Background Sources for New Mexico
This entry was originally written by Karen Stein Daniel, CG and Margaret Windham for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
The newest and most definitive genealogical guide for New Mexico researchers is:
- Daniel, Karen Stein. Genealogical Resources in New Mexico. 2d ed. Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 2002. Offers researchers a comprehensive discussion and bibliography for the state and provides detailed information on repositories, record groups and collections, and societies.
For historical background, the most definitive sources are:
- Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530'1888. San Francisco: History Publishing, 1888.
- Twitchell, Ralph Emerson. The Leading Facts of New Mexican History. 2 vols. 1911. Reprint. Albuquerque: Horn and Wallace, 1963.
An overview of the state can be obtained by using the extensive bibliography of:
- Beck, Warren A. New Mexico: A History of Four Centuries. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1962.
Other useful sources include:
- Lamar, Howard Robert. The Far Southwest, 1846'1912: A Territorial History. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1966.
- Myers, Christine. New Mexico Local and County Histories: A Bibliography. Albuquerque: New Mexico Library Association, 1983.
- Roberts, Calvin A., and Susan A. Roberts. A History of New Mexico. Revised edition. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1991.
- Simmons, Marc. New Mexico: An Interpretive History. 1977. Reprint. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988.
- Twitchell, Ralph Emerson. The Spanish Archives of New Mexico. 2 vols. 1914. Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1976.
- Tyler, Daniel. Sources for New Mexican History, 1821'1848. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1984.
Those with Hispanic heritage will also want to consult:
- Chávez, Fray Angélico. Origins of New Mexico Families: A Genealogy of the Spanish Colonial Period. Revised. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1992.
- Esquibel, José Antonio, and John B. Colligan. The Spanish Recolonization of New Mexico: An Account of the Families Recruited at Mexico City in 1693. Albuquerque: Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico, 1999.
- Platt, Lyman D. Hispanic Surnames and Family History. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996.
- Ryskamp, George R. Finding Your Hispanic Roots. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1997.
- Ryskamp, George R. Tracing Your Hispanic Heritage. Riverside, Calif.: Hispanic Family History Research, 1984.
