Written By: Rob Martinez
Every year in September, the Fiesta de Santa Fe marks the celebration of a birthday. Or more precisely, the rebirth of the Hispanic presence in New Mexico, when Diego de Vargas brought Spanish dominion back to New Mexico in 1692 after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
The year 1692 was the cold war, the “bloodless” reconquest of New Mexico. The very next year was the hot war, when bloodshed and violence capped the return of the Spanish to the land of the pueblos.
In recent times, the Fiesta served up a healthy helping of conquistador costumes and played out themes of noble Natives and local royalty. These are not ancient practices; rather, they date from about a century ago. Influenced by a movement to celebrate the nation’s pioneering heritage by establishing pageant history events in towns and cities across the country, the Entrada was born.
In New Mexico, this coincided with the arrival of artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, and writers such as D.H. Lawrence and Willa Cather. New Mexico, called a “miserable kingdom” in the 1600s and “remote beyond compare” by Vargas, would be designated the “Land of Enchantment” by the early 1900s.
A document still housed in Santa Fe at the state Records Center and Archives from 1712 reveals the origins and original intent of what would centuries later become the Santa Fe Fiesta. Written by Juan Páez Hurtado, a member of Vargas’ inner circle, Páez Hurtado lamented that, in the 20 years since Santa Fe was reconquered, nothing had been done to honor the man or his achievements.
Páez Hurtado held a meeting with some of the men at a local house, since the government building, today’s Palace of the Governors, was in bad shape due to heavy rain.
He declared a fiesta to be held in Santa Fe, with a vespers Mass, sermon and procession through the main Plaza. This would not be cheap. Twenty-five pesos were to be paid for the mass and sermon, and 30 pesos for the procession. All in attendance and members of the cabildo, or town council, were compelled to donate and collect funds, as well as attend.
By all accounts, it was to be a very religious Catholic event, even solemn and dignified. It was supposed to be carried out every year in September.
It is unknown if the mandate was ever carried out. If it was, it also remains unclear whether the order was honored every year, or eventually dissipated. Since 1712, no priest or governor during the remaining Colonial Period or Mexican period mentions it. The 1760 visit to New Mexico by Bishop Pedro Tamaron y Romeral, recorded meticulously, is silent on the fiesta. So was fray Francisco Atanasio Domínguez, whose detailed account of New Mexico’s spiritual and temporal condition says nothing of the event.
During New Mexico’s Mexican period, Bishop José Antonio Laureano de Zubiría y Escalante observed New Mexico twice, first in 1833, then in 1845, without ever mentioning a celebration of Diego de Vargas at Santa Fe. Americans coming to the region along the Santa Fe Trail also were silent on the matter.
It wasn’t until 1904 that an American renaissance of the Fiesta began, when a local women’s club held a fundraiser to provide money for local libraries. The theme was the return of the Spanish in 1692. By 1911, a local minister inspired by Frontier Days celebrations sprouting up around the country introduced the Entrada. Re-creating Spanish conquistador costumes and peaceful encounters with Native peoples would evolve into a full-on celebration of Vargas and his caballeros, or mounted soldiers.
By 1919 the Caballeros de Vargas (based loosely on soldiers such as Ignacio de Roybal y Torrado and Juan de Ulibarri) would be in place to guide the proceedings. In 1924, artist Will Shuster, after attending a festival in Sonora, Mexico, witnessed local Yaqui Indians burning an effigy of Judas with fireworks, created a doll he called Old Man Gloom to burn and cheer up his artist friends.
In 1926, the first public burning of Zozobra took place in Santa Fe, with colorful lights, the Mexican folk song “La Cucaracha” and musicians playing. After, a huge party ensued with local Santa Feans enjoying the festivities. The Santa Fe Fiesta was in full swing.
What started in 1712 as a solemn Catholic religious event evolved by the mid-20th century into a secular party that incorporated Catholic elements from centuries past, frontier days celebrations of conquistadors and Native encounters, plus artistic celebratory expression through wood, papier-mâché, and fireworks in the burning of Zozobra to start the festivities.
The Fiesta de Santa Fe is both an ancient and a modern expression of an ever-changing and evolving community that still wrestles with how to celebrate a rich, diverse history and multicultural landscape.
This article first appeared in the Santa Fe New Mexican on September 2, 2022.