Don't blame the Internet for the disapearance of jobs. You'd have to go back to at least the mid-18th century, and the start of the Industrial Revolution.

In Northern New Mexico, trades that were once considered professions of honor for families such as the Senas (who were blacksmiths), the Trujillos (who were weavers) and the Romeros (who were traders and merchants) are gone. According to Adrian Bustamante, a retired professor of Southwest studies, families who migrated to the United States during the European Middle Ages brought with them their crafts and trades. One such clan was the Pacheco family. Full disclosure: This story is about my family.

Pacheco Street, one of Santa Fe's busiest thoroughfares, was named for José de la Cruz Pacheco, who, along with his three sons, Andrés, Martín and Hijenio, made their living as carniceros. In the 1920s, they operated a slaughterhouse where Penn Road is today. Through the 1970s virtually every grocery store and supermarket in town had at least one employee in their meat department with the surname Pacheco.

According to the genealogist, José A. Esquibel, after the return of New Mexico to the Spanish crown in 1692, members of the Pacheco family settled about 20 miles north of Santa Fe, in Cruz de la Cañada, now a part of the city of Española. The progenitor of this family, Ignacio Pacheco, married María Margarita Martín at the church in Santa Cruz in 1739. The couple had six children and made their living as farmers in the community of La Cuchilla, close to Chimayó. One of their sons, Antonio Alejandro Pacheco, married María Serafina Quintana, who gave birth to a son, José de la Cruz, in 1842. In 1867, José de la Cruz and his brother, José María Esquípula, married two Rodríguez sisters, María Agapita and María Casimira, respectively, and moved to Santa Fe. They settled on land (along what is now Pacheco Street) that was awarded to the Rodríguez family as a Spanish land grant from King Philip V in 1740. Today, the family of José Rodríguez still lives on Pacheco Street in an expanded version of the home that was built in the 1700s.

José de la Cruz Pacheco and his wife, Agapita, had three sons before his death. His wife encouraged her sons to continue in the family business. In addition, all 14 of their grandsons worked as butchers throughout much of the last century.

Andrés and his wife Rafaelita Trujillo had eleven children. All eight of their boys became butchers.

Martín and his wife, Juanita Pino, had 17 children, eleven of whom lived to adulthood. They were Juanita, Rafaela, Felix, Amalia, Maria, Refugio, Jesús (my father), Annabelle, Antonia, Martín and June. All three boys became butchers.

Hijenio and his wife, Juanita García, had seven children, six of whom lived to adulthood. Their three sons also became butchers.

Today, only three of the grandsons are living. My Uncle Martín, who is 85, has been married to Socorro Casados for 54 years. They have two children and four grandchildren. In addition to working with his family in the meat business, Martín was a butcher in the meat department at Kaune's Food Town for many years. He also later worked as a painter for the Zia Company and other Los Alamos contractors. "My best years were working with the public when I was a butcher," he said.

Two of Andrés Pacheco's children, Ralph and Dick, are still living. Ralph, who is 84, was married to Lori Ortiz for 46 years. She passed away in 1995. He is remarried to Florence Cantu and has two children and one granddaughter. For many years he helped his brother Paul with his meat market on Galisteo Street before working at the Fairview Market in Española. Later, he became a heavy equipment operator for the state of New Mexico and city of Santa Fe, and worked for the post office until his retirement. For the past 36 years Ralph has been an usher at the 10 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

Dick, who is 79, began his meat cutting career as a young boy, helping his father and two uncles' slaughter and skin animals. "Back in those days there were no electric power saws, so it was hard work," he remembers. Eventually, he went to work as a driver for the Railway Express Agency, a forerunner to UPS. He's married to Tony Jimenez and has four children and seven grandchildren. Every Sunday for the last five years, he has played the guitar in the choir at St. Anne's Church.

Only three of the grandchildren of Andrés Pacheco carried on the tradition as butchers; Paul Jr., Eddy and Arturo. "My nephew Arturo is retired, but he still does special order cattle and deer butchering at his home," Ralph said.

Automation and modern life have changed the livelihoods of many families in Northern New Mexico. Today, the hundreds of descendants of Ignacio Pacheco are civil servants, teachers, business owners, barbers, engineers, artists, dentists, physicians, writers.

Ana Pacheco's weekly tribute to our community elders appears every Sunday. She can be reached at 505-474-2800.