February 11, 2014

Basques in the Americas From 1492 to 1892: A Chronology
Last Names of Nuevo Leon

The eBook "Basques in the Americas From 1492 to 1892: A Chronology" by Stephen T. Bass provides a chronological timeline of many of the Basques in the Americas including Mexico.

For example, he lists all the known soldiers that were Basques that under the command of Hernan Cortez and Panfilo de Narvaez. Overall Mexico is mentioned 312 times in this eBook, this just goes to tell you that many of the names mentioned settled in Mexico and thus they may be your ancestors.

As per Wikipedia, the Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay, and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories. As you conduct your Mexican genealogy research you will inevitably come across one or two ancestors that can be traced back to this Basque region of Northern Spain.

A short excerpt from the book Basques in the Americas From 1492 to 1892:

The Basques have been a successful minority for centuries, keeping their unique culture, physiology and language alive and distinct longer than any other Western European population. In addition, outside of the Basque homeland, their efforts in the development of the New World were instrumental in helping make the U.S., Mexico, Central and South America what they are today. Most history books, however, have generally referred to these early Basque adventurers either as Spanish or French. Rarely was the term “Basque” used to identify these pioneers. Recently, interested scholars have been much more definitive in their descriptions of the origins of these Argonauts. They have identified Basque fishermen, sailors, explorers, soldiers of fortune, settlers, clergymen, frontiersmen and politicians who were involved in the discovery and development of the Americas from before Columbus’ first voyage through colonization and beyond. This also includes generations of men and women of Basque descent born in these new lands.

 Cover of eBook "Basques in the Americas From 1492 to 1892: A Chronology":

Get a Copy of Basques in the Americas From 1492 to 1892

This book is freely available and you can download your copy by clicking the link below. I highly recommend that you download it and save it since you never know when you may need it.

Here Are Other Great Books That May Interest You

Hispanic American Genealogical Sourcebook

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The 7th We Are Cousins Virtual Genealogy Conference Took Place September 11-13, 2024


About the author 

Moises Garza

I have doing my family genealogy since 1998. I am also the creator of this blog Mexican Genealogy, and my personal blog We Are Cousins. To always be up to date with both of these sites follow me on facebook. To contact me or book me for a presentation, buy my books, and or learn more about me visit my personal website at www.moisesgarza.com.

Books to Help You Grow Your Family Tree

Benavides-Last-Names-of-Nuevo-Leon
Garza-Last-Names-of-Nuevo-Leon
Gonzalez-Last-Names-of-Nuevo-Leon
Villarreal Last Names of Nuevo leon

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  1. I’m getting a “The requested URL /pdf/Basque Chronology.pdf was not found on this server.” error message when I tried to download.

    1. Unfortunately it seems that the website that was hosting it has removed it. Sorry for the bad timimg, wish I could do something about it but I can’t. Will try yo contact author to see if I can redistribute the copy that I have.

      1. Having same problem….hope you have luck in reinstating the book…or at least would like to
        know how/where I could buy it..?

        Thank you

  2. looking for records from the Basque country around the town/city of Laredo Spain. I understand Laredo is in the Santender region. The Last names are Garcias and Velasquez. Immigrated to the new Spain in Nevo Larado or Laredo Texas.

  3. Are there any passenger lists or Spanish
    Registers that would list names of
    the Spaniards or Basques migrating to Mexico
    or traveling to Mexico while serving in the Spanish army? 1492 to …….?
    Thanks
    Grand Father’s name was :
    Jose Maria Lascon

    1. My great grandfather was Jose Maria Lascon and his wife Maria Herrera. They were from Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico. The family lived in Texas around 1917 and was recorded on 1920 US Census in Plantersville, TX and later came to Richmond, Missouri on the 1930 census and later settled in Minnesota and last Kansas City. Look for me on the Mexico genealogy site. We may be related

  4. Thanks Moises – I'm sure I've seen this post in the past but I never really dove into the ebook.

    Certainly the author states that this is not a thorough review (and that would be amazing, no?). Given that I am of Basque descent – and certainly I don't have a true Basque surname, although I can trace my patrilineal line in Vizcaya into the late 1500's – this topic greatly interests me.

    A couple of books I would also like to share:
    Los vascos en el México decimonónico, 1810-1910 and Vasconavarros en México, both by Jesús Ruiz de Gordejuela Urquijo (in Spanish).

    In addition, one of the first governors of Baja California was Fernando de la Toba y Ortiz de Arzabe. He was a 1st cousin of my 4th great grandmother, was born in Vizcaya in 1774 and arrived in Alta California as a cadet in the Spanish military in 1800. There are tons of his descendants living in Baja California and California and the southwest. There's a movie that's currently being produced about his life: https://www.fatherofthecalifornias.com/.

    Lastly, a 3rd cousin of mine was the author of the famous Origin of the Surnames Garza and Treviño – Tomas Mendirichaga Cueva. His paternal side was mostly Basque, with his grandfather's uncles arriving in Nuevo Leon in the mid-1800's. I believe his Treviño and Garza interest was through his mother (but I have not been able to read the book yet).

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