Taos, New Mexico

Taos, New Mexico - It's an Indian Pueblo, a Spanish village, a world-class ski resort, a historic art colony... a state of mind.

The first European visitors to Taos were a small detachment of VASQUEZ de CORONADO'S expedition in search of the "mythical seven cities of Cibola", under the command of artillery captain HERNANDO de ALVARADO in early September of 1540. Different accounts of this expedition give various names and descriptions to what is now known as the TAOS PUEBLO, which still exists, its multi-storied adobe buildings still used by the TIWA speaking people of the Taos Valley. For the 450+ years that have now passed since that meeting, these people have somehow, in the face of constant incursions and threats, also retained most of their culture, language, and society. It has been a long journey, one that continues today midst the mad, rushing changes all around us.

Native Taoseños now also number other cultures and heritages, each with its own history and folklore, needing to be recorded and nurtured. Change is inevitable, but we should try to preserve the memories of past events and people. Traces on the land around Taos denote the passing of all these things. Churches and other historic buildings, old roads and trails, camps of explorers, battle sites, ruins of prehistoric pueblos, mining camps and old cemeteries are but a few of the sites worth studying and preserving for posterity.

The Town of Taos was incorporated as a general law municipality on May 7, 1934.It has a Mayor/Council form of government, along with an appointed Town Manager to manage the affairs of the Town. The long and proud history of the Town dates back to August 29, 1540 when Capitan Hernando Alvarado as part of the expedition of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado arrived in the Taos Valley for the first time. They saw the magnificent ancient towering pueblo structures of the historic Taos Pueblo, and the peaceful Tiwa Indians who had inhabited the area for centuries. It was a peaceful meeting, and gifts were exchanged. That first meeting was the first of many cultural exchanges that were to forever change the valley we know as Taos today. Later, Don Juan de Onate, the first Governor of what is now New Mexico established colonies under the Spanish crown in most of Northern New Mexico.

By 1615, Taos was established as a Spanish Village, and had an appointed Alcalde (Mayor). The peaceful co-existence between these two cultures eroded over time, and led to conflicts between religious beliefs and the treatment of the native peoples. On August 10, 1680 a large pueblo revolt under the leadership of Pope, a San Juan Pueblo Indian, was underway which led to the expulsion of the Spanish from New Mexico. Twelve years passed, and then, in august of 1692, Don Diego de Vargas was appointed leader of an expedition which was to conquer once more, convert souls, but, perhaps above all, find the mines of silver in New Mexico. De Vargas conquered the land, and established the Capital at Santa Fe. Many of the Indians again came easily under the Spanish flag, but it was not until 1696 that the proud Taos Pueblo Indians made their last stand, and then surrendered.

The name Taos was first inscribed in history by Juan Belarde, secretary to Don Juan de Onate in 1598, when he wrote, "this day, after mass, we went on to the province of the Taos which they also called Tayberon and others". He had heard the Picuris Indians pointing to the northeast, say that their relatives the "Tao" lived yonder. Subsequently, by 1760 the Village was named "Don Fernando de Taos" by the Spanish settlers. Historians believe the name is attributed to Captain Don Fernando de Chavez, one of the leading settlers prior to the rebellion, who owned the land currently knows as the Cristobal de la Serna land grant. Don Fernando never returned following the rebellion. Taos is now a community overflowing with a long proud history, three cultures living side by side, and a heritage of colorful people. Its diversity makes Taos a very interesting and desirable place to live and do business.

A BRIEF TAOS, NEW MEXICO HISTORY This land of towering mountains and broad mesas has been inhabited by man for approximately 6,000 years. During prehistoric times, nomadic hunter-gatherers roamed the valley. The ancestors of present-day Pueblo Indians, the nomads, eventually adopted a sedentary lifestyle, becoming the first farmers of the region. Taos Pueblo, thought to be the oldest continuously inhabited structure---from 800-1,000 years--- evolved into a trading center by the 13th century.

The "trade fairs" of that time drew members of the Apache, Navajo, Kiowa and Comanche tribes, and caravans from Chihuahua, Mexico. Taos Valley changed dramatically with the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. When their search for gold yielded only the glint of straw in adobe structures, the New World conquerors began to colonize the valley. Attempts to dominate the Indians and convert them to Christianity, and the inevitable intermarriage, resulted in rebellion. In the Revolt of 1680, Pueblo Indians rose against their Spanish masters and drove them out of the Rio Grande Valley. The Spanish would not reconquer the region for 12 years. Despite the hostility between Spanish and Indian, they had to join forces against marauding tribes from the north and west in an uneasy interdependence.

Yet another newcomer emerged in the 18th century with the arrival of French and American traders. Taos, no more than a tiny mountain village, was transformed into a bustling trade center as wagon trains, frontier scouts and Mountain Men gathered. Rapid-fire change continued.

Following New Mexico's entry into the United States as an official territory in 1847 came another Indian revolt. Territorial Governor Charles Bent and 20 others were killed in a bloody massacre. The once geographically-isolated village became more accessible when the Atcheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railroad reached Santa Fe. The era of American's love affair with the West had begun. As tales of the region's beauty spread, tourists, writers and artists from the east discovered Northern New Mexico's uniqueness. Some settled permanently. In 1898, two artists with a broken wagon wheel ushered in the period that would lead to Taos' reputation as a world-famous art colony. That tradition continues, as does the legacy of the primary three cultures of Taos: the Indian, the Spanish and the Anglo.