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The Apodaca's settled in the Southwest US in what is now the State of New Mexico. The original explorers that came to this region in the 16th century included the Apodaca's. This area was the most Northern portion of the Spanish Viceroyalty known as New Spain. As this territory became more established they were given their own Governer in Santa Fe. (as a side note: this is the oldest city to still be in use as a capital within the U.S.)
The people in this region were separated by a great distance from the rest of New Spain. As time went on, the people in this region developed some strong ties with some traders coming from the East. This trail came to be known as the Santa Fe Trail. (This is where the term 'gringo' comes from. These people were foreign to them, & since the term 'gringo' means 'foreigner', this is the term that these newcomers were given. Since most of these new comers were mostly WASP's {White Anglo-Saxon Protestants} the term gringo also became synonymous people of this background.)
As the years went by, the people of this region developed closer & closer ties to the U.S. due to the fact that the supply lines into Mexico City were few & far between.
In the early 1820's New Spain declared its independence from Spain. This new country became Mexico. Due to the great distances, The Northern territories were not greatly affected by the war of independence. There many people in this region that got word of the war, at about the time that the war for independence was ending in central Mexico. The people of this region continued their normal lives of trading with their eastern neighbors. Over the years some of these easterners started settling in this territory. This strengthed the ties that these people had with their english-speaking trade partners.
The new governmment of Mexico was struggling to pay off its debts it had accumilated durring the war for independece, & was all too eager to find new ways finding funds for the cash starved new country. One of the ideas that the government of Mexico decided to deal with its cash flow problem was to tax the goods & services that came in through its Northern territories. This did not make the people of the Northern territories happy. As time went on they tried as much as possible to avoid paying these new taxes. The new english-speaking settlers were also unhappy because they were selling their goods at a loss. Since many of the people were not paying the new taxes that were imposed on them, the Mexican government decided to stop all trading to east. However, the people of this region were so fed-up with the way things were going with the Mexican government, that the winds of change started the idea of them declaring their independence from the rest of Mexico.
This happened in the early 1840's The regions which were later to become the states of Texas & New Mexico delared their independence from Mexico. Soon after that, California also joined the independence movement.
This war is what we call the Mexican-American War in U.S. history books. This is also why the Apodaca's can say that we did not come to the U.S. but the U.S. came to us (just a little historical humor).
The Apodaca Family has a long tradition of being active in the community & in public life. My grandfather & grandmother were very active in their local Catholic Church & were members of service organizations. Seven of eight of Donato Apodaca's grandchildren served in the armed services. Many of Donato's children (and wives of his children) are active in volunteer work or somehow active with community efforts. 
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