Ohkay Owingeh is a small, rather plain (though rich in history) pueblo located 30 miles north of Santa Fe on the low (main) road to Taos. It’s just a quick side trip off Highway 68, so if you’d like a glimpse of a less tourist-oriented pueblo, look for the sign just a few miles north of Española, turn left and wind your way around to the right (look for the church). (If you miss the first sign, keep going. There’s another entrance just ahead.)
The curious thing about Ohkay Owingeh is that in the midst of brown adobes and dirt roads stand two rather anomalous Gothic structures: the church of San Juan de los Caballeros (St. John of the Gentle People) and the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes. So what’s up with that?
Actually, the very first church in New Mexico stood on the very spot that the narrow brick church with its tall statue of the Virgin Mary now stands. That first church, built in 1598, was completely destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. A new adobe church, in the more familiar Spanish Colonial style, was built in the early 1700s.
In 1861, New Mexico, now a United States territory, received its first bishop (before that it was considered part of the diocese of Durango, Mexico). Jean Baptiste Lamy, a Frenchman, was not a fan of “churches made of mud” and preferred the Gothic and Romanesque styles of his homeland. [Quick architecture lesson: Romanesque structures, like St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe, have windows and doors with rounded arches, while the Gothic style uses arches that come to a point on top.] The priests that Bishop Lamy brought over from France shared his prejudice.
Father Camille Seux, who was affectionately called Padre Camillo by his parishioners, used his own family money to build the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes, and then to replace the old adobe church (which was showing signs of old age) with the Gothic church that stands on the pueblo today.
If the chapel’s open, do step inside. The unusual altar scene, made with stones from the area, depicts St. Bernadette’s vision of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France.
History and Legends of Ohkay Owingeh
Ohkay Owingeh has the distinction (they don’t currently think of it as an honor, exactly) of being the location of the first Spanish capital in New Mexico. In 1598, Don Juan Oñate led the first expedition party from Mexico on what would later become the Camino Real (the Royal Road) and kept going until they reached the Indian village of Ohkay Owingeh. Nestled near the Jemez Mountains and on the banks of both the Rio Grande and Rio Chama, the location must have seemed ideal. The people of the village welcomed the Spaniards and gave them food and shelter for the winter. (Keep in mind that we’re talking about 400 men with families and livestock!) They even gave them (at Oñate’s request) a piece of their land to call their own. Oñate called the first capital San Gabriel and (in one of his few recorded acts of graciousness) called the village the Pueblo (town) of San Juan (his own patron saint) de los Caballeros (St. John of the Gentle People) in gratitude for their kindness.
Good will between the Spanish and the pueblo didn’t last long. Oñate was greedy and cruel, and was removed from his office and banned from the territory in 1608. His replacement, Don Pedro de Peralta, moved the capital to Santa Fe in 1610.
San Juan Pueblo (as it was known for many years) was instrumental in the Pueblo Revolt. Its leader, a medicine man named Po’Pay, was born here (although he planned the revolt from Taos Pueblo). In 1680, the pueblo destroyed every trace of the Spanish on their lands, including the San Gabriel settlement. Today, all that remains of San Gabriel is a white cross and a placard in an empty field. (To see it, take the road that runs along the north end of the pueblo (Highway 74), cross the river, then look for a road to the left. You’ll see the cross on a small hillside on your left.
In 2005, the people of San Juan Pueblo voted to reclaim their original name. Ohkay Owingeh means “Place of the Strong People.” They own the Ohkay Owingeh Casino Resort on Highway 68.
