Please discuss information on any Terlingua family by posting a comment here, especially on families that we have not yet posted.

We want to encourage you to tell us what you want to share.  Post a comment here on anything you want to discuss.

We welcome you to discuss the Chavarría family. Tell us:
Stories about family members.
Who should be added to the Familias entries.
Corrections.  Additions.
Whatever you want about the Chavarría family.
Click here to go to the earliest known Chavarría of this lineage, Pio Chavarría.

This is the place to discuss the Franco families. 

Franco History
It may end up that over time we will find that the Four or Five Franco lineages are all part of one Franco family but today no one knows how they are all related.  There are the descendents of Crispín Franco from Coyame, Chihiuahua; the descendents of Domingo Franco from  Shafter, Texas;  The descendents of Francisco Franco from Terlingua; and more recently in 2012 we encountered Franco's who are now scattered in the West but descend from the Colonel in the Spanish army, Antonio Franco, who came from Spain in the early 1800's  and settled in a large hacienda in San Pablo Meoqui.

Today there are Franco's who trace back to Coyame, which is not far from Meoqui.  Perhaps they are related.  The Coyame Franco's are descendent's of Crispín Franco and have a strong presence in Pecos, Texas and have had family reunions in Colorado City, Texas.

The descendents of Francisco franco have an oral tradition that the Franco's came from Spain in 1802 and settled shortly after that in San Pablo,​ Meoqui,​ Chihuahua,​ Mexico.  There are some family members who remember a photo of Franciscio in military attire with "El Coronel Franco" written on the photo.  He may have been in the Mexican army.  Maybe being in the military was a family tradition. 



There are records of many Franco's in Meoqui in the 1800's. This makes it seem likely that Francisco Franco may have been related to the Antonio Franco Lineage.  Since, Coyame is not very far from Meoqui on the way to Ojinaga and Presidio,  It would not seem far fetched to consider that Crispín Franco is related to the Meoqui Franco's.  How Domingo Franco is related to either the Coyame or the Meoqui Franco's is not known but Shafter is so close to Terlingua where Francisoc settled and not too far from Coyame either.

Please send information and photos of the Franco's.  Maybe we can unify them all in the future.

This is where anyone can post comments to discuss the Garcia family.  Who should be added to the Familias entries?  Corrections?  Additions? Stories about family members?  Whatever you want to discuss about this Terlingua family discuss it here.

This is where anyone can post comments to discuss the Villalba family.  Who should be added to the Familias entries.  Corrections?  Additions?  Stories about family members?

This is where anyone can post comments to discuss the Ybarra family.  Who should be added to the Familias entries?  Corrections?  Additions? Stories about family members?

We were on vacation for about a week.  I am happy to report that new material for Familias de Terlingua continued to come in during our absence.  We will be updating Familias de Terlingua daily so you can enjoy all the new material. 

Check every time you visit Familias de Terlingua on the first page of Familias de Terlingua.  The right hand column called "What's New" will tell you of the additions and other changes as they happen so you can find new things easily.

Thank  you all of our Contributors for making the first week of Familias de Terlingua's existence so successful.  So much has happened since we started posting on September 29, 2009, it seems to us like Familias de Terlingua has been around a lot longer.  We are off to an incredibly fast start. 

 We update you on changes on the upper right hand corner of the first page so you know what is new.  We will be on vacation for about a week and not have internet access.  So we will not update Familias de Terlingua until we return. 

We have added a page, Libros de Terlingua, that has three books that some contributors have told us were of interest to them.  They have links to Amazon.com so that if you decide to buy them through the link you will become a contributor to Familias de Terlingua to help defray the costs we incur. 

But selling books is not the main purpose of Familias de Terlingua.  So the main purpose of the page is to create awareness of other sources of information relating to Terlingua.  You may decide to check the books out of the library.

By the way Juan Manuel Casas, the author of one of those books shown on the page has posted a comment in the Family Discussions.  Check it out.

Note that it is the intention of Familias de Terlingua not to take stands on issues but rather to provide a forum where they can surface and inform us all.  So we welcome Juan Manuel Casas' thoughts on how Terlingua history has been presented.  If you get curious enough, read his book and tell us what you think.

By using this Web site, Familias de Terlingua, you can find out who was the first post master of Castolon, Texas.  Enter a comment here telling us who it was when you discover it.

We are happy to report that we are overwhelmed with information to add to Familias de Terlingua.  But keep it coming.

We are trying to update it as quickly as we can.  Since Familias de Terlingua is new we are still experimenting with the structure to try to make it easy and intuitive to use.  As the format stabilizes it will be easier to maintain.  

We have more plans to improve Familias de Terlingua but want to get the basics going first.  We will be updating the pages that currently exist so come back and revisit them often as they probable have something new or different. 

We have just added a poll to Familias de Terlingua which will allow us to incorporate your opinions better. 

Please respond to this posting by clicking on the "Comment(s)" above right and suggest future poll questions.  Or point out errors that you have found.
Thank you

I fondly remember visiting with my aunts and uncles in Fort Stockton when I was growing up as they would excitedly relive the old days when they lived in Terlingua.  My father had an excellent memory, and I can still hear my aunt Juanita  asking him questions that had words like " …vivían ayá por la Coyota," "Chisos," "Castolon" ... and his answers would have words like "los Villaba," "mi padrino Goyo," "El Bo'."

I was too young to think too much about it then, but as I grew older their excitement stayed in my mind, and I began to feel that I had missed out on something special and exciting.  Trying to gain understanding and insight into this wonderful world they had lived in led me to some interesting discussions with my parents, as well as my aunts and uncles.  Although I got a rough idea, in spite of the answers they gave me, their times and lives seemed to be just beyond my grasp.

As I see the younger generations I wish I knew more so I could share this excitement with them.  As I attempt to share my meager knowledge with them, I realize how little I know; and I appreciate immensely when anyone shares a story or shows me a picture.  I especially appreciate my aunt Rita Sanchez nee Franco who lives in Fort Stockton for sharing and even giving me wonderful pictures from those days.

For me, this is a part time interest that soon wanes and dies only to be reborn when triggered by an old picture, or an email about a book on Terlingua.  But I have friends and relatives who are much more dedicated to this quest.  In my own family my cousin, Maria Louisa Madrid of New Mexico, has done an incredible job of documenting those lives.  She has this excitement.  She has recently shared documents and stories that have moved me to create this Web site.  Thank you, Louisa.

Everyone is welcome to share stories, family trees (complete or incomplete), photos, and other documents about their own families from the Big Bend area.  I would love to see many different families having their family pages here so we could all be enriched by their memories.

Antonio S. Franco

Click on the red word "Comments" above right to start sharing. It's very simple.  It will be similar to sending email except that it will be posted here so others can also see what you contributed.