Among the first records of people in the Americas are ancient cave paintings made with natural pigments, such as ochre (red) and charcoal (black). Courtesy of Vitor 1234 During much of the early twentieth century, scholars considered state histories (like California History or New Mexico History) to be parochial or provincial. Both terms connoted narrow […]

Painted by Charles R. Knight, this mastodon is part of a collection of paintings which make up some of the first dinosaur and reconstructions. Knight’s paintings use an impressionistic style with Japanese artists’ influence. Artwork by Charles R. Knight An understanding of New Mexico’s environment and climate is also vital to a full comprehension of […]

Egan, Timothy. (2012, December 13). In Ignorance We Trust. New York Times. Retrieved from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/egan-in-ignorance-we-trust/?hp Lowenthal, D. (1985). The Past is a Foreign Country. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources. (2014, August 4). Virtual Geologic Tour of New Mexico: Physiographic Provinces. Retrieved from http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/tour/provinces/home.html Novick, P. (1988). That Noble Dream: The ‘Objectivity Question’ […]

Petroglyph Cave Paintings How did the first inhabitants of the Americas arrive in the Western Hemisphere? Although this seems to be a straightforward question, there are no ready answers. Prevailing theories about human evolution and migration suggest that human life began in Africa. From there, Homo sapiens migrated across the earth. The answer, then, cannot […]

How do we know what we know about New Mexico’s earliest inhabitants? The above narrative provides a general outline of archaeological knowledge of the Pleistocene (or “Old Stone” Age), and the changes that shaped the transition to the Holocene, also described as the Archaic Period, which lasted between 9,500 BCE and about 500 BCE. We have learned much […]

As Jemez Pueblo historian Joe S. Sando has pointed out, anthropologists and historians have traced the historical geography of Pueblo peoples through their ceramics and artifacts, whereas the Pueblos themselves rely on “songs of various societies in tracing the places where their ancestors may have been.”2 As other native scholars suggest, these two types of knowledge are not […]

Corrugated Corrugated In the Southwest, corrugated pots existed in various forms between AD 650-1450. By leaving coils unobliliterated, potters manipulated the exposed coils to make a rough exterior. Courtesy of School of American Research, Catalog Number IAF.1930. Photograph by Addison Doty. Mimbres Black-on-White Mimbres Black-on-White Ceramic bowl created by the Mogollon people who lived near […]

Relations with Athabaskan migrants also shaped the course of New Mexico’s histories in the years before the arrival of the Spanish. The Athabaskans were the ancestors of the modern Navajo and Apache peoples, and they fanned out across the region in smaller bands after their initial arrival. As mentioned above, scholars continue to debate the exact time […]

The histories of Chacoan and Mogollon peoples provide many important signposts for the peoples that followed. They both fell victim to and adapted to New Mexico’s harsh, dry environment. Their adaptations set the stage for the development of Pueblo cultures and also influenced the Athabaskan peoples that arrived as early as the 1100s. The ability […]

Chatters, J. C. (2004). Northern Clans, Northern Traces: Journeys in the Ancient Circumpolar World. Retrieved from http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/kennewick_man.html Denetdale, J. N. (2007). Reclaiming Dine History: The Legacies of Navajo Chief Manuelito and Juanita. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. Eliade, M. (1963). Myth and Reality. New York, NY: Harper & Row. Etulain, R. W. (2002). Prologue: Prehistoric Man and Woman […]

The Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés and his troops capture Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital, in 1521. © Jay I. Kislak Collection—Rare Book and Special Collections Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. In June 1527, a group of about five hundred Spaniards under the leadership of Pánfilo de Narváez set out from the port of Cádiz, Spain, to […]

In order to comprehend the reasons that Cabeza de Vaca’s pattern of contact was an exception to the general rules of Spanish expansion, we must first explore the background of the group of people that are known in the history of American conquests as Spaniards. At the time of Christopher Columbus’ first voyage, no kingdom […]

Once each Iberian kingdom completed its leg of the reconquest, its resources were freed up for other pursuits. After the capture of Algarve, Portuguese kings focused their attention on solidifying royal administration during the remaining years of the thirteenth century. Such efforts were intermittently disrupted by Castilian kings’ and adelantados’ efforts to subjugate Portugal to […]

Portrait of Hernán Cortés commissioned in Mexico in the years following his conquest of the Aztec Empire. Courtesy of Mcapdevila Indios amigos (one Coronado historian’s term for indigenous allies) were absolutely essential to all of the conquests enacted by Spaniards during the sixteenth century. As leader of the expedition that pacified the great Aztec Empire, Hernán Cortés […]

Although many portrayals of the early period of European conquest and colonization have been characterized as dichotomous contests between Spaniards and indigenous peoples, such was never strictly the case. Spaniards consistently relied upon indios amigos to achieve their goals and to build an American empire. Native peoples also became quite adept at playing different groups […]

However the friar, who was subsequently named provincial (administrative head) of the Franciscan Order in Mexico City, justified his misrepresentation of the truth, the story of another Mexico in the far north gained credence in late 1539. Based on Niza’s report (which essentially did nothing more than verify the existence of cities in the far […]

Between the Coronado entrada and the 1598 colonization mission led by Juan de Oñate, many residents of New Spain continued to hope for new economic and missionary opportunities in the north. Coronado’s reports alerted them to the existence of thousands of people who, from their perspective, were potential laborers. Franciscans and secular settlers alike appreciated […]

BBC Religions. (2009). Muslim Spain. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/spain_1.shtml Burkholder, M. A., & Johnson, L. L. (2012). Colonial Latin America (8th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Flint, R. (2008). No Settlement, No Conquest: A History of the Coronado Entrada. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. Flint, R. (2009). Without Them, Nothing Was Possible. New Mexico Historical Review, 84 (1), […]

By the mid-1550s, Spanish authorities and would-be encomenderos alike continued to dream of the prospect of wealth to the north, although the failures of Coronado had tempered their vision. In 1563, Francisco de Ibarra was tapped by King Felipe II to renew northward exploration from the mining center of Zacatecas. Ibarra’s appointment came in response […]

During the four decades between the Coronado expedition and King Felipe II’s 1583 directive to explore and colonize the territory then imagined as Nuevo México, very few Spaniards trekked into the region. Pueblo peoples retained the memory of Spanish violence and atrocities, dreading the day in which Europeans returned to their homelands. Indeed, when Juan […]

The King’s 1583 decree for the settlement of New Mexico was a call for a wealthy individual to step up and finance the enterprise. Juan de Oñate was not the only nobleman to put in a bid for the position of colonizer, but he was one of the best connected. By the 1580s, his family had a […]

Conflict with Pueblo peoples and the isolation of the Spanish colony from other points in New Spain defined Oñate’s tenure as governor. By the fall of 1598 he initiated a tour of the pueblos in order to further solidify the Spanish hold over the colony. In late October, he took oaths of allegiance from leaders […]

In 1607, the New Mexico colony stood at a crossroads. From the perspective of Spanish royal officials, it seemed a spectacular failure not unlike Coronado’s earlier mission. This time, however, a few hundred Pueblo people had accepted Catholic baptism at the hands of the Franciscans. The question facing the viceroy of New Spain was whether […]

On August 16, 1680, the inhabitants of Santa Fe faced a dire situation. A combined force of Pueblo, Apache, and mestizo warriors laid siege to their community. All water and supplies were cut off. War leader Juan el Tano presented Governor Antonio de Otermín with a stark choice, symbolized by two crosses. If the governor […]

Brooke, J. (1998, February 9). Conquistador Statue Stirs Hispanic Pride and Indian Rage. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/09/us/conquistador-statue-stirs-hispanic-pride-and-indian-rage.html?src=pm Brooks, J. F. (2002). Captives and Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in the Southwest Borderlands. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. Espinoza, A. (1990). The Folklore of Spain […]

I ask the Child’s Godparents first of all if they will give me the way and entrance that I am coming to look for the Child. We already got the entrance with pleasure and with good love we will pass the Comanches to see that beautiful Child. For the sick, Little Boy, I ask you […]

The flow of power and authority along the northernmost section of the Camino Real was reversed following the success of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Unified Pueblo warriors forced Spanish colonists into refuge at El Paso del Norte (present day Ciudad Juárez). As if the defeat endured in 1680 was not enough, the next two decades were marked by […]

The actions of Governor Vargas and his supporters laid the groundwork for the society that developed in New Mexico over the next 120 years. Victories of the reconquest came at great cost, and, despite superficial peace after 1696, for the next two decades animosities lingered just beneath the surface. The loyalty of different Pueblo groups […]

Brooks, J. F. (2002). Captives and Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in the Southwest Borderlands. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. Daniels, C., & Kennedy, M. V. (2013). Negotiated Empires: Centers and Peripheries in the Americas, 1500–1820. New York, NY: Routledge. Deeds, S. (2003). Defiance and […]

As a unique nuevomexicano society took shape along the Rio Grande corridor, power relations among the region’s nomadic peoples shifted. Inspired by their prowess on horseback, Utes expanded their territorial control into Navajo lands in the San Juan Basin in the early 1700s. Their presence also threatened New Mexican settlements. As had been the case […]

Nineteenth-century painting that portrays Jacques Cartier’s first meeting with Indians at Hochelaga now Montreal in 1535. Courtesy of Library of Congress To understand late-eighteenth century relations between nuevomexicanos and Comanches, we must also consider the types of competition that defined relations between North America’s various inhabitants between the late 1600s and late 1700s. The French […]

As the Segesser Hide Paintings illustrate, New Mexico’s colonial history was characterized by isolation, the constant threat of raids, and contests with other European colonists. One lifelong scholar of New Mexico history has asserted that the colonial period was a time of general misery.5 Indeed, governors, Catholic priests, and colonists alike often reported miserable conditions in […]

Despite the fact that peace establishments never worked in the ways that the Spaniards had envisioned, they did succeed in creating friendlier relations with Apache peoples. The period between 1786 and 1821 was characterized by peace in the larger New Mexico region. Significantly, Comanches, Utes, Navajos, and Apaches made peace with the Spaniards in a […]

Blackhawk, N. (2009). Violence Over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Blyth, L. (2012). Chiricahua and Janos: Communities of Violence in the Southwestern Borderlands, 1680-1880. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. Chamberlain, K. P. (2012). Victorio: Apache Warrior and Chief. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. Correia, D. (2013). Properties […]

While Governor Juan Bautista de Anza worked to forge peace with Comanches and other native peoples in New Mexico, British colonists waged a war for their independence on the eastern seaboard. Few nuevomexicanos were aware of the plight of the patriots, but Spanish officials carefully weighed developments in the struggle against the British Crown. King Carlos […]

Two separate ceremonies held two weeks apart in Santa Fe marked Mexico’s independence from Spain. The first was held on December 31, 1821, by order of Agustín de Iturbide, Mexico’s first (and only) emperor. Organized by Facundo Melgares, the event focused on the tres garantías (or three guarantees) ensured by the brand-new Mexican empire: Catholic Religion, Union, and […]

The 1821 opening of the Santa Fe Trade was the aspect of Mexican independence that most directly and most immediately impacted New Mexico. Mexican leaders hoped that loosening Spanish colonial trade restrictions would strengthen the new nation’s weak economic situation—especially in its northern provinces. For decades, American merchants in Missouri coveted the profits to be […]

Intertwined with the histories of the shaky state of the Mexican government, the Santa Fe Trade, and U.S. efforts to expand to the Pacific Ocean was the story of Comanche and Apache dominance of the borderlands. Even as the Santa Fe Trade was established, people on all sides of it had to recognize the place […]

On the heels of Mexican independence, Americans continued to express their interest in the new republic’s northern lands that had begun with the Lewis and Clark and Pike expeditions. When Major Stephen H. Long traversed the area that later became Oklahoma and Nebraska in 1820, he referred to it as the “Great American Desert.” He declared it […]

Brooks, J. F. (2002). Captives and Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in the Southwest Borderlands. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. Chamberlain, K. P. (2012). Victorio: Apache Warrior and Chief. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. DeLay, B. (2008). War of A Thousand Deserts: Indian Raids […]

The First Invasion: Texan-Santa Fe Expedition In 1841 an ill-advised Texan expedition to Santa Fe provided Manuel Armijo with another opportunity to enhance his personal reputation for Mexican patriotism. The independent Texas Republic had hoped for annexation to the United States that was not forthcoming, and its officials also sought to make the claim that […]

U.S. Political & Ideological Context As early as the pre-revolutionary period, Americans looked to expand westward. Among British colonists’ many grievances against the government in London was the enforcement of the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade expansion beyond the Appalachian Mountains. Although the term Manifest Destiny was not coined until 1845 in John O’Sullivan’s work in the Democratic […]

In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, it seemed that disputes over land, resources, and the place of former Mexican citizens in the United States had been resolved. Such was not the case, however. Even the outwardly straightforward issue of surveying the new international border between the two nations presented a series of problems. In Texas […]

Bowden, J. J. (n.d.) Mesilla Civil Colony Grant. At New Mexico Office of the State Historian. Retrieved from http://dev.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.php?fileID=24676 Chamberlain, K. P. (2012). Victorio: Apache Warrior and Chief. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. Compean, G., & Acuña, R. (2008). Voices of the U.S. Latino Experience. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. González de la Vara, M. (2000). The Return to […]

How Long Did New Mexico’s Slave Code Last? The 1859 New Mexico slave code was perceived in the territory as nothing more than a political concession made to Southern legislators in exchange for their support for statehood. The slave code only remained on the books for only two years. Courtesy of House Documents, Volumes 132-133, United States […]

Beginning with the arrival of the Army of the West in 1846, a large military force became a permanent fixture in the territory. At first, the strong military presence was to secure New Mexico as U.S. territory. Between 1848 and 1853 troops remained to guarantee the promise made in Article XI of the Treaty of […]