| From the first
portion of the Introduction:
"The town of Belen (Bethlehem) is located in the Rio
Grande valley, some 32 miles south of Albuquerque or Interstate
25. In 1998, its population is listed in current records
as approximately 8,000." "Belen was founded
in 1740 when a group of Spanish colonists led by Don Diego
de Torres and Antonio Salazar received permission to settle
a tract of land which was to become the Belen Land Grant.
Don Gaspar Domingo de Mendoza, then Governor of New Mexico,
issued the Royal Grant on November 15, 1740. The Grant
included 200,000 acres."
"Although the original Grant does not mention Indians,
records show that there was a Genízarosettlement
near Belen. Genízaros were "displaced"
Indians who became allies of the Spanish, either by having
been redeemed or ransomed from the tribes holding them
captive or by these Indians asking the Spanish for protection.
Having no tribe to return to, the Genízaros
were allocated a designated established settlement. They
were then expected to provide for their own needs and
to help defend against the enemy just like the other settlers.
They intermarried with the Spanish and with other Indian
tribes to the extent that their identity is entirely lost.
There were known Genízaro settlements in
Abiquiu, Tomé, and Belen. . ." [The introduction continues.]
Included are lists of abbreviations and phrases
used in the publication, and a name index. Names
are indexed in three lists: by name of person baptised,
by parents' names, and also by godparents, grandparents,
and others named.
Extracted by Lila Armijo Pfeufer.
Compiled by Margaret Leonard Windham and Evelyn Lujan
Baca. Introduction by Filomena Garcia Baca. Map by Ernie
Jaskolski. A publication of the New Mexico Genealogical
Society |
