I am searching for the ancestry of ‘my’ Thomas LaVatta family. Thomas aka ‘the red-headed Spaniard’ was born c1824 in New Mexico, had a grade two education, traveled across the mountains via the Big Hole to arrive in the Bitter Route Valley in November, 1847. His occupations were trapper, guide, translator. He married (1) Aslake, a Bannock woman and had daughters Marceline LaVatta Powell and Ellen LaVatta Stuart Trahant. He married (2) Poor-oh-ge aka Angelique Serpante, a Shoshone woman. Their children were Laura Dolores, Thomas, Raphael, Phillip and Edward. He died in 1896.

So far, there is no history of Thomas prior to his arrival in Montana. There are no other families with the surname, LaVatta. The name LaVatta obviously underwent a change. The past several years have been spent attempting to discover more about the LaVatta heritage.

Last year, DNA testing of one of the LaVatta males determined Thomas was indeed Spanish. There was one match only which connected him to the Madril/Madrid of New Mexico, and subsequently the Lovato family.

I have 3 pages of Madril/Madris/Lovato family history. Some of the surnames included are:
Alire
Chavez
Gonzales
Gutierrez
Herrara
Lovato
Madril
Montoya
Nieto
Ortiz
Rodriguez
Romero
Roybal
Salizar
Trujillo

We are quite sure LaVattas were originally Lovatos. Unfortunately, no Lovatos have thus far participated in the DNA testing (for genealogy only) At this point, DNA testing is probably the ‘last resort’ for those of us without a paper trail and no other means of tracing our histories. I would strongly encourage those of you ‘in the same boat’, so to speak, to consider participating in the Surname and/or New Mexico Project of the DNA testing. For more information go to Family Tree DNA, then go to Projects, then to Surname and/or Geographic Projects

I would love to hear from any of you who think you may be related to this LaVatta or Lovato family. Please contact me at anitas@yknet.yk.ca

Anita Grant Steele