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Taos, New Mexico
Taos County has a
multi-cultural history which is diverse and reaches back at least 8,000 years
with evidence of pre-historic settlement sites through Spanish exploration
and colonization. Taos is unique and distinct in the history of New Mexico and the United States. It is one of the longest continuously inhabited regions
in the country.
Rock art dating from the
Archaic Period (5500 BC to 100 AD) to historical times is found along the Rio
Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) in Taos County. Around 1050 AD pueblos began to
build in the Taos area; Pot Creek was built in the 1200s, and abandoned by
1350; and Taos Pueblo built around
1000 - 1450 is still occupied today. There were pit houses and pueblos in
Talpa circa 1100 - 1300, and Picuris Pueblo is still in existence today. From
1500, ancestors of the Apaches and Navajos, plus Muoache Utes, traded, hunted,
gathered and raided the pueblos.
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
and his expeditionary group explored parts of northern Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. During these explorations
Hernando de Alvarado visited and traveled through Taos in 1540. Don Juan de
Onate, the head of the first Spanish settlements in New Mexico, sent a
delegation, which included a priest, to Taos and Picuris Pueblos in 1598. In
the records of Pedro de Castaneda, Taos Pueblo, the northernmost pueblo, was
called Braba, later Valledolid. This was also recorded by Juan Velarde,
secretary to Juan de Onate, and later changed to Taos by early Taos settlers, which is an approximation of Tiwa words Ta-o-ta "Red Willow Place"
or Tua-Tah "Our Village". Comanche raids encouraged early Taos
Pueblo peoples and Spanish settlers to work together for mutual protection.
On September 9th of 1598, Fray
Francisco Zamora was chosen and assumed his post as missionary to Taos and Picuris Pueblos. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was organized from Taos by Pope, a San Juan native. Spanish citizens of New Mexico retreated to El Paso where they remained
in exile for twelve years. At least four efforts were made, between 1681 and
1693, to re-conquer New Mexico. In 1693, an expedition led by Diego de Vargas
returned to New Mexico and Taos, engineered by a bloodless re-entry with the
help of Bartolome de Ojeda from Zia Pueblo and other pueblo people who
negotiated the return. Ojeda was described as
"muy ladino", which
meant that he could read and write as well as being bilingual in Spanish and
Keres.
At Taos, De Vargas parlayed
with Pueblo leader Francisco Pacheco and a young Indian “ladino”,
meaning very proficient in
Spanish, who called himself Josephillo “Little Joe”. Joseph Naranjo persuaded
the people from Taos Pueblo to receive Father Alvarez as their missionary
priest and got them to help in building their church, St. Jerome Mission. Requests
to the government from post-revolt settlers for agricultural and grazing
lands near Taos refer to the occupation of the area by various citizens.
Among the most prominent was Diego Lucero de Godoy, who settled north and
west of the pueblo along the river that still bears his name, and Fernando
Duran y Chaves, who lived near present day Ranchos de Taos. Cristobal de la
Serna took over the former lands of
Duran y Chaves.
In 1796, authorization
established the Don Fernando de Taos Grant, a settlement that quickly became
the largest Spanish community in the valley. Early settlers were Antonio Jose
Ortiz, Juan
Joseph Romero, Cristobal
Tafoya, Joseph Vilalpando and others. This was also the year that Llano,
Llano Largo and Santa Barbara were settled in Peñasco.
In the early 1800s, French,
American and Canadian trappers began trading in Taos County. On September 27,
1821, New Mexico became part of Mexico. In 1826, Padre Martinez was installed
as Pastor of Taos and opened a school. In the same year, Kit Carson took up
residence in the community. In 1842 Padre Martinez baptized Kit Carson into
the Catholic faith and later married him to Josefa Jaramillo. During these
years, Padre Martinez brought the first printing press to Taos and El
Crepusculo became its first newspaper.
On August 22, 1846, General
Kearney proclaims all of New Mexico, with its original boundaries, as part of
the United States. When New Mexico was taken over by Kearney, there were only
seven Counties. The old Mexico scheme divided the province into three
districts, northern, central, and southeastern. The Counties were Taos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, San Miguel, Santa Ana, Bernalillo and Valencia. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848. The Territorial Convention
Council of October 10, 1848 was organized by the election of Antonio Jose
Martinez of Taos County, as President. Members of the first district which
included the counties of Taos and Rio Arriba were Pablo Gallegos, George
Gold, Antonio Jose Martinez, Vicente Martinez and Antonio Ortiz. Members of
the House for Taos County were Reymundo Cordova, Dionicio Gonzales, Pascual
Martinez, Miguel Mascareñas and Theodore Wheaton, who was elected Speaker of
the House.
Squire Hartt, Jr., of Ranchos
de Taos, became the first Senator and Luis R. Montoya from Cerro and Manuel
Cordova from Rio Pueblo, the first Representatives of the County. Antonio R.
Rivera from Taos was the first County Clerk, Fidel Cordova from Arroyo Seco,
the first Assessor, Malaquias Rael from Questa, the first Treasurer. Jose
Montaner from Taos, the Superintendent of Schools. The County Commissioners were; 1st District, Benjamin G. Randall, Taos; 2nd District, Juan C. Rael, Questa
and 3rd District, Lucas Dominguez, Chamisal.
The founders of the artist’s
colony at Taos were Bert Phillips and Ernest L. Blumenschein, who arrived together
in 1898. In 1915 the Taos Society of Artists was formed by Blumenschein and
Phillips, joined by J. Sharp, Oscar Berninghas, E. Irving Couse, Victor
Higgins, Walter Ufer and Kenneth Adams. Alongside the art colony, there grew
a colony of writers founded by Mabel Dodge Lujan, a wealthy New Yorker, who
arrived in Taos in 1916. After marrying Tony Lujan from Taos Pueblo, she
invited writers from around the world to her home. Among those who came were
John Collier and D.H. Lawrence. Just as all New Mexicans and other people in
the United States, Taoseños had enjoyed the Country’s general prosperity in
the 1920s; they fell victim to disastrous economic conditions during the
1930s, the decade of the Great Depression. Taos farmers and ranchers sold
less and some lost their lands because of hard times. Most county villagers
had earned wages through seasonal employment outside the community but that
declined. Progress from Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Work Process Administration
(WPA) and the
Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC) employed many Taos County residents and helped build many schools and
commercial projects.
World War II recorded Taos County citizens as some of the first to see action for the U.S. in the
Philippines. Acknowledged in
1941 as the best anti-aircraft regiment in the Army, the 200th Coast
Artillery was the last
organized resistance on Bataan to fight the Japanese. That any of the New
Mexicans survived at all was a
testament to their toughness and camaraderie. On April 9, 1942, at the surrender
of Bataan to the Japanese army, they found themselves herded onto the road
that history would call the “Death March”. Years in prison camps, liberation,
hospitalization and formally inactivated April 2, 1946, many returned home to
live productive and useful lives. Those who returned were: Taos County; Eugene Romero, Arroyo Hondo; Virgilio Gomez and Joseph A. Segura, Cerro; Gilbert
Abeyta, Chamisal/Llano; Valdemar A. DeHerrera, Gustavo R, Santistevan, and
Armando F. Trujillo, Costilla; Ernesto N. Garcia, and Eloy Valdez, El Prado;
Anselmo Sisneros, Jr., Ojo Caliente; Ramon B. Cisneros, and Moises Sanchez,
Questa; Paul Trujillo, Ranchitos; Abedon Garcia, Rodarte; Robert K. Boggs,
Dow G. Bond, Jack K. Boyer, Earl R. Horn, Luis G. LeDoux, George Mares, Juan
Joe Martinez, Jose A. Medina, Robert Medina, Horacio H. Montoya, Benjamin
Montoya, Andres Montoya, Tedoro J. Montoya, Jose M. Romero, Stephen F.
Sanchez, Miguel N. Tafoya, John M. Vickrey, Vicente P. Vigil, and Dallas P.
Vinette, Taos; Jimmie K. Lujan, Onofre Montoya, Antonio Reyna, and Santana
Romero, Taos Pueblo;
and Thomas Garcia, Arroyo
Seco. Also honored but not named were 30 other guardsmen from Taos County villages who lost their lives in the Philippines.
Skiing has been a contribution
to the development and economy of the county. Sipapu was started in 1952 by Lloyd
Bolander and has continually operated for 52 years. At the beginning a
portable rope tow lift was used, but in 1955 a T-Bar ski lift pulley was set
in operation. Currently it has a peak elevation of 9,255 ft., 31 trails, 4
lifts, 2 terrain ports, housing, restaurant, inner shop and ski shop. Sipapu
is still being operated by son Bruce and daughter Sue Leslie.
Taos Ski Valley was a project of Ernie
Blake who explored the upper Hondo river and Twinning in 1954-55 with Orville
Pattison. In 1956, with Dr. Al Rosen’s and the REA’s cooperation, a T-Bar
lift ordered by Bolander for Blake, was moved from Sipapu to Hondo Canyon,
and Taos Ski Valley began operation basically with sweat equity. For years
Ernie was a voice on Taos and other radio stations expounding the ski
conditions at Taos. Today, Taos Ski Valley has 12 ski lifts, with 110 runs on
an 11,819 foot peak. It is now an incorporated village with a Chamber of
Commerce, Mayor, Council and all the conveniences of any town. It is one of
the best areas for skiing in the country.
Red River, the youngest of the
County’s ski areas, was started in 1959 by S.E. Boulton. A Platter Puma lift
began the first operation. Drew Judycki has managed this private family
corporation for 35 years. Its top elevation is 10,350 feet with 7 lifts and
57 trails. It is located next to the Town of Red River which has all the
improvements that support any major tourist community. Snow boarding is
encouraged at the Red River Ski Area.
Bibliography and Contributors:
• New Mexico Blue Books,
2003-04, 1987-88, 1975-76, 1949-50, 1937-38, 1935-36, 1926-27, 1912-13, and
1848-49.
• Spanish Irrigation in the
Taos Valley, John O. Baxter, September, 1990.
• New Mexico, Susan A.
Roberts, and Calvin A. Roberts, 1988, University of New Mexico Press.
• New Mexico’s Own
Chronicle, Maurice Garland Fulton and Paul Horgan, Dallas, Upshaw and
Company.
• By Force of Arms, The
Journals of Don Diego DeVargas, 1690-1693, John L. Kessell and Rick
Hendricks, Editors, University of New Mexico Press, 1992.
• Pueblo Indian
Biographies, by Joe Sando, Cultural Awareness Center, University of New Mexico.
• Ski Pioneers, Ernie Blake
and Friends, The Making of Taos Ski Valley, Dry Gulch Publishing.
• Beyond Courage, One
Regiment Against Japan, by Dorothy Cove, 1941-45, Library of Congress,
Yucca Tree Press, Las Cruces.
• Contributors: Francis
Cordova, NM National Guard Retired, Lloyd Bolander, Drew Judycki, Benton
Bond, and Manual Rudy Pacheco.
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