Travel by Ancestry -- to New Mexico!

The Story of don Juan de Onate and de la Cruz DNA: Genetic Genealogist breaks through Adobe Walls, ties Ancestry to New Mexico's First Families ... by Patricia Sanchez Rau with Marie Rundquist

Maria Paula Garcia, Apolonio Quintana (1896)

The traditional story of “Early America” unfolds as Europeans arrive by ship at Plymouth Rock and Jamestown at the start of the seventeenth century.  The story continues, in countless textbooks, with the emergence of the thirteen English colonies followed by the American Revolution, and draws to a close as Lewis and Clark set off to explore lands west of the Mississippi in 1804.

The more recent, “American Story” is one of “Coming to America,” with crossings – of borders and oceans, and the first Federal Immigration Inspection Station: Ellis Island.

Patricia Sánchez Rau's American story departs wildly from traditional themes, for her family did not come to the United States as immigrants through Ellis Island or anywhere along the east coast. By contrast, Patricia's ancestors came from Spain, Portugal, Greece, North Africa, and other parts of Europe to Mexico. In 1598, years before the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, they were among the New World's first pioneers who assembled on the banks of the San Pedro River under the dogged leadership of don Juan de Oñate, to embark upon their epic journey to New Mexico.  Click to read more...

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