SOZA FAMILY NEWSLETTER Vol. 2, No. 3 June 1994

1994 SOZA FAMILY REUNION Tempe, Arizona, Labor Day Weekend
THIS IS THE COUNTDOWN. Your reservations are needed now to ensure the committee ample time to prepare for your visit.

EMBASSY SUITES HOTEL - TEMPE 4400 South Rural Road, Tempe 85282
This is the Official Reunion Headquarters. A special group rate of $65. per suite (up to 4 persons) has been arranged. Use the enclosed reservation form or call 1-800-EMBASSY or 602-897-7444. Group rate deadline is August 1, 1994.
DINNER DANCE RESERVATIONS $30. per person. Live Band music.
Grand Ballroom / Foyer capacity limit is 350 persons. Do not be shut out. Send in your reservations now. Reservation deadline is August 1, 1994. By reservation only. No ticket sales.

CHILD CARE
A list of area licensed child care providers is being assembled.

COMMEMORATIVE COFFEE MUG $7. per mug.
A 9 oz. Fine Porcelain, with Reunion Logo and Soza Family Cattle Brands. Manufacturer's minimum order is 500. This is a major fund raiser, to offset union expenses. Send in your orders at once. Several weeks time is needed to manufacture. Failure to meet minimum will compel cancellation and refunds. This is a Collector's item in a limited edition. Buy an extra supply for business or Xmas gifts.

JOSE CISNEROS PEN & INK DRAWING $5. per poster board print
Famed El Paso artist's Beautiful rendition of Alferez Jose Maria Sosa on horse back in period uniform. Frame it and take pride in your heritage. Orders are needed to place a minimum order of 100 prints. Minimum failure compels cancellation and refunds.

SOSA, SOZA GENEALOGICAL FAMILY TREE $5. per poster board print
Replica of original 1975 drawing. Frame it and use it to create your own personalized family tree. Orders are needed to meet 100 print order. Minimum failure compels cancellation and refunds.

REUNION SCHEDULE, LOCATIONS, AND TIME. September 2, 3, 4 , 1994
Fri. 9/2 5 to 8 PM "No Host" Gathering Embassy Suites
Open Event
Sat 9/3 9 to 12 Noon Opening Ceremony Marley Center
Open Event AHS Museum
Sat 9/3 2 P.M. Soza Family Mass Mt. Camel
Open Event
Sat 9/3 5 to 7 P.M. No Host Reception Embassy Suites

Sat 9/3 7 PM Dinner Dance Embassy Suites
By Mail Reservation Only No Ticket Sales
Sun 9/4 Visit Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix
REUNION SUPPORTERS
Benefactor $150 to $200 Patron $100 to 149.
Donor $50 to $99 Contributor $25 to $49.

To finance the Reunion, four levels of supporters has been established. You are invited to offer your support. Names of all supporters will appear in the official commemorative program.

NAZARIO A. GONZALES, JR. - Tucson, Arizona
General Chairman 1975, 1982, 1990 and Treasurer since 1975 of the Soza Family Reunion Committee. "Charlie" as he is known to his friends has retired as Treasurer. A closing statement has been issued and all Tucson funds have been transferred to a new Soza Family Reunion bank account at Bank One, Tempe Town Center. Katherine Lee is the new Treasurer.

A debt of gratitude to Charlie for his many years of dedication and unselfish contributions on behalf of the Soza, Sosa families reunions. Charlie is a grandson of Antonio Campa Soza and Maria Jesus Moreno.

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
The earliest New World historical recorded date of any Sosa found by this researcher has been the name of Juan Alonzo Sosa (1527). The earliest genealogical recorded date is the birthplace and date of our common ancestor Alferez Jose Maria Sosa (1746) at Jecori, Sonora, along the Yaqui River.

The gap between 1746 and 1527 is only 219 years. Can future researchers close the gap and establish when the Sosa family came to the New World? When time permits, seeking the names of the parents of Jose Maria Sosa (1746) is one major task occupying this researcher.

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
This writer has long been intrigued and curious as to the circumstances in the 1740's, that placed the parents of our ancestor at Jecori, Sonora. Were they settler, mercantile, or military? Did they travel north along the Camino Real in the west, or along the cordillera to the east?

Perhaps they travelled south and west from New Mexico and Texas in the aftermath of the 1690 Pueblo Indian uprising at Santa Fe? In the early 1700's, the Sonora presidio forces were augmented by soldiers and settlers from New Mexico and Texas. Captain Juan Matheo Mange in his LUZ DE TIERRA INCOGNITA (1693-1721) carries an account of this migration. Unfortunately, very few were soldiers or settlers were named.

MORE HISTORICAL RESEARCH
The Homestead Act of 1862 and subsequent U.S. Land Laws provided upward mobility for many early Arizona settlers. It enabled the extended Soza family to settle the San Pedro River valley, and remain there for several decades. Below is a partial list below:
Name Homestead # Date Location Acres
Juan Soza 48 1878 18-1N-5E 80
Juan Soza Cash P. 218 1882 32-12S-19E 160
Michael McKenna 79 1879 2-5S-9E 80
Placido C Soza 183 1883 30-12S-19E 160
Tomas Mungia 932 1883 4-12S-19E 160
Nicolas C Soza 759 1887 29-12S-19E 120
Antonio C Soza 934 1888 30-12S-19E 160
Jesus M Mungia 1625 1891 4-13S-19E 40
Jose Soza 2564 1896 12-2S-5E
Rosuara M Soza 3 PHX 1911 29-12S-19E 120
Manuel M. Soza 495PHX 1906 4,5-13S-19E 119
Ricardo Apodaca 4525 1903 28-14S-20E 160
Juan Vijil 4338 1902 12-12S-18E 80

ARIZONA HISTORICAL CONVENTION, Casa Grande, AZ April 23, 1994
The 1994 Dr. James E. Officer Award of $300. was presented to Douglas E. Kupel for his paper: "TEMPE'S FIRST FAMILIES: SOZA, SOTELO, ELIAS." The paper sketches the activity of these three families, settling the Tempe area.

This the second of three awards sponsored by the Soza Family Reunion Committee. in honor of Dr. Officer, author of the borderland classic: Hispanic Arizona, 1536-1856, University of Arizona Press Tucson. Strongly recommended.

1994 SOZA REUNION COMMITTEE
Edward Soza _ General Chairman
Virginia L. Sanchez - Co-Chair
Katherine Lee - Treasurer
Henrietta Soza Aguilar - Recording Secretary
Theodore Duarte, Ramona Hernandez, William Lee, Roy A. Sosa, Robert J. Soza

Join me in thanking this superb group of volunteers who have dedicated themselves to putting on an outstanding family reunion.
The Reunion is an opportunity for all of us to invoke the memory of those brave and valiant souls that have gone on before us.
They have all left us a legacy, which we can all honor with great pride. Let us collectively commit to enhance that legacy, just as Ezekiel R. Soza did when he left his mark at Mount Soza, Antarctica.

Come, celebrate your heritage, legacy and pride with eight other branches of the Soza, Sosa families of Arizona.

To Assist the Reunion Committee
Please Check One
Your Branch of the Family

Michael McKenna (1836) and Manuela Sosa (1854)

Jesus Maria Mungia and Luisa Campa Soza (1825)

Antonio Campa Soza (1845) and Francisca Gastelum

Antonio Campa Soza (1845) and Mercedes Federico

Antonio Campa Soza (1845) and Maria Jesus Moreno (1855)

Placido Campa Soza (1846) and Mercedes Elias (1853)

Juan Soza (1851) and Jesus Maria Sotelo (1856)

Nicolas Campa Soza (1856) and Juana Borquez (1858)

Ignacio Sosa (1831) and Maria Gertrudes Elias 1837

Other Branches