According to archeologists, the early history of New Mexico dates to settlements made as far back as 25,000 years ago. When Spain first explored the territory in 1540, many Native American tribes lived within its borders. The first Hispanic settlement was established in 1598. Spanish and later Mexican rule in New Mexico lasted until 1846 when the United States declared war on Mexico. In 1850 New Mexico became a US Territory. Statehood was granted in 1912.
Since the sixteenth century, many non-indigenous people have settled in New Mexico. Prior to the Civil War, the dominant group of new settlers were Hispanic including Crypto-Jews. By the late 1860s, Black Americans settlers and Buffalo Soldiers began to arrive along with French, German, Greek, Italian, and Jewish immigrants; Los Árabes from the Middle East; and South African Boers. The state also is home to three Apache tribes, the Navaho Nation, and nineteen Pueblo tribes. Research in New Mexico author Karen Stein Daniel, CG, offers readers a detailed guide of where and how to find records of these people.
Karen Daniel, CG, is the author or co-author of nineteen books on genealogy and family history including six compiled genealogies, and was co-author of the “New Mexico” chapter in the third edition of Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, published by Ancestry. From 2000–2006, Karen served as editor of the New Mexico Genealogical Society’s New Mexico Genealogist. She is the recipient of NGS’s Award of Merit (1994) and the Historical Society of New Mexico’s Lansing B. Bloom Award on behalf of the New Mexico Genealogical Society (2005).