SantaFe.com

Recent scientific work at the Valles Caldera National Preserve has produced some remarkable information about how ancient people used the area over the ages. But the story really begins with its geologic formation.

It is generally known that the Valles Caldera is an ancient volcano, and most believe it was created from a huge eruption, one that blew its top and scattered ash and debris for thousands of miles. In reality, geologic studies suggest just the opposite — the caldera was formed when a rapid outflow of lava left a large cavity deep underground, causing the central part of the...

Saturday, July 5, 2008
by Dave Menicucci • Journal Santa Fe

Maybe the third time is the charm. Once again, Cornerstones Community Partnerships and St. Michael’s Corporation are trying to get a project under way to restore the “Oldest Church” — the San Miguel Chapel on Old Santa Fe Trail.

This time, though, they’re taking smaller steps at the beginning. After a 2004 partnership for a $46 million large-scale restoration that foundered on a project manager who eventually fell out with the corporation and a tentative proposal that never really got off the ground in 2006, the local groups have come together for a conditions assessment and preservation...

Monday, June 16, 2008
by Kate McGraw • Journal Santa Fe

The Pueblo Indian people of the southwestern United States are as indigenous as Americans can be, having lived among the rugged mountains, dry mesas, and cottonwood-lined rivers for thousands of years. The culture they maintain today, with its earthen houses, strong family and community ties, and rituals evoking the mystical connection between all things, is one that evolved naturally and gradually as a response to life in the landscape.

Some 2,000 years ago, a group known as the Hohokam (O’Odham) settled the area of what is now southern Arizona, where they practiced advanced irrigation...

Monday, May 19, 2008
by Marcia Keegan • Clear Light Publishing

In the shadow of the Roundhouse, a porcelain hippo once perched on a shelf, kids scribbled their letters on a slate blackboard and women placed flowers in San Ildefonso pottery jars.

Archaeologists and volunteers have been excavating what was once a lower-middle class neighborhood at the corner of Galisteo Street and Manhattan Avenue since March 3. Slated for the city's newest parking garage, it was once home to a barbershop, a supermarket and a flooring store from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries. Workers have dug and swept out privies, foundations and refuse pits to expose...

Sunday, March 23, 2008
by Kathaleen Roberts • Journal Santa Fe

Abiquiú, best known as the home of artist Georgia O’Keeffe, offers astonishing landscapes and a glimpse into New Mexico’s rich past.

Abiquiú, a small town about 50 miles northwest of Santa Fe, is best known today as the home of the artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Once you visit, you’ll understand why she loved and painted the landscape of her adopted home for so many years. The haunting beauty of the tiny adobe village, the majesty of the surrounding mountains, and the astonishing grandeur of the nearby red rock canyons is more than enough to keep any artist enthralled for a lifetime.

Friday, February 22, 2008
by Annie Lux

The Spanish influence in New Mexico's capital city dates back to 1540 when Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, a Spanish nobleman, traveled north from Mexico in search of the fables “Seven Cities of Cibola”. He explored what is now northern New Mexico extensively before returning empty-handed to Mexico. After several aborted attempts to resettle the northern territories, in 1598 Juan de Onate founded a Spanish village, which he named San Gabriel, located near today's San Juan Pueblo about 30 miles north of Santa Fe.

Onate's experiment at San Gabriel did not fare well and in 1610 the provincial...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
by Malcolm Pynn

On March 9, 1916 Pancho Villa (1878-1923) made his famous border raid on the town of Columbus, New Mexico. It was an event that would later almost lead the United States and Mexico to war with each other. It was an event that took the people of both Columbus and the rest of the country by surprise. However, there is evidence to suggest that the government of the United States, that which was being led by President Woodrow Wilson, both knew of Francisco Villa's intentions and welcomed it. This will illustrate the reasons why the government of that era allowed such an event to occur.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Ortiz family has been prominent in New Mexican history and politics since before the Territorial Period. Nicolas Ortiz II, Niño Ladrón de Guevara (also written Guebara), was born in Mexico to Nicolas Ortiz I, who joined colonists in Zacatecas in 1693 and served as aid to Governor of New Mexico, Don Diego de Vargas. Nicolas Ortiz II received the Caja del Rio land grant in Santa Fe County by authority of the King, himself.

In addition to having two family members designated land grantees (Nicolás Ortiz II and Don Antonio Ortiz), Ramon Ortiz, son of Antonio Ortiz was the last Spanish...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
courtesy of Center for Southwest Research at the University of New Mexico General Library

Religion played a significant role in New Mexico’s early history and contributed to the discovery, exploration, naming, continued settlement, and reconquest of New Mexico.

When Father Marcos de Niza returned to New Spain from New Mexico, he claimed to have seen one of the fabled cities. His reports led to Coronado’s exploration of New Mexico. Franciscan Father Jacinto de San Francisco wrote a document in 1561 referring to the area as New Andalusia which gave New Mexico its first name.

In 1581, Franciscan lay brother Agustin Rodriguez, along with two other Franciscans and Francisco...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Dr. Sabine R. Ulibarrí was born September 21, 1919 in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico. His long career as educator, writer, poet, essayist, critic, and statesman began in the Río Arriba County Schools in 1938, where he taught for two years before going on to teach at the El Rito Normal School from 1940 to 1942. After receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross for having flown thirty-five combat missions over Europe during World War II, Ulibarrí returned to study under the G.I. Bill at the University of New Mexico, graduating with majors in English and Spanish in 1947. The following year he...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
courtesy of Center for Southwest Research at the University of New Mexico General Library