By Samuel Sisneros Twelve years after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, half of the refugees in El Paso del Norte returned to northern New Mexico. Those who stayed either remained in the refugee colonies or migrated further into Chihuahua and established new communities along the Camino Real. They opened and…
By Samuel Sisneros In 1849, following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, more than 150 families from central and southern Texas, a small group from California, close to 4,000 people from New Mexico, along with approximately seven hundred people from the present El Paso Lower Valley (Socorro, Ysleta and San…
On the Feast of the Ascension, April 30, 1598, Juan de Oñate took possession with the following excerped words: In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, and the undivided Eternal Unity, Deity and Majesty, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, three persons in one sole essence, and one and…
By J. Mark Sublette Farming in this high desert climate was always a challenge. Shortly after founding Santa Fe in 1610, the Spanish built an irrigation canal above the River, parallel to Canyon Road. Still in use, this Acequia Madre, or "mother ditch," brought precious water out of the…
Between 1919 and 1925, Mary Austin was in and out of Santa Fe, writing, lecturing, and promoting the preservation and revival of Hispano and Indian cultural production. In 1923, the Society for the Preservation of Indian and Spanish Traditions in the Americas was organized at a meeting held around…
By William H. Wroth The Cofradía de Nuestro Padre Jesús (Brotherhood of Our Father Jesus) is a Catholic lay confraternity in New Mexico, whose members, popularly known the Penitentes, are dedicated to living a pious Christian life through devotion to the suffering and crucifixion of Christ. Their devotional activities…
By William H. Wroth The present village of Abiquiú, founded in the eighteenth century, was built on top of the ruins of a prehistoric Tewa Pueblo, still known today as P’efu (other forms of this word are Phé shúu ú, Feshunun, and Avéshu).. When the ancestral Tewas, according to…
By José A. Rivera, University of New Mexico and Thomas F. Glick, Boston University The American Southwest encompasses a vast territory rich in natural and mineral resources but short on water supply. When Spanish conquistadores first entered the region, known to them as Nueva España, they immediately realized that…
The Social Life of a Controversial Proclamation, 1980-1988 By Aimee V. Garza On Good Friday, 28 March 1986, Governor Toney Anaya, issued a proclamation declaring the state of New Mexico, the nation’s first, “State of Sanctuary” for refugees fleeing the devastating civil wars in Central America. The announcement came…
By Kim Suina The burgeoning tourist economy and emerging Indian arts market boomed at the Camino Real paraje of Santa Fe during the 1920s. The city hosted the Santa Fe Fiesta, a major tourist event of that era. Tourists from all over the country traveled to Santa Fe to…
