The prestigious surname Pacheco originated in Spain, a country which has figured prominently in world affairs for hundreds of years. The name Pacheco became a hereditary surname in Spain after it was brought from Portugal. This ancient surname dates back to Roman times and in 92 BC, a Roman general named Vivio Pacieco, who descended from Lucio Viminio Pacieco, served Julius Caesar in Andalucía. One of Vivio's descendants, Don Diego López Pacheco, who was also known as "el Grande" and was Ricohombre of Portugal, was the first bearer of this name in Spain.  Spelling variations of this family name include: Pacheco, Pachico, Pachón, Pachon and others.  First found in Castile, prominent among the Christian kingdoms of medieval Spain in 1230.  Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Among the early explorers of the New World was Alonso Pacheco, who voyaged to America in 1534 with the governor of Venezuela, Jorge Spira. Other settlers to the New World include Pedro Pacheco, who arrived in America in 1510.

Based on all of the Pacheco Family information so far, this could be the travel line of our Pacheco's from Spain.  The blue line is us, the red line are our "cousins".  The black line is probable in the middle to late 1600's, because of the gold and silver mining strikes in Nacozari. Also, the native American upraising ousted the Spanish from New Mexico, in about 1680, primarily to Janos.

I would base the speculation, that our branch of the Pacheco "tribe", were adventurers.  You will find numerous Pacheco's in all major areas of the country, especially from DF to Chihuahua, starting in the early 1600's.  There are numerous Spanish cities, where the Pacheco's migrated from.  In my research, the conquistadors were primarily from the poorer areas of Spain, such as the Extremadura area (Trujillo for example, as Cortes and Pizarro were from that area), Basques from northern Spain (Durango for example), and Andalusia (Granada for example).  After it was "safe", numerous larger cities that had the Pacheco's, migrated.  You can see heavy migration in the early 1600's. 

It took about 3-4 months to leave Cadiz, arrive in Havana, then on to Vera Cruz.  All on a wooden ship!

There were numerous Pacheco's that migrated north into central New Mexico in the middle 1600's from Chihuahua.  The main reason, I think, was the passive indigenous tribes, that were easily conquered by previous military expeditions.  In fact, there was a Governor by the name of Pacheco, for that region.

The adventurous side of name, I think, settled the area of Jalisco with the conquistador Nuno de Guzman in the 1530's.  Numerous Pacheco's were among the expedition.  The expedition in 1530, established Nueva Galicia (parts of Aguas Calientes, San Luis Potosi, Jalisco "Guadalajara", and Zacatecas).  Many of these men became wealthy land owners and settled in the area.

They could have also trekked their way from Vera Cruz, to Puebla, up to Zacatecas, San Luis Potesi, Torreon, across to Durango then north to Chihuahua, across to Janos in Sonora, where there were Pacheco's, including a Francisco Pacheco, soldier, in the 1680's.

Within 70 years, there were large silver strikes in what is now Alamos, about 500 miles north of Jalisco, about 200 miles south of Hermosillo (Pitic).  Some Pacheco's settled in Alamos.  Then I think, it was the natural progression for the adventurers to proceed north, as more mineral strikes were discovered in the mountainous areas north of Pitic. There were also major finds in what is now Durango, Chihuahua and Sonora.

I would also say that the Pacheco's were miners/cattle ranchers/soldiers/farmers/land speculators that settled and developed the areas.  But, for what ever reason, they kept migrating north, as well as from Janos, in Chihuahua, long story there.

About 1684, the King of Spain gave the Pacheco Family a land grant, comprising of about 50 square miles, that may have had a starting point about 10 miles south of Tucson (about San Xavier del Bac), down to the north of Nogales area, east to the Rincon mountains, and north 50 miles and west 50 miles to the starting point, south of Tucson.  This has to be certified. The information is from the Richard Pacheco family newspaper clipping in the web sites. 

If it is true, then the Captain Francisco Pacheco-Zevallos family would have received it, as they were there (Nacosari-Basochuca/Sonora) about 1682.  Also, they would have needed a lot of money to "buy" a grant, as well as influence.  Nacosari was a great mining area of gold-silver and copper. His son's were Rafael and Francisco. They were later Governors/Mayors of the region. Rafael had a son by the name of Ignancio and Ignancio had a son by the name of Juan Jose.

That was a nice gift, but what one has to understand, in that time-period, those approximated 50 square miles "housed" some of the most vicious "tribes" on the earth.  Apache, Pima/O'Odham, Chiricahua, Coyote, Yaqui, to name a few. There was no way that a family enterprise would conquer, even with the help of the colonists army, the "tribes", or that they would control the region, even in part.

For the Pacheco's in that area, as well as everybody else, from about 1680 to 1880, it was constant warfare with the "tribes".  The worse time period for warfare was 1740 to 1790, by far.  And that is not counting the epidemic's, that were constantly rampant.

We have the links of the Pacheco name, from Nabor Pacheco to his great-great-great-great grandfather, Juan Jose Pacheco, raised in the Guevavi area and Jose Ruiz Pacheco(Name of Ruiz?), raised in the Tubac area.  In a census of 1767 in Tubac, Jose Ruiz Pacheco was listed as living with someone, without a family (at the same time, Maria Carmen Romero, daughter of Nicholas was also living there).  

He was designated as a youth in the neighborhood.  Could it be that his parents were killed or died from an epidemic?  At that time, Captain De Anza had the settlers moved to Tubac and Tumacacori.  All of the surrounding areas were not safe. 

In the final analysis, before all of the information is finally in, the Pacheco's of Arizona/Sonora, starting about 1680 were "fearless".  In contrast to the Pacheco's of New Mexico, there must have been 100 settled in New Mexico, versus 1 in the Arizona/Sonora area(Captain Francisco Pacheco). Records of New Mexican Pacheco's are plentiful compared to the Arizona/Sonora Pacheco's. It was probably the peaceful environment there, compared to the war like conditions that never stopped, during the same period of the 1600-1700's. Church's with birth/marriage records in Arizona/Sonora were constantly being attacked and destroyed by the indigenous people there.  Hence, minimal records discovered.

Jose Ruiz Pacheco would have been born in 1751, in Janos(south of Guevavi, at the time town "controlled" by Ruiz'), as Guevavi was destroyed. Ignacio Pacheco son of Rafael Pacheco, born about 1708. they have been the only other Pacheco's listed in the general area at the time; And records still need to confirm of the birth of Francisco Pacheco Junior and Rafael Pacheco, both being born in Janos Chihuahua, after their father, Captain Francisco Pacheco settled there after arriving from Villa de Torazos, Burgos Spain, where he was born.

So, the linage of the Pacheco men, in my linage, with all information discovered so far, are as follows; 

Enrique Pacheco-1887--Tucson, Arizona, America

Nabor Pacheco-1860--Tucson, Arizona, America

Refugio Pacheco-1835--Tubac, Sonora, Mexico

Guadalupe Pacheco-1808, Tubac, Sonora, New Spain

Ignacio Pacheco-1776--Tubac, Sonora, New Spain

Jose Ruiz Pacheco-1751--Janos, Sonora, New Spain (not confirmed)

Juan Jose Pacheco-1728--Nacozari, Sonora, New Spain

Ignacio Pacheco-1708--Nacozari, Sonora, New Spain

Rafael Pacheco-1680--Janos, Chihuahua, New Spain

Francisco Pacheco-1650--Burgos, Spain