AS EARLY AS 1540, THE SPANISH TRAVERSED WHAT is now New Mexico in the hopes of finding silver. But it wasn’t until 1598 that Juan de Onate came forth with hundreds of migrants to establish the first permanent European settlement in the region. What they found was a culture of pueblos and ancient ruins, created by the people who had lived in the area for several thousand years.
New Mexico, the 47th state, has a long history. Researching historical documents—and the people in them—show how the state evolved, and reap genealogical information.
A NEW HISTORY
Long before New Mexico was in the United States (or Mexico, or Spain), it was inhabited by various tribes. The Pueblo culture lived in the region for thousands of years before contact with Europeans, and were later joined by the Navajo and Apache. Today, 23 federally recognized
