OK Northern Californian's, this is a challenge to us all. What if we 
plan that for our next meeting in March we each present the name of 1 
book along with the author, the possible merits of the book to the 
group and we vote on it as the book of the quarter. As the first book 
it might be best if it's a book in english, a book we can all get 
either through Amazon or any of the on-line booksellers and that the 
book should be $50.00 or less because some of these books are very 
expensive.

Once we have decided on a book we can communicate it to all of the 
Ranchos members. Anyone from Ranchos who wants to participate can do 
so.

And here's to all of Ranchos, what say you on this matter because it 
is now on the table for commentaries, suggestions etc.

Feliz Año a todos........Alicia Avelar Olmos de Carrillo 

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, Mary Allen  
wrote:
>
> Hello Victor:  
>    
>   I know this was addressed to Joseph, but I couldn't help but 
overhear!

I am willing to join a group like this. If the chapter and book
assigned to me is in English. It sounds like a great idea and a way
for many of us to contribute to our joint research.

Linda Romero

Joseph,

I've thought of something similar but instead of getting a group
together to simply comment about or review a history book, which is
very good, to take it one step further and together create a
searchable database with all the data of genealogical relevance.

Something similar to what we were doing with "The Colotlán Census"
from the Archivos Españoles where each team member gets assigned a
chapter or section of a book and as he/she is reading it enters the
who, when, where and what data into a previously agreed form.

When everybody gets their part done it would be a simple task to
concatenate all the parts into a single searchable database. Then we'd
select another book and do the same and so on.

The other part of the idea is to have a user interface that you can
access online where one would select a book's title from the database
and then be able to search for a person's name and get a list of all
the instances that the name appears and the associated events to it.
You

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, Alicia Carrillo  wrote:
>
> Victor,
>    
>   I have taken these quotes from pages xxvii. 
>    
>   En los ultimos años del siglo muchos de los hijos y nietos de
conquistadores estaban reducidos a la miseria. Formaban o pretendian
formar una especie de aristocracia que desdeñaba todo comercio,
granjeria o trabajo honesto y faltandoles ya las encomiendas, se
alampaban a los empleos con tal furia que no dejaban respirar a los
virreyes y aun sofocaban a la corte con diluvio de memoriales y
relaciones de meritos.
>    
>   Para todo se creian aptos por solo su abolengo. Eran en suma, una
nube de vagos con humos de grandes señores que veian de reojo a los
españoles llegados despues de la conquista porque con mejor acuerdo se
dedicaban a trabajar en el comercio o en la labor de la tierra. De su
industria sacaban comodidades que los de alcurnia de conquistadores
veian con envidia, y la desahogaban con morder despiadadamente a los
que llaman

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, Alicia Carrillo  wrote:
>
> Victor,
>    
>   I have taken these quotes from pages xxvii. 
>    
>   En los ultimos años del siglo muchos de los hijos y nietos de
conquistadores estaban reducidos a la miseria. Formaban o pretendian
formar una especie de aristocracia que desdeñaba todo comercio,
granjeria o trabajo honesto y faltandoles ya las encomiendas, se
alampaban a los empleos con tal furia que no dejaban respirar a los
virreyes y aun sofocaban a la corte con diluvio de memoriales y
relaciones de meritos.
>    

Alicia,

I have read the same type of thing/behavior in books in English,
specifically in "Miners and Merchants in Bourbon Mexico, 1763-1810" by
D.A. Brading (Cambridge University Press). The gachupines would be
willing to work but their offspring would consider themselves
self-styled nobility. This must have gone on for centuries as
successive waves of Spanish immigrants came to Mexico; authors have
argued that it is one of