Leonard F. Trujillo researched his great-grandfather, and discovered El Rito.

My second great-grandfather, Antonio Maria Atencio, was born December 14, 1835 most likely in El Rito, the Rio Arriba area of Northern New Mexico. His baptism was recorded at the Santo Tomas de Abiquiu church on December 19, 1835.

Antonio was a boy of nine when he was recorded living with his family in the 1845 Mexican Census in El Rito, New Mexico. Around 1845 or 1846, Antonio Maria came over the Old Spanish Trail.  Starting from Abiquiu, New Mexico, he traveled the 1200 mile route with his family including his father, Gregorio de Jesus Atencio (1806-1848), mother Maria Guadalupe Lucero (1813-1900) and sister Ana Atencio (1832-?) They eventually settled in San Bernardino Valley, Alta California. Antonio’s father, Gregorio de Jesus, became involved in politics in Alta California during the Mexican American War and fought with the Californio rebels against the invading American forces. Gregorio de Jesus died by 1848 and his widow married Jose de Jesus Martinez on June 29, 1848, recorded at the Plaza Church in Los Angeles.

The Atencio family migrated to New Mexico in 1693 traveling from Mexico City and the Valley of Mexico.  The Atencio family can be traced to Brihuega, Toledo Castilla Spain to about the year 1585. They crossed the Atlantic Ocean by ship and settled in Puebla de Los Angeles, Mexico. The Atencios were recruited for the Spanish Recolonization of New Mexico in 1693, traveled the Camino Real beginning in Mexico City, continuing to Queretaro, Zacatecas, Parral, El Paso del Norte, and finally to Santa Fe where they established the new settlement at Santa Cruz de La Canada, New Mexico.

Chonito appears in New Mexico Santo Tomas de Abiquiu Baptism books, Mexican Census from El Rito, New Mexico 1845,