Research/Introduction

Hi, I'm researching the surnames Rivas, Valdez,Llanos, Salas, and Flores
from the Val Paraiso, Zacatecas area. I have been working on a family tree
and some research has led me to these names and a consistent occupation
here.

My GGGG Grand Mother on my Grandmother's father's side is the farthest I've
been able to trace. All the information I have is that the woman was of the
maiden name "Llanos". She and an unknown Valdez man had my GGG Grandfather
"MARGARITO LLANOS Y VALDEZ" in 1829. MARGARITO LLANOS Y VALDEZ married
MARIA ROSA RIVAS DE VALDEZ. For some reason, their child MARIA DEL REFUGIO
RIVAS has the maiden name Valdez.

It gets even weirder because my GG Grandfather, AURELIO RIVAS, was the first
cousin of MARIA ROSA RIVAS DE VALDEZ and they were married. AURELIO RIVAS
and MARIA DEL REFUGIO RIVAS(VALDEZ) had 6 children, of which my Great
Grandfather JESUS RIVAS was one.

I have a small history from this point, but, anything older than JESUS RIVAS
has yet to come up and be reliably concrete in relation. Does anyone
recognize these names?

Note: AURELIO RIVAS was an administrator for the Hacienda de San Jose about
10 miles from Val Paraiso, Zacatecas. Supposedly him and the family were
wealthy and owned part of Val Paraiso called "El Siglo", which had a post
office and stables and some shops and the like. I've had issues finding
this Hacienda though and suspect perhaps it may be San Jose de Llanetes or
San Jose de Llanos because of the name/areas of these seem related to the
Llanos ancestor.

Any help or details on this would be appreciated. I have a good amount of
dates, names, and some facts but did not feel it would be appropriate to
overwhelm readers with my first message. Thanks in advanced.