Ed, thanks so much for the article about the Camino Real. My mother was a Native of New Mexico, and I have driven that stretch from Northern New Mexico down to Las Cruces, El Paso and Juarez many times. How I wish I could follow that trail into Mexico, but the American Heritage article you sent made me feel like I had been across the border. My mothers Spanish ancestors, the Marquez, were with Onate in 1598, as were my father's Olague ancestors. The Marquez stayed to settle in NM, but my father's high-tailed it back to Zacatecas as soon as they could get away from Onate. He was a ruthless man, but I guess they had to be.

The link for wikipedia you gave didn't work, but this one does;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_de_Onate

Emilie Garcia
Port Orchard, WA ----
----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Serros
To: research@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2007 9:41 PM
Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] Mary,

Mary,

Via personal email, you asked me more about Pánuco and I must comment on the Oñate family.

The Oñate family has everything to do with Pánuco, originally a great silver-producing pueblo. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crist%C3%B3bal_de_O%C3%B1ate for a summary of the Oñate family activities in Pánuco. Don Juan de Oñate “discovered” and named El Paso, Texas. More Don Juan, see http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/OO/upo2_print.html.

If you prefer Spanish, see http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_de_O%C3%B1ate for Don Juan de Oñate.

As is the case of many great mining cities, once the mines become depleted the inhabitants leave, hence a pueblo fantasma, which fairly much describes Pánuco today given descriptions I have had of the place presently and also conversations with people from Zacatecas.

I was in Zacatecas, Zacatecas two years ago and I unforgivably did not visit the town, or at least what is left of it. It is the part of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, see http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2004/2/2004_2_44.s…, which starts off with a discussion of Pánuco. The latter link is a delightful story of a journey on the El Camino Real.

I will also post this on the Ranchos site. For what it is worth, many of the Cerros (or Cerro or de Cerro or de Serro) are originally from Pánuco, or so it is said. There is a part of Páncuo called Casa de Cerro. I have not made any connections with my family and anybody in Pánuco, as of yet.

Ed Serros