Heritage News

Mission 2000 Project

Rudecinda (Cindy) Lo Buglio 
Publications' Chairman, Los Californianos

To quote directly from the Mission 2000 Home Page, http://www.nps.gov/tuma/M2000.html, 
"Mission 2000 is a searchable database of Spanish mission records of the Pimería Alta (southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico) containing baptisms, marriages, and burials from the late seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century.  Please read the two paragraph introduction for an understanding of the kind of material which is contained within the Mission 2000 database.

A group of dedicated researchers, led by Donald T. Garate, Interpretative Historian at Tumacacori National Historical Park, http://www.nps.gov/tuma/, have been extracting and entering pertinent information from the extant mission registers of the aforementioned areas into the Mission 2000 database. 

Several years ago, Don Garate led a group of Los Californianos' members on a tour of Sonora, Sinaloa, and Arizona and, while visiting San Miguel de Horcasitas, a tremendous discovery was made. They found books in a scrap pile on the floor in the sacristy of the church. These were the heretofore unidentified registers of the Mission. Arrangements were naturally made to have them microfilmed and, unfortunately, fell through a couple of times, but finally they were successfully copied by the Mormon Church, and are now available by loan to the Family History Centers.   Many of the records from Horcasitas have been transcribed and translated, and the information was added to the database of the Mission 2000 Web site.  They can be accessed by entering “Horcasitas” in the Event Place box in the  Event Information section of the Searchable Spanish Mission Records page at:  http://data2.itc.nps.gov/tuma/search.cfm.  

The surname help page includes information about variant spellings of many of our Alta California families, including a familiar Anza Expedition family –there are at least 21 different ways that Albizu is spelled in the original documents: “Albizu, Albiso, Albisso, Albisu, Albissu, Arbiso, Arbisso, Arbisu, Arbissu, Arbizo, Arbizu, Alviso, Alvisso, Alvisu, Alvissu, Arviso, Arvisso, Arvisu, Arvissu, Arvizo, Arvizu."

Since the project began, thousands of entries have been extracted from original Mexican records and added to Mission 2000, and also can be accessed through the search engines found on the Web site listed in the previous paragraph:  http://data2.itc.nps.gov/tuma/search.cfm.    In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to .    In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to In addition to using the search engine for genealogical and historical records, you will find priceless information listed in the Help Area, which will open up new areas of research for you—in many cases you will even be led to facsimiles of the original documents, as well as to information about surnames, place names, tips for reading Spanish language documents, to name but a few of the lessons available on this Web site.  In these records you will find many ties to Anza Expedition members, with leads to branches of the same families, who did not answer the call to California.

The first entry below concerns the parents of the last child (of eight live births) born during the Anza Expedition, who was often called the "Christmas Babe," (Salvador Ignacio Linares--I can hear Judge José de Larios talking about his "Uncle Sal" every time I see his name). This entry was extracted and translated from the San Miguel de Horcasitas register: 
"On July 18, [1770], I married and veiled in ecclesiastical matrimony, the necessary marriage banns having preceded, -- Ignacio Linares and María Gertrudis de Ribas --. Witnesses were Féliz Robledo and Don Antonio de Ribera, and I sign == Bachiller Joseph Nicolas de Messa" 

The two Alviso entries which were extracted and translated from the San Miguel de Horcasitas registers are:
"On the said day [May 1, 1770] I provided ecclesiastical burial in the same place [beneath the choir loft] with low cross for María Josepha, infant daughter of Domingo Albisso and Angela Trexo and I sign == Bachiller Joseph Nicolas de Messa"
"In the village of San Miguel de Horcasitas on the twelfth of the month of December of 1763, I, the Bachiller Don Miguel Joseph de Arenibar, designated priest, benefactor for His Majesty, vicar and ecclesiastic judge of this Province of Sonora, provided ecclesiastical burial for the body of Santiago, Spaniard and infant son of Domingo Albizu and Angela Trexo, with the low cross beneath the choir loft, and for this truth I signed == Miguel Josef de Arenibar" 

 It takes a great deal of time to extract and post each entry, and I believe the hours put in on the project are strictly volunteer and squeezed into what are unbelievably busy schedules by those involved, but yet each week a little more is added to the Mission 2000 database. Be sure to visit it regularly for the continuing update. What you are looking for may not be there today, but somewhere down the line it may possibly be added.