History in Santa Fe: Recent Episodes
Ana Pacheco
Our nation's history would not be complete without the story of Santa Fe. History in Santa Fe is the culmination of Ana Pacheco’s career as an historian and author. The remarkably diverse history of Santa Fe provides the foundation for her website, books, videos, blogs and now this podcast. "I'm confident that once you travel back in time with me you'll come to the realization that Santa Fe is the most historically significant city in the United States." – Ana Pacheco
During World War II Japanese-American prisoners began to arrive in Santa Fe. These people, who were considered of foreign enemy ancestry, were forcibly removed from other parts of the country, mostly the West Coast. Their arrival in Santa Fe was brought about through an executive order signed in 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Department of Justice purchased the Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was previously used as part of FDR’s plan to rejuvenate the economy, providing jobs for young men all over the country who came to be known as Roosevelt’s “Tree Army.” They built cabins at Hyde Memorial State Park in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains northeast of Santa Fe as well as the National Park Service building on the Old Santa Fe Trail. The newly transformed CCC became the Japanese internment camp, one of several opened throughout the country in areas considered to be of military importance to the safety of all Americans.
Within weeks, more than 4,000 men were imprisoned at the camp. These so-called “enemy combatants” were teachers, journalists, businessmen, and artists—the type of people the American government felt posed a threat because they were free thinkers. They were forced to leave their families, businesses, and all ties to the community.
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The musical artistry of Santa Fe’s own Jerry Lopez will forever be linked to the Fiesta de Santa Fe. His grandmother, Magdalena Griego wrote “¡Que Viva la Fiesta! Which is sung at the opening of the festivity and throughout the three day event. Magdalena also wrote the song that is heard as people process with La Conquistadora, this nation’s oldest Madonna, who along with Don Diego de Vargas, are listed as the two central figures in the 1712 Fiesta proclamation.
Before Jerry and his brother Gilbert had reached school age they were on their way as recording artists and performed on the plaza bandstand at fiesta through their teens with performers like Genoveva Chavez and Alan Muñiz. Through the early part of the 1970s Los Hermanos Lopez were part of Santa Fe’s nightclub circuit at La Fonda and El Nido with Vicente and Ruben Romero. In 1975 the family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and Jerry’s dream of becoming a professional musician were realized. In addition to working as a musical director on the west coast, his band, Santa Fe & the Fat City Horns tours nationally. At the start of the millennium Jerry was the lead guitarist and sideman to Ricky Martin’s worldwide tour, Livin la Vida Loca, where he was featured on the Today Show and at Madison Square Garden.
Never one to forget his roots, Jerry Lopez performs annually in Santa Fe during Hispanic Heritage month to raise scholarships for the National Latino Behavioral Health Association. The autumn concert is held at the Lensic Theater just up the street where his grandfather, Nicolás Escajeda, was a weaver and soloist in the choir at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in the 1930s.
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The term farolito is a derivative of farol, meaning lantern. Throughout the years, the term has become synonymous with New Mexico’s Christmas celebrations. Historic descriptions of official and religious processions in the 18th-century include the small lantern-like bags filled with candles and dirt. In colonial New Mexico, neither metal frames nor window glass were available, so lanterns (in Spanish farols or linternas) were none virtually non-existent in New Mexico. The first square-bottomed paper bag was patented by Luther Childs Crowell of Boston, Mass., in 1872. Since the paper bags were largely of the mid-and-late-19th century, theyr wer not a part of Spanish Colinial traditions. However, their popular usage in brightening up Santa Fe’s Christmas season justifies their New Mexican label of farolito, the little lantern.
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The legacy of Santa Fe’s literary roots began in 1610 when Gaspar Perez de Villagrawrotehis epic poem, La Historia de la Nueva Mexico. Villagra was a captain in the Spanish military who travelled with the Juan de Oñate 1598 expedition to New Mexico. The soldier-scribe documented the first European foothold in North America in The ancient narrative chronicles the arduous journey of those who travelled with Oñate encountering a treacherous hot desert, where even the horses suffered from consuming thirst. It also provided a succinct depiction of the cruelty thrashed upon the native people by the Spanish explorers.
Lew Wallace, who was the governor of New Mexico from 1878 through 1881, wrote the epic Ben Hur in 1880 from Santa Fe. Considered "the most influential Christian book of the 19th century," it was later made into an Academy Award movie. The Lew Wallace building on Old Santa Fe Trail is named in his honor.
As a young man Felipe M. Chacon was the editor of several Spanish-language newspapers in New Mexico from 1911 through the 1930s, including Santa Fe’s El Nuevo Mexicano. He was also the author of El Cantor Nuevomexicano: Poesia y Prosa. Published in 1924, the book of short stories and poetry, was one of the few Spanish language books its kind during that era in New Mexico.
During the early part of the 20th century Willa Cather wrote “Death Comes for the Archbishop” at La Fonda Hotel where she lived in 1927. The quintessential book of that era was a thinly disguised fiction based on the life of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy and the conflicts he encountered from the Spanish-Mexican clergy during New Mexico’s Territorial Period. Today, the book is listed by the Modern Library as one of the best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 1973, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp of Willa Cather.
Oliver La Farge was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1929 for his book Laughing Boy. A descendant of Benjamin Franklin, he spent many years in Santa Fe where he championed the culture of Native Americans. As an anthropologist, his books depict an accurate representation of Native
Fray Angélico Chávez, a member of one of Santa Fe’s founding families is considered the pre-imminent Hispanic historian of New Mexico. The Catholic priest was also an artist and the author of several books including, Origins of New Mexico Families, New Mexico’s bible for genealogists researching their Spanish roots. The Fray Angelico Chavez Library at the Palace of the Governors is named in his honor.
Joe S. Sandoarrived in SantaFeat the age of 13-year-old to attend the Santa Fe Indian School. Although he didn’t speak a word of English, he could sing all of his Native American songs from the Jemez Pueblo in Spanish. Sando was the first Native American in New Mexico to document the culture of the Pueblo Indians through his many books that have become invaluable documentation for historians.
The Southwest’s most renowned mystery writer, Tony Hillerman, began his career as an editor at the Santa Fe New Mexican. His award-winning detective novels introduced the world to the region’s Native American culture, which he so eloquently described in his books. His daughter, Anne Hillerman, has followed in her father’s footsteps and is also a journalist and mystery writer.
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Under the Spanish flag Santa Fe managed to eke out an existence via the traders, trappers, and farmers who came through town to sell their goods. But it was only after Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821 and trade opened with the United States that commerce established a foothold in the capital city. William Becknell, known as the father of the Santa Fe Trail, arrived in Santa Fe shortly after Mexican independence. Having established the trade route from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, he received a warm welcome from its citizens. After years of isolation, Santa Fe was being introduced to people and merchandise they never knew existed. Initially only a few wagons made the journey, which took a month to complete, but by 1835, 75 wagons hauled an estimated $140,000 in goods. By 1843 the value of goods had risen to $250,000, and by 1855 the annual haul was about a half million dollars.
Santa Fe was not the only community in New Mexico to benefit from the new trade route. In 1826 the community of Las Vegas, 66 miles from Santa Fe, had also established a thriving business community. Hispanic merchants like Miguel Romero and his sons brought merchandise west over the trail. They quickly opened stores, and Las Vegas also became a major trading hub in the southwest.
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The Santuario de Guadalupe honors the Mexican Mary of Guadalupe. The legend surrounding the Guadalupe of the Americas says that she appeared four times to Juan Diego, a Christianized Aztec Indian, in December of 1531. His age at the time of the Virgin’s manifestations is still uncertain, but many scholars claim he was in his late 50s, and was not the young boy depicted in most of the artwork surrounding the legend.
The story unfolds through four different events that took place on Tepeyac Hill at the northeast rim of present-day Mexico City. One account of the 1531 apparitions records that the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe called herself the “Ever Virgin.” Miguel Sánchez published the first Spanish-language imprint of the story in 1648, which was followed in 1649 by the Nahautal version written by Lasso (Lazo) de la Vega. The Virgin rapidly became the most popular Madonna of the masses, the one to whom they turned in time of need.
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Estevan de Dorantes, who was born in Morocco in 1500, enslaved by the Portuguese and later sold to a Spanish nobleman was the first known black person to set foot in the Southwest in 1527. Estevanico, as he was referred to, traveled with Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca to New Spain (the Southwestern part of the U.S. and northern Mexico). In 1539, while serving as the main guide to Marco de Nizo, in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, Estevanico was killed by the Zuni Indians in New Mexico.
Since that time African Americans have blended into the fabric of the state’s history. During the Civil War a contingent of black men in the Union Army, known as the Buffalo soldiers, were assigned as the 9th and 10th cavalries in the region. Their mandate was to provide protection from marauding Indians, Mexican revolutionaries, as well as bandits and rustlers who roamed the territory.
Unlike other parts of the U.S., African Americans remain a minority in New Mexico but their contributions are many. From helping to build this country’s sprawling railway system that crosses through the state, to the mining towns that dot the area, they have added to the cultural and economic vitality of the state. Albuquerque’s African American roots run deep and include the Colored Women’s Social club and the Mount Olive Baptist Church. Major sports figures like Don Perkins, Michael Cooper and Bob Foster all got their start in the Duke City.
And during the month of February Santa Fe will never forget Alfonso Alderete who spent most of his life listening to people. During a career that spanned more than half a century he consoled them when they were sad; he shared in their joy when they were happy. He was there for people during the good times and the not-so-good times. Alderete wasn’t a psychotherapist or a priest—just the neighborhood bartender.
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Fray Angelico Chávez who was born in 1910 and died in 1996 was a member of one of Santa Fe’s founding families is considered the pre-imminent Hispanic historian of New Mexico. The Catholic priest was also an artist and the author of several books including, Origins of New Mexico Families, New Mexico’s bible for genealogists researching their Spanish roots. The Fray Angelico Chavez Library at the Palace of the Governors is named in his honor.
Fray Angelico chose to follow his spiritual quest of special service to the Franciscan Order at age 14. He was ordained in 1937. Early in his career, Fray Angelico discovered that his talents were also of great service in the military as chaplain . Prior to World War 11, he was chaplain in Fort Bliss, Texas. He served with the Fighting 200th Division in the Phillipines and was fluent in several languages, including English, Spanish, French, German and Italian.
Chavez was later invited by his superiors to study in Rome, Italy, and in Oxford, England, but opted to become a missionary at several rural villages throughout New Mexico. He wrote 22 books, including five books of poetry, five Belles Lettres, a novel titled, Our Lady of Toledo, nine historical books and two biographies. His historical books flowed from his heart, backed by reliable research. Today, the museum that bears the name New Mexico’s preeminent Hispanic author and historian, can find historical research and archival photos at the Fray Angelico Chavez museum.
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In the 1930s, a small group of business owners in Santa Fe started a branch of B’nai B’rith, which means “sons of the covenant” in Hebrew. The oldest Jewish service organization in the world, it was started in 1843 on New York’s Lower East Side. During the early days in Santa Fe the group met in met in stores, libraries, and churches. As the decade wore on and new people arrived in town to work on the Manhattan Project, the Jewish community grew substantially. It was then that the members of B’nai B’rith formed a committee to organize a congregation. On December 5, 1946, the Santa Fe Jewish Temple was established. In attendance were Julius Cans, Dan Taichert, Marcel Pick, Marcia Hertsmark, Louis Rubinstein, Albert Kahn, and Emil Pick. By 1949 there were some 30 families, and the organization became the Santa Fe Jewish Temple and Community Center. The temple opened in 1956, and later that year a Jewish section was added at Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Architect John Gaw Meem, who is famous for his Pueblo Revival buildings throughout New Mexico, designed the building on Barcelona Street. It retained that name until 1970, when it was renamed Temple Beth Shalom, which means “house of peace” in Hebrew.
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From his arrival in 1951, until he passed away four decades later, Tommy Maccione was known as “El Diferente.” Rain or shine, the disheveled artist and his easel became regular fixtures around town. On more than one occasion the authorities would pay a visit to his home after receiving numerous complaints for his menagerie of dogs and cats on his property. Unable to keep up with their care, the artist often traded his paintings for veterinary visits and pet food. Maccione also got involved in politics and ran for mayor of Santa Fe during several elections and one year he even ran for U.S. president. He also participated in the Santa Fe Fiesta parade in outlandish costumes that matched his colorful personality. Today, his impressionist paintings are sold in fine art galleries for thousands of dollars.
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From the late 19th century until 1940 tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in the United States. Many people suffering from the disease came to the high desert mountains of New Mexico in search of a cure. There were sanatoriums throughout the region that cared for the tuberculars. In the northeastern part of Santa Fe, Sunmount Sanitarium, was nestled up to the Sangre de Cristo mountains where the Immaculate Heart of Mary Retreat and Conference Center is located today.
Sunmount Santiarium began as a group of tent houses and small cottages in 1880. Dr. Frank Meara and is wife built a hospital where the Santa Maria building at the retreat center is located today to care for the “lungers,” as they were called back then. Prior to the advent of antibiotics, which destroyed the bacterial infection of the lungs, the primary treatment for the sick was pristine air, sunshine, low humidity and pollution and the high altitude of northern New Mexico.
Many people that came west seeking treatment of the disease decided to stay once they were cured and contributed greatly to the vitality of Santa Fe and the state of New Mexico. They included the artist Carlos Vierra who advocated for the Pueblo Revival of architecture that has become synonymous with Santa Fe’s unique landscape. The architect John Gaw Meem who contracted tuberculosis while working on the New York City subway system. Many of the building he designed include Cristo Rey church. Will Shuster, the artist who created Zozobra and the Rodeo de Santa Fe bull suffered mustard gas poisoning during World War I that weakened his lungs. New Mexico U.S. Senators Clinton P. Anderson and Bronson Cutting who was the former owner of the New Mexican. Carrie Tingley, the wife of New Mexico governor Clyde Tingley, for whom Tingley Hospital in Albuquerque is named. And Dr. William Randolph Lovelace whose name graces one of the major hospitals in the state caring for people with all types of ailments including tuberculosis.
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Baseball came to Santa Fe in the 1880s thanks to the military camps at Fort Union and Fort Wingate where semipro competitions were held. St. Michael’s High School was also instrumental in bringing baseball to Santa Fe when it opened in 1859. Santa Fe High School, the Santa Fe Indian School and Albuquerque High School soon followed by holding promoted baseball competition in the capitol city. As well as locals businesses, like the Mechanics baseball team also sponsored adult teams.
Since there were no organized leagues in those days like Little League, boys played numerous sandlot games in Santa Fe neighborhoods. According to Santa Fe old-timers, the game that attracted the most attention was the annual game played between the Canyon Road gang and the Agua Fria barrio.
Baseball was also popular at the Penitentiary of New Mexico where their team played exhibition games against teams in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. All of those games were played at the penitentiary filed with the inmates as spectators. Several of the local mining companies had sponsored baseball leagues like the Madrid Miners and the Copper League, which was financed by the China Copper Company. Legend has it that many of the miners were former major league players in need of regular work in the mines.
Santa Fe has come a long way from the days where children organized their own games in sandlots. Today, there is a vibrant Little League program for both boys and girls. For their parent’s generation the Santa Fe Fuego baseball team was launched in 2012. The team hosts competing teams at Ft. Marcy during the summer from northern and southern New Mexico as part of the Pecos League.
For the past two hundred years baseball has become an integral part of summer in Santa Fe. Let’s play ball!
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In 1956 the Santa Fe Opera was founded by John Crosby placing it on the map for classical music aficionados who trek to Santa Fe from around the world each summer to experience professional opera. The Santa Fe Opera is ubiquitous to summer in Santa Fe for the world of opera. Founded by John Crosby, the world-renowned opera in the high mountain desert of the American Southwest, seven miles north of Santa Fe, is home to professional musicians who perform both classic and new opera productions. Crosby, who died in 2002, conducted many operas throughout his career.
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María Concepción “Concha”Ortiz y Pino de Kleven (1910 –2006) was a champion of women’s right. Concha served under five U.S. Presidential administrations: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter that appointed her to national boards that fought for the handicapped, the humanities and the arts. In the 1940s she became the "boss lady" of her family's 100,000-acre Agua Verde Ranch, which at the time, was one of the biggest ranching commercial enterprises in the state. Her descendants were part of New Mexico’s founding families.
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The Santa Fe Plaza has been at the heart of the city’s growth since it was founded more than 400 years ago. The wheels of commerce, civic celebrations, and religious devotion have converged on this quadrangular parcel of land with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains as a backdrop since 1610. Events of historic proportion have taken place on the Plaza, including the r-conquest of 1692 for the Spanish Crown and the beginning of American occupation in 1846. It was on the Plaza that Don Diego de Vargas and his soldiers negotiated a peaceful re-entry to the capital city. It was on the plaza that Gen. Stephen Kearny and his soldiers rode into town claiming Sovereignty for the United States.
Over its history, four flags have flown on the Plaza: the main ones were Spain 1610–1821, Mexico 1821–1846 and the United States 1846–2016. The U.S. flag was planted atop the Palace of the Governors on the morning of August 9, 1846 when Gen. Stephen Kearny declared it for the American government. And believe it or not, the Confederate flag flew over the Plaza for three weeks in the spring of 1862 when the city was under Confederate rule during the American Civil War.
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The tradition of Memorial Day began after the American Civil War in 1868 to commemorate the more than 600,000 men who gave their lives during that war. Since that time, it has gone on to include all of the men and women of the armed forces who gave their lives during wartime.
In New Mexico the Civil War was fought at the Battle of Glorieta Pass in northern New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The two-day battle began on March 26, 1862 and is known in history as the “Battle of Gettysburg of the West." The 19th century New Mexican, Captain Rafael Chacon, fought at Glorieta. Although New Mexico only played a small part in the Civil War, the Santa Fe National Cemetery was created at that time to bury the Union soldiers who died during in the historical battle. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe donated the land to the federal government in 1870. In 1885 the 78 acre burial ground became a national cemetery on Santa Fe’s north side adjacent to Rosario Cemetery. Close to 65,000 soldiers from around the state are buried there.
Memorial Day is observed annually on the last Monday in May. In Santa Fe and throughout the rest of the country ceremonies take place to honor our fallen veterans. American flags and flowers are placed at gravesites to commemorate the men and women who valiantly gave of their lives to ensure our nation’s freedom.
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Santa Fe’s Military Museum on Old Pecos Trail was the former Induction Center during World War II. From 1942 through 1945 approximately 57,000 men walked through the front doors, both as volunteers and draftees. Here they were given their physicals, immunizations and assignments as they prepared to serve. It was here that new recruits were inducted in the military’s 111th Cavalry which became the 200th Coast Artillery in World War II. This unit has gone down in history as having experienced one of the most devastating acts of war in the 20th century. The Bataan Memorial building in Santa Fe houses the Department of Veteran's Affairs for New Mexico. A military museum is also locacted in the buidling.
During World War II New Mexico’s 200th Coast Artillery, which consisted of 1,800 soldiers, were captured by the Japanese army on April 9, 1942. This regiment became part of a contingent of 75,000 prisoners of war who were forced to walk sixty-miles to Camp O’Donnell in central Luzon in the Philippines. Without sufficient food and water many of the soldiers were bayoneted to death during the walk when they fell behind from exhaustion. The walk claimed the lives of 16,950 American and Filipino soldiers, with 900 from New Mexico.
Each year in New Mexico the veterans of Bataan Death are honored at the annual White Sands Bataan Death March Marathon. People from around the world join together in the desert at White Sands to participate in the anniversary of one of the most tragic casualties of World War II. Both civilians and military personnel carrying heavy backpacks through the desert terrain have the option of doing either the 15.4 or 26.2-mile hike that begins at 6:30 AM. The New Mexico National Guard sets up relief tents to aid the walkers who return from their journey dehydrated and with blisters on their feet. There maladies are but an inkling of what the soldiers must have endured during the arduous sixty-mile march in 1942.
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According to historical records, La Fonda Hotel began at its landmark location on the Santa Fe Plaza as the Exchange Hotel in 1821 soon after Capt. William Becknell completed the first successful trading expedition from Missouri to Santa Fe, officially opening the Santa Fe Trail.
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The City of Santa Fe gave awarded Johnnie Armijo for his work in preserving the past and for living it. As Armijo is busy at work on this important document, he sits in the last family-run grocery store still in operation. Located at 420 Camino Don Miguel, Johnnie’s Cash Store has been in business since 1946 when his father, Orlando Armijo, first opened. Since that time, seven generations of families have traded with the Armijo family. “The viejitos have all died and most of the local families have moved away,” he says. “The area has really changed, but the grandchildren, nephews and nieces from the old neighborhood still stop in to say hello.”
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Georgia O’Keeffe first posed for Alfred Stieglitz in 1917. For the next twenty years she became his primary focus as he created a multi-faceted portrait of the artist. Stieglitz took more than 300 hundred photos of O’Keeffe often using her own paintings as a backdrop. He believed that O’Keeffe’s persona could not be captured in a single image. Instead, he chose to photograph different aspects of her body in a single frame.
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Georgia O’Keeffe is the most widely recognized female artist of the 20th century whose name has become synonymous with the forever changing breathtaking landscapes of New Mexico. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, which opened in Santa Fe in 1997, is the most widely visited cultural institution in the state. The artist’s legacy was propelled early on by her biggest fan, her husband and fellow artist, Alfred Stieglitz.
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George Washington caught a cold in 1799 and then he was killed. He came back from a ride on his estate on December 12, 1799 and got a sore throat. The next day a doctor was called as his condition worsened. The doctor prescribed the procedure of blood letting in the belief that by expelling blood disease and infection would be eliminated. This country’s first president was drained of his blood, once in the morning and twice in the afternoon for a total of 32 ounces of blood. The process actually made him weaker which led to his death. When he realized he wasn’t going to make it he said of his inevitable death, “the debt which we all must pay.”
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Baseball came to Santa Fe in the 1880s thanks to the military camps at Fort Union and Fort Wingate where semipro competitions were held. St. Michael’s High School was also instrumental in bringing baseball to Santa Fe when it opened in 1859. Santa Fe High School, the Santa Fe Indian School and Albuquerque High School soon followed by holding promoted baseball competition in the capitol city. As well as locals businesses, like the Mechanics baseball team also sponsored adult teams.
Since there were no organized leagues in those days like Little League, boys played numerous sandlot games in Santa Fe neighborhoods. According to Santa Fe old-timers, the game that attracted the most attention was the annual game played between the Canyon Road gang and the Agua Fria barrio.
Baseball was also popular at the Penitentiary of New Mexico where their team played exhibition games against teams in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. All of those games were played at the penitentiary filed with the inmates as spectators. Several of the local mining companies had sponsored baseball leagues like the Madrid Miners and the Copper League, which was financed by the China Copper Company. Legend has it that many of the miners were former major league players in need of regular work in the mines.
Santa Fe has come a long way from the days where children organized their own games in sandlots. Today, there is a vibrant Little League program for both boys and girls. For their parent’s generation the Santa Fe Fuego baseball team was launched in 2012. The team hosts competing teams at Ft. Marcy during the summer from northern and southern New Mexico as part of the Pecos League.
For the past two hundred years baseball has become an integral part of summer in Santa Fe. Let’s play ball!
Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter: History in Santa Fe@SantaFeHistory.
In 1610, the capital city of New Mexico was christened La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís. Santa Fe is the fourth of 13 official commemorative cities named Santa Fe, which means Holy Faith in Spanish. It’s also the first city in the world outside of Spain to bear the name. I’m sure our founding fathers had no inkling of the ramifications that name would conjure four centuries later. Catholicism was the first religion introduced to the area, but Native American spirituality had been entrenched in the land for thousands of years. The presence of ancient religions of the East, old European faiths, American-made religions, mysticism and New Age, are all found in Santa Fe. Just as the earliest settlers began their own type of worship in small groups in private homes, people continue to gather in a similar fashion as they hone in on a spiritual foundation to fit their needs and lifestyles. And just like the early days, these new missionaries reach out in the Spanish language to the state’s burgeoning immigrant community from Mexico and Central America.
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In 1880 an economic explosion occurred in Socorro when gold and silver were discovered in the nearby mountains. Miners staked claims at Socorro Peak and the San Mateo, Magdalena and Black Range mountains.
The boom was further enhanced when, on August 12, 1881, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad built a depot in Socorro bringing with it an avalanche of different nationalities forever changing the sleepy little village.
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For all of the human suffering found along the Historic Route 66 the Mother Road was a silver lining for the state of New Mexico. The historic route actually passed right through the heart of downtown Santa Fe. Route 66 began in Chicago and ended in Santa Monica, California. The original Route 66 connected with the Old Santa Fe and Pecos Trial that led right into the Santa Fe plaza. It was on this road that people experienced the food, language, music, art, and architecture of Santa Fe as they traveled west. Today, a historic marker indicating the route’s location be found at the corner Water Street, one block off the Santa Fe plaza.
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Tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in this country from 1880 through 1940 that solidified the foundation of Santa Fe as a major art center. The pristine arid climate brought hundreds of people to Sunmount Sanitorium, located in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The solitude of convalescence awakened a core of creativity. The breathtaking landscape shaped by volcanic activity millions of years ago, coupled with the shifting light cast by the sun in the high-desert, formed a kaleidoscope of iridescent hues yearning to find artistic expression. The terrain provided a canvas for those indebted to the people and place that gave them a second chance at life.
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The Native Americans have inhabited New Mexico for at least 11,000 years and during the 13th century the Pueblo Indians began settlements along major rivers in proximity to Santa Fe. In 1598 the 1,600 mile trade route, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, was established allowing trade and travelers access from Mexico City to Okhay Owingeh, formerly known as San Juan Pueblo. The Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate traveled along the Camino Real to establish the first settlement at San Juan in 1598.
The year 1610 was given as the “official” founding of Santa Fe, although debate among historians continues and Santa Fe could have begun as early as 1601. The next important date came in 1682 when the Indian leader Po’pay led the neighboring pueblos in war pushing the Spanish settlers out of New Mexico during the Pueblo Revolt. Twelve years later in 1692 the Spanish Crown was restored, as Diego de Vargas regained the Spanish settlement of Santa Fe.
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Just as the Native Americans were forced to convert to Christianity while secretly honoring their own spirituality, many of New Mexico’s early Spanish settlers also practiced a hidden faith. They were the Sephardic Jews who had eluded the Inquisition under the guise of being conversos, Jews who had converted to Catholicism. They became known as crypto-Jews because they practiced their Jewish faith secretly while presenting a different persona to the public. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that revelations of their existence came to light.
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Remnants of the conversos, the hidden Jews of New Mexico, can be found carved on the headstones at camposantos throughout the northern part of the state. Many are engraved with both the Star of David and the Catholic cross, evidence of the dual faith that they practiced. Just as the Native Americans were forced to convert to Christianity while honoring their own spirituality secretly, many of New Mexico’s first Spaniards also practiced a hidden faith. They were the Sephardic Jews who fled the Inquisition under the guise of being conversos, Jews that had converted to Catholicism. They became known as Crypto Jews because they practiced their Jewish faith covertly while presenting a different persona in public. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that revelations of their existence came to light for the general public. Virtually, all of the descendants of the Crypto Jews were buried through the Catholic Church but remnants of their religious roots can be found on their gravesites.
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The Spaniards arrived on El Camino Real de Adentro the Royal road to the interior. It was a 1,500 mile trade route that began in Mexico City that ended thirty miles north of Santa Fe near Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in an area named San Gabriel by the Spaniards. For the next seven decades the Indians were forced into servitude and Christianity and many of their women were taken as wives for the Spaniards. Coming from medieval Europe the clergy believed that the medicine men of the Pueblos were practicing witchcraft as they performed their ceremonial rituals. In 1676 the Spanish soldiers rounded up all of the medicine men from the northern pueblos. They were brought to the Santa Fe plaza for a public flogging to discourage the practice of black magic.
The flogging incident was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Native Americans were already fed up with the Spaniards and their harsh treatment but when their medicine men, who are considered the high priests of their tribe, were publicly whipped they realized that they had to put a stop to the dominance of the Spaniards. It was Po’pay the medicine man of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo who began preparations for the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the most significant event in New Mexico history. The Indians successfully drove all of the Spanish colonists out of New Mexico down to El Paso del Norte, which was then part of Mexico, and today is El Paso, Texas for twelve years. During the revolt all of the Catholic churches were destroyed by fire with the exception of San Esteban at Acoma Pueblo. The people of Acoma had worked so hard to build the church on their 370 foot sandstone bluff that they could not bring themselves to destroy what they believed to be a masterpiece of ingenuity. San Esteban was the only church not destroyed during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
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Catholicism was ingrained in New Mexico’s early history. With the passing of time some of its churches and the people that built them have faded away.
La Castrenese military chapel which was dedicated to Our Lady of Light was located on the southside of the Santa Fe plaza. La Castrense opened its doors in 1760 to serve the spiritual needs of the soldiers of the Spanish presidio In 1859 Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy closed the church and sold the property.
A stone reredo, or altar screen, resided in La Castrense. It was created by the cartographer and artist Bernardo Miera y Pacheco. The reredo is one of the finest examples of 18th-century religious art in the nation. It’s also the only stone altar screen and largest surviving colonial retablo in New Mexico. Today, this spectacular work of art resides appropriately at Cristo Rey Church on Canyon Road, which features the highest density of art galleries in the world.
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Santa Fe has always been a small town with a big reputation, attracting people from all walks of life. Many are drawn to the physical beauty of its high-mountain desert. The quaint adobe architecture and temperate weather are also enticing, but mostly it was the muddle of humanity that kept life interesting. Long before Santa Fe was dubbed the “City Different” during the middle of the last century, its small population was already a microcosm of a bigger reality.
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The nicho in New Mexico is a vital part of its cultural continuity. Without nichos, New Mexico would suffer a loss of one of its traditional visual arts. The Spanish and Portuguese word nicho, (niche in English, niche in French, and nichia in Italian) comes from the Latin word nidus, for nest. It generally means a recess in a wall that is designed to hold a special article, often the image of a saint, an urn with special remains, or other cherished object.
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The most significant historical event in New Mexico was the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 when the pueblos successfully drove all of the Spanish colonists out of the state. During the uprising the first wartime tactic was to burn all of the Catholic churches in retaliation for being forced to convert to Catholicism. San Esteban Church at Acoma Pueblo was the only church not destroyed. When the Spanish colonists returned in 1692 they agreed to combine Native American spirituality with Catholicism making it the first example of a convergence of spirituality in this country. Today, all 19 Indian Pueblos have a Catholic Church and patron saint.
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Remnants of war have defined the history of Santa Fe since its founding. In 1610 the Presidio de la Santa Cruz, the large military barracks and horse corrals adjacent to the Palace of the Governors, was built. Directly across the street la castrense, the military chapel, was added for the soldiers. In 1846, the U.S. Army built Fort Marcy at the western end of the Santa Fe Trail. Named after Secretary of War William Marcy, it was the first United States Army fort in New Mexico. The Mormon Battalion monument 25 miles from Santa Fe is a memorial to the only religion-based squadron in the history of the U.S., which entered Santa Fe in 1846 with Brig. Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny. A battle of the American Civil War was fought 20 miles from Santa Fe at Glorieta on March 26, 1862. In 1898, volunteers were recruited from the area for Roosevelt’s Rough Riders for the Spanish-American War.
In all of Santa Fe’s history, one defining event during World War II reverberates even today. The Manhattan Project military checkpoint was located just off the Plaza at 109. E. Palace Avenue. It was there that military personnel, scientists, contractors, janitors, and everyone involved with the creation of the world’s first atomic bomb had to register. The only address for the Manhattan Project was P.O. Box 1663, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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It wasn’t until the invention of the daguerreotype in Europe in the early 1830s, followed by the advent of photography in 1839, that the concept of having a final image of a loved one began to take root. By 1851, photographs of the Santa Fe plaza and surrounding areas were being captured by curious and adventurous photographers who made their way to the capital city in covered wagons on the Santa Fe Trail. In the beginning few people could afford to have photographs taken, so only the wealthy had their images captured on film. But the thought of forgetting the face of a loved one who had died justified the expense of paying for such an extravagance. By the end of the 19th century this new technology became accessible to most socioeconomic segments of the population and photographing the dead became entwined in the grieving process of New Mexico.
The most common photographs of the dead were those of infants and children. With the high infant mortality rate the photographs allowed one chance to have an image of the child who would never grow up. The loss of a child was a devastating experience and people consoled themselves in the belief that children under the age of eight, who had received the sacrament of baptism, went straight to heaven and became angels
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In all of Santa Fe’s history, one defining event during World War II reverberates even today. The Manhattan Project military checkpoint was located just off the Plaza at 109. E. Palace Avenue. It was there that military personnel, scientists, contractors, janitors, and everyone involved with the creation of the world’s first atomic bomb had to register. The only address for the Manhattan Project was P.O. Box 1663, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Situated on the Pajarito Plateau surrounded by four mesas, Los Alamos was the ideal clandestine location for the Manhattan Project during World War II.
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La Conquistadora, this nation’s oldest Madonna, arrived in Santa Fe in 1625 carried in the arms of Fray de Alonso de Benevides from Mexico City. From that moment on La Conquistadora has represented Santa Fe’s Spanish faith and legacy. The honoring of La Conqistadora, is central to the annual Santa Fe Fiesta, our nation’s oldest-continuous community celebration. In 1973 to the shock of the community, La Conquistadora was stolen as a result of a teenage-prank but quickly recovered.
Doña Tules (c. 1800–1852)
Tules, was an expert at the card game Monte. During the mid-1840s she operated a gaming hall that catered to Americans and Mexicans travelling along Santa Fe Trail, which ended at the Santa Fe plaza. Born Maria Gertrudes Barcelo, she was purported to be the mistress of Gov. Manuel Armijo, the last New Mexico governor under the rule of the Mexican government. As her business grew she amassed a small fortune and became accepted into circles of high society. When she died in 1852 she was buried underneath the Basilica Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi along with the hierarchy of the Catholic clergy. During a time that few women had rights or visibility, the story of Doña Tules has caught the imagination of many and is one of the most written about woman in New Mexico history.
La Llorona, the wailing woman, is an important part of New Mexico cultural folklore. The legend may have originated in 1520 with the Spanish conquest of Mexico. One story claims that La Malinche was the Indian mistress of the conquistador Hernan Cortes. Through the betrayal to her native people she is banished from society and is destined to eternity to roam the riverbeds and streets of Santa Fe, northern New Mexico and other parts of the Southwest in search of her lost children, which is metaphoric of her lost culture.
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Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy (1814– 1888)
Lamy was the first bishop and archbishop of the Diocese of Santa Fe. He was appointed to his new position by Pope Pius IX in 1850. Lamy arrived in Santa Fe a year later where he was met with resistance from the local clergy but quickly took charge and began to transform Santa Fe. He ordered the construction of new churches and created new parishes and schools. By 1869 he started work on the Cathedral of St. Francis, now a Basilica, which was completed in1888. Lamy had the Romanesque style church built similar to those of his native France, which was in complete contrast to the surrounding adobe structures. Throughout his time in Santa Fe, Archbishop Lamy ruled with a strong hand amid controversy. Today, a statue of Lamy graces the front entrance to the Basilica and his body is interned below the church floor.
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Origin of Food
New Mexico Chile - chile peppers are a fruit, not a vegetable that originated in the lowlands of Brazil where birds developed a symbiotic relationship with the peppers. Unlike mammals, birds don’t have receptors in their mouths, so they don’t taste the heat of the chile. The bird’s digestive tract is also unaffected by the heat, which makes them the perfect vessel to sow the seeds of the chile peppers. Birds consume them with no adverse effects and disperse them creating new plants. With help from the birds chile made its way to Central America between 5200 and 3400 BC and slowly crept up in to Mexico where the different Indian tribes began trading them throughout the region. The peppers were introduced to the rest of the world by Christopher Columbus.
Pinto Beans - originated in Peru. Pinto bean Spanish for painted beige background splashes of redspots is an official vegetable of New Mexico, one of the most widely used beans in the U.S. South and Central American Indian tribes traded them. Introduced to Europe, Africa and Asia by the Spanish explores in the 15th century.
Salt - During the Neolithic era around 12,000 years ago the final stage of cultural evolution of prehistoric humans. Discovered salts mines which are located all over the world. Archeologists discovered that by 6500 B.C. people living in Europe were actively mining what is believed to be the first salt mines on the continent. Today, in the United States the average adult consumes more than three teaspoons of salt per day, more than 25 times what the body needs.
Sugar - consumption of sugar began in India in 3000 B.C. Known as a miraculous reed that could produce honey without the intervention of bees. Sugar spread from India to Indochina, west to Arabia and then to Europe. India’s ancient language of Sanskirt called it sarkara, in Arabic it is known as sukkar, zuchero in Italian, sucre in French, Azucar in Spanish and sugar in English.
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J. Paul Taylor and his late wife, Mary Daniels Taylor, were married for 62 years. She died on January 10, 2007 of pneumonia. The couple had seven children, 17 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. In 2005 the Taylors deeded their historic property on the Mesilla plaza to the state of New Mexico. Upon J. Paul’s Taylor’s death their home, the historic Barela Reynolds property which the couple purchased in 1951, will become the state’s seventh monument. They were avid collectors of Spanish Colonial art, and have also donated all furnishings and religious art in their home to the state of New Mexico.
Taylor comes from one of New Mexico’s most historic political families. His mother was Margarita Romero y López, whose Spanish ancestor, Cristóbal Baca, accompanied Juan de Oñate during his second expedition to the New World. His great-grandfather was Miguel Romero y Baca, who founded Las Vegas, N.M., in 1851. Miguel Romero’s son, Trinidad Romero, was one of the founders of New Mexico’s Republican Party. In 1877 Trinidad was elected as the New Mexico delegate to the U.S. Congress.
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The volume of Spanish-language publication in the Southwest is massive. From 1880 to 1935, more than 190 newspapers were established in more than 30 communities in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Texas. In 1891, La Prensa Asociada Hispano-Americana, the first press association among the Spanish-speaking journalists in the United States, organized their editors into an effective professional association. Nuevomexicano expectations for progress a century ago exemplified the belief that a vigorous press could protect the Spanish language and culturewhile improving education across the region.
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The anthropologist and archaeologist, Edgar L. Hewett, founded the School of American Archaeology in 1907. He also founded the Museum of New Mexico in 1909. Throughout his career he established a strong rapport with the Native American community. In 1921 he met with native dancers at the Fiesta de Santa Fe.
The San Ildefonso world-renowned potter, Maria Martinez, who was born in 1887 and died in 1980. In 1908 Edgar Lee Hewitt, the anthropologist/archeologist and founder of the Museum of New Mexico discovered Neolithic remnants from the time of the early inhabitant’s agricultural settlements. In his find he discovered the glossy decorative black pottery of that era. He sought the help of Maria in recreating this ancient form of pottery that led to Maria Martinez receiving the National Endowment of the Arts award, as well as many other honorifics in her lifetime.
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The cemetery surrounding the San Miguel Mission was the first burial ground in Santa Fe in the early part of the 17th century. Several state office buildings have been built over the cemetery. It’s no wonder that several sightings of ghost have been reported in that area.
During the mid 20th century the city of Santa Fe had their own Angel of Death. A mysterious man by the name of Alejandrito roamed the streets of town with an uncanny knack of knowing when someone was about to die. People feared his presence and would say, "Alla anda Alejandrito rodeando las animas. ¿Quién se ird a morir?" "(Alejandrito is gathering the souls of the departed, I wonder who will die next?) Alejandrito was born on Alto Street near Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. He was referred to as an “innocente” a person of limited mental capacity, who was also mute. Not much else was known about him except that when someone died, no matter what part of Santa Fe, within hours Alejandrito was at the house. He stayed with the mourners and would lead the funeral procession to the cemetery. The community of Santa Fe believed that God spoke to Alejandrito telling him when someone was going to die. One cold winter morning in 1960 Alejandrito was found frozen to death at the Santa Fe River by Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, not far from the home where he was born. For the man who attended so many funerals, consoling the bereaved, no one was there when he died.
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The roadside crosses found along New Mexico byways and highways mark the spot where a life has ended tragically. This practice of placing crosses, laying stones or creating a devotional homage to the deceased is practiced by cultures around the world. With the increase of random acts of violence filling the nightly news with images of terror around the world this practice has morphed into a universal tradition, spontaneously marking the spot as a memorial with flowers, photos and candles for the dead.
In New Mexico these death markers are known as descansos from the Spanish tense decansar (to rest). The tradition of the descanso began with the 16th century confraternity, La Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno, also known as Los Hermanos Penitentes (the Brotherhood of the Repentant). The Penitentes placed crosses, or laid stones to mark the place of death for their fellow Spaniards who died along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Camino Real). These remembrances were erected for the colonists that died of exposure or were killed by Indians along the treacherous 1,500 mile trade route that began in Mexico City and ended in San Gabriel in northern New Mexico. The descanso was a remembrance to the anima (soul) of the deceased. Las Cruces, the state’s largest city to the south, got its name from the crosses that were erected for the dead along that journey.
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It was the Mexican ranchero and his vaqueros who taught the migrating Eastern farmer the art of raising cattle and maintaining a large ranch. Rapidly, the legend of the American West was born, along with the cowboy culture which we know today. A legend that had its roots in the Spanish culture and was brought over by the Spaniards as a means to sustain themselves. Cowboy life been glamorized by motion pictures, television and the modern rodeo.
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The Fiesta de Santa Fe is intrinsic to our nation’s history, not only for being the oldest continuous community celebration in the country but also because it highlights the religious foundation of three centuries of Catholicism.
The Fiesta began with the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. After years of oppression under Spanish rule, the surrounding Pueblos successfully drove the Spanish colonists out of New Mexico. The mastermind of the revolt was Po’pay, a medicine man from Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan) Pueblo who served the Tewa people. For the next twelve years the colonists lived in El Paso del Norte, which is now a part of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso. When De Vargas died in 1712, Don Juan Páez Hurtado, who had served as his lieutenant governor, drafted a resolution that a fiesta was to be held each year in commemoration of De Vargas and La Conquistadora.
As a U.S. Territory, in 1848 the Anglo population grew and the Fiesta was gradually transformed. In July 1883, Santa Fe hosted the Tertio-Millennial and the Fiesta was combined with the Fourth of July. This was most likely the first time that Native Americans participated in a community celebration, and it led to subsequent Fiesta events. The Fiesta was suspended from 1913 through 1918 because of World War I. In 1926 artist Will Shuster created Zozobra, the oversized puppet that was burned as a means of banishing gloom, and in 1927 Amalia Sena Sánchez became Santa Fe’s first Fiesta Queen. Since the 1920s, the Fiesta de Santa Fe has evolved into a collective synergy with its origin as a religious foundation intact.
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The genesis of Santa Fe as an art mecca begins with the Neolithic artifacts embedded in the cultural fabric of Santa Fe that provide a roadmap of the history of this nation’s oldest capital city. Decorative shards of pottery from the 13th century, along with remnants of Native American baskets woven from twine, mark the passage of time. They remain under the protection of museum gatekeepers, allowing a glimpse into a world frozen in the past.
Iconic idolatry followed in the 1600s with the arrival of the Spanish colonists. More than 300 years ago, Franciscan friars established their roots of devotion to the santos. These Catholic religious images, painted on deer or elk hide and adorned with straw appliqué, represent just one of the art forms that continue to enrich the region.
By the mid-19th century the third wave of artists trickled in, some as military mapmakers who did their part to secure the region for the United States. Finally, it was tuberculosis, the leading cause of death in this country from 1880 through 1940 that solidified the foundation of Santa Fe as a major art center. The pristine arid climate brought hundreds of people to Sunmount Sanitorium, located in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The solitude of convalescence awakened a core of creativity. The breathtaking landscape shaped by volcanic activity millions of years ago, coupled with the shifting light cast by the sun in the high-desert, formed a kaleidoscope of iridescent hues yearning to find artistic expression. The terrain provided a canvas for those indebted to the people and place that gave them a second chance at life.
And like the advent of penicillin that made the treatment of this dreadful disease possible, several individuals are credited for breathing life into the art community. The people whose vision helped to solidify Santa Fe’s art community are included in this chapter in gratitude for their visionary foresight.
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When WWII began Robert H. Martin joined the army and became the photographer for the Zenith Radio Corporation, one of the major defense contractors for the government. By 1946 he was hired by Los Alamos National Laboratory as the official photographer of this nation’s top-secret nuclear projects. The Chicago native married Manuelita Ortiz y Pino, a member of one of New Mexico’s most prominent Hispanic families. In addition to his work at the Lab, he spent decades documenting Santa Fe culture and history.
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Since the mid-20th century, Santa Fe has been referred to as The City Different because of our “anything goes” attitude. This mindset includes the diversity of its spirituality. In a city with a population of close to 90,000, it’s a place of refuge not just for spiritual seekers but also for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Having lived in exile from his beloved Tibet for more than half a century, he has been instrumental in establishing a strong Mahayana Buddhist presence in Santa Fe, including all four major lineages: Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug traditions. The presence of such a strong Buddhist community might not be uncommon in large metropolitan cities like New York or Los Angeles, but for a small town like Santa Fe, it’s unprecedented.
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"To the modern Mexican, death doesn't have any meaning. ...To the inhabitant of New York, Paris or London, death is a word that is never uttered because it burns the lips. The Mexican, on the other hand, frequents it, mocks it, caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it. It is one of his favorite toys and most permanent lover." – Octavio Paz, from The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950)
The indigenous people of Mexico have always had a unique relationship with death. More than three thousand years ago the ancient civilizations of the Aztecs, Mayans, Totoncas and the Purepecha believed that death completed the cycle of life. The completion of the life-death circle was both a natural and logical part of existence. Rather than focusing on the actual death of a person, they concentrated on the journey of the spirit. Although the physical body was no longer viable, the person’s soul had gone to another realm, to Mictlan, where the Aztecs believed the spirit had gone for eternity. For the pre-Hispanic Mexican, the concept of good and bad at the time of death did not exist – there was no heaven or hell, nothing to fear. There was no thought of final judgment and no thought of reincarnation.
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Only in Santa Fe does culture of all kinds come together because of the unique people that settled in the high desert city. These include: the Santa Fe Opera, The Chamber Music Festival, the Santa Fe Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica, music of many kinds but of high quality presented at the Lensic Theater and by Performance Santa Fe. Cutting-edge science The Santa Fe Institute and , Los Alamos; literature, including poetry; the nation's third-largest art market with art ranging from avant garde to traditional to genre; photography; and film.
Edward Sheriff Curtis was an ethnologist and photographer. He was born in 1868 in Whitewater, Wisconsin. At the age of 32, married and with a family, he decided to embark on the biggest adventure of his life. His mission was to preserve the dignity of the proud people that he first encountered in 1900. With unparalleled self-confidence and zeal, Curtis obtained the financial support of the financier J. P. Morgan. It was President Theodore Roosevelt and the royal crowns of both England and Belgium who encouraged him to document his work. In addition to over fifty thousand negatives he produced, he recorded Native American languages, their music and filmed the first moving images of the American Indian. From 1900 through 1930 Curtis was dedicated to capturing Native American culture. In those three decades he provided an indelible commentary on the lives of the indigenous people of the US and Canada like no other photographer during that era.
The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico are believed to be descendants of the Anasazi who populated the Four Corners region of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. During the 13th century the Pueblo Indians began settlements along major rivers, primarily the Rio Grande, which begins in south-central Colorado and flows through to the Gulf of Mexico. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was the first major explorer to come into contact with New Mexico’s indigenous population at Zia Pueblo in his 1540–1542 expedition. San Juan Pueblo (in 2005 the Pueblo went back to its original name Ohkay Owingeh) was the first settlement claimed by the Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate in 1598. The next significant date of record in the history of the Pueblo people occurred in the latter part of the 17th century during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Led by the medicine man Po’pay, of Ohkay Owingeh, the neighboring pueblos successfully drove the Spanish colonists out of New Mexico for twelve years.