Hola! I'm Josefina
Aren't my new camisa and skirt pretty? Tia Judy's friend Carol made them for me!
![[Josefina in her new camisa and skirt made by Judy's friend Carol Barsi]](waving.jpg)
Josefina Montoya
Here are some places where you can find out more about the way my family lived in Santa Fe in 1824!
Please bookmark this page before you follow any of these links, so that you can come back whenever you want!
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El Rancho de las Golondrinas
"The Ranch of the Swallows" near Santa Fe is a ranch that dates back to Spanish colonial times. Many of the buildings have been restored or rebuilt, and the ranch is now a museum. People dress up in clothing like the original families who lived there, and re-enact the daily life of those times. You can see a photo of this museum in Book One of Josefina's story. If you look at their website, you can click on any of the pictures for a larger view.
A Book about Daily Life
Coronado's Land: Colonial New Mexico, by Marc Simmons, is a collection of fascinating short essays on daily life in the centuries before Josefina's day. Understanding what went before can help you see some of the reasons that the Montoya family lived the way they did.
These articles are easy to read (maybe a little harder than the Josefina books, but not much) and answer some questions you might have, like -- what did they use for ink? did they have bathrooms? what about the Indians? The author also includes some articles on how a historian finds out about life so long ago, for example, by studying old documents like wills and military reports.
Marc Simmons was one of the advisors for the Josefina books (see the list inside the back cover). The book is ISBN 0-8263-1702-2.
Some Historical Events
A Timeline of New Mexico History from an association of New Mexico museums will help you see what interesting times Josefina lived in.
And here's an Animated Map of the United States, showing how our country grew, state by state and territory by territory.
Notice the years in green writing up by the Great Lakes--can you see what year Josefina's area became part of the United States? What year New Mexico took the shape it has today?
A Map from Josefina's Day
The University of Arizona has a Map of Mexico from 1825. This map is the earliest known map of Mexico after it won its independence from Spain in 1822 (when Josefina was six years old). If you click on the map you will get a very big picture of it, but be patient -- it will take a long time to download!
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