Film Relates Man's Search for Origins
Friday, July 15, 1983
by Dean Huber
THE LITERATURE of Mexico long held special interest for a California
State University, Sacramento, anthropologist whose forebears emigrated from there. But
there was always a nagging feeling the books were inaccurate.
So a couple of years ago, Robert Alvarez, his 9-year-old son in tow,
set upon an odyssey to find the truth and explore his roots.
The mission, an experience rich in oral history, will be shown tonight
in the documentary "The Trail North" on KVIE, Channel 6, at 9.
From their starting point In San Diego, father and son traveled 800
miles south in an off-road vehicle loaded with plenty of water. Alvarez was in search of
the village where it all began.
At the outset, Alvarez had only a slim lead -- a great-great-aunt in
San Diego with whom he had only a remote association. However, it was this aunt, Tia
Martina, who became a key link to his family.
Tia Martina told Alvarez he could find two aunts in Las Parras, and he
did. He was amazed to learn that both had lived for a time in the United States. Now, he
says, no one ever would know it. But it is not common for Mexicans to migrate north and
then go home again.
Roaming the Baja desert, Alvarez and his son were to find many, many
more relatives. All shared their personal stories and extended their hospitality.
Collectively, the stories created a rich genealogical tapestry.
In fact, Alvarez found that his own story was the story of the
Californias, he says. And he feels Luis, his son, will retain "a lasting impression
of who he is and where he came from."
Alvarez himself was most impressed by the missions. The Spaniards
landed in Baja AD 1532 in search of gold, he relates. And though they didn't get rich,
they did leave behind 20 Jesuit missions.
Then there was Comondu, a place described as "the town that time
forgot." There, Alvarez found Fidel Mesa Smith and other relatives. Progenitors of
them all, including Alvarez, were Thomas Smith, who sailed from New York and jumped ship
in Baja, and the Mexican woman he married, Maria Mesa.
The documentary homes in on the gold mines of Baja, which Alvarez says
were important in bringing people to California. Many Mexicans, including his ancestors,
worked the mines.
One mine Alvarez says "was very, very important to our
family" is the Calmalli mine, where Luis' great-great-grandfather once worked.
The last stop on the two-week trek, El Alamo, was also the last stop
for the anthropologist's ancestors as they crossed into the United States. There he found
another relative, a cousin named Manuel Smith. Smith talks about the importance of knowing
where you came from.
The film's final message is that it's really a story of common people.
That story is simply but eloquently told against a backdrop of pleasing photographic
effects.
Martin Sheen narrates the half-hour, which was produced by a friend of
Alvarez, Paul Espinosa. Alvarez and Espinosa, who hope to develop a TV series from
"The Trail North," were graduate students together at Stanford.
Alvarez who came to CSUS two years ago from Columbia University
Teachers College in New York, is now at work on a book about his Mexican heritage.