Colonial New Mexico settlement occurred at various times by both large and small family groups. Genealogies tracing to this time period can often be quite challenging as many have papertrail roadblocks. Those that are traceable deep into this era can be traced to the first settlement by Juan de Oñate in 1598 and others to settlers of the Reconquest, Mexican or Territorial periods. In many cases, lineages are showing traceability to known Native American ancestors of classifications such as Genízaros, Coyotes, or simply Indio.

DNA is a tool that can help confirm or distinguish branches of the same surname, help these roadblocks by possibly linking them to surname lineages or family branches that have been confirmed using paper trail and DNA comparisons. The New Mexico Genealogical Society has well known genealogists and volunteers that assist inthe researching, validating, and finalizing genealogies associated with this project.

Miguel (Mike) A. Tórrez - Group Administrator
Henrietta Martinez Christmas - Group Administrator
Daria Landress - Group Administrator