Baca family of New Mexico

The progenitors of the Baca family of New Mexico were Cristóbal Baca and his wife Ana Ortiz. Cristóbal was a military captain who arrived in 1600 with his family in order to help reinforce the colony. At the time, he had three grown daughters and a small son. The Bacas had another son while living in New Mexico. [Chávez, Fray Angélico, "Origins of New Mexico Families: A Genealogy of the Spanish Colonial Period, rev. ed." (Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico, 1992) p. 9]

Family history

Cristóbal, the son of Juan de Vaca, was born in Mexico City circa 1567. His wife, also from that city, was the daughter of Francisco Pacheco. Their children that came with them from Mexico City were Juana de Zamora, Isabel de Bohórquez, Maria de Villanueva and Antonio Baca. Of the daughters, Juana married Simón Perez de Bustillo, Isabel was the wife of Pedro Durán y Chaves, and Maria married Simón de Abendaño. [ Chávez, "Origins of New Mexico Families’", p. 9-10.]

Antonio Baca was born circa 1600. He was married to Yumar Pérez de Bustillo who was born c.1591. They had three daughters: Gertudris, who married Antonio Jorge; Ana, who married Francisco López de Aragón, and Antonia, who was the wife of Antonio de Albizu. It does not appear that Antonio had any sons to carry on the Baca name. Antonio was executed on 21 July 1643 for treason against the colonial government. [ Chávez, "Origins of New Mexico Families,", p. 10.]

Alonzo Baca was apparently the younger brother of Antonio. Although he took part in the same conspiracy that resulted in his brother's death, Alonzo survived the affair. He may have had at least one son, another Cristóbal Baca. It appears that the Baca surname may have continued through Alonzo’s progeny. [ "Chávez, Origins of New Mexico Families", p. 10.]

The Pueblo Revolt occurred in 1680. Subsequently, many Spanish families fled New Mexico as refugees. When the Spaniards re-conquered New Mexico in 1693, Manuel Baca and his family were among those who returned to Santa Fe. Manuel was born c. 1653 and was the son of the second Cristóbal Baca. Manuel apparently had at least eight children with his wife Maria de Salazar. After arriving in New Mexico, they soon began living on land in Bernalillo previously owned by Manuel‘s father. [ Chávez, "Origins of New Mexico Families", p. 141.]

The Cabeza de Baca family

The Cabeza de Baca Family is an offshoot of the Baca Family. The progenitor of this family is Luis María Cabeza de Baca. He was born as Luis Maria Baca on 26 October, 1754, the oldest son of Juan Antonio Baca and Maria Romero. He had over 20 children by three different wives. [ Chávez, "Origins of New Mexico Families", p. 152.] The Cabeza de Baca family are often known by the abbreviated surnames of either C. de Baca or de Baca.

Continuing research

Recently, researchers discovered documents that may shed light on Cristóbal Baca’s ancestry. It must be noted that these are just promising leads, and should not be taken as absolute proof.

As mentioned before, Juan de Vaca was the father of Cristóbal Baca. Baptismal records were discovered for three children of a certain Juan Baca and Juana de Zamora. These baptisms took place in the 1560s and 1570s, around the same time that Cristóbal was purported to have been born. Since one of Cristóbal’s daughters was named Juana de Zamora, it is argued that she may have been named after her paternal grandmother and thus this couple are Cristóbal’s parents. It was not unusual for a Spanish child at that time to given the surname, if not the full name, of a grandparent.

It is further argued that a certain Cristóbal Vaca and Mayor Díaz may have been the parents of Juan de Vaca. A baptismal record from 1540 shows this couple as the parents of Baltazar Vaca. This couple could have easily been one generation younger than Juan, and therefore could have also been his parents. [“Baca - Promising Lead” at [http://pages.prodigy.net/bluemountain1/bonmf8.htm Beyond Origins: Volume 8] ] For further information about this research, visit the [http://pages.prodigy.net/bluemountain1/beyondorigins.htm Beyond Origins] website.

Possible origin of the Baca surname

The surname "Baca" is often assumed to be a variation of the name "Cabeza de Vaca." Cabeza de Vaca means "head of a cow" in Spanish. There are two possible origins of this name:

* A Spanish shepherd Martin Alhaja was given the name by the Castilian King Alfonso VIII. In 1212 Alhaja placed a cow skull on the road that led to the victory of the Spanish king over the Moors at the battle of Navas de Tolosa in Andalusia. He was awarded a coat-of-arms that included cow skulls in its design.

* A Spanish knight by the name of Fernan Ruiz distinguished himself in a victory over the Moors at Córdoba in 1235. For his services, the king added Cabeza de Vaca to Ruiz's name. This name was taken from the area that the knight was born. Research into the Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca's genealogy indicates that a number of his ancestors and other relatives had the name Fernan Ruiz. [Beerman, Dr. Eric, “The Ancestors of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza be Vaca” in "The Louisiana Genealogical Register", June, 1988: Vol. XXXV, No. 2, 101-110.]

Genealogical misconceptions

The Ortiz/Pacheco line

Some researchers have discovered an erroneous link between Crístobal Baca’s wife Ana Ortíz and Cristopher Columbus, among others. As noted previously, Ana Ortíz was the daughter of one Francisco Pacheco. At least three separate articles published in genealogical journals have identified this man as Francisco Pacheco de Cordóva. [Beerman, “The Ancestors of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza be Vaca”; Jaskolski, Ernie, “The Francisco Vasquez Coronado Connection to New Mexico Descendants” in "The New Mexico Genealogist", September 1995: Vol. XXXIV, No. 3; and, Sanchez, Ernest J., “Beyond Origins of New Mexico Families: The Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus), Francisco Vásquez Coronado, and Francisco Enriques (Duque de Alburquerque) Connection to Doña Ana María Ortiz” in "Herencia", January 1999: Vol. 7, issue 1] Not only have researchers found that Pacheco de Córdova had an impressive lineage, but so did his wife Juana de la Cueva y Toledo Colón.

Ana Ortíz has also been shown to related to the famed explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and Francisco Enriques, the Duke of Alburquerque. [ Sanchez, “Beyond Origins: Crístobal Colón, et al.”] The problem with this finding is that Francisco Pacheco de Córdova, and assumedly his wife, would have been too young to have been the parents of Ana Ortíz. Pacheco was born in 1573. Ana Ortíz’s daughter Isabel de Bohórquez was born circa 1586. Therefore, Pacheco would have been only 13 years older than the woman who would supposedly have been his granddaughter. [Esquibel, Jose Antonio, “The Baca-Ortiz Family and Don Francisco Pacheco de Córdoba y Bocanegra: Otra Vez” in [http://pages.prodigy.net/bluemountain1/bacaortiz.htm Beyond Origins of New Mexico Families] .]

Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca

One assumption is that famed Spanish explorer Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca was an ancestor of Juan de Vaca and, consequently, Cristóbal Baca. In 1988, Dr. Eric Beerman reviewed the research that had been done on Cabeza de Vaca, and did not discover any information that this explorer had any direct descendants. However, he did not completely rule out that possibility. [Beerman, “The Ancestors of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza be Vaca”, p.112.] Another researcher, George C' de Baca, did extensive research but was unable to find a connection between the New Mexico Baca family and the Cabeza de Vaca family in Spain. However, it is still generally assumed that the Baca surname originated from this noble family. [C' de Baca, George, "More on the Cabeza de Vaca Debate," in Herencia, October 1999: Volume 7, issue 4, pp. 51-52.]

Family members of note

* Elfego Baca, frontier personality
* Ezequiel C. De Baca, former governor of the State of New Mexico
* Fabiola Cabeza de Baca, author
* Jim R. Baca, former Albuquerque, New Mexico mayor
* Jimmy Santiago Baca, poet
* Joe Baca, U.S. Representative from California - born in Belen, New Mexico
* Judy Baca, artist
* Antonio C. de Baca, writer, PEN American Center, Honorable Mention.
* Lee Baca L.A. County Sheriff
* Lieutenant General Edward D. Baca, U.S. Army.
* Joe D. Baca,Corporate Executive, Justin Industries
* [Reverend Father Joe R. Baca III, Catholic priest

Places named after the Baca family

* Baca County, Colorado
* Baca Ranch in Colorado
* Baca Ranch in New Mexico
* Baca National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado
* Bacaville, New Mexico
* De Baca County, New Mexico
* Trinidad, Colorado - named after Trinidad Baca
* Vacaville, California

Footnotes

Further reading

Fray Angélico Chávez, , rev. ed." (Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico, 1992)