Texas and Arizona Arrivals - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Texas United States Arizona

What is in the Collection?
This collection contains Lists of Aliens for the time period May 1903 to June 1909 arriving at the following Texas ports:


 * Brownsville
 * Del Rio
 * Eagle Pass
 * El Paso
 * Laredo
 * Presidio
 * Rio Grande City
 * Roma

Arizona for the time period July 1906 to December 1910:
 * Aros Ranch
 * Douglas
 * Lochiel
 * Naco
 * Nogales

The collection corresponds with NARA publication A3365 and is part of Record Group 85 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The records are arranged chronologically then by port city then by date. Records for the states are intermixed.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The records usually contain the following:
 * Date of arrival
 * Full name
 * Age
 * Gender
 * Marital status
 * Occupation
 * Ability to read and write
 * Nationality
 * Race
 * Town and country of last residence
 * Birthplace
 * Destination
 * May also include a physical description of the person

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of your immigrant ancestor.
 * The approximate age of your ancestor.
 * The last residence of your ancestor.
 * The date of arrival for your ancestor.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page:

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "NARA Roll Number" which takes you to the images.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find records in his or her country of origin such as emigrations, port records, ship’s manifests, birth, christening, marriage, and census records.
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Arizona, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Arizona Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection citation: Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image citation: Top of Page