Olivares

In Herbert E. Bolton’s book, Pageant in the Wilderness: The Story of the Escalante Expedition to the Interior Basin, 1776, the notables of the expedition are listed on page 11. Among them is a man named Lorenzo Olivares who was from El Paso del Rio del Norte. On page 5 of the book, The Dominguez-Escalante Journal: Their Expedition through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico in 1776, edited by Ted J. Warner and translated by fray Angélico Chávez, the journal entry makes mention of Lorenzo Olivares as being from “la Villa del Paso” with the footnote that no additional data have come to light concerning him. However, research by John B. Colligan and Terry L. Corbett presented in “A Guide to the 1788 and 1790 Censuses of El Paso del Norte Arranged Alphabetically and Listed to Indicate Possible Family Groupings” there are several references to a man named Lorenzo Olivares. It is quite likely that this is the same individual who participated in the historic Domínguez-Escalante expedition.

The following references to Lorenzo Olivares from Colligan and Corbett’s annotations were used to compile the following chronology:

25 November 1760— at the church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Paso del Rio del Norte, Lorenzo Olivares married Eugenia del Villar (Magdaleno, p.51 who gives the bride’s name as Herrera).

8 September 1761— Lorenzo Olivares and Eugenia Herrera baptized their daughter, Maria Rossalia Josepha, at church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Paso del Rio del Norte, born on 4 September.

September 26, 1762— Lorenzo Olivares and Eugenia Herrera baptized their son, Joseph Maurizio, at church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Paso del Rio del Norte, born on 22 September.

29 July 1776 – 3 January 1777— Lorenzo Olivares from La Villa de El Paso takes part as a member of the Domínguez-Escalante expedition.

1 July 1778— Lorenzo Olivares and Eugenia del Villar baptized their daughter, Juana Paula, at church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Paso del Rio del Norte, born on 26 June.

27 February 1786—at Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Church, José Olibares, son of Lorenzo Olibares and Eugenia del Villar, married María Josefa Luján, daughter of Manuel Luján, deceased, and Matiana Trujillo.

23 August 1793— From a diligencia matrimonial at Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Church for don Juan Antonio Velarde, age twenty-one, lieutenant in the militia, El Paso native and citizen, legitimate son of don Juan Antonio Velarde and doña Ana Maria Idalgo, and doña Maria Gertrudis Olibares, age twenty-one, El Paso native and citizen, legitimate daughter of don Lorenzo Olibares, deceased, and María Eugenia del Villar.

Researcher: Frank Domínguez

Sources: Cited in text. Also, Colligan and Corbett give credit to the following resource: Aaron Magdaleno, El Paso del Norte Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Marriage and Death Records, 1728-1775, Familia Ancestral Research Association, January 1998.