Who was your great great grandfather? I am related to the Arvizus of Tucson and there was a significant historical person named "Manuel" Arvizu as reported by the following:

From the Rio Nuevo Project, funded by the City of Tucson, AZ

From the Rio Nuevo Project by Homer Thiel, copied May 10, 2003

ARVIZU
Manuel Ignacio de Arvizu (Don) was born in 1762 at the Royal Presidio of Santa Gertrudis del Altar. He joined the Spanish army on 19 September 1779. Arvizu took part in the three expeditions against the Yuma Indians in 1781-1783. He received the title of distinguished soldier on 1 June 1786. On 12 September 1787 he became a cadet. Arvizu was promoted to ensign on 17 June 1793 and to lieutenant on 30 December 1805. He was made a brevet commander on 6 October 1809 and a brevet lieutenant colonel on 28 January 1812. In 1811 he had fought in the battle of Piaxtla against the insurgents, capturing the artillery section of the Insurgents with a force of 16 men. Arvizu commanded eight actions in the campaign, pursuing the Insurgents south to the Acaponeta River. He was awarded a personal coat-of-arms with the inscription "Cannons Are Useless in the Face of Valor." He was the commander of the Fourth Flying Company of Nueva Vizcaya on 30 January 1814. Arvizu was made the commander of the Tucson Presidio after Antonio Narbona on 18 June 1816. Previously he had served at the Presidios of Altar, Santa Cruz, and Bavispe. On 5 January 1817, Arvisu granted a field west of the Presidio (Pima County DRE 1:245-246). Arvizu asked for a promotion to a position in the civil government in December 1818, doubtlessly ready to quit the frontier. Finally, in 1823, he was promoted to the post of military commander of Chihuahua. He returned briefly to Tucson in the fall of 1825 to replace Manuel Romero, who was away on an expedition to California. He was recalled in November 1825 to the Yaqui Rebellion. During this war he was accused of desertion. The National legislature acquitted him on 9 March 1827. In 1829 he was stationed at Arizpe as acting military commander of the State of the West. In December he authored a short volume, "Manual of Apache Warfare." Arvizu died in 1832 in Arizpe (McCarty 1976:134-137).


From the Department of Southwest Relations, Arizona State Museum

 1. Saved Record from Search: ge: (Arvizu)

ARVIZU, MANUEL IGNACIO DE
Birth: 1762: ALTAR (PRESIDIO), SONORA
Death: 1832 Jan 13: ARIZPE, SONORA
Occupation: 1779: ALTAR (PRESIDIO), SONORA/SOLDADO || 1786 Jun
01: SONORA/SOLDADO || 1789 Sep 12: SONORA/CADET || 1793 Jun
17: SONORA/ALFEREZ || 1794 Jan 22: SANTA CRUZ,
SONORA/ALFEREZ || 1805 Dec 30: PITIC, SONORA/TENIENTE ||
1809 Oct 06: BAVISPE, SONORA/CAPITAN || 1810 - 1811:
PIAXTLA, SINALOA/CAPITAN || 1812 Jan 28: SONORA-SINALOA/LT.
COLONEL || 1813 Oct - 1813 Nov: TUCSON (PRESIDIO)/LT.
COLONEL,ACTING COMMANDER || 1814 JAN 30:NUEVA
VIZCAYA/COMMANDER, 4TH FLYING COMPANY || 1818: TUCSON
(PRESIDIO)/LT. COLONEL || 1822 DEC 12: TUCSON
(PRESIDIO)/CORONEL || 1823: CHIHUAHUA/MILITARY COMMANDER,
COLONEL || 1825 SEP 01: TUCSON (PRESIDIO)/COMMANDER, COLONEL
|| 1827: SAN BUENAVENTURA (PRESIDIO)/COMMANDER, COLONEL ||
1829: ARIZPE/CORONEL
Notes: SOURCES GIVE BIRTH DATE AS 1760 AND 1762 1779 : BEGAN
MILITARY SERVICE 1810-11 : FOUGHT WITH ALEJO GARCIA CONDE
1829 : ARIZPE, ACTING COMMANDER OF EL ESTADO DE OESTE, WROTE
1818 : MILITARY COMMANDER AND CIVIL ADMINISTRATOR"MANUAL OF
APACHE WARFARE". BY 1817 HE HAD PARTICIPATED IN 34 CAMPAIGNS
AGAINST HOSTILE INDIANS, TOOK PART IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE
YUMAS, WAS IN EXPEDITIONS TO GUAYMAS AND NEW MEXICO. AS OF
DEC. 31, 1817 HE WAS IN THE FILED FIGHTING THE INSURGENTS OF
THE MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT.
Source: ALMADA
Sources: KESSELL: FRIARS, SOLDIERS, AND REFORMERS (1976)
MCCARTY: DESERT DOCUMENTARY, THE SPANISH YEARS (1976)
DOBYNS: SPANISH COLONIAL TUCSON, A DEMOGRAPHIC HISTORY
(1976) ALMADA: DICCIONARIO DE SONORA (1952) AZTM-AGN, PV, V.
233
BID: 17529