april 2017 - san elizariosanelizariogenealogy.com/san eliz newsletter april 2017.pdfapril 2017...

APRIL 2017

Presidents Message

Hello Members, We are off to a good start this year. Membership is up, Visitors to the museums are up, and we have kicked off some of our events for the year. Our biggest event this year will be the 26th Annual Conference and our new Annual Rio Grande Festival. We have over 35 speakers from along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro that will visit us this month to speak at the conference. We will have var-ious performers like a youth orchestra from Santa Barbara, Chihuahua to a youth theatre group from San Isidro, Chihuahua that will perform as well at the festival. Be sure to put it on your schedule. We had a historic 700+ visitors to the Portales Museum in March. Don’t forget, we always could use some volunteers hours to help man the muse-ums. Contact Cathe Apodaca at the Portales if you’d like to sign-up. We continue to promote Historic San Elizario internationally with our brochures, social media, and personal trips. We also had our Volunteer Appreciation Potluck last month. It was well attended. I would like to see more members at our monthly meetings, they are held on the first Sunday of every month unless posted. Be sure to let others know that the newsletter is available online on our website. Thank you for a great quarter! Don’t forget to pay your dues!! Al Borrego

SEGHS April Newsletter

SAN ELIZARIO GENEALOGY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

PARK AT SAN ELIZARIO, TEXAS—1939

A memoir by Gloria Teresita Salazar Estrada

I have a picture of a park near our home in San Elizario, now called Memorial Placita,

which brought back memories of my life there. In this picture there are five children.

We were playing and were photographed next to a bush to the left of Los Portales. In

the background is the “Kiosko”, now named Memorial Plaza. The San Elizario Mission,

now named the Presidio Chapel, faced our home, Salazar Hall, now named the Ochoa

Store.

My grandparents, Joaquin (Papaquin), addressed as Don Joaquin by the town people

and Josefa (Chata) Montes Salazar lived there and owned the whole corner property.

My parent, Jose Gustave (Tavo) and Sarah Hall Salazar lived there with their children.

My brother, Jose Fernando (Pookie) Salazar, Roberto Salazar (RIP), Gloria Teresita Sal-

azar (me), and my youngest brother, Joaquin Gustavo (Pipin) Salazar were all born

there. The baby of the family, Nancy Ruth Salazar, was born in El Paso, Texas, while

we were still living in San Eli.

Note:

I was told when I was just a toddler, I couldn’t say the name Papa Joaquin, so I called him “Papaquin”. Also, when Joaquin was born I was only two years old and couldn't say Joaquin, so I called him “Pipin” and that’s what he was called by friends and family for most of his younger years. I still call him that. I have many happy memories about our life there. My grandparents were very respect-

ed and a big part of the history of that town. They owned all the property (Salazar

Hall), now known as the Ochoa store. That corner property had our three room home

facing Glorietta Road, to the right of our home was the bar. Around the corner and fac-

ing Main Street, was a restaurant; a billiard hall; a saguan (portal); and a dance hall.

Toward the back of this “L” shaped property, was the “rebote” court, all owned and oc-

cupied by our grandparents and our family. This formed a large area with the buildings

forming a safe area from the local Indians when they decided to raid our town.

My grandmother, Mamanie, used to raise chickens and had a cow for our use. One year

when the hens had chicks, she gave Pookie and me, each twelve baby chicks. We were

supposed to feed and water them. We used to play with them and sometimes, by acci-

dent, they would get stepped on as we played and they would die. We used to go to



(Cont’d)

funerals and watch the ceremonies, so we decided that we should bury the baby chicks

that had died. We used match boxes lined with soft cotton and laid them in there. We

would dig a little hole and place the match box in it. As we were taught, we said a

prayer, shed some tears, and covered it with dirt. Pookie would make a cross with

some match sticks and place them on the grave in our backyard. One day, Mamanie

happened upon our little cemetery and asked what that was. We told her, and she nev-

er gave us any more baby chicks, but she never punished us. (She used to pretend to

hit us by using her handkerchief as a belt. She was a very tender and loving grand-

mother)

Our home was the social place where all the farmers and their families from the outly-

ing farms came on the weekends to buy their supplies for the week. The women would

go to Lalo Madrid’s store to purchase the supplies. Once that was done they would visit

their friends and relatives that they hadn’t seen during the week.

The men would go into Papaquin’s bar, have a beer or two, visit with their friends, play

billiards, or handball, and eat at the restaurant run by a lady named Nieves, Margarita

Giron’s aunt. This was a day when they all came together, away from their chores and

to relax. The kids would play outside on the dirt street and yards of their friends and

families until they were called to head home.

There were may celebrations at Papaquin’s home and the whole town was always invit-

ed. If someone was having a hard time, my Papaquin would help them out with money

or food whatever was needed.

There are many other stories of living in San Eli that I remember and some of the pic-

tures that bring back these memories. Pookie wrote many stories about life there which

he passed on to me before he died. I have loved reading them. It has kept the time we

lived there fresh in my mind and heart. They were our childhood’s golden years, gone but not forgotten.

Gloria

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Veterans Talk Meetings: The San Elizario Veterans Committee meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm, at the Veterans Museum, 1501 Main Street. We want to see everyone there, especially new members. Remember, everyone is welcome to join and participate, veterans & non-veterans are welcome. There is no membership fee. Next meeting will be April 4, 2017. Museum Photos: There are many veterans and active duty individuals that have roots or ties to San Eli and have not provided an 8 x 10 photo of themselves to the Museum. Please, bring a photo with some brief information of the veteran or active duty person written on the back of the photo. We provide the frame. Easy as that. Memorial Bricks: We continue to sell memorial bricks in honor of veterans and active duty personnel, for placement on the memorial brick walk located outside the Veterans Museum. The cost of the brick is only $40. Applications can be obtained at the Veterans Museum or through our website. The bricks can be purchased for any veteran or active duty service mem-ber and does not need to have roots or ties to San Elizario. Bricks can be purchased for anyone. Museum Needs: We need volunteers to greet visitors, log them in, mention that we sell memorial bricks, that we do have a donation box and provide assistance as needed. If interested, con-tact Ray Borrego. Great opportunity for high school students to earn volunteer hours and help the community. Retirees are also welcome. Museum Donations: Anyone wishing to donate military memorabilia to the Veterans Museum may do so. Please indicate the name of the donor. All donations become the property of the Muse-um and will be displayed in accordance to space, appropriateness, and uniqueness. In Memoriam: Those Veterans we lost in 2017 Lawrence Dindinger, a WWII veteran. Ray Borrego, Chair, San Elizario Veterans Committee of SEGHS Phone: (915) 383-8529 Email: [email protected] Website: http//www.sanelizariogenealogy.com

From Around The State

Austin: News from Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin Corpus Christi: News from Spanish American Genealogical Association (SAGA) Harlingen: News from Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Genealogical Society Houston: News from Hispanic Genealogy Society of Houston Laredo: News from Villa De San Agustin - Laredo Genealogy Society San Antonio: News from Los Bexareños Genealogical And Historical Society Victoria: News from Victoria Hispanic Genealogical & Historical Society of Texas

This Section is dedicated to our sister Hispanic Genealogy Societies throughout the state. Thank You, LBGHS for providing the information

Other Genealogy News

Albuquerque: News From Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico

Albuquerque: News From New Mexico Genealogical Society

Pueblo: News From Genealogical Society of Hispanic America

St. Louis News From Center for French Colonial Studies

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Los Pistoleros de San Elizario The San Elizario Genealogy and Historical Society opens the museum daily, Tuesday through Sunday, to the general public and admission is free. The museum is staffed by knowledgeable volunteers that will offer additional information to visitors. The Pistoleros de San Elizario Reenactment troupe performs two free shows of the ‘Billy the Kid Breakout' every third Sun-day of the month, March through November, in front of the Jail.

Old El Paso County Jail Museum

1551 Main Street • San Elizario, Texas 79849 915-851-0093 / 915-851-1682 Regular Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10am - 2pm • Sunday: 10am - 4pm


https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tejano-Genealogy-Society-of-Austin

http://www.sagacorpuschristi.com/calendarofevents.htm

http://www.rgvhispanicgenealogicalsociety.com/

http://www.hispanicgs.com/

http://www.vsalgs.org/

http://www.losbexarenos.org/pubhome2.htm

http://www.vhghost.com/

http://www.hgrc-nm.org/

http://www.nmgs.org/

http://www.gsha.net/

http://www.frenchcolonialstudies.org/

San Elizario Genealogy & Historical Society

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1090 San Elizario, Texas 79849 Physical Address: 1521 San Elizario Rd. San Elizario, Texas

Phone #: 915-851-1682 • Fax #: 915-851-0045 Email: [email protected] • www.SanElizarioGenealogy.com


http://www.sanelizariogenealogy.com/

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