Daniel,

I recently found a reference to Juan del Camino in an obscure document from the old Archivo de Tierras y Aguas de Guadalajara. The document, dated 4 October 1789, doesn't have any information about him, only a reference:

"En el Valle de Vanderas Jurisdicion de tepic en beinte y cuatro dias del mes de octubre de mil setecientos ochenta y nueve años ante mi Don Manuel Gonzales de Villa las [illegible] de este valle por dn Juan del Camino Alcalde mayor y [de] la Santa Hermandad por su Magestad que Dios guarde...etc.".

This reference is on page 77.5 of a "legajo de documentos" included in film No. 270075 of the Archivo de Instrumentos Públicos de Guadalajara, Antiguo Archivo de Tierras y Aguas. I'm not sure this is your ancestor, but I took note of it anyway.

I think the Tepic in this document is the capital of the present State of Nayarit. The city is located among the rugged mountains of the Sierra Madre, a few miles north of Santiago de Compostela. Tepic is a very old city, founded in 1531. As you probably know, Santiago de Compostela was the very first capital of the "Reyno de la Nueva Galicia". The capital was later moved to Nochistlán and finally to Guadalajara. The first expeditions to establish presidios (military posts) and catholic missions in Alta California (along the coast from San Diego to San Francisco) originated in that area. Fray Junípero Serra started his trip in Santiago de Compostela and spent several months in Tepic preparing for his trip. The convent where he stayed is now a museum. The exploration parties to colonize Alta California sailed from the Port of San Blas, founded by the Spanish crown, precisely for the conquest and settlement of the Alta California. The history of this area is closely related to the history of your home state of California, which was part of Mexico until the mid 19th century.

What do you know about your Juan del Camino? Could this be one of his descendants?

Bill Figueroa

Daniel:

I recently ordered copies of a number of maps from Archivo General de Indias that were microfilmed and not digitized. I think the reason may be that such documents are usually odd sizes and in color and the digitization, as you may have noticed scans standard sized (page size) documents in black and white.

It has been a long process. I wrote them via email asking for an official quote for reproduction (on high definition fiche) of the relevant documents.. you can also get photocopies on A4 paper if you like. Once I got the quote (which was snail mailed to me) I had to get a Euro-demoninated bank draft issued in order to pay for the copies and mail it back with the acceptance of the quote.

Overall it has been slow but not too expensive... getting the Euro-denominated bank draft cost more than the three fiche.

You can write me privately if you need more details as to how to go about it.