Hello to all! Long time since I've added my 2 cents... I would say that it's probably about removing the 'indian' in us, no? Or venture to say, the indian features to be white, colored-eye again!?

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Ronald Reynoso
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 21:17:53
To:
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Royal Blood and Los Altos

Hola Rick, I have to agree with what you say. My family is from the San Julian area and on my father's side for generations they intermarried. On my mothers side I thought were an exemption since my Grandfather was an " Indio" to his inlaws but on his paternal side my grandmother(his wife)was related .I guess there is no escaping .

As far as the purification of family ,I was never told that they married for that reason.

Ronnie Reynoso

> From: rickrod.com@gmail.com
> To: general@nuestrosranchos.org
> Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 21:57:13 -0600
> Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Royal Blood and Los Altos
>
> Well we also have to understand the reasons for these marriages. In most
> cases here in Los Altos, many of our ancestors lived in ranches in an almost
> socially isolated environment. By socially isolated I mean that they had
> hardly any contact with people from other ranches. The only time they saw
> other people that weren't their close family was on Sundays when the whole
> family went to church and to the town market to buy their supplies for the
> week, that's when what they grew and produced in-home wasn't sufficient
> (this still happens today with some families here in Los Altos).
>
> The only people they had interaction with were their family members that
> lived nearby or visited them, so for them it wouldn't be awkward for cousins
> to get to know and talk to each other and eventually marry and form their
> own family. Alteño males were (and most sill are) very jealous people and
> machos, so some preferred their daughters marry into the family then give
> her away to a "stranger", not knowing what kind of family this man came
> from.
>
> Some also say that they only married into their own family to "purify their
> blood". I don't know much about this topic but I would guess that families
> that had this kind of mentality must have been from European descent, and
> even maybe descendents of some kind of royal lineage. If anyone knows more
> about this topic, it would be a good idea for them to share their knowledge
> with the group.
>
> Personally, I've noticed in my research (and I'm pretty sure most people
> would corroborate this) that the children of two families that lived in the
> same ranch or town, and got along well, even if they were weren't family,
> they would usually marry between them and form a family bond that would last
> sometimes for many generations. For example, I found that the same Rodriguez
> and the Valdivia married many times since Nicolas Rodriguez de Frias y de
> Iniguez married Antonia de Messa y Valdivia y de Hijar. Also, Nicolas
> Rodriguez de Frías y de Torres, their grandson, married Phelipa de Santiago
> de Valdivia y Martin del Campo, most likely from the same Valdivia family.
> Several (I've found at least eight) of the Rodriguez grandchildren of this
> last marriage married other Valdivia grandchildren. The last one was my
> great grandfather Francisco Rodriguez (de Frias), who married Maria
> Guadalupe Valdivia.
>
> QUE BONITA FAMILIA! QUE BONITA FAMILIA!
>
>
> RICARDO RODRIGUEZ CAMARENA
> VALLE DE GUADALUPE, JALISCO
>

Ill add my 2 cents to this topic too! I have read many books on Los Altos, a common

explanation could be the social aspect and children. Ill make up an example close to

something I read, One would think a peninsular would be equal to an alteno, but this

is socially false. Once the families were well established they soon began to marry off

their children all over the Meseta, which eventually spilled into Guanajuato, Zacatecas,

Aguascalintes, SLP, parts of Michoacan. In common Spanish society Peninsulars were

regarded above criollos, I would imagine in Los Altos it would be inverted. If a peninsular

say after 200 years after the formation of Los Altos so ca. 1700s or so would settle in

Los Altos, Id imagine the peninsular was not seen as equal to the old alteno society

who were descendants of the original colonists. Regardless whereas all other society

in New Spain saw the peninsular 'better'. The new peninsular that would settle in Los Altos

would probably have to marry off his children to the common alteno so they can pave

their way in "la sociedad altena".

Also there was not much mestizaje going on just quite yet I usually think of that of

a more modern thing which who knows might be still uncommon in some parts. The gene pool

was large in the early years when the marriages were taking place, within 100 years the entire

meseta was related. Which exteneded into other Neogallego provinces. I have some altenos from

Pinos, Zac marrying off kids in Tepatitlan (now you can tell the large distance marriages could

be arranged). Others in Leon, Gto marrying off to Teocaltiche etc.

Also ''la limpieza de sangre' was always a popular subject with the spaniards in colonial times

this concept was brought to the new world, where one would have to prove their "purity"

of blood (usually espanol, cristiano descendants of the Goths and Celts)

Soon the gene pool began to decrease in size. I usually mark around 1602-1702 was the time frame

where all this crazy marriage took place! By 1702, most if not all were cousins and related several

times over and over, etc.

I always picture this like the royalty of Europe, a famous example is Christian XII of Denmark

and Victoria I of Great Britain who would marry off their children and grandchildren to courts

accross Europe. Just imagine the altenos marrying off their kids to the 'courts' in Los Altos.

Courts as in cities or municipios. Where a tio could be in Lagos, a primo in San Juan and a mother

living in Leon, Gto.

Los Altos has always fascinated me, one of the rare places in Mejico wher youll find this sort of

stuff and the manner it was executed!

-Daniel Mendez

_________________________________________________________________
Get gifts for them and cashback for you. Try Bing now.
http://www.bing.com/shopping/search?q=xbox+games&scope=cashback&form=MS…