural preservation, King Felipe VI of Spain awarded her the prestigious Encomienda de la Orden de Isabel la Católica in 2021.

The workshop fee is $10 (free to members of SWCGS) with advanced registration required. To register, please send a $10 check to SWCGS, P.O. Box 332, Bayfield, CO 81122. Please put Workshop, August 22 in the check memo field. Attendees are asked to bring notetaking materials and own sack lunch – water and coffee will be provided. If you have any questions, contact Patty Tharp at (202) 538-2102.

Photo caption: Adela (Quintana) & Ramon Gallegos Wedding, 1912, Rosa, NM. Courtesy Raymond Gallegos.

06/30/2026

“Wills and Testaments in the Spanish Colonial Southwest” webinar presentation by Henrietta Martinez Christmas, uncovers the genealogical treasures hidden within Spanish colonial wills and testaments. Far more than simple legal documents, these records provide rare insights into family relationships, inheritance patterns, and extended kinship networks that shaped colonial communities. Detailed inventories of clothing, household goods, livestock, and personal possessions offer intimate glimpses into the daily lives of our colonial ancestors — revealing their values, cultural traditions, devotion to faith, and resilience on the far edges of the Spanish frontier. Attendees will also learn where to locate these records, how to analyze their contents, and effective strategies for integrating them into personal research to build richer, more accurate family histories. This free webinar presentation will be held on Friday, July 17, 2026 at 11:00 am (MST). To register go to https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/wills-and-testaments-in-the-spanish-colonial-southwest

Henrietta Martinez Christmas is a native New Mexican and a highly regarded genealogical and historical researcher. A descendant of eleven soldiers who accompanied Juan de Oñate in 1598, she has dedicated her career to preserving and sharing the stories of New Mexico’s colonial past. Henrietta is the author of several books on New Mexico’s small towns and history and has published over 150 articles focusing on the region’s colonial families. In recognition of her decades-long contributions to historical research and cultural preservation, King Felipe VI of Spain awarded her the prestigious Encomienda de la Orden de Isabel la Católica in 2021.

06/30/2026

For the first time, the mayordomos of seven of the High Road to Taos historic mission churches are collaborating to offer open houses on the fourth Saturday of the warm-weather months, July - September plus Oct. 10, from 11 am to 4 pm. There has been disappointment for many years on the part of people traveling the High Road — and people who would make the trip if they knew the churches were open — that these historic churches are almost always locked. But this summer, for the first time, they are open once a month and are welcoming visitors. San José de Gracia in Las Trampas, which celebrates its 250 anniversary this year and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1970, is the most visible and best known. But the other six churches, particularly the ones in Truchas and Córdova, are also replete with freshly conserved historic colonial altar screens and bultos. Brochures for the tour are available in the churches during open house hours. Information is at www.prayatalltimes.com/mission-churches. Open house dates are Saturdays, July 25, August 22, September 26, and October 10, 2026.

06/30/2026

California Missions Foundation recently announced that Santa Barbara has been selected as the host city for the 44th Annual California Missions and Presidios Conference, scheduled for February 19–20, 2027. The conference will be preceded by a special black-tie fundraising gala on Thursday evening, February 18, inside the beautiful Royal Presidio Chapel at the Santa Barbara Presidio. Conference details, registration information, and gala announcements will be released in the coming months. This conference promises to be an exceptional weekend celebrating California’s mission and presidio heritage.

06/30/2026

For the past three years, California Missions Foundation has played an active role in three major preservation projects made possible through the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures matching grant program. Earlier this year, an important seismic retrofit project was successfully completed at Mission Santa Inés, while restoration and conservation work at the nationally recognized Spanish Colonial Revival landmark Casa del Herrero is nearing completion. Attention is now focused on the seismic retrofit of historic Mission San Juan Bautista. This important preservation effort has brought together local, regional, state, and federal partners in a collaborative effort to safeguard one of California’s most significant historic landmarks. Noted structural engineer Mel Green is currently completing the project’s final structural plans—the last major step before construction begins. If you would like to help preserve this National Historic Landmark for future generations, donations may be made through the link below. For additional information, please contact the CMF office at 805.963.1633 or email [email protected].

06/25/2026

Crow Canyon Archaeological Center presents "Excavating Querencia: Land Grant Archaeology in New Mexico" webinar by Dr. Kelly Jenks on Thursday, July 30, 2026 at 4:00 pm (MDT). In northern New Mexico, “querencia” is a folk concept used to express a sense of longing for and belonging to a specific place. For many Spanish and Mexican land grant heirs, querencia is an essential part of cultural identity; heirs are defined by their connection to a shared homeland, which is the site and setting of their cultural heritage. In this talk, Dr. Jenks digs into the meaning of querencia by describing what has been learned through collaborative archaeological research on the Cañón de Carnué Land Grant. This project offers new insights into the histories connected with this land grant. It also challenges us to consider how we might apply the concept of querencia in our management of heritage sites.

Dr. Kelly Jenks is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the University Museum at New Mexico State University. She specializes in historical archaeology and is particularly interested in the relationship between everyday objects and identity in multicultural settings. Most of her research has focused on Spanish and Mexican-period land grant communities in New Mexico, including San Miguel del Vado and Cañón de Carnué.

To register for this free webinar presentation, go to https://crowcanyon.org/programs/excavating-querencia-land-grant-archaeology-in-new-mexico/?mc_cid=cdf330fcf8&mc_eid=b3ce345115
(Most Crow Canyon webinars are recorded and are typically posted within a few days on our YouTube channel .)

06/04/2026

On June 25, 2026, at the National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) historian Virginia Sanchez will be debuting her new book La Cebolla Valley: A History. As part of the HLA Herencia Series: Author Reading and Book Signing, will discuss how more than 160 years ago, the early settlers of La Cebolla Valley arrived and put down roots that would flourish into a lasting legacy. Freight wagons and travelers passed through the land, an integral piece of the Mora–Las Vegas Trail, bringing with them cultures and traditions that lived on in the people who stayed. Through perseverance and dedication, they built the Acequia de San José and the Acequia de La Isla, which have known nearly two centuries of use, and transformed a small natural pond into Morphy Lake. With the help of the documents in the Agapito Abeyta Sr. Collection, a windfall discovered in a barn, historian Virginia Sánchez brings to light the cultural heritage of La Cebolla Valley’s inhabitants.
This free event will be held from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in the HLA Salon Ortega at NHCC, located at 1701 4th Street SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102. For more information and to register, go to https://nhccnm.org/event/hla-herencia-series-author-reading-and-book-signing-with-virginia-sanchez/.

Scholar and historian, Virginia Sánchez, is debuting her new book La Cebolla Valley: A History with us at the NHCC! More than 160 years ago, the early settlers of La Cebolla Valley arrived and put down roots that would flourish into a lasting legacy. Freight wagons and travelers passed through the ...

06/04/2026

A recent article by BBC's Eliot Stein, tells the remarkable story of Estevanico (aka Esteban the Moor), an enslaved Moroccan man who became one of the earliest and most important explorers of North America. In 1527, Estevanico joined a Spanish expedition to the Americas led by Panfilo de Narváez - an expedition plagued by disasters, including hurricanes, starvation, attacks, and shipwrecks. Of roughly 600 men who began the journey, only four survived: three Spaniards and Estevanico. After washing ashore near present-day Texas in 1528, the survivors spent years living among Indigenous peoples.

Despite his status as an enslaved man, Estevanico's linguistic abilities, cultural adaptability, and survival skills made him the group's leader. He learned Native languages, served as a translator and mediator, and helped guide the survivors across thousands of miles of unfamiliar territory. Between 1528 and 1536, he completed what is widely considered the first recorded crossing of North America, traveling from Florida across the Gulf Coast to the Pacific coast of Mexico—nearly three centuries before the expedition of Lewis and Clark.

Stein's article argues that Estevanico was one of the most extraordinary yet overlooked figures in early American history. As an African, Arabic-speaking Muslim who was neither conqueror nor conquered, he occupies a unique place in the story of North America. His journeys reshaped European understanding of the continent and challenge traditional narratives about who the first great explorers of what became the United States were.

SMRC thanks Dr. Hsain Ilahiane, Professor at the University of Arizona's School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, who kindly shared this "recent BBC piece on Estevanico de Dorantes, the remarkable Moroccan explorer whose journey in the 16th century across North America continues to reshape how we think about the early Atlantic world and the American Southwest." Dr. Ilahiane was also interviewed by journalist Eliot Stein for the article.

Link to BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260527-estevanico-the-african-explorer-who-crossed-north-america

Map Caption: Estevanico was the de facto leader of what is believed to be the first recorded crossing of North America in history (Credit: Serenity Strull)

05/01/2026

During the 2026 Corrales Historical Society Speaker Series, State Historian Rob Martinez will discuss "Casta: Race & Identity in Colonial New Mexico." This free lecture will be held on Sunday, May 24, 2026 at 2:00 pm at the Historic Old San Ysidro Church, located at 966 Old Church Road, Corrales, NM. Martinez will examine how racial mixing played a part in influencing and shaping colonial society. Historical research, genealogy, and DNA converge to provide a clearer understanding of Hispano roots in New Mexico and in Latino-Meso-America and Hispanic Europe. For more information go to corraleshistory.org.