Videos

El Corrido de Anza

El Corrido de Anza uses the traditional form of Mexican narrative song - the corrido - to tell the story of the 1775-1776 Anza expedition to settle Alta California. In partnership with the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, California-based Mexican roots band, and nonprofit cultural arts academy, Los Cenzontles (The Mockingbirds) wrote and produced this epic corrido and music video highlighting important historic sites and landscapes along the Anza Trail. The corrido creates a musical journey that, through its form and vibrant style, stitches together the past and present. It reminds us of the cultural contributions this diverse group of immigrants brought to the United States and our strong and enduring relationship with our neighbors in Mexico.

The music video stars las cantantes Fabiola and Lucina recounting the Anza expedition story in song. The story is told from the historic sites and landscapes along the the 1200-mile long Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail and sections of the historic route in Mexico. Locations include: the coast of Sinaloa on the Gulf of California (Mar Bermejo) where Captain Anza recruited settlers to join the expedition to Alta California; Las Lagunas on the US-Mexico border; Tumacácori National Historical Park and Tubac Presidio in southern Arizona; the Sonoran Desert National Monument; the Mojave Desert; the Missions of California (Mission San Gabriel and Mission San Antonio de Padua); and, of course, San Francisco.

Los Cenzontles are a Mexican-American roots group and cultural arts academy that has researched, promoted, and even revived Mexican rural musical traditions. Group member Emiliano Rodriguez describes the importance of what they do as "not just preserving the culture, but using tradition to build new tradition." Los Cenzontles was founded by musician and educator Eugene Rodriguez in 1994. They are based in San Pablo, California. Learn more about their music and cultural arts academy on the Los Cenzontles website.

 

Duration:

10 minutes, 41 seconds

El Corrido de Anza was written by Los Cenzontles founder and Executive Director, Eugene Rodriguez, and lyricist Gilberto Gutierrez Silva. A corrido is a traditional Mexican narrative ballad with a particular structure. This corrido consists of 45, four-line stanzas, that tell an inspiring historical portrait of the Anza expedition from its start in Mexico’s Sonoran Desert to its final destination, the founding of the San Francisco Presidio.

Learn more about the corrido art form

 

Quarterly Partner Calls

 

Duration:

1 hour, 22 minutes, 26 seconds

A quarterly call between NPS and partners to share work happening along the Anza Trail.

 

Duration:

1 hour, 15 minutes, 38 seconds

A quarterly call between NPS and partners to share work happening along the Anza Trail.

 

Duration:

1 hour, 27 minutes, 55 seconds

A quarterly call between NPS and partners to share work happening along the Anza Trail

 

Duration:

1 hour, 4 minutes, 5 seconds

A quarterly call between NPS and partners to share work happening along the Anza Trail