In northern New Mexico trades that were once a badge of honor have disappeared. The demise of certain types of labor actually began in 1820 with the start of the Industrial Revolution. Since then numerous jobs that required manual labor are now done by machines. Families from the European Middle Ages brought their trades and craftsmanship of several generations to the new world. One such clan was the Pacheco family. Pacheco Street, Santa Fe’s busy thoroughfare is named for José de la Cruz Pacheco. Along with his three sons, Andrés, Martín and Hijenio they made their living as carniceros. In the 1920s they operated a slaughter house where Penn Road is located today. At that location they killed and processed cows, sheep, goats, and the occasional buffalo.
Genesis of Pacheco Street
The Pacheco family settled in the area of Cruz de la Cañada, about 20 miles north of Santa Fe. The progenitor of this family, Ignacio Pacheco married María Margarita Martín in 1739 at the church in Santa Cruz. The couple had six children. One of their sons, Antonio Alejandro Pacheco, married María Serafina Quintana, the couple’s son José de la Cruz was born in 1842. In 1867 José de la Cruz and his brother, José María Esquípula married two sisters of the Rodríguez family, María Agapita and María Casimira, respectively and moved to Santa Fe. They settled on land that is now part of Pacheco Street. The land was awarded to the Rodríguez family as a Spanish land grant from King Philip V in 1740. José de la Cruz Pacheco and his wife Agapita had three sons before his untimely death; while he was digging a well a boulder fell and killed him. Their 14 of their grandsons worked as butchers through much of the last century.