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The history of New Mexico is based on archaeological evidence, attesting to the varying cultures of humans occupying the area of
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
since approximately 9200 BCE, and written records. The earliest peoples had migrated from northern areas of North America after leaving Siberia via the
Bering Land Bridge Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 72 degrees north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south by the tip of ...
. Artifacts and architecture demonstrate ancient complex cultures in this region. The first written records of the region were made by the Spanish
conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
, who encountered Native American
Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
s when they explored the area in the 16th century. Since that time, the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
, and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
(since 1787) have claimed control of the area. The area was governed as
New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomin ...
until 1912, when it was admitted as a state. The relatively isolated state had an economy dependent on mining. Its residents and government suffered from a reputation for corruption and extreme traditionalism. New Mexico introduced the Atomic Age in 1945, as the first
nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
were developed by the federal government in the research center it established at Los Alamos. Ethnically, New Mexico's population consists of a mixture of Native Americans,
Hispanics The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
, and
Anglos Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...
.


Native American settlements

Human occupation of
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
stretches back at least 11,000 years to the hunter-gatherer
Clovis culture The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleoamerican culture, named for distinct stone and bone tools found in close association with Pleistocene fauna, particularly two mammoths, at Blackwater Locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, in 1936 a ...
. Fagan, Brian M. (1987) "The Clovis People and Their Forebearers" ''The Great Journey: The People of Ancient America'' Thames and Hudson, New York, p. 177 ff., They left evidence of their campsites and stone tools. After the invention of agriculture, the land was inhabited by the
Ancestral Puebloans The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, a ...
, who built houses out of stone or adobe bricks. They experienced a
Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...
around AD 1000, but climate change led to migration and cultural evolution. From those people arose the historic
Pueblo people The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Z ...
s who lived primarily along the few major rivers. The most important rivers are the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
, the Pecos, the
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
, the
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
, and the Gila.


Pueblos

The
Pueblo people The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Z ...
built a flourishing sedentary culture in the 13th century A.D., constructing small towns in the valley of the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
and pueblos nearby. By about 700 to 900 AD, the Pueblo began to abandon ancient pit houses dug in cliffs and to construct rectangular rooms arranged in apartment-like structures. By 1050 AD, they had developed planned villages composed of large terraced buildings, each with many rooms. These apartment-house villages were often constructed on defensive sites- on ledges of massive rock, on flat summits, or on steep-sided mesas, locations that would afford the Anasazi protection from their Northern enemies. The largest of these villages,
Pueblo Bonito Pueblo Bonito (Spanish for ''beautiful town'') is the largest and best-known great house in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, northern New Mexico. It was built by the Ancestral Puebloans who occupied the structure between AD 828 and 1126 ...
, in the
Chaco Canyon Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in the American Southwest hosting a concentration of pueblos. The park is located in northwestern New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Farmington, in a remote c ...
of New Mexico, contained around 700 rooms in five stories and may have housed as many as 1000 persons. No larger apartment-house type construction would be seen on the continent until 19th century Chicago and New York. Then, around 1150, Chaco Anasazi society began to unravel. Long before the Spanish arrival, descendants of the Anasazi were using irrigation canals, check dams and hillside terracing as techniques for bringing water to what had for centuries been an arid, agriculturally marginal area. At the same time, the ceramics became more elaborate, cotton replaced yucca fiber as the main clothing material and basket weaving became more artistic.Nash, Gary B. ''Red, White and Black: The Peoples of Early North America'' Los Angeles 2015. Chapter 1, pg. 5 The
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
encountered Pueblo civilization and elements of the Athabaskans in the 16th century.
Cabeza de Vaca In Mexican cuisine, ''cabeza'' (''lit.'' 'head') is the meat from a roasted head of an animal, served as taco A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican food consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling ...
in 1535, one of only four survivors of the Panfilo de Narvaez expedition of 1527, tells of hearing Indians talk about fabulous cities somewhere in New Mexico.
Fray Marcos de Niza Marcos de Niza, OFM (or Marco da Nizza; 25 March 1558) was a Savoyard missionary and Franciscan friar from the County of Nice. He is credited with being the first European in what is now the State of Arizona in the United States. He is most kn ...
enthusiastically identified these as the fabulously rich Seven Cities of Cíbola, the mythical seven cities of gold.
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...
led a massive expedition to find these cities in 1540–1542. The Spanish maltreatment of the Pueblo and
Athabaskan Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific ...
people that started with their explorations of the upper Rio Grande valley led to hostility between the indigenous peoples and the Spanish which lasted for centuries. The three largest pueblos of New Mexico are Zuñi,
Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...
, and Laguna. There are three different languages spoken by the pueblos.


Athabaskans-Apachean

The
Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest fe ...
and
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...
peoples are members of the large
Athabaskan Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific ...
language family, which includes peoples in Alaska and Canada, and along the Pacific Coast. The historic peoples encountered by the Europeans did not make up unified tribes in the modern sense, as they were highly decentralized, operating in bands of a size adapted to their semi-nomadic cultures. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, the European explorers, missionaries, traders and settlers referred to the different groups of Apache and Navajo by various names, often associated with distinctions of language or geography. These Athabaskan peoples identified themselves as ''Diné'', which means "the people". The Navajo and Apache made up the largest non-Pueblo Indian group in the Southwest. These two tribes led nomadic lifestyles and spoke the same language. Some experts estimate that the semi-nomadic Apache were active in New Mexico in the 13th century. Spanish records indicated that they traded with the Pueblo. Various bands or tribes participated in the Southwestern Revolt against the Spanish in the 1680s. By the early 18th century the Spanish had built a series of over 25 forts to protect themselves and subjugated populations from the traditional raiding parties of the Athabaskan. The
Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American Indian reservation, reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwe ...
, with more than 300,000 citizens the largest federally recognized tribe in the United States, is concentrated in present-day northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. The Mescalero Apache live east of the Rio Grande. The
Jicarilla Apache Jicarilla Apache (, Jicarilla language: Jicarilla Dindéi), one of several loosely organized autonomous bands of the Eastern Apache, refers to the members of the Jicarilla Apache Nation currently living in New Mexico and speaking a Southern Atha ...
live west of the Rio Grande. The
Chiricahua Apache Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans. Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende ) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehend ...
lived in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona until the late 19th century.


Colonial period


Spanish exploration and colonization

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...
assembled an enormous expedition at Compostela,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
in 1540–1542, to explore and find the mythical Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, as described by
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (; 1488/90/92"Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Núñez (1492?-1559?)." American Eras. Vol. 1: Early American Civilizations and Exploration to 1600. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 50-51. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Decembe ...
, who had just arrived from his eight-year ordeal of survival. De Vaca traveled mostly overland from
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
to
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
. He and three companions were the only survivors of the
Pánfilo de Narváez Pánfilo de Narváez (; 147?–1528) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and soldier in the Americas. Born in Spain, he first embarked to Jamaica in 1510 as a soldier. He came to participate in the conquest of Cuba and led an expedition to Camag� ...
expedition of June 17, 1527 to Florida, losing 80 horses and several hundred explorers. These four survivors had spent eight arduous years getting to
Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
on the
Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...
, and had visited many
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
tribes. Coronado and his supporters sank a fortune in this ill-fated enterprise. They took 1,300 horses and mules for riding and packing, and hundreds of head of sheep and cattle as a portable food supply. Coronado's party found several
adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...
pueblos (towns) in 1541 but no rich cities of gold. Further widespread expeditions found no fabulous cities anywhere in the
Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
or
Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...
. A dispirited and now poor Coronado and his party began their journey back to
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
, leaving
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
behind. it is likely that some of Coronado's horses escaped, to be captured and adopted for use by
Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of ...
. Over the next two centuries, they made horses at the center of their nomadic cultures. Only two of Coronado's horses were mares. More than 50 years after Coronado,
Juan de Oñate Juan de Oñate y Salazar (; 1550–1626) was a Spanish conquistador from New Spain, explorer, and colonial governor of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in the viceroyalty of New Spain. He led early Spanish expeditions to the Great ...
came north from the
Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico w ...
with 500 Spanish settlers and soldiers and 7,000 head of livestock, founding the first Spanish settlement in New Mexico on July 11, 1598. The governor named the settlement ''
San Juan de los Caballeros Ohkay Owingeh (Tewa: Ohkwee Ówîngeh ), known by its Spanish name as San Juan de los Caballeros from 1589 to 2005, is a pueblo and census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Ohkay Owingeh is also a federally recognized tribe ...
''. This means "Saint John of the Knights". San Juan was in a small valley. Nearby the Chama River flows into the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
. Oñate pioneered
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro ( en, Royal Road of the Interior Land), also known as the Silver Route, was a Spanish road between Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo (''Ohkay Owingeh''), New Mexico, USA, that was used from 1598 to 1882. It was ...
, "The Royal Road of the Interior Land," a 700-mile (1,100 km) trail from the rest of
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...
to his remote colony. Oñate was appointed as the first
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of the new province of
Santa Fe de Nuevo México Santa Fe de Nuevo México ( en, Holy Faith of New Mexico; shortened as Nuevo México or Nuevo Méjico, and translated as New Mexico in English) was a Kingdom of the Spanish Empire and New Spain, and later a territory (geographic region), territ ...
. Although he intended to achieve the total subjugation of the Natives, Oñate noted in 1599 that the
Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
"live very much the same as he Spanishdo, in houses with two and three terraces."
The Native Americans at Acoma revolted against this Spanish encroachment but faced severe suppression. In battles with the Acomas, Oñate lost 11 soldiers and two servants, killed hundreds of Indians, and punished every man over 25 years of age by the amputation of their left foot. The
Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
found the
Pueblo people The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Z ...
increasingly unwilling to consent to baptism by newcomers who continued to demand food, clothing and labor. Acoma is also known as the oldest continually inhabited city in the United States.
Oñate's capital of San Juan proved to be vulnerable to
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...
(probably
Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest fe ...
) attacks. Governor
Pedro de Peralta Pedro de Peralta (c. 1584 – 1666) was Governor of New Mexico between 1610 and 1613 at a time when it was a province of New Spain. He formally founded the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1610. In August 1613 he was arrested and jailed for almo ...
moved the capital and established the settlement of Santa Fe in 1610 at the foot of the
Sangre de Cristo Mountains The Sangre de Cristo Mountains ( Spanish for " Blood of Christ") are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountains run from Poncha Pass in South- ...
. Santa Fe is the oldest state capital city in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. Peralta built the Palace of the Governors in 1610. Although the colony failed to prosper, some missions survived. Spanish settlers arrived at the site of
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...
in the mid-17th century. Missionaries attempted to convert the natives to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
, but had little success. Contemporary scholars believe that the objective of Spanish rule of New Mexico (and all other northern lands) was the full exploitation of the native population and resources. As Frank McNitt writes,
Governors were a greedy and rapacious lot whose single-minded interest was to wring as much personal wealth from the province as their terms allowed. They exploited Indian labor for transport, sold Indian slaves in New Spain, and sold Indian products ... and other goods manufactured by Indian slave labor.
The exploitative nature of Spanish rule resulted in their conducting nearly continuous raids and reprisals against the nomadic Indian tribes on the borders, especially the
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...
,
Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest fe ...
, and
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in ...
.
Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
missionaries accompanied Oñate to New Mexico; afterward there was a continuing struggle between secular and religious authorities. Both colonists and the Franciscans depended upon Indian labor, mostly the
Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
,the sedentary people of the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
valley, and competed with each other to control a decreasing Indian population. The Indians suffered high mortality because of infectious diseases unknowingly brought by the Spaniards, to which they had no
immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity de ...
, and the exploitation that disrupted their societies. The struggle between the Franciscans and the civil government came to a head in the late 1650s. Governor Bernardo Lopez de Mendizabal and his subordinate
Nicolas de Aguilar Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...
forbade the Franciscans to punish Indians or employ them without pay. They granted the Pueblo permission to practice their traditional dances and religious ceremonies. After the Franciscans protested, Lopez and Aguilar were arrested, turned over to the
Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
, and tried in
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. Thereafter, the Franciscans reigned supreme in the province. Pueblo dissatisfaction with the rule of the clerics was the main cause of the
Pueblo revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion or Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger than present-day New Mex ...
. The Spanish in New Mexico were never able to gain dominance over the Indian peoples, who lived among and surrounded them. The isolated colony of New Mexico was characterized by "elaborate webs of ethnic tension, friendship, conflict, and kinship" among Indian groups and Spanish colonists. Because of the weakness of New Mexico, "rank-and-file settlers in outlying areas had to learn to coexist with Indian neighbors without being able to keep them subordinate." The
Pueblo Indians The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Z ...
were the first group to challenge Spanish rule significantly. Later the nomadic Indians, especially the
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in ...
, mounted attacks that weakened the Spanish.


Pueblo Revolt of 1680

Many of the
Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
people harbored hostility toward the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
, due to their oppression of the Indians and prohibition of their practice of traditional religion. The economies of the pueblos (towns) were disrupted, as the people were forced to labor on the
encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
s of the colonists. The Spanish introduced new farming implements which the Pueblo adopted and provided some measure of security against
Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest fe ...
and
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...
raiding parties. The Pueblo lived in relative peace with the Spanish from the founding of the northern
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
colony in 1598. In the 1670s, drought swept the region, causing famine among the
Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
, and attracting increased attacks from neighboring nomadic tribes trying to gain food supplies. Spanish soldiers were unable to defend the settlements adequately. At the same time, European-introduced diseases caused high mortality among the natives, decimating their communities. Dissatisfied with the protective powers of the Spanish Crown and its god of the Catholic Church, the Pueblo returned to their old gods. This provoked a wave of repression by New Mexico governor Juan Francisco Treviño, as well as the
Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
missionaries. Following his arrest on a charge of witchcraft and subsequent release,
Popé Popé or Po'pay (; c. 1630 – c. 1692) was a Tewa religious leader from Ohkay Owingeh (renamed San Juan Pueblo by the Spanish during the colonial period), who led the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 against Spanish colonial rule. In the first successfu ...
(or Po-pay) planned and orchestrated the
Pueblo Revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion or Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger than present-day New Mex ...
. After being freed, Popé moved to
Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...
and planned a Pueblo war against the Spaniards. He dispatched runners to all the Pueblos carrying knotted cords, the knots signifying the number of days remaining until the appointed day for them to rise together against the Spaniards. Hearing that the Spaniards had learned of these plans, Popé ordered the attacks advanced to August 13. The Spanish were driven from all but the southern portion of New Mexico. They set up a temporary capital at El Paso while making preparations to reconquer the rest of the province. The retreat of the Spaniards left New Mexico controlled by the Indians. Popé ordered the Indians, under penalty of death, to burn or destroy crosses and other Catholic religious imagery, as well as any other vestige of the Spanish culture. He also wanted to destroy Spanish livestock and fruit trees.
Kivas A kiva is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circular and underground, ...
(rooms for religious rituals) were reopened, and Popé ordered all Indians to bathe in soap made of yucca root. He forbade the planting of Spanish crops of wheat and barley. Popé ordered those Indians married by the rites of the Catholic Church to dismiss their wives, and take others under their traditional ways. He took control of the Governor's Palace as ruler of the Pueblo, and collected tribute from each Pueblo until his death in 1688. Following their success, the different Pueblo tribes, separated by hundreds of miles and six different languages, quarreled as to who would occupy Santa Fe and rule over the territory. These power struggles, combined with raids from nomadic tribes and a seven-year drought, weakened the Pueblo strength. In July 1692,
Diego de Vargas Diego de Vargas Zapata y Luján Ponce de León y Contreras (1643–1704), commonly known as Don Diego de Vargas, was a Spanish Governor of the New Spain territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, to the US states of New Mexico and Arizona, titular ...
led Spanish forces that surrounded Santa Fe, where he called on the Indians to surrender, promising clemency if they would swear allegiance to the king of Spain and return to the Christian faith. The Indian leaders gathered in Santa Fe, met with De Vargas, and agreed to peace.Knaut, ''The Pueblo Revolt of 1680'' (1995) While developing Santa Fe as a trade center, the returning settlers founded
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...
in 1706, naming for the viceroy of New Spain, the Duke of Alburquerque. Prior to its founding, Albuquerque consisted of several
hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchard ...
s and communities along the lower
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
. The settlers constructed the ''Iglesia de San Felipe Neri'' (1706). Development of ranching and some farming in the 18th century were the basis for the culture of many of the state's still-flourishing Hispanics. While the Pueblo achieved a short-lived independence from the Spaniards, they gained a measure of freedom from future Spanish efforts to impose their culture and religion following the reconquest. The Spanish issued substantial land grants to each Pueblo, and appointed a public defender to protect the rights of the Indians and argue their legal cases in the Spanish courts.


Spanish relations with the natives

From the date of the founding of New Mexico, the Pueblo people and Spanish settlers were plagued by hostile relationships with nomadic and semi-nomadic Navajo, Apache, Ute, and Comanche people. These tribes raided the more sedentary peoples for livestock, food supplies and stores, and captives to ransom or use as slaves. The southwestern natives developed a horse culture, raiding Spanish ranches and missions for their horses, and ultimately breeding and raising their own herds. The native horse culture quickly spread throughout western America. Navajo and Apache raids for horses on Spanish and Pueblo settlements began in the 1650s or earlier. Through the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Indians acquired many horses. By the 1750s the Plains Indians horse culture was well established from
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
to
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...
, Canada. The Navajo, in addition to being among the first mounted Native Americans in the U.S., were unique in developing a
pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depict ...
culture based on sheep stolen from the Spanish. By the early 18th century, the Navajo households typically owned herds of sheep.


Comancheria

After the Pueblo revolt, the Comanche posed the most serious threat to the Spanish settlers. Scholar Hämäläinen (2008) argues that from the 1750s to the 1850s, the Comanche were the dominant group in the Southwest, and they ruled a domain known as
Comancheria The Comancheria or Comanchería (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ, 'Comanche land') was a region of New Mexico, west Texas and nearby areas occupied by the Comanche before the 1860s. Historian Pekka Hämäläinen has argued that the Comancheria ...
. Hämäläinen calls it an empire. Confronted with Spanish, Mexican, French, and American outposts on their periphery in New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and Mexico, they worked to increase their own safety, prosperity and power. The Comanche used their military power to obtain supplies and labor from the Americans, Mexicans, and Puebloans through cunning, tribute, and kidnappings. The Comanche empire was primarily an economic construction, based on a raiding, hunting and pastoral economy and rooted in an extensive commercial network that facilitated long-distance trade. Dealing with subordinate natives, the Comanche spread their language and culture across the region. In terms of governance, the Comanche created a decentralized political system, They created a hierarchical social organization in which young warriors could advance through their success in war.Pekka Hämäläinen, ''The Comanche Empire'' (2008) p. 2 In 1706, colonists in New Mexico first recorded the Comanche; by 1719 they were raiding the colony as well as other Native peoples. The other tribes had primarily raided for plunder, but the Comanche introduced a new level of violence to the conflict. The Comanche were pure nomads, well mounted by the 1730s. They were more elusive and mobile than the semi-nomadic Apache and Navajo, who were dependent upon agriculture or herding for part of their livelihoods. The Comanche both raided and traded with the Spanish settlers. They were especially prominent at the annual
Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...
trade fair, where they peacefully exchanged hides, meat and captives, often before or after raiding other settlements.Kenner, 49 The Governor of New Mexico Tomás Vélez Cachupín, who administered the province from 1749 to 1754 and from 1762 to 1767 led a successful expedition against the Comanche, but the Comanche continued to raid,New Mexico Archives. Office of the State Historian: Cachupín, Tomás Vélez
Posted by Suzanne Stamatov between 2004–2010 Consulted 4 April 2011, to 23: 36 pm.
endangering the survival of colonial New Mexico, stripping the settlements of horses, forcing the abandonment of many settlements, and in 1778 killing 127 Spanish settlers and Pueblo people. Punitive expeditions by the Spanish and their native allies against the Comanche were usually ineffective, but in 1779 a Spanish and Puebloan force of 560 men, led by
Juan Bautista de Anza Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was an expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as one of the founding f ...
, surprised a Comanche village near
Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most popu ...
and killed
Cuerno Verde Cuerno Verde (died September 3, 1779) is the Spanish name for Tavibo Naritgant, a leader of the Comanche, likely of the Kotsoteka Comanche, in the late 18th century. Life Cuerno Verde ("Green Horn" in English), is the Spanish name given to Tavi ...
(Green Horn), the most prominent of the Comanche war leaders. The Comanche subsequently sued for peace with New Mexico, joined the New Mexicans in expeditions against their common enemy, the Apache, and turned their attention to raiding Spanish settlements in Texas and northern Mexico. The New Mexicans on their part took care not to re-antagonize the Comanche and lavished gifts on them. The peace between New Mexico and the Comanche endured until the United States conquest of the province in 1846 during the Mexican–American War. Peace with the Comanche stimulated a growth in the population of New Mexico; settlements expanded eastward on to the
Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...
. The inhabitants of these new settlements were mostly ''genizaros'', natives and the descendants of natives who had been ransomed from the Comanche. Navajo and Apache raids continued to affect the territory. The Navajo were defeated in 1864 by
Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...
, but the Apache leader
Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache b ...
did not surrender until 1886. The Ute had earlier allied with the New Mexicans for mutual protection against the Comanche. The Comanche empire collapsed after their villages were repeatedly decimated by epidemics of
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
and
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...
, especially in 1849; their population plunged from about 20,000 in the 18th century to 1,500 by 1875, when they surrendered to the U.S. Government. The Comanche no longer had the manpower to deal with the U.S. Army and the wave of white settlers who encroached on their region in the decades after the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...
ended in 1848.


U.S. exploration

Following
Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
, many men started exploring and trapping in the western parts of the United States. Sent out in 1806, Lt.
Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions under authority of President Thomas Jefferson ...
's orders were to find the headwaters of the
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
and Red rivers. He was to explore the southwestern part of the
Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or ap ...
. In 1807, when Pike and his party crossed into the
San Luis Valley The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. The valley is approximately long and wide, extending from the Continental Divide on the northwest rim into New Mexico on the south. It c ...
of northern New Mexico they were arrested and taken to Santa Fe, and then sent south to
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places * Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mu ...
where they appeared before the Commandant General Salcedo. After four months of diplomatic negotiations, Pike and his party were returned to the United States, under protest, across the Red River at Natchitoches.


Mexican territory


Revolution and Mexican Independence

The decade that led up to independence was a painful period in the history of Mexico. In 1810 catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo instigated a war for independence in central Mexico, a struggle that quickly took on the character of a class war. The following year, military captain Las Casas instigated a coup within the Imperial regime. Sympathizing with the poor underclass, Las Casas opened up a line of dialogue with the revolutionaries. This caused the Spanish elite to instigate its own counter coup and executed Las Casas. For years afterward the regime failed to regain coherency and the mandate to administer. These ideological struggles affected peripheral New Mexico much less than they did the national center, but it resulted in a sense of alienation with central authority. Furthermore, in 1818 a longstanding peace between the settled communities of New Mexico and the neighboring nomadic Indian tribes broke down. Just a month after swearing loyalty to the new Mexican government in 1821, governor Melgares led a raid into Navajo country. For these reasons it is highly surprising that the transition from Spanish to Mexican rule occurred as peacefully as it did. In New Mexico the event passed with few shows of enthusiasm or partisanship. Festivals were largely a lackluster affair and held only at the behest of the revolutionary government which expressed that they should be held, "in all the form and with the magnificence that the oaths of allegiance to the Kings have previously been read". But there was no renewed civil war and the provisional government was given the grudging support of most of society. Trade along the
Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, ...
was opened following Mexican independence. With this trade came a new influx of citizens from the United States. Prior to independence, the ''estranjeros'' (foreigners) were not allowed to participate in receiving
land grants A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
, but now, along with the open trade, a few would become participating owners of these ''merceds'' (grants).


Federalist stage

In 1824 a new constitution was drafted, that established Mexico as a federalist republic. A generally liberal-minded atmosphere that had pervaded Mexico since independence led to generous grants of local autonomy and limited central power. New Mexico in particular was able to take advantage and to carve out significant privileges in this new system. Classified as a territory rather than a state, it had reduced representation in the national government but broad local autonomy. Because of the advanced age of New Mexican society and its relative sophistication, it was uniquely placed to take advantage of its position as a frontier but still effecting influence in the rest of the country. One of the defining features of the Mexican period in the history of New Mexico was the attempt to instill a nationalist sentiment. This was a tremendous challenge considering the nature of identity in Mexico during the Spanish empire. Under the official dictates of the empire, subjects were classified in terms of ethnicity, class and position in society. These legal distinctions kept groups separate, and movement between groups was regulated. Ethnic Europeans made up the upper crust of this system, with Peninsulars—those born in Spain itself—comprising the true elite, while Mexican-born Europeans, the creoles, were ranked just below them. At the bottom were the masses of Indians and Mestizos, who had few legal rights and protections against the abuse of their superiors. In contrast, the new 'Mexican' elite attempted to create a common identity among all classes and ethnicities. Embracing a wide range of peoples and cultures, from nomadic Indians to the high society of Mexico City, this ambitious undertaking met with mixed success. In New Mexico, there was already a highly structured and differentiated society at the time of independence, which was unique along the Mexican frontier. At the top were ethnic Europeans who then merged with a large community of Hispanics. The more Indian blood you possessed, the lower on the social scale you tended to reside until the bottom was made of settled Pueblo communities and the nomadic Indians who existed outside of the polity. Nationalists attempted to establish equality, if only legally, between these disparate groups. The local autonomy New Mexicans had established inhibited these endeavors and throughout the Mexican period the elite continued to maintain their privileges. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of New Mexico were able to adapt their old identity as Spanish subjects to Mexican nationals. Instead of a purely modern liberal sense of identity, this adapted Spanish feudalism to a geographic area. The evidence of this success in nationalism can be seen in the Pueblo myth of Montezuma. This held that the original Aztec homeland lay in New Mexico, and the original king of the Aztecs was a Pueblo. This creates a symbolic, and completely artificial, connection between the Mexican center and an isolated frontier society.


Centralist stage and collapse

The federalist and liberal atmosphere that pervaded Mexican thought since independence fell apart in the mid-1830s. Across the political spectrum there was the perception that the previous system had failed and needed readjustment. This led to the dissolution of the 1824 constitution and the drafting of a new one based on centralist lines. As Mexico drifted farther and farther toward despotism, the national project began to fail and the nation fell into a crisis. Along the frontier, formerly autonomous societies reacted aggressively to a newly assertive central government. The most independent province, Texas, declared its independence in 1835, triggering the sequence of events that led directly to Mexico's collapse. The Revolt of 1837 in New Mexico itself overthrew and executed the centrally appointed governor and demanded increased regional authority. This revolt was defeated within New Mexican society itself by
Manuel Armijo Manuel Armijo (ca. 1793–1853) was a New Mexican soldier and statesman who served three times as governor of New Mexico. He was instrumental in putting down the Revolt of 1837, he led the force that captured the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, and ...
. This was motivated not by nationalist sentiment but by the class antagonism within New Mexican society. When central rule was reestablished, it was done so on Armijo's lines (he became governor) and he ruled the province with even greater autonomy than any other time during the Mexican period. As the situation within central Mexico fell further and further into confusion, New Mexico began to draw closer economically to the United States. This was epitomized in the growth in traffic and prominence of the
Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, ...
as a means of communication and trade. In the mid-1830s New Mexico began to function as a trading hub between the United States, central
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
and
Mexican California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...
. Merchants making their way over the
Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...
would stop in Santa Fe, where they would meet with their counterparts from Los Angeles and Mexico City. The result was that as central Mexico fell into turmoil, New Mexico grew economically and trade ties strengthened with the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. In 1845 the governorship of Armijo was interrupted when the regime of
Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (; 21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De,''Handbook of Texas Online'' Retrieved 18 April 2017. usually known as Santa Ann ...
replaced him as governor with political outsider Mariano Martínez de Lejanza. In the growing threat of war with the United States, the national center sought to bring the frontier under tight control as it is there that any war would be fought. Most New Mexicans distrusted the central government by now but that soon turned to fury when, one year into his reign, Martinez sparked a needless war with a neighboring Indian tribe out of incompetence and naïveté. To prevent revolution, Martinez was swiftly removed and Armijo reinstated, but any confidence the central government still enjoyed was completely destroyed. The following year rumors arrived in New Mexico that the Mexican government was planning on selling the territory to the United States. There was so little trust in the central government by this point that instead of investigating these rumors (which were completely false) leading members of New Mexican society drafted a threat of secession to the government. This stated that if any such actions were taken then New Mexico would declare independence as '' La República Mexicana del Norte''. It was not until invading American troops reached New Mexico in August 1846 that they learned of war with the United States.


Texas

The Republic of Texas seceded from Mexico in 1836 and claimed but never controlled territory as far south and west as the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
. While most of the northwestern territory was then the
Comancheria The Comancheria or Comanchería (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ, 'Comanche land') was a region of New Mexico, west Texas and nearby areas occupied by the Comanche before the 1860s. Historian Pekka Hämäläinen has argued that the Comancheria ...
, it would have included Santa Fe and divided New Mexico. The only attempt to realize the claim was
Texian Texians were Anglo-American residents of Mexican Texas and, later, the Republic of Texas. Today, the term is used to identify early settlers of Texas, especially those who supported the Texas Revolution. Mexican settlers of that era are referr ...
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Mirabeau Lamar Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (August 16, 1798 – December 25, 1859) was an attorney born in Georgia, who became a Texas politician, poet, diplomat, and soldier. He was a leading Texas political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was elec ...
's
Santa Fe Expedition The Texan Santa Fe Expedition was a commercial and military expedition to secure the Republic of Texas's claims to parts of Northern New Mexico for Texas in 1841. The expedition was unofficially initiated by the then-President of Texas, Mirabeau B ...
, which failed spectacularly. The wagon train, supplied for a journey of about half the actual distance between Austin and Santa Fe, followed the wrong river, back-tracked, and arrived in New Mexico to find the Mexican governor restored and hostile. Surrendering peaceably upon a pledge to be allowed to return the way they came, the Texians found themselves bound at gunpoint and their execution put to a vote of the garrison. By one vote, they were spared and marched south to
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places * Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mu ...
and then
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
.


United States control


Mexican–American War

In 1846, during the Mexican–American War, American General
Stephen W. Kearny Stephen Watts Kearny (sometimes spelled Kearney) ( ) (August 30, 1794October 31, 1848) was one of the foremost antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significant contributions in the Mexican–American Wa ...
marched down the Santa Fe Trail and entered Santa Fe without opposition to establish a joint civil and military government. Kearny's invasion force consisted of his army of 300 cavalry soldiers of the
First Dragoons The 1st Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army regiment that has its antecedents in the early 19th century in the formation of the United States Regiment of Dragoons. To this day, the unit's special designation is "First Regiment of Dragoons ...
, about 1,600 Missouri volunteers in the First and Second Regiments of Fort Leavenworth, Missouri Mounted Cavalry, and the 500 man
Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July ...
. Kearny appointed Charles Bent, a Santa Fe trail trader living in Taos, as acting civil governor. He then divided his forces into four commands: one, under Colonel
Sterling Price Major-General Sterling "Old Pap" Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War. Prior to ...
, appointed military governor, was to occupy and maintain order in New Mexico with his approximately 800 troops; a second group under Colonel
Alexander William Doniphan Alexander William Doniphan (July 9, 1808 – August 8, 1887) was a 19th-century American attorney, soldier and politician from Missouri who is best known today as the man who prevented the summary execution of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church ...
, with a little over 800 troops was ordered to capture El Paso, in the state of
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places * Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mu ...
, Mexico and then join up with General Wool; the third, of about 300 dragoons mounted on mules, Kearny led under his command to California. The
Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July ...
, mostly marching on foot under Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke, was directed to follow Kearny with wagons to establish a new southern route to California. When Kearny encountered
Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...
, traveling East and bearing messages that California had already been subdued, he sent nearly 200 of his dragoons back to New Mexico. In California, about 400 soldiers of the
California Battalion The California Battalion (also called the first California Volunteer Militia and U.S. Mounted Rifles) was formed during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) in present-day California, United States. It was led by U.S. Army Brevet Lieutenant C ...
under
John C. Fremont John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
and another 400 soldiers under Commodore
Robert Stockton Robert Field Stockton (August 20, 1795 – October 7, 1866) was a United States Navy commodore, notable in the capture of California during the Mexican–American War. He was a naval innovator and an early advocate for a propeller-driven, steam-p ...
of the U.S. Navy and Marines had taken control of the approximately 7,000 Californios from
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
to
Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
. New Mexico territory, which then included present-day Arizona, was under undisputed United States control, but the exact boundary with Texas was uncertain. Texas initially claimed all land North of the Rio Grande; but later agreed to the present boundaries. Kearny protected citizens in the new US territories under a form of martial law called the Kearny Code; it was essentially Kearny and the U.S. Army's promise that the US would respect existing religious and legal claims, and maintain law and order. The Kearny Code became one of the bases of New Mexico's legal code during its territorial period, which was one of the longest in United States history. Many of the provisions remain substantially unchanged today. Kearny's arrival in New Mexico was almost without conflict; the governor surrendered without battle. The Mexican authorities took the money they could find and retreated south into Mexico. Nonetheless, the U.S. occupation was resented by the New Mexicans. Provisional governor
Charles Bent Charles Bent (November 11, 1799 – January 19, 1847) was an American businessman and politician who served as the first civilian United States governor of the New Mexico Territory, newly acquired by the Military Governor, Stephen Watts Kearny, ...
, a longtime resident of New Mexico, implored U.S. army officers to "respect the rights of the inhabitants" and predicted "serious consequences" if measures were not taken to prevent abuses. His warning was prophetic, as New Mexican and Pueblo Indian rebels were soon to begin the
Taos Revolt The Taos Revolt was a populist insurrection in January 1847 by Hispano and Pueblo allies against the United States' occupation of present-day northern New Mexico during the Mexican–American War. Provisional governor Charles Bent and severa ...
. On January 19, 1847, rebels attacked and killed acting Governor Bent and about ten other American officials. The wives of Bent and Kit Carson, however, managed to escape. Reacting quickly, a U.S. detachment under Colonel
Sterling Price Major-General Sterling "Old Pap" Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War. Prior to ...
marched on Taos and attacked. The rebels retreated to a thick-walled
adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...
church. U.S. forces breached a wall and directed concentrated cannon fire into the church. About 150 of the rebels were killed, and 400 captured, following close fighting. During one trial, six rebels were arraigned and tried, of whom five were convicted of murder and one of treason. All six were hanged in April, 1847. A young traveler and later author,
Lewis Hector Garrard Lewis Hector Garrard (15 June 1829 – 7 July 1887) was an American travel writer who wrote an enduring book, ''Wah-to-yah and the Taos Trail'', about his visit to the southwestern United States in 1846-1847. Background Garrard, christened Hector L ...
, wrote the only eyewitness account of this trial and hanging. He criticized, "It certainly did appear to be a great assumption on the part of the Americans to conquer a country, and then arraign the revolting inhabitants for treason ... Treason, indeed! What did the poor devil know about his new allegiance? But so it was; and, as the jail was overstocked with others awaiting trial, it was deemed expedient to hasten the execution ... I left the room, sick at heart. Justice! out upon the word, when its distorted meaning is the warrant for murdering those who defend to the last their country and their homes." Additional executions followed to total at least 28. Price fought three more engagements with the rebels, which included many Pueblo Indians, who wanted to push the Americans from the territory. By mid-February he had the revolt well under control. President James K. Polk promoted Price to a
brevet rank In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...
of Brigadier General for his service. Total fatalities amounted to more than 300 New Mexican native rebels and about 30 ''Anglos'', as non-Latino whites are commonly called in the southwest to this day.


Provisional government


Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, Mexico ceded much of its mostly unsettled northern holdings, today known as the
American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...
and
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, to the United States of America in exchange for an end to hostilities, and the American evacuation of Mexico City and many other areas under its control. Under this treaty, Mexico recognized Texas as a part of the United States. Mexico also received $15 million cash, plus the assumption of slightly more than $3 million in outstanding Mexican debts. New Mexico, the new name for the region between Texas and California, became a US territory. The Senate struck out Article X of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which said that vast land grants in New Mexico (nearly always gifts by the local authorities to their friends) would all be recognized. The treaty promised to protect the ownership rights of the heirs of the land grants. The decision to strike down Article X eventually led to court cases in which the US removed millions of acres of land, timber, and water from Mexican-issued land grants and placed them back in the public domain. But, Correia points out that the lands involved had typically never been occupied or controlled by the men who had the grants; most were in Indian-controlled areas. The residents could choose whether they remain and receive United States citizenship or remove to Mexico and retain (or gain) Mexican citizenship. All but 1,000 or so settlers—who were mostly Mexican government officials—chose American citizenship, which included full voting rights. Because at the time only white men could vote in most states, the Mexicans were considered white under the law. In later decades, as discrimination by whites increased in numerous areas in relation to growth in the number of Mexican immigrants, some states tried to classify Hispanics as black or colored, and thus exclude them from voting because of barriers to voter registration. These practices were challenged in the mid-20th century and resolved in a case that reached the US Supreme Court.(source?)


American Territory

The Congressional
Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–Am ...
halted a bid for statehood under a proposed antislavery constitution. Texas transferred eastern New Mexico to the federal government, settling a lengthy boundary dispute. Under the compromise, the American government established the
New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomin ...
on September 9, 1850. The territory, which included all of
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
and parts of
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
, officially established its capital at Santa Fe in 1851. The U.S. territorial New Mexico census of 1850 found 61,547 people living in all the territory of New Mexico. The people of New Mexico would determine whether to permit slavery under a proposed constitution at statehood, but the status of slavery during the territorial period provoked considerable debate. The granting of statehood was up to a Congress sharply divided on the slavery issue. Some (including Stephen A. Douglas) maintained that the territory could not restrict slavery, as under the earlier
Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a Slave states an ...
, while others (including
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
) insisted that older Mexican legal traditions, which forbade slavery, took precedence. Regardless of its official status, black slavery was rarely seen in New Mexico although Indian slavery was common. Statehood was finally granted to New Mexico on January 6, 1912. Navajo and Apache raids and plundering led
Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...
to abandon his intent to retire to a sheep ranch near
Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...
after the Mexican–American War. Carson accepted an 1853 appointment as U.S. Indian agent with a headquarters at Taos, and fought the Indians with notable success. The United States acquired the southwestern boot heel of the state and southern Arizona below the Gila river in the mostly desert
Gadsden Purchase The Gadsden Purchase ( es, region=MX, la Venta de La Mesilla "The Sale of La Mesilla") is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States acquired from Mexico by the Treaty of Mesilla, which took effe ...
of 1853. This purchase was desired when it was found that a much easier route for a proposed transcontinental railroad was located slightly south of the Gila river. This territory had not been explored or mapped when the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...
was negotiated in 1848. The ever-present Santa Anna was in power again in 1853 and needed the money from the Gadsden Purchase to fill his coffers and to pay the Mexican Army for that year. The Southern Pacific built the second transcontinental railroad though this purchased land in 1881. In the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
the Committee of Thirty-Three on January 14, 1861, reported that it had reached majority agreement on a
constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, ...
to protect slavery where it existed and the immediate admission of
New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomin ...
as a
slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...
. This latter proposal would result in a de facto extension of the
Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a Slave states an ...
line for all existing territories below the line. After the
Peace Conference of 1861 The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of 131 leading American politicians in February 1861, at the Willard's Hotel in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the American Civil War. The purpose of the conference was to avoid, if possible, the seces ...
, a bill for New Mexico statehood was tabled by a vote of 115 to 71 with opposition coming from both Southerners and Republicans.


Media

The first newspaper in New Mexico was ''El Crepusculo de la Libertad'' ("The Dawn of Liberty"), a Spanish-language paper founded in 1834 at Taos. The Santa Fe ''Republican'', founded in 1847, was the first English-language newspaper. By 2000 the state had 18 daily newspapers, 13 Sunday newspapers, and 25 weekly newspapers. Today's daily papers include the ''Albuquerque Journal'', the ''Santa Fe New Mexican'' (founded in 1849), the ''Las Cruces Sun-News'', the ''Roswell Record'', the ''Farmington Daily Times'', and the ''Deming Headlight''. The most widely broadcast radio station since its founding in 1922 has been
KKOB (AM) KKOB (770 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station, licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico and owned by Cumulus Media. Its news/talk format is branded as "96.3 Newsradio KKOB", reflecting a simulcast with co-owned KKOB-FM (96.3 FM. Studios and offic ...
in Albuquerque. With 50,000 watts of transmitter power on a clear channel it reaches audiences in most of New Mexico and parts of neighboring states. There are at least five television stations, based in Albuquerque, representing ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and Fox.


Civil War

During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
, Confederate troops from Texas commanded by Gen. Henry Sibley briefly occupied southern New Mexico in July 1861, pushing up the Rio Grande valley as far as Santa Fe by February 1862. Defeated in the
Battle of Glorieta Pass The Battle of Glorieta Pass (March 26–28, 1862) in the northern New Mexico Territory, was the decisive battle of the New Mexico campaign during the American Civil War. Dubbed the " Gettysburg of the West" by some authors (a term described ...
, they were forced to withdraw south. Union troops from California under Gen.
James Carleton James Henry Carleton (December 27, 1814 – January 7, 1873) was an officer in the US Army and a Union general during the American Civil War. Carleton is best known as an Indian fighter in the Southwestern United States. Biography Carleton was ...
re-captured the territory in August 1862. As Union troops were withdrawn to fight elsewhere,
Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...
helped to organize and command the 1st New Mexican Volunteers to engage in campaigns against the
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...
,
Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest fe ...
, and
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in ...
in New Mexico and Texas as well as participating in the Battle of Valverde against the Confederates. Confederate troops withdrew after the
Battle of Glorieta Pass The Battle of Glorieta Pass (March 26–28, 1862) in the northern New Mexico Territory, was the decisive battle of the New Mexico campaign during the American Civil War. Dubbed the " Gettysburg of the West" by some authors (a term described ...
where Union regulars, Colorado Volunteers (The Pikes Peakers), and New Mexican Volunteers defeated them. The
Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state o ...
was split off as a separate territory in 1863. After the Civil War, Congress passed the
Peonage Act of 1867 The Peonage Abolition Act of 1867 was an Act passed by the U.S. Congress on March 2, 1867, that abolished peonage in the New Mexico Territory and elsewhere in the United States. Designed to help enforce the Thirteenth Amendment, the Act declare ...
, aiming to abolish the historical system of peonage that had existed in New Mexico.


Indians

Centuries of continued conflict with the
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...
and the
Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest fe ...
continued to plague New Mexico. In 1864, the U.S. Army trapped and captured the main Navajo forces, forcing them onto a small reservation in eastern New Mexico in what is called the
Long Walk of the Navajo The Long Walk of the Navajo, also called the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo ( nv, Hwéeldi), was the 1864 deportation and attempted ethnic cleansing of the Navajo people by the United States federal government. Navajos were forced to walk from t ...
, also called the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo. This put an end to their livestock raids on New Mexican farms, ranches, and Indian pueblos. After several years of severe hardships, during which many Navajos died, they were allowed in 1868 to return to most of their lands. Sporadic Apache small-scale raiding continued until Apache chief
Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache b ...
finally was captured and imprisoned in 1886. After the Civil War, the Army set up a chain of forts to protect the people and the caravans of commerce. Most tribes were relocated on reservations near the forts, where they were given food and supplies by the federal government. Often supplies and annuities were late, or food spoiled.


The new legal system and the legal profession

In the first half of the 19th century, Mexico set up a judicial system for its northernmost districts, in present-day New Mexico and California. There were no professionally trained lawyers or judges. Instead, there were numerous low-ranking legal roles such as ''notario, escribano, asesor, auditor de Querra, justicia mayor, procurador,'' and ''juez receptor.'' With the annexation by the United States in 1848, Congress set up an entirely new territorial legal systems, one that used the English language and American laws, forms, and procedures. Practically all the lawyers and judges were new arrivals from the United States, as there was no place in the new system for the old Hispanic roles.
Elfego Baca Elfego Baca (February 10, 1865 – August 27, 1945) was a gunman, lawman, lawyer, and politician in New Mexico; during the later years of the New Mexico Territory frontier he became an American folk hero. His goal in life was to be a peace offi ...
(1865 – 1945) was an outlaw-turned-lawman, lawyer, and politician in New Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1888, after serving as a County Sheriff, Baca became a U.S. Marshal. He served for two years and then began studying law. In December 1894, he was admitted to the bar and practice law in New Mexico until 1904. he held numerous local political offices, and when New Mexico became a state in 1912, he was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Congress. In the late 1950s, Walt Disney turned Baca into the first Hispanic popular culture hero in the United States, on 10 television shows, in six comic books, in a feature film, and in related merchandising. However, Disney deliberately avoided ethnic tension by presenting Baca as a generalized Western hero, portraying a standard hero similar to
Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of ...
, in Hispanic dress.


Las Gorras Blancas

After the Mexican–American War, Anglo Americans began migrating in large numbers to all of the newly acquired territory. Anglos began taking lands from both Native Americans and Nuevomexicanos by different means, most notably by
squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
. Squatters often then sold these lands to land speculators for huge profits, especially after the passage of the 1862
Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of t ...
encouraging development in the West. Nuevomexicanos demanded the return of their lands, but the governments did not respond favorably. For example, the Surveyor of General Claims Office on
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
would at times take up to fifty years to process a claim, meanwhile, the lands were being grabbed up by the newcomers. The first Surveyor General, William Pelham, had two translators assisting him: David Miller and David Whiting. But these two men seemingly did not cut into the fifty years needed to translate. While the Santa Fe, Atchison, and
Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Uni ...
railroad was built in the 1890s, speculators known as the
Santa Fe Ring The Santa Fe Ring was a group of powerful attorneys and land speculators in the United States during the late 19th century and into the early 20th century. It amassed a fortune through political corruption and fraudulent land deals. Many prominen ...
, orchestrated schemes to dislodge natives from their lands. In response, Nuevomexicanos gathered to reclaim lands taken by
Anglos Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...
. Hoping to scare off the new immigrants, they eventually used
intimidation Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...
and
raid Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...
s to accomplish their goals. They sought to develop a class-based consciousness among local people through the everyday tactics of resistance to the economic and social order confronting common property land grant communities. They called themselves
Las Gorras Blancas Las Gorras Blancas (Spanish for "The White Caps") was a group active in the New Mexico Territory and American Southwest in the late 1880s and early 1890s, in response to Anglo-American squatters. Founded in April 1889 by brothers Juan Jose, Pablo ...
, a name referring to the
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
head covering Headgear, headwear, or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, ...
s many wore.


Gilded Age

In 1851 the Vatican appointed Jean-Baptiste Lamy (1814–1888), a French cleric, as bishop of the diocese of Santa Fe. There were only nine priests at first; Lamy brought in many more. In 1875 it was upgraded to the status of archdiocese, with supervision over Catholic affairs in New Mexico and Arizona. Lamy had St. Francis Cathedral built in a French style; the work was conducted between 1869 and 1886. To provide the forts and reservations with food, the federal government contracted for thousands of head of cattle, and Texas cattlemen began entering New Mexico with their herds. Rancher Charles Goodnight blazed the first cattle trail through New Mexico in 1866, extending from the Pecos River northward into Colorado and Wyoming. Over it more than 250,000 head of cattle trailed to market.
John Chisum John Simpson Chisum (August 16, 1824 – December 23, 1884) was a wealthy cattle baron in the American West in the mid-to-late 19th century. He was born in Hardeman County, Tennessee, and moved with his family to the Republic of Texas in 1837, ...
also brought his herds up the Pecos. As employer of the desperado
Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...
, he figured prominently in the
Lincoln County War The Lincoln County War was an Old West conflict between rival factions which began in 1878 in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, the predecessor of the state of New Mexico, and continued until 1881. The feud became famous because of the ...
of 1878–1880. This was one of the many struggles between cattle herders and territorial officials, among rival cattle barons, and between sheep ranchers and cattle ranchers during this period. The Butterfield Trail, the longest of the cattle trails, had its first important stop in New Mexico at Fort Fillmore. It began operations in 1858 and was superseded by railroad operations in 1881. The
Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...
reached New Mexico in 1878, with the first locomotive crossing Raton Pass that December. It reached
Lamy, New Mexico Lamy is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States, south of the city of Santa Fe. The community was named for Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, and lies within the ''Bishop John Lamy Spanish Land Grant'', which ...
, 16 miles (26 km) from Santa Fe in 1879 and Santa Fe itself in 1880, and Deming in 1881, thereby replacing the storied
Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, ...
as a way to ship cattle to market. The new town of Albuquerque, platted in 1880 as the Santa Fe Railroad extended westward, quickly enveloped the old town. The rival Southern Pacific was completed between the Rio Grande valley and the Arizona border in 1881. From 1880 to 1910 the territory grew rapidly. With the coming of the railroad, many homesteaders moved to New Mexico. In 1886 the New Mexico Education Association of school teachers was organized; in 1889 small state colleges were established at Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and Socorro; and in 1891 the first effective public school law was passed. An irrigation project in the Pecos River valley in 1889 marked the first of many such projects to irrigate farms in the dry state. Discovery of artesian waters at Roswell in 1890 gave both farming and mining a boost. The power of the cattle barons faded as much land was fenced in at the expense of the open range. The cattle ranchers and sheep ranchers also learned to tolerate one other, and both the cattle and sheep industries expanded. Mining became even more important, especially gold and silver. Coal mining developed during the 1890s, primarily to supply the railroads, and oil was discovered in Eddy County in 1909. The population of New Mexico reached 195,000 in 1910. Conflicting land claims led to bitter quarrels among the original and Spanish inhabitants, cattle ranchers, and newer homesteaders. Despite destructive overgrazing, ranching survived as a mainstay of the New Mexican economy.


Statehood

On January 6, 1912, after years of debate on whether the population of New Mexico was fully assimilated into American culture, or too immersed in corruption, President
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
twisted arms in Congress and it approved admission of New Mexico as the 47th state of the Union. The admission of neighboring Arizona on February 14, 1912, completed the contiguous 48 states. Thousands of Mexicans fled north during the extremely bloody civil war that broke out in Mexico in 1911. In 1916 Mexican military leader
Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...
led an invasion across the border into
Columbus, New Mexico Columbus is a village in Luna County, New Mexico, United States, about north of the Mexican border. It is considered a place of historical interest, as the scene of a 1916 attack by Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa that cau ...
, where they burned some homes and killed several Americans. New Mexico contributed some 17,000 soldiers to the armed services during World War I. Thousands more from the state fought for the Allies during World War II.


Artists and writers

When the mainline of the railroad bypassed Santa Fe, the city lost businesses and population. In the 20th century, American and British artists and writers, and retirees were attracted to the cultural richness of the area, the beauty of the landscapes, and dry warm climate. Local leaders took the opportunity to promote the city's heritage making it a tourist attraction. The city sponsored bold architectural restoration projects and erected new buildings according to traditional techniques and styles, thus creating the "Santa Fe style." Edgar L. Hewett, founder and first director of the School of American Research and the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe, was a leading promoter. He began the Santa Fe Fiesta in 1919 and the Southwest Indian Fair in 1922 (now known as the Indian Market). When he tried to attract a summer program for Texas women, many artists rebelled saying the city should not promote artificial tourism at the expense of its artistic culture. The writers and artists formed the Old Santa Fe Association and defeated the plan. The old "mud city" - which short-sighted modernizers laughed at for its adobe houses - was transformed into a city proud of its peculiarities and its blend of tradition and modernity.


Nuevomexicanos

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Anglos tried to regulate the Hispanics living in New Mexico to second-class social status, due to xenophobia and prejudice. Some of these Anglos were ethnocentric, deprecating Hispanic/Mexican culture and disputing the rights of the original inhabitants. Richard Nostrand claims that this treatment caused the Hispanics to construct a "Spanish American" identity in response to show allegiance to the US, in an early instance of expressing being American through ethnic identity, to avoid being labeled as "Mexican", and to distinguish themselves from recent Mexican immigrants.
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
gave the Hispanics the opportunity to demonstrate American citizenship by participating in the war effort. Like the "new immigrants" in northeastern cities, who also constructed dual identities, members of the Nuevomexicano middle class exuberantly participated in the war effort. They melded images of their heritage with patriotic symbols of America, especially in the Spanish-language press. Nuevomexicano politicians and community leaders recruited the rural masses into the war cause overseas and on the home front, including the struggle for woman suffrage. Support from New Mexico's Anglo establishment aided their efforts. Their wartime contributions improved the conditions of minority citizenship for Nuevomexicanos but did not eliminate social inequality. For example, no Hispanics —not even the son of a politician— were allowed to be a member of a fraternity at the state university. The Anglos and Hispanics cooperated because both prosperous and poor Hispanics could vote and they outnumbered the Anglos. Around 1920, the term "Spanish-American" replaced "Mexican" in polite society and in political debate. The new term served both the interests of both groups. For Spanish speakers, it evoked Spain, not Mexico, recalling images of a romantic colonial past and suggesting a future of equality in Anglo-dominated America. For Anglos, on the other hand, it was a useful term that upgraded the state's image, for the old image as a "Mexican" land suggested the violence and disorder associated with that country's civil war in the early 20th century. This had discouraged capital investment and set back the statehood campaign. The new term gave the impression that "Spanish Americans" belonged to a true "American" political culture, making the established order appear all the more democratic.


New arrivals

In the 20th century immigrants and migrants brought new skills, outlooks and values, modernizing the highly traditional culture of the state. They included Midwestern farmers who tried to cultivate humid-area crops to the desert climate, Texas oilmen,
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...
patients who sought healing in the dry air (before an appropriate antibiotic was discovered), artists who made Taos a national cultural center,
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...
ers who sought to modernize the state as fast as possible and improve infrastructure, soldiers and airmen from all over who came for training at the many military bases, noted scientists who came to Los Alamos to build a super weapon, and stayed on, and retirees from colder climes. They brought money and new ideas. The state residents gradually adopted more of a standard national culture, losing some of its unique qualities. The building for the State Supreme Court was constructed during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
as a WPA project, completed in 1937. It's an example of the numerous projects which the Democratic administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt collaborated on with states in order to improve infrastructure, invest in facilities, and put people to work. Prior to that project, the Supreme Court met in the basement of the state capitol.


Women's suffrage

The suffrage movement in the state worked hard to get women the vote but were stymied by the conservatism of politicians and the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. New Mexico's legislature was one of the last in 1920 to ratify the
19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...
. After it passed, there was quickly a dramatic increase in political participation by both Anglo and Hispanic women, as well as strong mobilization efforts by the major parties to gain the support of the female voters.


World War II

New Mexico proportionately suffered the loss of more servicemen than any other state in the nation. The state led in the national war bond drive and had fifty federal installations, including glider and bombardier training schools. The state rapidly modernized during the war, as 65,000 young men (and 700 young women) joined the services, where they received a wide range of technical training and saw the outside world, many for the first time. Federal spending brought wartime prosperity, along with high wages, jobs for everyone, rationing and shortages. Federal facilities have continued to be major contributors to the state's economy in the postwar years. The top secret remote Los Alamos Research Center was developed in the mountains of New Mexico as a research facility, opening in 1943 for the purpose of developing the world's first
atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
. Teams of scientists and engineers were recruited to work on this project. The first test at Trinity Site in the desert of the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, now known as
White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established as the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945. White Sands National P ...
, 28 miles southeast of
San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...
, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, ushered in the atomic age. New Mexico had become a center of world-class science. High-altitude balloon experiments from
Holloman Air Force Base Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base established in 1942 located six miles (10 km) southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, and a census-designated place in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. Th ...
caused debris found near
Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in, and the seat of, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the Roswell micropolitan area. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 48,422, making it the fifth-largest city ...
( The Roswell Incident) in 1947. This reputedly led to the persistent (but unproven) claims by a few individuals that the government had captured and concealed extraterrestrial corpses and equipment. Albuquerque expanded rapidly after the war. The state quickly emerged as a leader in nuclear, solar, and geothermal energy research and development. The
Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Bas ...
, founded in 1949, carried out nuclear research and special weapons development at
Kirtland Air Force Base Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Ro ...
south of Albuquerque and at
Livermore, California Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californi ...
.


Environmentalism

Since the late 19th century, New Mexico and other arid Western states have sought to assert sovereign control over water allocation policies within their boundaries. In the 1990s the legislature debated H.R. 128, the proposed State Water Sovereignty Protection Act. Since the passage of the Newlands Act in 1902, Western states have benefited from federal water projects. In spite of these projects, water allocation remained a politically charged issue throughout the 20th century. Most states have sought to limit federal control over water distribution, preferring instead to allocate water under the discredited doctrine of prior appropriation. As a state dependent on both smokestack industry and scenic tourism, New Mexico was at the center of the debates over clean air legislation, particularly the Clean Air Act of 1967 and its amendments in 1970 and 1977. The
Kennecott Copper Corporation Kennicott or Kennecott may refer to: * Kennecott, Alaska, an abandoned mining camp, United States * Benjamin Kennicott (1718-1783), English churchman and Hebrew scholar * Robert Kennicott (1835-1866), American naturalist and pioneer Alaska explorer ...
, which operated a large smelter at
Hurley, New Mexico Hurley is a town in Grant County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,297 at the 2010 census, down from 1,464 in 2000. Geography Hurley is located in east-central Grant County at (32.699594, -108.128629). U.S. Route 180 passes thro ...
, generating as a byproduct thick clouds of air pollution, led the opposition to the environmentalists, represented by the New Mexico Citizens for Clean Air and Water. Eventually the company was forced to comply with fairly strict federal standards. They often delayed the compliance process for years by threatening economic repercussions, such as plant closings and unemployment, if forced to comply with standards. Christopher J. Huggard, "Mining and the Environment: The Clean Air Issue in New Mexico, 1960–1980," ''New Mexico Historical Review'', Fall 1994, Vol. 69 Issue 4, pp 369-388


See also

*
Governor of New Mexico , insignia = Seal of the Governor of New Mexico.svg , insigniasize = 110px , insigniacaption = Seal of the Governor , image = File:Michelle Lujan Grisham 2021.jpg , imagesize = 200px , alt = , incumbent = Michelle Lujan Grisham , inc ...
** List of governors of New Mexico **
List of Mexican governors of New Mexico Mexican governors of New Mexico were the political chief executives of the province and later territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México (New Mexico) between 1822, when Mexico gained independence from Spain, and 1846, when the United States occupied ...
**
List of Spanish governors of New Mexico Spanish Governors of New Mexico were the political chief executives of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México (New Mexico) between 1598, when it was established by an expedition by Juan de Oñate, and 1822, following Mexico's declaration of in ...
*History of New Mexico ** History of slavery in New Mexico **
List of counties in New Mexico There are 33 counties in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The New Mexico Territory was organized in September 1850. The first nine counties in the territory to be created, in 1852, were Bernalillo, Doña Ana, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Santa Ana, ...
**
List of ghost towns in New Mexico This is a partial list of ghost towns in New Mexico in the United States of America. Conditions Ghost towns can include sites in various states of disrepair and abandonment. Some sites no longer have any trace of buildings or civilization and ...
**
List of municipalities in New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the Western United States. According to the 2020 United States Census, New Mexico is the 15th least-populous state with inhabitants but the 5th-largest by land area, spanning . New Mexico is divided into 33 ...
* Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest *
Southwestern archaeology Southwestern archaeology is a branch of archaeology concerned with the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. This region was first occupied by hunter-gatherers, and thousands of years later by advanced civilizations, such as the Ances ...
* Territorial evolution of New Mexico **
Santa Fe de Nuevo México Santa Fe de Nuevo México ( en, Holy Faith of New Mexico; shortened as Nuevo México or Nuevo Méjico, and translated as New Mexico in English) was a Kingdom of the Spanish Empire and New Spain, and later a territory (geographic region), territ ...
** U.S. provisional government of New Mexico **
Territory of New Mexico The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomin ...
**
State of New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
* Timeline of New Mexico history **
Timeline of Albuquerque, New Mexico The following is a timeline of the Albuquerque, New Mexico#History, history of the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, US. History as a town * 1706 – Old Town Albuquerque, Town founded as a trading post between the Tiw ...


References


Further reading


Surveys

* Bancroft, Hubert Howe. ''The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Vol. XVII. (History of Arizona and New Mexico 1530–1888)'' (1889); reprint 1962
online edition
* Beck, Warren and Haase, Ynez. ''Historical Atlas of New Mexico'' 1969. * Beck, Warren. ''New Mexico: A History of Four Centuries'' (1962), standard survey * Bullis, Don, ''New Mexico: A Biographical Dictionary, 1540–1980'', 2 vol, (Los Ranchos de Albuquerque: Rio Grande, 2008) 393 pp.  * Chavez, Thomas E. ''An Illustrated History of New Mexico'', 267 pages, University of New Mexico Press 2002, * DeMark, Judy, ed. ''Essays in 20th Century New Mexico History'' (1994) *Etulain, Richard W., ed. ''New Mexican Lives: Profiles and Historical Stories'' (2002) * Sanchez, Joseph P. Robert L. Spude and Arthur R. Gomez. ''New Mexico: A History'' (U of Oklahoma Press, 2013) 384pp *Simmons, Marc. ''New Mexico: An Interpretive History'', 221 pages, University of New Mexico Press 1988, , short introduction * Szasz, Ferenc M. ''Larger Than Life: New Mexico in the Twentieth'' (2nd ed. 2006). * Weber, David J. “The Spanish Borderlands, Historiography Redux.” ''The History Teacher'', 39#1 (2005), pp. 43–56.
online
* Weigle, Marta, ed. ''Telling New Mexico: A New History'' (2009) 483 . wide range of readings
online review


Special studies

* Bronstein, Jamie L. "'Selling Sunshine': Land Development and Politics in Postwar Southern New Mexico." ''New Mexico Historical Review'' 85.3 (2010). * Brown, Tracy L. ''Pueblo Indians and Spanish Colonial Authority in Eighteenth Century New Mexico''. University of Arizona Press, 2013. * Carleton, William R. ''Fruit, Fiber, and Fire: A History of Modern Agriculture in New Mexico'' (U of Nebraska Press, 2021). * Carlson, Alvar Ward. "New Mexico's Sheep Industry: 1850–1900, Its Role in the History of the Territory." ''New Mexico Historical Review'' 44.1 (1969)
online
* Carnett, Daniel R. ''Contending for the Faith: Southern Baptists in New Mexico.'' (2002) 230pp. * Getz; Lynne Marie ''Schools of Their Own: The Education of Hispanos in New Mexico, 1850–1940'' (1997
online edition
* Erlinda Gonzales-Berry, David R. Maciel, editors, ''The Contested Homeland: A Chicano History of New Mexico'', 314 pages – University of New Mexico Press 2000, * Forrest, Suzanne. ''The Preservation of the Village: New Mexico's Hispanics and the New Deal'' (1998
online edition
* González; Nancie L. ''The Spanish-Americans of New Mexico: A Heritage of Pride'' (1969
online edition
* González, Deena J. ''Refusing the Favor: The Spanish-Mexican Women of Santa Fe, 1820–1880'' (1999
online edition
* Gutiérrez; Ramón A. ''When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality, and Power in New Mexico, 1500–1846'' (1991
online edition
* Hain; F. Paul L. Chris Garcia, Gilbert K. St. Clair; ''New Mexico Government'' 3rd ed. (1994
online edition
* Holtby, David V. "Historical Reflections on New Mexico Statehood: New Mexico's Economy; A Case Study of Mining to 1940," ''New Mexico Historical Review'', (Winter 2013), 88#1 pp 65–94. * Holtby, David V. ''Forty-Seventh Star: New Mexico's Struggle for Statehood'' (2013

*
Tony Hillerman Anthony Grove Hillerman (May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008) was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his work ...
, ''The Great Taos Bank Robbery and other Indian Country Affairs'', University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1973, trade paperback, 147 pages, (), stories * Holmes, Jack E. ''Politics in New Mexico'' (1967) * Holtby, David V. ''Forty-Seventh Star: New Mexico's Struggle for Statehood'' (U. of Oklahoma Press; 2012) 362 pages; examines the struggle for statehood in the context of wider politics from 1848 to 1912. *
Paul Horgan Paul George Vincent O'Shaughnessy Horgan (August 1, 1903 – March 8, 1995) was an American writer of historical fiction and non-fiction who mainly wrote about the Southwestern United States. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes for Histo ...
, ''Great River, The Rio Grande in North American History'', 1038 pages, Wesleyan University Press 1991, 4th Reprint, , Pulitzer Prize 1955 * Hornung, Chuck. ''Cipriano Baca, Frontier Lawman of New Mexico'' (McFarland, 2013) 285 pp. * Kern, Robert W. ''Labor in New Mexico: Strikes, Unions, and Social History, 1881–1981'', University of New Mexico Press 1983, * Lamar; Howard R. ''The Far Southwest, 1846–1912: A Territorial History'' (1966, repr 2000) * Larson, Robert W. ''New Mexico's Quest for Statehood, 1846–1912'' (1968) * Nieto-Phillips, John M. ''The Language of Blood: The Making of Spanish-American Identity in New Mexico, 1880s–1930s'', University of New Mexico Press 2004, * Pickens, William. "The New Deal in New Mexico," in John Braeman et al. eds. ''The New Deal: Volume Two - the State and Local Levels'' (1975) pp 311–54 * Resendez, Andres. ''Changing National Identities at the Frontier: Texas and New Mexico, 1800–1850'' (2005) 309pp * Sánchez; George I. ''Forgotten People: A Study of New Mexicans'' (1940; reprint 1996) * Szasz, Ferenc M.; and Richard W. Etulain; ''Religion in Modern New Mexico'' (1997
online edition
* Trujillo, Michael L. ''Land of Disenchantment: Latina/o Identities and Transformations in Northern New Mexico'' (2010) 265 pages; An experimental ethnography that contrasts life in the Espanola Valley with the state's commercial image as the "land of enchantment." * Weber, David J. ''The Mexican Frontier, 1821–1846: The American Southwest under Mexico'' (1982
online edition
* Scott, David Settin

2013. primary sources (2013)


Primary sources

* Andrews, Martha Shipman and Richard A. Melzer, eds. ''The Whole Damned World: New Mexico Aggies at War, 1941–1945; World War II Correspondence of Dean Daniel B. Jett'' (2008) * Ellis, Richard, ed. ''New Mexico Past and Present: A Historical Reader.'' 1971.

* Weber, David J. ''Foreigners in Their Native Land: Historical Roots of the Mexican Americans'' (1973), primary sources to 1912 {{DEFAULTSORT:History Of New Mexico
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
History of the Rocky Mountains