Author Virginia Sanchez shares about her latest research on La Cebolla Valley near Mora, but as usual, her work covers such an array of interesting topics about our culture. We chat acequias, mills, traditional Hispano customs, and even have a productive tangent on digitized Catholic newspapers as a resource.

You can get any of Virginia's books and find her next speaking engagements at https://virginiasanchezbooks.com/

The Mora Valley of the Mills Tour takes place over Labor Day weekend every year - you can take guided tours of all three historic working mills in the Valley.

La Voz del Pueblo started in Santa Fe in 1888, and then moved to Las Vegas. Learn more in Spanish-Language Newspapers in New Mexico, 1834-1958 by A. Gabriel Melendez.

La Revista Catolica was a Catholic newspaper out of Las Vegas, and digitized copies are available through Regis University.

The Archdiocese of Denver has a fabulous archive of Catholic newspapers from Denver, Pueblo, and other Colorado communities - many of which are digitized. https://archden.org/archives

Want to share your family history on the podcast? I anonymize living people to protect identities. Email [email protected].

Corey Recko, author of The Colfax County War: Violence and Corruption in Territorial New Mexico, joined me to explain what led to the violence in northeastern New Mexico in the late 19th century. We chatted land grants, the Santa Fe Ring, and frontier justice.

Places mentioned: Cimarron, Springer, Rayado, Taos, Las Animas County and Boggsville, Colorado

Names mentioned: Sanchez, Gonzales, Bent, Martinez

Check out this book and Corey's other works at www.coreyrecko.com.

Corey also mentioned David Caffey's book When Cimarron Meant Wild, which I found in audiobook form on Hoopla using my library card.

Learn more about the mining town of Morley here.

Guadalupe Miranda did indeed skedaddle in 1845, and sold his share of the Miranda-Beaubien land grant to Lucien Maxwell in 1858.

Do you want to talk about your family history on the podcast? I anonymize living folks to protect privacy. You can reach out to me at [email protected].

An oral history found in a random Google search turned out to be a gold mine of information. I go through the highlights, including life growing up on a ranch in 1920s Union County, leaving home to go to WWII, and coming out to NM from New York on an orphan train.

Places mentioned: Des Moines, Clayton, Grenville, Roy, La Union, Santa Fe, Folsom, Trinchera (CO), Mexhoma (OK)

Names mentioned: Lujan, Martinez, Barela

Check out the collection of oral histories here.

To see related photos, I also post episodes on the Luminaria YouTube channel.

Email Kat at [email protected].

A younger prima and I chat about the journey to reclaim a connection to our ancestors, including with food and language.

Names mentioned: Garcia, Lucero

Places mentioned: Chaperito, Anton Chico, Rocky Ford, Maxwell, Sapello

The porridge she mentioned was called chaquegue/chaquehue, and it’s prepared a little differently than atole, but both use the blue corn meal.

The article she discusses: "The Loss of a Language That I Never Had: A Story About Linguicide"

Another article by Jose Cisneros on "Understanding Oppression and Valuing Diversity"

The book she mentions: Up from Anton Chico: A Memoir of a New Mexico Hispanic Family as Told by One of its Members, José ("Joe") Sánchez, in Collaboration with His Wife, Elizabeth

She mentioned the New Mexico Cooking page on Facebook for recipes and tips.

Podcast "Stuff You Should Know" episode called The Fencing of the Commons

You can email Kat at [email protected].

In this episode, we go down to the South Valley with Blackie Gonzales, an octogenarian with deep roots there.

Places mentioned: Downtown Albuquerque, South Valley, Carnuel

The song he dedicates to his wife is "Un Rinconcito en el Cielo" by Ramon Ayala y Sus Bravos del Norte.

You can reach out to [email protected].

A primo and I chat about his family's migration from Costilla to the San Luis Valley to the Upper Huerfano, the founding of the Plaza de los Manzanares, and general Southern Colorado history.

Places mentioned: Walsenburg, Trinidad, Cuchara, Garcia, Costilla, Abiquiu, Las Animas, Redwing, Chama, Plaza do los Manzanares, Crestones, Malachite

Names mentioned: Manzanares, Deus, Sharp, Bustos, Gallegos

An interesting article from History Colorado on which is the oldest settlement in Colorado.

If this is the right resource, back issues of Colorado Magazine are available digitally here.

Books mentioned:

The People of El Valle, Lopez Tushar

Los Primeros Pobladores, Leon Swadesh Quintana

First Settlers: Las Cuatro Plazas de la Culebra, Maria C. Martinez

Email me at [email protected].

Serafina was born in 1927 in Barney, NM. I mistakenly thought Barney was a settlement along the Dry Cimarron River, but it's actual 24 miles SW of Clayton. By 1940, the family had moved to Clayton, perhaps for Dust Bowl reasons. Serafina is a sharp nonagenarian who loves to read, and has lived in Clayton most of her life.

Names mentioned: Mares, Sanchez

Places mentioned: Barney, Clayton, Raton

What a conversation! We cover so much ground with Dr. Maria Dolores Gonzales - her time at the Northern New Mexico Normal School in El Rito, the journey she went on to write her memoir and encourage other Hispanos to do the same, and her advocacy to preserve and celebrate our language. We also go through some words that are specific to our Northern New Mexican/Southern Colorado language, and where they come from.

Places mentioned: Cerro, El Rito, Roy, Rosebud, Agua Fria, Bueyeros

Some resources mentioned:

Dr. Gonzales' Bilingual Strategies Language Institute

Children of the Normal School: 60 Years in El Rito, 1909-1969

"The Writings of Sabine Ulibarri"

"Mapa del Corazon" video on YouTube

Neddy Vigil video with the language atlas

A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish

The Spanish Language of New Mexico and Southern Colorado: A Linguistic Atlas

You can reach Kat at [email protected].

We visit El Pueblo de Abiquiu Library & Cultural Center to learn more about what makes this place unique and its diverse and vibrant culture.

Places mentioned: Abiquiu, El Rito, Ojo Caliente, Alcalde

Check out the Library and consider a donation here.

Watch the recent documentary The Genizaro Experience and see some of the dancing mentioned here.

Email Kat at [email protected].

The delightful Allen Sanchez, petitioner of the cause for the beatification and canonization of Sister Blandina Segale, shares about the myriad ways she contributed to New Mexico (and Southern Colorado). Servant of God Sr. Blandina founded public schools and hospitals for our people, and writes about them with warmth, compassion, and humor in At the End of the Santa Fe Trail.

Find prayer cards, the novena, and other materials at the Sisters of Charity website.

You can order the book At the End of the Santa Fe Trail, as well as the movie adaptation, here.

Watch the Wild West Chronicles: Sister Blandina and the Killer   on YouTube

Searchlight NM article on Sr Blandina

Smithsonian article on Sr Blandina, written by the great-great-granddaughter of Abraham and Julia Staab

Santa Maria Institute archives can be found here.

American Ghost, novel written by the great-great-granddaughter of Abraham and Julia Staab

Learn more about the free home visitation program for first-time parents at St Joseph's Children here.

You can reach Kat at [email protected].