HISPANIC CHURCHES IN THE PECOS VALLEY: HISTORY,

ARCHITECTURE AND RECOMMENDATIONS

BY

MARIA ELENA YRIGOYEN, B. of Arch.

A THESIS

IN

ARCHITECTURE

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in

Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

Approved

December, 1988

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am extremely grateful to Professor Will Robinson, who over one year has generously helped me in the preparatory tasks for this thesis. During the preparation, he always stood beside me as a professor and good friend. I am also grateful to the other members of my committee. Professors John P. White and Allan Kuethe, for their helpful eritieism and guidance.

I owe special thanks to Jeannie Robinson who gave me her friendship and shared her house in Santa Fe, making me feel like part of her family.

My indebtedness to Father Carl Fell, whose interest in my project allowed me to enter and take measurements of the churches. So, too, is my debt to the mayordomos of those churches, who in one way or another helped me.

Finally, I thank Roberto, my husband, for his encouragement and support during my graduate program.

1 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii LIST OF FIGURES vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS viii CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION 1 The ProblemDefinition 1 The Need for the Study 2 Methodology Followed 3 Goals of the Study 4

II. SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 5 Pre-Columbian Period 6

The Pueblos 6 The Nomadic Tribes 8

The Sixteenth Century 8 The Seventeenth Century: The Franeisean Era 11

Brief History of the Order 11 Missions in New Mexico 12 Functions of the Missions 13

Settlement of the Spaniards 14 General Characteristics of the Eighteenth Century 15

The Nineteenth Century 16 French Invasion 16 Mexican Era (1821-1848) 16 American Period 17 Civil War Years 18 Late Nineteenth Century 19 The Twentieth Century 20

Notes 21 111

III. URBAN HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO 24 Pueblo Architecture 24 The Sixteenth Century: Foundation of Missions 25 The Seventeenth Century: Foundation of Spanish Cities 28 The Eighteenth Century: Development 30 The Nineteenth Century: Hispanic Expansion 31 The Twentieth Century: Anglo-American Development 33 Notes 35

IV. THE PECOS VALLEY AREA 37 Geographic Data 37 The Peeos Valley: History and Evolution 40 The Mission of Peeos 41

Mission of Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de Poreiuneula 41 The Peeos Mission in the Eighteenth Century. 41

Foundation of New Villages 42 History and Data of Each Village 45

San Miguel del Vado 45 San Jos6 4 6 San Juan 47 San Isidro South 4 8 San Isidro North 48 Villanueva 4 9 Sena 49 El Pueblo 50 El Cerrito 50 Gonzales Ranch 51

Notes 53

IV

V. RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE 55 The History of the Franeisean Churches 55

Design of Catholic Churches in Spain 55 Design of Spanish Colonial Churches 58 Design of New Mexico Mission Churches 61

Religious Architecture after the Franeiseans.... 65 Bishop Lamy Period 66 Moradas de Penitentes 67 Nineteenth and Twentieth Century New Religious Tendencies 68

Notes 71 VI. PECOS VALLEY HISPANIC CHURCHES 73

San Miguel del Vado at San Miguel 75 San Jos6 del Vado at San Jos6 76 San Juan Bautista at San Juan 7 8 Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe at San Isidro South 7 9 San Isidro Labrador at San Isidro North 81 Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe at Villanueva 82 Nuestra Senora de Esquipula at Sena 84 San Antonio de Padua at Pueblo 85 Nuestra Senora de los Desamparados at El Cerrito 8 6 San Isidro at Gonzales Ranch 87 Notes 89

VII. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PROPOSAL 90 Present Situation 90 The Peeos Valley Hispanic Churches 91 Problems and Recommendations 91

San Miguel del Vado 95 San Jos6 95 San Juan 96 San Isidro South 96 San Isidro North 97

v

villanueva 97 Sena 98 El Pueblo 98 El Cerrito 99 Gonzales Ranch 99

Conclusion 100 REFERENCES 101 APPENDICES

A. REPORT OF BENAVIDES AND BETANCOUR 1630-1680.. 107 B. REPORT OF ATANASIO DOMINGUEZ 1776 Ill C. SAN MIGUEL DEL VADO LAND GRANT CENSUS 113

VI

LIST OF FIGURES

1. Plan of II Gesu, Rome (1568-1575) 56 2. Plan of church and convent, Huejotzingo, Mexico.. 60 3 . Plan of New Mexico Missions 64

Vll

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Location Map in pocket 2. Historical Map I

Pre-Columbian Era Sixteenth Century in pocket

3. Historical Map II Seventeeenth and Eighteenth Century in pocket

4. Historical Map III Nineteenth and Twentieth Century in pocket

5. Historical Map IV Peeos Valley Evolution in pocket

6. Survey I: San Miguel del Vado in poeket 7 . Survey II: San Jose in poeket 8 . Survey III: San Juan in poeket 9. Survey IV: San Isidro South in poeket 10 . Survey V: San Isidro North in poeket 11. Survey VI: Villanueva in poeket 12 . Survey VII: Sena in poeket 13. Survey VIII: El Pueblo in poeket 14 . Survey IX: El Cerrito in poeket 15 . Survey X: Gonzales Ranch in poeket 16. Analysis I::San Miguel and Villanueva in poeket 17. Analysis II: San Jose and San Juan in poeket 18. Analysis III:

El Pueblo and Gonzales Ranch in poeket 19. Analysis IV:

San Isidro South and San Isidro North in poeket 20. Analysis V: Sena and El Cerrito in poeket 21. Analysis VI:

Typology and Construction Systems in poeket 22. Analysis VII:

Comparative Study Through the Time in poeket 23. Analysis VIII:

Influence of the Pecos Mission in pocket 24 . Problems and Recommendations in pocket

I I

Vlll

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The ProblemDefinition The issue of preservation has been a complex problem for

a long time. Now, throughout the country, the interest in saving historic structures is growing. Architects, historians, and preservation committees, using the information found through the studies are trying to protect old buildings. The interest in saving the architectural heritage of New Mexico now has found roots in the state. Several associations are trying to protect the historic heritage and some very good attemps at restoration have been made. But, the problem begins when a building is not classified as historic, this occurs especially in small communities. These communities are often inhabited by poor people. The mission and local government do not always have the financial means to afford the cost of repairs so the old structures are neglected and fall in disrepair.

Through the years, the towns along the Rio Grande Valley evolved into the nineteenth century in a uniform way. Slow growth factors kept the towns on a pedestrian scale; few eonstruetion materials determined uniform construction of buildings; design reglementation; and slow urban development, charaeteristie of the old towns, allowed the old eonstruetions to remain.

All of these factors allowed the towns to maintain a historic and architectural tradition. This gave a unique character to the towns, and, at the same time, created in its population a strong identifieation with their town, especially with its most important eonstruetion: the church.

1

Numerous problems contributed to the deterioration of the mission churches. Among these were: the results of severe droughts; the constant attacks of the hostile Indians, including those of the Pueblo Revolt; the expulsion of the Spaniards in 1680; the Independence from Spain in 1821; the war between Mexico and the United States; the secularization of the missions in 1834; and the establishment of the American pioneers.

Yet other problems contributed to disrepair the churches. In 1834, after the secularization of the churches was enforced, the Indians were permitted to go free with some of the mission land grants. The remaining lands were taken from the padres and given to settlers until civil governments were established. The results were disastrous. The mission buildings quickly fell into disrepair and were plundered. The churches were eeonomieally and structurally in decline. After secularization, several ehurehes and chapels were built by the people in honor of saints, and to provide places for religious devotion. Every village in New Mexico had its own church built with great effort by the people.

Since secularization, numerous secular churches have been built in later settlements and in small communities. In the mountain villages, the settlers have built ehapels that look like small versions of every other mission church in New Mexico. The ehapels are not large structures and are not even called historic buildings. Some of them are churches without clergy and are in poor condition.

Little about the secular ehurehes has been researched. This study will foeus upon the secular ehurehes because they are as aesthetically and historieally important as the mission ehurehes.

3 The NeeH for 1-he StnHy

The Study focuses on a small geographic, cultural and political region. The reason for studying any of these ehurehes is base on the urgency to preserve them. No architectural plans exist for any of these ehurehes. One of the main purposes of this study is to get arehiteetural-historieal information for each church.

In 1986, the Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe created a committee of members from the Arehdiocesan College of Consultors to study the situation of the historic New Mexican churches and to formulate guidelines which could guide the Archdiocese in determining the future of such a precious architectural heritage.

Arehiteets from the firm Johnson/Nestor were commissioned to make an architectural survey/inventory of historic New Mexico ehurehes. Due to the large number of ehurehes in the state, the study was done only in the northern part of New Mexico, especially where the ehurehes were under the jurisdiction of the Santa Fe Archdiocese. Their inventory documents pre-1945 churches. But because of the magnitude of the project and the small amount of time available for the survey, the information for each church was in some way superficial. Moreover, the survey did not include any architectural plans and the ehurehes, especially those not considered as primordial, were left aside.

The intention of this study was to work with a group of ehurehes that were considered of secondary or tertiary importance. This group of ehurehes comprises a good sample of New Mexican history in the late eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The selection of the area was made by studying the geographic area and its history: original inhabitants, major Spanish expedition routes, the establishment of missions during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the

nineteenth and twentieth century expansion. It is necessary to recognize the type of region in which the investigation took place. The type of geographic area, the vegetation, and the environmert, all contributed to the different designs of the towns, houses and ehurehes.

The selection was also made after looking for an area which included all types of buildings: from the time of the Indian pueblo eonstruetion until the ehurehes of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The area was chosen after visiting the region and studying its historical background.

The geographic area selected for the thesis is the region of the Peeos Valley in Northern New Mexico. This area is part of the San Miguel Land Grant from the nineteenth century. The ehurehes belong to the San Miguel del Vado Mission.

Methodology Followed The study began with an overview of literature including

books, manuscripts, films and photographs. Then, literature relating to the general history of the United States, the Southwest, and especially New Mexico was researched. Organizing the data from New Mexico, the investigation was separated into the social and religious history of the state and the urban history.

After compiling the information about the subject, it was time to select a speeifie geographic area on which to foeus the analysis. The upper Peeos Valley was selected and a study of the zone was made.

A study of the geographic data was performed. Then the history and evolution of the Peeos Valley, the Mission of Peeos, and the foundation of new villages were studied. Later, an inspection view, oral history and interviews with the priest and mayordomos were held. The investigation

concluded with an analysis of the religious architecture. This analysis began with the history of the Franeisean ehurehes and ended with the description and significance of the ehurehes analyzed in the upper Peeos Valley.

Goals of the Study The main intention of the study is to compile a written

document which will contain an analysis of the churches, a study of the problem and proposals, and the research methods. The study will also include four special chapters about the social and religious architecture in New Mexico, the urban history, and a study of the Peeos Valley area which includes research on religious architecture, evolution, typology and origins. By compiling information about the ehurehes, the project will be a model program of research and eould be used repeatedly in other regions or areas throughout the state.

Another important goal of the study is to draw complete architectural plans. These drawings will contain graphic historical maps, survey plans of the ehurehes, and typological analyses of the buildings.

Finally an overall recommendation about conservation, preservation and restoration of the ehurehes will be presented. A speeifie description of the kind of investigation in each building will also be included.

CHAPTER II

SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO

Pre-Columbian Period Recorded history begins in New Mexico when Coronado and

the first Spaniards arrived in 1540 and encountered the native pueblos and their Indian inhabitants. The Spaniards found an Indian civilization without comparison in the northern hemisphere of America. Numbering around 7 5,000 the Indians ranged from the sedentary Pueblo tribes, whose civilization was second only to that of the Aztecs and Incas in Mexico and Peru, to the simple nomadic tribes in the primitive hunting and food-gathering stage.-^

The Pueblos The Indians with whom the Spaniards came in contact were

grouped together in communities which the Spanish called pueblos (towns). These natives could have been living in the same stage of civilization for about 500 years before the Spaniards came.

New Mexico's first inhabitants came to a land somewhat different from what it is now. Attracted to a wet and cool New Mexico covered with grasslands and forests, these early people were big-game hunters.2 Pueblos existed in the Rio Grande Valley for only about a 1000 years when the Europeans arrived. But the ancestors of the Indians, the Anazasi and Mogollon peoples, had settled in New Mexico around the first century of the Christian Era.

During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Pueblo civilizations flourished at Mesa Verde, Aztec and Chaco Canyon. Between 1275-1590 A.D., because of the drought in

6

7

the Four Corners area, they migrated from the Mesa Verde to Pajarito Plateau, then into the Rio Grande Valley and built their pueblos.-^

The Spanish found some 20 pueblos when they arrived, primarily concentrated in the upper Rio Grande Valley. The only pueblos found far west of this area were the Zuni, Aeoma and Laguna. Although their habits, customs and traditions were very similar. New Mexico Indian families actually had different origins and spoke three different languages: Zunian, Tanoan and Keresan.

The basis of the Pueblo culture was farming. In the Rio Grande Valley the Pueblo Indians practiced irrigation, digging ditches with their wooden tools to carry water to the crops. The Pueblo Indians grew corn, beans and squash in their fields. At harvest time the villages enjoyed fresh vegetables, but they carefully dried most of the crops on roof tops to sustain them during the rest of the year and in future times of bad harvests. Irrigation became a community project. The land was worked communally and individual ownership was unknown.^

Hunting was not an important activity of Indian pueblos. It was practiced by the men as an entertaining activity. They did not hunt to feed themselves because their type of food was based on agricultural products. In some eases men hunted deer, antelope, squirrels, rabbits and gophers. Some eastern tribes even hunted buffalo, returning with hides and dried meat called jerky.5 Planting, cultivating and even hunting or making war were dominated by religious rites. The designs on baskets, pottery and weavings were usually connected with religious symbols. Religion was so important in the natives' lives that some historians describe their societies as theoeratie. Like all primitive people, the Pueblo tribes worshipped whatever they eould not understand.

8

Socially, the Pueblos were a matriarchy with descent from the mother. In the matriarchal societies, the women theoretically owned the houses, fields and foodstores, but everything was part of the entire community. The basic unit of the Pueblo was the clan, a group of blood relatives who traced their blood relationships through the female line.^

The Nomadic Tribes The Spanish had less contact with the non-Pueblo Indians

who were residing in New Mexico. These included the Comanche in eastern New Mexico and the Ute Indians in the northern part of the state. The Apache, first called Ouerechos and then Apaehes (Zuni word for enemy) include the Navajo of the southern Athapascan tribe. After the Spanish arrived, the Apaehes emigrated into New Mexico from the north in search of food and began to plunder the Pueblos. Nomadie by nature, they rapidly adopted the horse upon its introduction by the Spanish."^

New Mexico is the homeland of two Apaehe groups: the Jiearilla and the Mescalero (northern and southcentral part of the state respectively). The word Navajo denotes a people distinct from the Apache, but it was not used until the eighteenth century. Eventually, before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Navajo learned to farm and weave and they acquired some Pueblan religious practices. Some of them later became farmers and semi-nomads.

ThP .Sixteenth Centurv

By 1500, Spain, in many respects, represented the finest ideals of medieval civilization. The fight against the Moslems had kindled a crusading spirit which expressed itself in terms of a fanatical religion and a fervent patriotism. To spark the campaign against the Moors, the Church had made it into a Holy Crusade, thus firing the enthusiasm of the people. To gain further

adherence for the Crusade, the property of the enemy was parceled out among the land-hungry Spanish nobles. Since an essential part of any conquest is the military, the soldier of Spain was elevated to a commanding social position.9 Spain discovered America: it was the first European

nation to explore and settle there and also was the last to leave. Upon arrival in the New World, the Spaniards took places of former native rulers, and Catholic priests, who joined the Spanish soldiers, seeking to convert Indian souls to Christianity, replaced the priests of the native religions. In the eyes of the Catholic Church, the native inhabitants of America were souls crying out for conversion to Christianity.^Q

The march to the north of New Spain followed great successes in the south. In 1518-1521, Hernando Cortes conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico, and in 1531-1533, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire of Peru. The Conquistadores or conquerors, inspired by the fantastic stories of places north of the borderlands of New Spain and inspired by the quest for "Glory, God and Gold," began the exploration to New Mexico in the 1530s.^^

The following is a chronological review of the exploration and conquest periods in New Mexico: 1530s-"The Seven Cities of Gold" legend at Cibola

originated after the Cabeza de Vaca explorations. 1534- Cabeza de Vaca crossed the Llano Estacado, went up to

the Pecos River and crossed the Rio Grande (near the present site of El Paso).

1536- The Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca expedition arrived at Culiac^n, New Spain, after eight years of odyssey across the state of Texas.

1539- Fray Marcos de Niza (Franciscan missionary) reached the present state of New Mexico and the Arizona border.

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1540- Don Francisco Vasquez de Coronado crossed the western side of Arizona, and first stopped at the Pueblo of Hawikuh. He moved to the province of Tiguex in the Rio Grande Valley. After the failure of Coronado's expedition, the Spanish explorers neglected for 40 years the land to the north.^2

1581- The Chamuscado-Rodriguez Expedition went from the Conchos River upstream as far north as the Taos region, east beyond the area of the Pecos River, and then westward as far as Acoma and Zuni.

1583- The Espejo Expedition went up to the Rio Grande and as far as Prescott, Arizona. It turned eastward and returned down the Pecos River, and then turned south to the Rio Grande.

Between 1539 and 1595 a drought was a major factor for the desertion of several Rio Grande villages. Groups from these areas settled among their relatives in pueblos located along the Rio Grande.

The first few expeditions failed, but at last one succeeded. It was Juan de Onate, who made the first permanent settlement in New Mexico. '-^ 1598- The Onate Expedition crossed the Rio Grande at El

Paso, went as far north to the present San Juan Pueblo (Espanola Valley) and established the first capital of New Mexico San Juan de los Caballeros.^^

1609- The capital was moved southward and reestablished in Santa Fe. Priests of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, to whom the religious affairs of New Mexico were assigned, and civil authorities quarrelled constantly over which one had superior authority.^5

11 The Seventeen1-h r;enf-nry

The Franniscan F.ra

The Franciscans accompanied Columbus on his voyage of discovery in 1492, and were, no doubt, a greac comfort and help when the sailors mutinied...16

Brief History of the Order The founder of the world-known Franciscan Order was Saint

Francis or Francesco Bernardone, born in Umbria, Assis, Italy, between 1181 and 1182. He died in the same place in 1226. In the beginning, Francis and his followers called themselves "Friars Minor" because they wished to be considered as belonging to the lower classes. In 1221, he founded the Third Order for the lay-people, whose families did not permit them to enter the First Order of Friars Minors or the Second Order of Poor Clares (Ladies).1^

Franciscan Spirit: The spirit and personality of Saint Francis has always been fostered in the Three Orders. The members of these Orders bind themselves by three vows: - Poverty: whereby they renounce all worldly possessions - Chastity: whereby they promise to live a life of celibacy - Obedience: whereby they oblige themselves to go wherever

sent and to do the respective superior's bidding.18

From an article by E. Randolph Daniel in his book. The Franciscan Concept of Mission in the Hiah Aaes. we can better understand the first missionaries and the ideology they brought to New Spain:

Saint Francis and the Order maintained that the example of holy and spiritual life was more effective incentive to repentance than preaching. The requirements listed for missionaries consistently emphasized spiritual maturity and moral attachment. For missionaries in orders, some education was necessary, but lay friars could operate as missionaries if they lived a sufficiently holy life.19

12 The Franciscan mission theory of the sixteenth century

was based upon the church. This idea was especially followed by the Minor Order in the Province of the Holy Gospel in Mexico, which was the point of deparlure for the later foundations of missions in New Mexico.20

Missions in New Mexico During the sixteenth century in New Spain, the churches

continued to symbolize, negatively or positively, the identifying center of European tradition. In Spain, the church and civil government had been so interrelated as to be practically inseparable. In New Spain, the Minor Order in the province of the Holy Gospel (Mexico) continued with the Spanish tradition.21

After 1525, intensive missionary activity began, during which times the friars enjoyed great success in converting Indians. The seventeenth century brought a period of stagnation which lasted until the foundation of the Franciscan College of Quer^taro in 1683. The establishment of the Colleges at Quer^taro, Zacatecas and Mexico City marked a new phase of Franciscan missionary work and the era of the missions in North America began.22

When in 1598 Don Juan de Onate came to the new land and established the first colonies, missionary activity began in New Mexico. The colonization of New Mexico afforded the Franciscans a further opportunity for missionary expansion. In 1609, the Order was granted permission to make that area a permanent mission field.

In 1630, the Franciscans preferred to remain in the cities rather than face the rigors of the frontiers. During this period, the Franciscan Superiors in New Spain were reluctant to allow further missionary expansion unless large bands of volunteers for each project could be brought from Spain.

13

Functions of the Missions For the civil cononistaHor the central interest was the

Indian, his conversion, civilization and exploitation. Through the use of the encomienda system, the Indian was exploited. The encomenderos wf^ r^ ^ secular land-holders in the early years of conquest. To provide spiritual instruction and to conduct schools for the natives, the encomenderos were required to support the necessary friars by whom the instruction was given. Thus, monasteries were established in the conquered districts.23

Soon law required that the Indians be congregated in pueblos and be made to stay there, by force if necessary. The pueblos were modeled upon the Spanish towns, and were designed not only as means of control, but as schools in self-control as well. The Franciscan missionary came with another idea, to convert Indian souls into Christians and to treat them as Christian persons not as slaves. According to a memorial by an Indian Toribio Motolinia, who wrote about the Franciscans :

Because they are poor and barefoot as we are, and they eat our food; they sit on the ground with us, they converse humbly with us; they love us as their own children. Therefore, we love them as our fathers.24 The missions were supported by the state by three

different means: The Royal Treasury, Aynda de costa or initial grant, the .synodos (annual stipends of the missionaries) and the presidios created as military outposts for the protection of the missions and the Spanish villages against the Indians and foreigners. Worked as a frontier diffusor, each mission was provided with two or more soldiers from the nearest presidio.25

14 Settlement of th^ ^ SpaniarHc;

The last years of the seventeenth century were not as peaceful as the first colonial years. Between 1609 and 1680 the Spanish control could be described as essentially a holding measure. Responsibility for administration of the Province passed into the hands of the Crown, and its main reason for remaining along the Rio Grande was to protect the converted Indians. It is possible that the interest in supporting the mission stations was to retain a claim to the vast unknown areas of New Spain.

In 1680, the Pueblo Revolt, commanded by Pope (San Juan Indian living at Taos, Naranjo), drove the Spanish from New Mexico and denied them re-entrance for more then a decade. The settlement of the Spaniards began with the Reconquest in 1691 under the command of Captain General Diego de Vargas Zapata Luj^n Ponce de Le6n, who succeeded Cruzate as governor of New Mexico. In 1692, he marched up the Rio Grande accepting the submission of the pueblos along the way and took in possession the city of Santa Fe. After one year of battle against the Indian leaders, the Spaniards recaptured Santa Fe. In 1695 Diego de Vargas made the first recorded settlement grant for the new Villa of Santa Cruz de la Canada.26

Upon the Reconquest, the friars returned to the missions and the spiritual administration of both Pueblo Indians and Spaniards was in their hands. They reestablished the abandoned pueblos, repaired the churches which had fallen into ruins, and supervised the construction of new ones. But the old quarrel of Church-State was renewed. The last years of the seventeenth century were times of declining influence of the Franciscans but they continued their missionary and exploration activities among the non-Christianized tribes.27

15 General Characteristics of the Eighteenth Century

In the middle 1700s a new ethnic strain: The Geniz.aro appeared. They were displaced Indians who had lost tribal identity through capture, usually as children by other tribes. They were given settlement grants at Abiquiu, Bel^n, Tom6 and, later, San Miguel.28 Accepting Christianity, they lived in a Europeanized status and often intermarried with the Spaniards.

During the second half of the eighteenth century in New Mexico, the Governor continued to be responsible to the Viceroyalty until the drastic change of alcaldes mayores (chief officials in jurisdictions) who administered the eight local alcaldias (jurisdiction). The municipal government, except that of the Villa of Santa Fe, was left largely to the cabildo (ecclesiastical council). Later the village town councils were known as ayuntamientos (town councils).29

In 177 6, the Spanish Crown separated the northern provinces of New Spain (including New Mexico) from the control of the Viceroy and organized them into the Provincias Internas (interior provinces) under a comandante general (commandant general). The headquarters of the Provincias Internas were located at Arispe in Sonera and Chiguagua.

During the eighteenth century the friars continued to work faithfully, although there were signs of internal dissents on account of the strong feeling of the Mexicans against the gachupines. or padres, coming directly from Spain of pure Spanish descent. Unfortunately, many of these troubles were brought before the civil authorities instead of the lawful religious superiors, another reason for forbidding the friars to come to Santa Fe without permission.30

16 The Ninetf^ r^^ tli roni-nr-y

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Spain was facing the loss of her hold on New Mexico as well as her other possessions in the United States and Centra^ and South America.

French Invasion Alarming the Spanish settlements in New Mexico more than

the hostile Indians was the persistent fear of a French invasion during the eighteenth century. During the 1720s, France made an effort to reach New Mexico. The French turned their eyes toward the Spanish colonies, especially to the Spanish gold and silver mines. The French at this time were traders and they wanted a commerce between French outposts and Santa Fe.31

All of the old Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi ceded by France to Spain in 1762-1763 and returned to France in 1800, was finally ceded to the United States in 1803. Once Louisiana was ceded to Spain, the French threat to New Mexico ended. The Louisiana Purchase prompted a land survey and eventual settlement by the expanding United States. Almost all of the old remaining settlements of New Spain in the northern hemisphere were to be surrounded and cut off from the heartland of Mexico. 32

Mexican Era (1821-1848) A series of revolutions in the early part of the

nineteenth century moved Spain from the American continents. In 1810, people from various parts of Spanish America began a fight to overthrow the Spanish rule.33

As a province of New Spain, New Mexico was affected by the struggle for independence, and on September 21st, 1821, Mexico, formerly New Spain, became an independent republic. The new republic inherited Spanish possessions up to the

17

border of the United States, fixed by the Treaty of 1819. The new nation (Mexico), unorganized and lacking financial resources, experienced a rapid succession of presidents and a preoccupation with civil, military and religious disorders.34

Church relations with the state were almost always poor because of the increasing authority and power of the Catholic Church in the missionary fields and in the settled villages. By the late 1700s, the churches in New Mexico had been turned over to the local parishes, and, by the beginning of the Mexican Period, only a few Franciscans were still present in New Mexico. Up to the 1830s, no high ranking church official had visited New Mexico's churches for more than 70 years. In 1833, the Bishop of Durango arrived and after his visit. New Mexico's churches officially came under the direction of the church hierarchy and the Franciscan priests were gone forever.35

The changes created by the Bishop's visit did not work out as planned. With the removal of the last Franciscans, New Mexico was supposed to receive priests from Durango for the village churches. But the few priests who came were helpless to stop the dissolution of New Mexico's churches. Meanwhile, the missions became property of the Pueblo Indians and were neglected. Village churches were not much better, partly because the parish priests who moved into the villages had to depend upon the people of the parish to support the church financially. The priests left the towns and later their churches fell into disrepair.

American Period In 1837, the Mexican government imposed the direct

collection of taxes on the subsistence economy of New Mexico. People of New Mexico were dissatisfied with the ineffectiveness of the Mexican rule and their resentment of the direct collection of taxes prompted revolt. The governor

18

of the department of New Mexico, Colonel Albino Perez, sent his army against the revolutionaries of Santa Fe because it was occupied by the rebellious force. Jos6 Gonzales was elected governor in 1837, but he was not confirmed by the Mexican government. Governors came and went during the next eight years. Finally, in 184 6, the United States entered in New Mexico territory and ended the Mexican rule.36

By the summer of 1847, United States officials restored control over New Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) confirmed the official end of the war. Mexico recognized New Mexico and Texas as part of the United States and the Rio Grande was designated as the southern boundary of Texas.

The United States gained from Mexico the northern lands occupied by its forces, including Arizona, California, South Texas and New Mexico. Later, with the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, the United States acquired the southern tip of New Mexico and Arizona.37 The Americans brought new concepts to New Mexico in government, religion, education and culture, but especially in economics.

Civil War Years The territory was the center of the Civil War in the

west. New Mexico joined the Union cause after an invasion by Confederate Texas in New Mexico. There was a war and some major battles fought in the territory. The aim of the Confederates was to capture the United States Army forts in New Mexico territory.

In 1861, Texas' General H. Sibley was sent to occupy the territory and he moved up the Rio Grande from El Paso. The Texans captured Albuquerque and occupied the Palace of Governors in Santa Fe. Fort Union (near Las Vegas) remained the one important Union stronghold. In 1862, a force from Fort Union moved out into Santa Fe, and the Battle of

19

Glorieta Pass (in the Pecos Valley) was the beginning of the end of the Confederacy in New Mexico.38

Late Nineteenth Century When the Civil War ended, the army was maintained in the

west during the 1850-1890 period to guard trails and settlements, as well as to protect the Indians. The Post-Civil War period brought desperadoes to New Mexico. Water and land disputes, and hostile Indians were common. Land rights created controversies particularly because newcomers ignored the legacy of the Spanish and Mexican land grants. The issue of land ownership had long been a complex problem. For a while, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had confirmed existing land titles. During the Spanish and Mexican periods, grants of land had been awarded not only to private parties, but to whole communities. The U.S. Congress set up the Office of Surveyor General in 1824, but it failed to settle the matter concerning ownership of Spanish and Mexican land grants.39 in 1891, a court of private land claims was established to administer old Spanish-Mexican land grants.^^

The railroads' arrival in New Mexico was the result of an era of railroad building that occurred everywhere in the United States after the Civil War. Railroads in New Mexico flourished after late 1878.-^ 1 When the railroad arrived with newcomers, land values in New Mexico rose and attracted investment capital. As the railroads were laid across the New Mexico territory, new towns sprung up, old towns underwent changes and trade became possible on a much broader scale. The railroads opened up new mining, ranching, and farming opportunities and brought new residents to New Mexico.^2

20 The Twentieth r.Pni-nr-y

The New Mexico of the twentieth century emerged in the years between the admission of statehood and about 1950. After World War II, New Mexico left its dependable agricultural condition and developed a varied economy.

Until well into the twentieth century, the economic history of the state had been based upon raising of sheep and cattle, and some farming. Early mining in the state, after the Civil War and until about 1900, involved gold and silver, but on a minor scale.

New Mexico was admitted as a state in August 1911 by the Congress and on February 1912 President Taft signed the proclamation that made New Mexico the forty-seventh state.'^ 3

The traditional agricultural way of life gave way to a varied modern economy, reinforced by space and defense programs, U.S. government activities, tourism and mining. ^"^ Thus, New Mexico is, in the twentieth century, a mix of three cultures: the Indian, the Spanish, and the American.

21

Notes Charles F. Coan. History of New M^vinp (Chicago: American Historical Society, 1925) p. 16.

ry

Calvin A. and Susan A. Roberts. New Mexico. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,1988) p. 4.

3 Coan, History of New Mf^ v-irn^ p. 17.

4 Ibid., p.31.

5 Warren A. Beck. New Mexico: A History of Four Centuriftf?. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1962) p.25-26.

6 Roberts, New Mexico, p.24.

"^ Beck, New Mexico, p.28.

Ibid., p.34. 8

9 Bailey W. Diffie. Latin American Civilization. (Harrisburg, Pa., 1945) p.256.

10 Edwin E. Sylvest. Franciscan Mission Theory in the 16th Century in New Spain. (Washington: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1975) p.76.

11 James T. Forrest. New Mexico: A Student's Guide to Localized History. (New York: Teachers College Press, 1971) p.8.

12 Beck, New Mexico, p.43.

13 Ibid., p.49.

1"^ Ibid., p.54.

15 Coan, New Mexico, p.47.

16 Theodosius Meyer. 5;aint Franois and the Franciscans in New Mexico. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1926) p. 33.

17 Ibid., p.39.

18 22

Ibid., p.45.

19 Daniel E. Randolph. The Franciscan Concept of Mission in the High Middle Ages. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1975) p. 27.

20 Herbert E. Bolton. The Mission as a Frontier Institution in the Spanish-American Colonies. (El Paso: Texas Western College Press, 1960) p. 84.

21 Thomas F. McGovern. The Role of the Franciscans in the Expansion of the Northern Frontiers of New Spain, 1525-1760. (Thesis M.A., Texas Tech University, 1969) p. 35.

22 Ibid., p.42.

23 Bolton, The Mission as Frontier.... p. 75.

24 McGovern, The Role of the Franciscans..., p. 39.

25 Bolton, The Mission as a Frontier..., p. 81.

26 Coan, Hicitory nf N P W Mexico, p. 222.

27 Charles F. Lummis. Thf^ Land of Poco TiemoQ. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1952) p. 121.

28 John L. Kessell. -^i^ /a, Cross and Crown. (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1979)

29 Beck, N P W Mexico, p.92 Coan, HH-^ l-orv of rjc^w Mexico, p. 281.

30 Beck, N P W Mexico, p. 93.

31 Forrest, N P W Mexico, p. 23.

32 Ibid., p. 18.

33 Beck, Nf^ w Mexico, p. 118.

34 Forrest, Y\^^ Mexico, p. 19.

23 35 Paul Horgan. Lamy of Santa Fe. (New York: Farrar,

Straus & Giroux, 1975) p. 66-68.

36 Coan, History of New Mexico, p. 333.

37 Roberts, New Mexico, p. 114.

Beck, New Mexico, p. 148-155.

Roberts, New Mexico, p. 143-147.

40 Kessell, Kiva, Cross and Crown, p. 468.

41 Beck, New Mexico, p. 270

42 Roberts, New Mexico, p. 154

43 Ibid., p. 163.

44 Forrest, New Mexico, p. 47-49.

38

39

CHAPTER III

URBAN HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO

Pueblo Architecture^

The Indian villages were founded by the Spanish explorers when they arrived in the Southwest during the sixteenth century. The Indians lived in almost 80 pueblos from the Piro villages of the middle of the Rio Grande northward to Taos and westward to Acoma, Zuni and the Hopi villages (Illustration 2 in pocket). Several types of dwellings were used by the Indians prior to the building of pueblos:

The simplest form of habitation found in the pre-european towns is the excavated cave which was a natural opening in a cliff hollowed out in such manner as to leave a thin wall. From this developed the cave dwelling with a masonry facade which took the place of the thin natural type. The third type of room was built on the talus slope in front of the cave. It may be that the cliff-pueblo forms the link between the cave and the pueblo. The cliff pueblos were built on ledges which were protected by the overhanging rock. The floor space was bounded on three sides by the irregular curve of the three sides of the ledge. Terracing possibily originated in the sheltered cliff places.1 The pueblos found by the Spaniards were basically as

they are in the present day. The buildings created by the Pueblo Indians represent an adaptation of their need for protection and defense of the climatic conditions, the resources of the land and their special social organization. The centers of all the Indian pueblos were undoubtedly the kivas (ceremonial chambers), always located in the principal area of the town. The round subterranean ceremonial kiva may

24

25 have developed its form and position from economy in floor shape. Some of the Valley pueblos have three sides in an irregular curve with a rectilinear fourth side. They were terraced from a central court to the outer walls.2

The plan that is common to the largest number of pueblos consists of four rectangular buildings in the form of a hollow square. These structures are four rooms in width on the ground floor, two on the third and one on the fourth. The buildings were built in terraces from the court to the outer wall. The rooms were usually eight by 10 feet wide. The pueblos themselves were around 200 to 400 feet square. The absence of outlets on the ground floor caused the rooms to be in semi-darkness. There were no cellars, but the ground floor rooms answered the purpose by providing storage space.3

Because of the precautions for defense, there were no entrances into the ground floor rooms. The first floor spaces were usually used as store houses. The access to the building was made possible with ladders. In case of an attack they could be pulled up, leaving the intruders without access.

Ladders were used to gain access to the second story while stone and adobe steps and also ladders were both used for entrance to the stories above. The simplest form of the ladder was a single pronged pole with notches cut in it for steps, the forked end being placed against the wall. The two pole ladders were made by cutting notches in the poles and lashing the rungs to them with raw hide. Later, when iron came into use, holes were burned through the poles and the rungs inserted.4

The Sixteenth Centurv: Foundation of Missions

New Mexico was the first state in the United States in which the Spaniards established their missions, especially along the Rio Grande Valley (crossing the state from North to

26 South) and also along the perpendicular trail (crossing from East to West). These missions were the principal means employed to Christianize the sedentary tribes. They were the most important vehicle by which Spain held its oversea possessions.

The center of all the missions was the church. The churches were built in pueblos already established by Indians and were greatly influenced by centuries of Indian building experience.

The first mission work in the pueblos of New Mexico was done under the direction of friar Juan de Padilla, who came with Juan de Onate bringing colonists and padres to the north with the expedition to Quivira.5 in 1596, the Spaniards named the first colony San Juan de los Caballeros or San Juan of the Gentlemen, and within two weeks the foundation of a church was made.6

Within the next 15 years after the erection of the first church, 11 churches had been built. Later, in 1630, 25 missions were reported by the Father Benavides report and 10 years later, 40 missions were counted at the peak of the Mission program.7

The missions were under the direction of the Superior of the College of Saint Francis located in the City of Mexico. They were under the care of Fray Francisco de Benavides, First Custodio. A Memorial by Father Benavides and Father Betancour was presented to the king of Spain by Fray Juan Santander in 1626 (Appendix A and Illustration 3 in pocket).^

The memorial contains the description of 36 Pueblos with 26 missions and 12 vi.^ i^tas (churches without permanent priest's residence) in total. Father Benavides visited the area in 1630 and 50 years later, right after the Pueblo Revolt, friar Betancour returned to New Mexico and recorded the names of pueblos, as well as the names of the martyred friars of 1680.

27 In 1680, the Indians began the Pueblo Revolt, the

greatest unification of Indians of the Southwest. Rebelling against the Spaniards, their political and religious ideas, the Indians massacred missionaries in their pueblo residences and destroyed church records and everything else that was Spanish. The Revolt established a point of separation for the architectural history. Different styles of religious buildings were evident between the first Era of Spanish settlement and after the Pueblo Revolt and Reconquest Period.

The first churches were probably impermanent shelters or converted dwelling spaces, as at San Gabriel, or San Juan before the founding of Santa Fe in 1610. The religious buildings erected during the last years of the sixteenth century and through the seventeenth, were all destroyed by the Indians in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Those buildings were huge constructions such as Abo, Quaray, Gran Quivira, Pecos and Jemez.

The seventeenth century adaptation of adobe to baroque form, and vice versa, constituted a stylistic end term. The later history of architecture in colonial New Mexico is comparable to that of the tissue, divorce from its host, goes on proliferating, always identical with itself, until the disfavorable conditions in which it thrives are suppressed.9 The building of the church and priest's house was always

undertaken by the single friars assigned to a district. The custom was for the women and children to build the walls. A building project was to be executed by the entire population. The buildings made after the Rebellion of 1680 still had the same pattern of design as the former ones, but never again were as large.1^ A specific description of the architectural features is given in Chapter V.

28 The Seventeenth Century:

Foundation of Spanish Cities The Spanish colonization in New Mexico during the

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (in the Onate and De Vargas periods) was under the General Laws or Qrdenanzas brought directly from Spain. Each new town or city in the New World, including North America, Central America and South America, was established according to Spanish ordinances.H All the Laws from the Spanish Reign were recopilated in the Qrdenanzas of Don Felipe II, king of Spain, remaining currently in the Archive de Indias in the city of Sevilla,

Spain. In 1573, King Felipe II, promulgated the Qrdenanzas de

Nneva Poblaci6n or Ordinances for the New Populations. They included general recommendations for the foundation of cities. Also, some general conditions were specified for the regional settlements or missions. Once the site was chosen, conditions were given for layout. Subsequently, the lands marked the political and administrative characteristics from the different urban centers. Also, the types of functionaries, their privileges and obligations were indicated.

Continuing with the Qrdenanzas. there were some norms in which the law maker dictated the minimum conditions to be fulfilled. The urban structure of the Colonial city was not a direct transplant from European models, but the development was obtained according to a changing process. This process was the incorporation of former European experience, results and contact with the conditions of the New World.12

These Qrdenanzas were also followed in New Mexico, exemplified by the cities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

hh^'}r ^^^ Plaza: ...The main plaza of an inland city or villa was located the center of the settlement. In form it was rectangular, being at least one and a half times as long as it was wide. On this account it

29 was better suited for fiestas where horses were used and other purposes. In size it was proportionate to the number of residents...being never less than 200 feet in width and 300 in length, not larger than 800 feet length and 532 feet width.

About the streetsr ...From the plaza proceeded four principal streets, one from each side and in addition to these two for each corner. The four corners faced the four principal winds...travelers were not exposed to the four winds, that could be exceedingly inconvenient...

About the names: ...In the discovery part of the Indies there should be sites or districts sufficiently good for the founding of settlements and any person shall make application to locate and settle upon them, in order that they may do so with a greater freedom and benefit. The viceroys and presidents may give them in our name lands, lots and waters, in conformity with the character of the land, providing it not to be an injury for a third person 13 The fundamental reasons of the Spanish Crown for

colonization were: a) The determination of the Crown to found new cities. b) The establishment of colonial bases as centers of

agricultural exploitation for a territory. c) Religious reasons to Christianize the natives. d) Military objectives of defense, serving as a bridge to

further penetrations in new lands. e) Judicial and political administration of vast

territories. f) Exploitation of mineral resources. g) Commercial basis and connections for communications with

the metropolis. h) The need for intermediate stations between commercial

routes for the transportation supply.14

30 The Eighteenth Century;D^vfilopment

After the Pueblo Revolt came the Period of Reconquest, years of development with sporadic rebellions of the Indians with total Spanish control. It lasted for more than a century.15

The few Spanish settlers were grouped in villages, with some families living in haciendas (large landowners frequently referred to themselves as hacendados and to their land as haciendas) which were constant points of attacks from the Indians.16 During these periods, the Spanish searched for new lands and expeditions to the mountain were made. The eighteenth century was a wealthy period of Spanish settlement. During these years, religious organization was growing and Pueblos became part of the Franciscan missions.

In 177 6, Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez, Franciscan friar from Mexico was sent to the northern territory to report about the conditions of the missions (Appendix B and Illustration 3 in pocket).17

In 177 6, Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez set down a detailed description of the missions in the custody of the Conversion of St. Paul of New Mexico. The description not only is a very good portrayal of the eighteenth century colony, but also a detailed look at the missions and pueblos.

Along with the gradual growth of the Spanish community, there was a similar slow but steady development of the mission among the natives. Frequently, the missions constituted little islands in the midst of the vast territory. Fray Atanasio divided his report in three areas: the first was the center and capital of the Kingdom, Santa Fe with the description of its two chapels; the second area was the Upper River or Rio Arriba, which contained 11 mission churches, and the third one was the Down River or Rio Ab^io with 16 mission churches. The area of Pecos belongs to the

31 fiiO Ab&JQ. Part of the information compiled in Chapter IV was made possible by this description of the Pecos mission.

From the 32 churches or chapels recorded in 1776, 12 persist more or less in the same condition the Father Atanasio saw them in 1776.18

The Nineteenth Century: Hispanic Expansion

Between the 1790s and the 1880s, New Mexico's Spanish Americans, or Hispanics, dynamically pushed outward their settlement frontiers, increasing the size of their homeland by at least 10 times. The year 1790 marked the beginning of relatively peaceful times in New Mexico. Governor Juan Bautista de Anza had led successful military campaigns against the Comanche and Apache during the dozen years prior to 1790.19

Caravans to and from Chihuahua (Mexico) each year enabled Hispanos to exchange their sheep, animal skins and woolen goods for hardware, textiles and luxury goods. Stockmen in quest of suitable pastures for their flocks ventured across a divide to the next valley where they built adobe shelters, developed irrigated patches of land and eventually attracted others. To be closer to their grazing lands, several stock raising families migrated up or down the valley to a point where flood plain cropland and a village site were available.20

The majority of the land Hispanos encroached upon was granted by official decree, but the lack of grant records from the Spanish period makes it difficult to generalize about the number of squatters prior to the American takeover. After 184 6, however, the stockmen who ventured east across the high plains or west across the Colorado Plateau were definitely squatters.

In the first several decades of expansion after 17 90, the villages themselves were of the

32 fortified plaza variety common in the late 18th Century. Taos and San Miguel were plaza communities consisting of central open spaces (or plazas) surrounded on four sides by houses whose outer walls were windowless. The central open spaces were reached through one or more heavy gates, and outside the compound a high round tQrre6n (tower) gave added protection. Given the Hispanos penchant for living on their own irrigated tract, however, rancho settlement, which predated the plaza types, were restituted as quickly as Plains Indian pacification allowed. These ranches consisted of farmsteads that were strung out at irregular intervals along a linear irrigation diteh with a church, eventually a school, perhaps a store and a blacksmith shop, grouped at some point near an open plaza, which was the village foeus. Among Hispanos the term plaza was used rather loosely to refer to both compact plazas and dispersed ranches.21

When the paeifieation of Plains Indians made expansion possible, an emergent class of patrones led the way. By the time Anglos reached this frontier expansion between the 1860s and the 18 80s, Hispano stockmen had made impressive advances in every direction.

Expansion to the north advanced from Taos, the late 1890s frontier salient of the north. Stockmen settled Arroyo Seeo and Arroyo Hondo in 1815. The northern reaches of the never-patented Conejos Grant around Del Norte and north to Saguache were sites of continued eolonizing. During the nineteenth century as Hispanos pushed north in the San Luis Valley, they increased territorial gains of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the Arkansas basin.22

Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Valley were the fountainheads for peopling lands to the west. For a brief time in the 1740s, Franeiseans maintained missions to the Navajo at Cebolleta and Eneinal. In the nineteenth century, as Hispanos moved onto the Colorado Plateau, they eame into contact with Anglos, largely Mormon farmers.

The southernmost Hispano outpost in 1790 was apparently Sabinal in the Belen Valley. About 1800 Hispanos pushed

33 south of Sabinal into the southern Bel^n and Soeorro Valleys where they reoccupied sites that had been abandoned for more than a century: Alamillo in 1800, Socorro in 1800 and La Joya in 1811.23

Hispano expansion southwest from the Rio Grande Valley appears to be less well documented that that to the southeast. In the 1680s, Hispanos crossed the Continental Divide to the Gila Valley where, thirty miles into Arizona territory, they established San Jos6 and Pueblo Viejo (renamed Solomonville in 1878). Between these two outer most Hispano outposts and the Rio Grande Valley itself, a number of villages were established, presumably in the 1860s.24

As the century of Hispano expansion evolved, a hierarchy of village areas emerged. Santa Fe, Santa Cruz and Albuquerque were the oldest and largest (places of the colonists) . Beyond them the major village springboards were San Miguel, Las Vegas, Mora, Taos, Trinidad, Abiquiu, Cebolleta, Cubero and probably Belen and Socorro. Beyond these villages smaller points, like Manzano, were evolved. The decade of greatest expansion in each direction was the 1860s, gradual containment of Plains Indians made possible this expansion. Hispanos spread rather thinly across the plains to the east, and their numbers were even smaller on the Colorado Plateau to the west.25

The Twentieth Centurv Anglo-American Development

With the coming of the railroads during the last decades of the eighteenth century, a new boom in New Mexican urban history began. The railroads brought miners and capitalists, speculation with the lands and new management in planning. But the area was so sparsely populated that the patron of urbanization was not noticed on large scale. James Taylor Forrest wrote in 1971 about this problem:

34 ...by 1910 the entire Great Plains-Rocky

Mountain region that comprises 30 percent of the total United States area had only two percent of the population...26

With statehood. New Mexico started to change physically in its urban development. The change of status to a full statehood opened New Mexico from the isolation and its ties with the rest of the nation became closer. World War I and the Great American Depression of the 1930s slowed the development of the nation and New Mexico felt the consequences.27

It was not until the participation of America in the World War II that the Depression began to heal in New Mexico. The war brought new industry and an influx of workers and their families from other states. The overall migration pattern was from the country to the urban areas.

New building during the 1950s and 1960s in the cities and towns contributed to the economy and reflected the development of the state. Albuquerque, was one of the fastest growing cities of the Southwest during the seventies. Actually, the homes and buildings in New Mexico reflect their adaptation to the region.28

35

Notes Calvin A. and Susan A. Roberts. New Mexico, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988) p.14.

Charles F. Coan. History of New Mexico, (Chicago: American Historical Society, 1925) p. 34.

Ibid., p. 35.

Ibid., p. 38.

Merle Armitage. Pagans. Concnii stadores. Heroes and Martyrs. (Fresno: Academy Guild Press, 1960) p. 64.

6 Roberts, New Mexico, p. 41.

7 Trent E. Sandford. The Architecture of the SonthwP^ sr (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1950) p. 104.

8 Coan, History of New Mexico, p. 194-198.

9 George Kubler. The Religious Architecture of New Mexico. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1972) p. 47.

3

4

5

10 Ibid., p. 133-139.

11 Ralph E. Twitchell. Spanish Colonization in New Mexico in the Onate and De Vargas Periods. (New Mexico Historical Review, Vol. XXII) p. 4-5.

12 Urbanismo Espanol en America. (Institute de Cultura Hispaniea, Madrid: Grafleas Reunidas, 1976) p. 5.

13 Ralph E. Twitehell. Spanish Colonization in New Mexico in the Onate and De Vargas Periods. (Albuquerque: Historical Society, Vol. XXII) Recopilaei6n de las Leyes de los Reynos de las Indias de Don Felipe Segundo, Ley IV, IX, and XII. All citations herein are made from this edition, translated by the author.

14 Urbanismo Espanol en America, p. 6.

15

17

18

20

24

25

36 Warren A. B e c k . New M e x i c o ; A Hi s-hnry o f F o n r Centurifi?>. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1962) p. 62-65.

16 Roberts, New Mexico^ p.84.

Summary of the Report of Dominguez, Fr. Francisco Atanasio. The Missions of New Mexico. 1776. Translated and annotated by Eleanor Adams and Fray Angelico Chavez. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1956).

John L. Kessell. The Missions of New Mexico since 1776. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1980) p. xi.

19 Coan, History of New Mexico, p. 252-257.

Roberts, New Mexico, p. 75-90.

21 Richard L. Nostrand. The Century of Hispano Expansion. (New Mexico Historical Review, Vol. LXII, Oct. 1987) p. 363.

22 Coan, History of New Mexico, p. 474-483.

23 Nostrand, The Century of Hispano Expansion, p. 378.

Ibid., p. 383.

Ibid., p. 385.

26 James T. Forrest. New Mexico: A Student's Guide to Localized History. (New York: Teachers College Press, 1971) p. 38.

27 Roberts, New Mexico, p. 112-113.

28 Forrest, New Mexico..., p. 44.

CHAPTER IV THE PECOS VALLEY AREA

Geographic Data A principal tributary of the Rio Grande, the Pecos River

rises to high altitudes in the southern terminus of the massive Sangre de Cristo mountains in north-central New Mexico. The Pecos River lies east of the Rio Grande and follows a course approximately parallel to it. Its soil is highly productive when irrigated, but, unlike the Rio Grande, the Pecos Valley has no long record of use by men.

Most of the Valley's 28 million acres are semiarid, utilized for grazing cattle and sheep, but where arable land was irrigated farming was the dominant agricultural activity. In recent years, the petroleum and potash industries have made important contributions to the basin's surging economy.1

The Pecos River Valley divides into three distinct basins: first, the Upper Basin which extends from the headwaters to Alamogordo Dam, second, the Middle Basin which embraces the area between Alamogordo Dam and the Texas border, and third, the Lower Basin which encompasses the drainage area in Texas between Red Bluff Reservoir and the River's mouth near Cornstock.2

The area studied in this thesis is the Upper Basin. From its source in the vicinity of South Truchas Peck, the Pecos River flows southward some 30 miles through sparsely inhabited alpine land. Near the village of Pecos, it flows clear off the confining mountain uplift and bends southeastward for 20 miles through a broken hilly trough formed by the massive Sangre de Cristo uplift on the north and ramp-like Glorieta Mesa on the south. Skirting Glorieta

37

38 Mesa on the east, it flows through alternating narrow canyons and only slightly wider valleys where, throughout the centuries the current has built up fertile flood plains upon which irrigation has been practiced for almost 200 years.3

The Pueblo Indians were practicing irrigation and growing crops when the Spanish explorers and colonists first came to the area. They were interested in the community methods of the Indians. The community dams and ditches of the Spanish settlements differed from the Indians in that the European lacked the tribal organization. Irrigated fields were sometimes formed on both sides of the acequia or ditch in order to increase the amount of irrigated land and the efficiency of the water distribution. During the Spanish period, the total amount of land irrigated by the Indians and the Spaniards was small compared with the amount of land brought under irrigation since 184 6.

Among the 10 most important rivers in New Mexico, the drainage basin of the Pecos River and tributaries is the second largest. In 1902, 56,497 acres were irrigated and in 1919, the area was doubled.4 in 1919, the San Miguel County with the drainage basin of the Pecos River was ranked eleventh among the irrigated lands, with 16,565 acres irrigated. The Pecos River Forest was established by Presidential proclamation on January 11, 1892. The name of national forests came into use in 1907. Thanks to the establishment of the Pecos River Forest, the land along the river attracted new investment and interest for irrigation fields.^

Except for the recently developed Storrie Project on the Gallinas River (one of the principal tributaries of the Pecos River) near Las Vegas, irrigation practices in the Upper Basin have changed very little since the days of early Spanish colonization. In all, some 15,000 acres are under irrigation in the Upper Valley, all of which are served by

39

surface water.6 in 1888, a private company sought to exploit the potentially rich area by building a series of canals and drains. In 1904, the federal government took over the project. Today three dams control the Pecos.7

Principal communities and populations in the Upper Valley are Las Vegas, Santa Rosa and Pecos with its environs. When the Santa Fe Trail was opened in the nineteenth century, the first settlements stopped at Las Vegas. Las Vegas rapidly became a growing city. In the 1940s when Interstate Highway 40 was finished and passed through Santa Rosa, it became a stop area for all travelers and the town sprung up. After the decline of the Pecos Mission, Pecos town became the most important village north of the Pecos River area.

Altitudes range from 13,102 feet at South Truchas Peak to 4,275 feet at Alamogordo Dam. Representative valley-floor altitudes are: Pecos at 6,800 feet. Las Vegas at 6,400 feet, Anton Chico at 5,200 feet, and Santa Rosa at 4,600 feet.8

The climate of Pecos River Valley is generally advantageous. Recorded temperatures at Coroles in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near the river's head have varied from 902F to -272F. Annual precipitation has varied from 35 inches to 8.3 inches with an annual average of 14 inches. The growing season in the Upper Basin averages about 100 days.9

The vegetation in New Mexico has been classified in six zones, and the area correspondent to the Upper Pecos Valley is in the Lower Sonoran Zone. This is a geographic area of Mesquite and Black Grama grass. It is found in the Rio Grande below Socorro, in the Pecos Valley up to Santa Rosa and in the most of the southwestern part of the state. Usually at altitudes below 4000 feet, this zone permits more grazing than that possible at higher elevations. Because of the long frost-free period, the fertile soil and the high

40

temperatures, this is the most important agricultural area in New Mexico.10

The Pecos Valley: History and Evolution

When the first Spanish Conquistadores invaded what is now known as New Mexico in 1541-42, they found from 30 to 80 highly developed Indian agricultural communities, scattered west-east between the Zuni and Pecos Rivers, and north-south between present Taos and San Antonio, New Mexico. One of the largest and most prosperous of the Indian communities was Cicuy^ on the Pecos River.

In the beginning, the pueblo and the river appear to have been called both Cicuy^ and Pecos. Onate referred to residents of the pueblo as Pecos and the writings of Fray Alonso de Benavides, published in Spain in 1630, refer to the pueblo at first as Cicuy^-Pecos, later as merely Pecos.H

According to Robert T. Lingle, Cicuye, or Pecos, was a quadrangular structure consisting of two large communal dwellings four stories high, containing more than a 1000 rooms or apartments, so designed that one could make complete circuit of the village upon the balconies without setting foot on the ground. Farther south along the Pecos River, the explorers found smaller, less developed, less prosperous villages whose semi-migratory residents dwelt in dugout caves and crude mud huts. From the first, Pecos led the upper river pueblos in resisting the European Conquistadores.12

Owing at least in some measure to the efforts of Bigotes (Indian chief of the Cicuye), the Pecos pueblo survived to play a leading role in the Indian rebellion of 1680. The pueblo was also one of the last to capitulate in the Spanish Reconquest of 1692.13

41

The Mission of Pf^cos

Mission of Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de Poreiuneula

The first effort to convert the Peeos pueblo began in the first year of Juan de Onate's colonization in New Mexico with the assignment of Fray Francisco de San Miguel to the pueblo in September, 1598. The first church was dedicated to Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de Poreiuneula. Fray Andres Juarez, who came to New Mexico in 1612, served at Santo Domingo before his assignment to Pecos. His new church was under construction by fall, 1622 and was apparently the church described by Benavides in his 1630 Report: "...the Pecos Church...is the most explendid temple of singular construction and excellence..." (Illustration 23 in pocket).14

The mission, which was destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, was built by Fray A. Juarez, who once wrote: "...Pecos,...home to nearly a thousand souls, had deserved the grandest Christian monument in the kingdom..." and was burnt in its totality. Later, in 1694, Fray Diego de Zeinos persuaded the Indians to level part of the ruins and construct a temporary chapel. Facing west, it was built the reverse of the church of Father Juarez.15

The Pecos Mission in the Eighteenth Century The Pecos pueblo continued to flourish until around

1730-40. Indians successfully planted and harvested crops, alternately fighting and trading with the wild tribes to the east. But the last decades of the eighteenth century were bad times for the Pecos area. Disease took its toll on the population and the Comanches and Apaches began to spurn the procedures of trade and to subject the pueblo to raids. The pueblo repeatedly appealed to the Spanish government in Santa Fe for aid, while defending itself as best as it could. The

42 Comanches destroyed the small Spanish army, and from this blow the failing pueblo never recovered.16

In 1776, Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez, in his report of the "New Mexico Missions in 1776," found the church, still impressive and in good repair, but the convento had suffered. Pecos no longer had a resident Father to see that quarters were maintained. The mission was administered from Santa Fe as a visita. There was apparently a resident friar at the Mission for nine or 10 months in 1780. Pecos had gone. Twelve years later, in 1792, the population had fallen to 152 and the church records tabulated only 40 in 1815.17

In 1838, the few remaining Pecos Indians abandoned the home of their ancestors and traveled west to take up residence at Jemez pueblo, the only other pueblo that spoke their Towa language.18

Today after more than a century of neglect, the pueblo and its great mission have been reduced to ruins which eventually will disappear completely, unless protective measures are taken. In 1965 the Pecos Mission came under federal jurisdiction with the establishment of the site as a National Monument.19

Foundation of New Villages The expansion occurring during the eighteenth and

nineteenth centuries in New Mexico was made especially by Hispanos, or in its most part by them. During 1790, the Hispano expansion began. Stockmen looked for suitable pasture. Families migrated up or down along the valley looking for available village sites. The first record we have from those families appears in the article by Francis T. Cheetman "The Early Settlements in Southern Colorado," Colorado Magazine, February 1929.20

The pattern of settlement of the Spanish-American villages of the Pecos Valley was originally specified in the

43 San Miguel del Vado Land Grant. The San Miguel del Vado Land Grant was established in 1794 by the order of Fernando Chac6n, the Governor of the Kingdom of New Mexico under the king of Spain. The land was granted to Lorenzo Marquez and 51 other families who petitioned for the land in the same year. However, the distribution of irrigatable land did not occur until 1803, when Pedro Bautista, Alcalde of the Second Note of Santa F6, measured the land and supervised the drawing of lots for each tract (Illustration 5 in pocket) .21

...Twenty-odd miles downriver southeast of Pecos Pueblo, it lay at the place where the trail to the plains crossed the River, where, according to the petition, there is space enough not only for the fifty-one of us who ask but also as many as the province to distribute. They described the boundaries of this new Eden simply: In the north the Rio de la Vaca (Cow Creek) from the place called La Rancheria to El Agua Caliente; in the south El Canon Blanco; in the east La Cuesta and Los Cerritos de Bernal; and in the west the place commonly called El Gusano (South San Isidro)...22 The original settlement by then totaled 58 who remained

at San Miguel del Vado and 4 6 additional families established at San Jos^. This was the source of the colonists who, in 1822, were awarded land along the Pecos at Ant6n Chico.

Conditions of the grant reaffirmed that the petitioners would have to construct the plaza as per the original petition and all other work which could be for the benefit and welfare of the townspeople.

...petitioners promise to enclose ourselves in a plaza well fortified with bulwarks and towers, and to exert ourselves to supply all the firearms and ammunition that it may be possible for use to procure...23 In spite of the mandates and intentions set down in the

grant for the pattern of settlement, the towns adhered very closely to the design for defensive plazas. The apparent lack of compliance with town-planning specifications might be

44 attributed to the isolation and imposed self-sufficiency of the northern province of New Mexico. Hostile Indian incursions were the major problem. The use of genizaros to populate the Spanish colonial towns of the Pecos River Valley might also explain the town planning development. The Spanish created the colonial towns to serve as buffer zones against the hostile Indian raids. Town planning requirements might have been neglected due the belief that there were would not be any raids against genizaro-populated villages.24

The Spanish-American area of the Pecos Valley consists primarily of small farms and villages, the latter of which were of similar design. The center of the town was always the plaza: a rectangular-shaped area of ground varying from one to three acres. Dominating this area was the church, almost always built in the center of the plaza or else along the side of the plaza. Houses were frequently built in long, adjoining rows along the sides of the town square in order to enclose it and form a defensible plaza.25

San Miguel del Vado became a county seat under the Mexican Regime between 1822 and 1830. In 1827, the principal settlements were around the Upper Rio Grande, with San Miguel del Vado ranked as a second city, after Santa Fe.26 m 1844, the departmental council re-organized the subdivision of the province creating seven counties which were grouped in three districts, with San Miguel a part of the Rio Arriba district. In 1846, the seat of San Miguel County was moved from San Miguel del Vado to Las Vegas.27

Las Vegas was the larger and more prosperous town at this time, owing to the opening of the Santa Fe Trail, along which Las Vegas became the first stop-town. After 184 6, Las Vegas grew rapidly and outstripped San Miguel. Sometime after 1864 a big part of the San Miguel community moved again to a new village, Ribera, because of a smallpox epidemic which killed many of the town people.

45 The seventh census made by the U.S. Government in 1850

shows Villanueva and San Miguel del Vado as the only villages surveyed in the area of the San Miguel del Vado land grant (Appendix C).

Later, in 1860, five new settlements were included in the eighth census: San Jos6, El Pueblo, La Cuesta, El Cerrito and Puertocito. In 1870, the population in the area dropped about one fourth but then remained constantly until the first decade of the twentieth century.28

In 1920, Gonzales Ranch and Ribera were included in the census and the total population increased again. In 1940, the region had its highest total population for 80 years. In the years 1930-40, every precinct but Ribera and San Miguel experienced a rise in population. The Depression was a crucial period for the Hispanic settlements of northern New Mexico. Many residents left the rural areas in search of a better life in the cities.

This growth for the Pecos region should not be seen as an indication of stability or even vague prosperity. Rather, it was a problem followed by War World II and the expanding post-war economy that rapidly depopulated the Pecos River settlements, as the people went in search for a better life.

Until 1940 the population remained constant, but a drastic decrease of half of the total population was shown by the seventeenth census in 1950. The region as a whole lost 1000 people in the years 1940-50. This was a serious blow to the area. The downward trend has continued until today (Illustration 5 in pocket).

History and Data of Each Village San Miguel del Vado

San Miguel del Vado (or St. Michael at the Ford) was named after the patron saint of the village and after the crossing of the Pecos River, later a point of entry on the

46 Santa Fe Trail. The town is located on the Rio Pecos in southwestern San Miguel County. It is reached by U.S. Interstate Highway 25 and a country road joining the highway 1 1/2 miles east of San Jos6.

The small Spanish-American village of San Miguel was settled around 1750 by genizaros. Before the American occupation of the territory of New Mexico, it was regarded as the center of the surrounding settlements. During the Mexican Regime, a small detachment of troops was maintained at San Miguel, and here the Texans were imprisoned when they made their invasion of New Mexico for conquest. It was the county seat of San Miguel County until the seat of government was removed to Las Vegas.29

Before 1805, San Miguel was administered by the Franciscan Fathers of Nuestra Senora de los Angeles (near Pecos). As the congregation grew, the Bishop of Durango was petitioned to give San Miguel a resident priest. The license was granted on February 22, 1805. Later, as a result of poor mediums of communication and hostile Indians which made the journey from Pecos dangerous, the priest was authorized to maintain a permanent residence in San Miguel. The impact of this development was positive for the town.29

The Franciscan Fathers continued their work among the first settlers along the Rio Pecos until Spain secularized the Franciscan missions in all its dominions in 1834. Later, after the opening of the Santa Fe Trail and the stage-coach route from Santa Fe to the eastern territories, San Jose was used as a stop-point instead of San Miguel and the pueblo began to decline (Illustration 6 in pocket).

San Jos6 Originally known as "San Jos6 del Vado" (St. Joseph of

the Ford), San Jose is named after the patron saint whose feast day is celebrated on March 19. It is located in the

47 southwestern part of the San Miguel County on the banks of the Pecos River. It lies on Highway 25, 22 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

The town was settled by the Spanish in 17 94, the year of the Miguel del Vado Grant. Prior to the Spanish, the Pecos River Valley area was occupied by genizaros. m 1803, nine years after the founding of San Jos6, Pedro Bautista Pino, acting by orders of the Governor, partitioned the land to the settlers of San Jos^. In 187 9, in a plat of the San Miguel Grant by John Shaw, San Jos6 is represented by seven squares of buildings.30

After the establishment of the Santa Fe Trail, San Jos6 became an important stop along the road. In 184 6, it was chosen as a camping site by General Stephen W. Kearny. He commanded the Army of the West during the war with Mexico. The Army was under orders to march from Fort Lavenworth on the Missouri River to Santa Fe, and then, after taking control of New Mexico, to continue all the way to California. According to Connelley, "from the rooftop of one of the buildings. General Kearny proclaimed the American occupation of New Mexico."31

The passenger-coach service between Independence, Missouri, and Santa Fe was established in 1846. Stagecoaches which crossed the Pecos River ford stopped at San Jos6. The town had regular mail service by 1849 and daily passenger service by 1862. In 1858, the United States Post Office was established in San Jos6. In 1879, with the construction of the railroad lines in New Mexico, the stage-coach was eliminated. The railroad bypassed San Jose and a decline in population began (Illustration 7 in pocket).

San Juan The name San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, was used in

the foundation of several towns all along the state of New

48 Mexico. Don Juan de Onate conferred this title upon the Indian pueblo first occupied as early as 1598.

San Juan is a Spanish-American village and a farming community in the southwestern part of th- San Miguel County. Near U.S. Interstate Highway 25 and on a small farm road at the north, San Juan lies less than half a mile from the Pecos River. The town was also part of the first land divisions made by the San Miguel Land Grant. There is no history recorded until the late nineteenth century, when the church was built by laypeople (Illustration 8 in pocket).

San Isidro South Named after St. Isidore, patron saint of farmers,

"Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe of San Isidro del Sur" is located in San Miguel County and is north of U.S. Interstate Highway 25, along the banks of the Pecos River. It lies 23 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

Formerly known as "El Gusano" (The Worm), it was on the western boundary of the San Miguel del Vado Grant. This town, as the rest of its neighbors, is eminently a farming settlement, being one of the poorer. After the foundation of San Isidro North, in 1856, about 10 or 15 years later, San Isidro South began to decline. (Illustration 9 in pocket).

San Isidro North Formerly known as "Las Mulas" (the Mules) , San Isidro

North is located in the western part of the San Miguel County. The first name could have been given perhaps because of its close situation to Gusano Creek which was a former mule trail.

It is reached from a frontage road, south of U.S. Interstate Highway 25, then by Road 433 to both San Isidros. It is located beyond San Isidro South, another two miles to the north.

49 San Isidro North has a typical Spanish town design. The

church is in the center of the town with its traditional Placita. The principal buildings were built surrounding it (Illustration 10 in pocket).

Villanueva The name Villanueva or "New Village" may have been given

to the settlement at the establishment of a new village or it may commemorate the Spanish Marquis Villanueva, early Visitor to the Southwest.

The town is located in the southwestern part of the San Miguel County, on the banks of Pecos River. It may be reached by U.S. Interstate Highway 25 to Bernal, then south over the Country Road 3. This road passes through Ribera, San Miguel, El Pueblo, Sena, but at one point the Pecos River must be forded.

It was founded in 1808 by Mariano Bar6n and Jose Felipe Madrid. It was named by the Post Office Department in 1890 after petition of the people (Illustration 11 in pocket).

Sena Originally known by the name of "Puertocito," the

Spanish name for "small port" could had be given because the town lies on the bank of the Pecos River.

It is a farming community in north central New Mexico, located in the southwestern area of San Miguel County, 23 miles southwest of Las Vegas. The design of the town differs from the others. Instead of being planned surrounding the plaza, it was laid out along the river ford.

It was first recorded in the eighth Census of the United States in 1860 with 57 people. 20 years later, the population increased about seven times (349), but then it decreased in the 1930s to about 250. Now the population is

50

estimated to be no more than 200 people (Illustration 12 in pocket) .

El Pueblo El Pueblo, a Spanish name for "village" or "people," was

a very popular name in New Spain. The Castaneda chronicles of the Coronado Expedition of 1540-1542, call the Indian villages "pueblos," and referred to the Indians as a pueblo-dwelling group. The name therefore, was given to various sites and settlements, and in later times to Indians themselves and to geographical features.

Located in the southwestern part of the San Miguel County, El Pueblo lies on the banks of the Pecos River. It is reached from U.S. Interstate Highway 25 by Farm Road 3, after passing across the towns of Ribera and San Miguel. The town is divided by Farm Road 3, but the original settlement was only on the right side of the road, as one comes from San Miguel Mission.

The town was first recorded in the eighth census of the United States in 1860, but it was counted as part of "La Cuesta" or Villanueva with 378 people. Later, the 1900, it was recorded with 300 but after War World II, the population decreased to 169. Actually, the town had increased its population twice by the 1950s because of the agriculture industry (Illustration 13 in pocket).

El Cerrito El Cerrito, a Spanish name for "Little Hill" or "Little

Peak," is located 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas on the Pecos River. It is a small Spanish-American village settled in the early nineteenth century (around 1810). The settlers came from the neighboring villages, especially from San Miguel.

51

Before the arrival of the Spaniards in El Cerrito, the area was inhabited by Indians. According to Twitchell: "... arrowheads and pottery have been found, and there are Indian pictographs in the vicinity."32 The village was founded sometime after 17 94, the year of the San Miguel del Vado Land Grant. The earliest documented record of El Cerrito is 1824: "...so it was that families primarily from San Miguel founded El Cerrito in the Pecos Valley prob