CROSS OF THE MARTYRS
Photos
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United States, a successful blend of three cultures and yet a modern city of over 50,000 residents. The Commemorative Walkway Park, constructed in 1986 in the 600 block of Paseo de Peralta, provides a historical walk through Santa Fe from 500 A.D. to the present. It offers a unique and panoramic view of the city and commemorates those people and historical events which helped form Santa Fe's long and colorful history. Many of the city's landmarks can be identified from the walkway. Twenty markers, in chronological sequence, briefly summarize some of the major events in Santa Fe's history.
April 2000
Along the Walkway
500 A.D.: From 500 A.D. onward, New Mexico underwent a number of comparatively rapid changes. The people throughout the western two-thirds of the state became increasingly restricted to smaller and areas resulting in the development of many regional differences in architecture, ceramics and other crafts. Between 1100 and 1400 A.D., vast areas of New Mexico were abandoned for reasons that are still poorly under understood.
Along the Walkway
1598: The Viceroy of New Spain appointed Juan De Oņate as New Mexico's first Governor and directed him to settle the area along the upper Rio Grande, accompanied by 200 settlers and over 7,000 head of livestock, Oņate arrived in New Mexico and established his headquarters at San Juan Bautista, and months later moved to San Gariel at the confluence of the Chama and Rio Grande.
Along the Walkway
1610: New Mexico's third Governor, Pedro de Peralta, was instructed to relocate the capital to a more central location. He founded the Villa de Santa Fe, or Town of Holy Faith. The villa was named for a city in Spain built by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel, Santa Fe, Granada, which is now a sister. Established in 1610 Santa Fe is the oldest capital city city in the United States.
1680: In the seventeenth century, New Mexico was plagued by drought conflicts between civil and church authorities, and extreme demands placed by the Spanish settlers on the native population. The latter situation caused a deterioration so severe that by 1680, the Pueblo Indians under the leadership of Popé and others, revolted against the Spanish and succeeded in driving them completely out of New Mexico. During this revolt, twenty-one Franciscan priests and Friars lost their lives. The monument on this hill commemorates their martyrdom.
1692: Under the direction of Don Diego de Vargas, the Spanish returned to recapture New Mexico after twelve years of exile in El Paso. In an attempt to encourage settlement of the land in the Rio Grande Valley, Don Diego de Vargas issued land grants for agriculture and grazing to Spanish colonists, and reconfirmed the property rights of the Pueblos.
Overlooking Santa Fe from the Monument
1712: In order to fulfill a promise that Don Diego de Vargas made, the government leaders of Santa Fe issued a proclamation calling for an annual fiesta to commemorate the peaceful reentry of the Spanish into Santa Fe in 1692. This annual celebration, held in September is the oldest such celebration in the United States.
1776: When the Declaration of Independence was signed, Santa Fe was already 100 years old. English and American explorers and traders replaced the French as a source of concern to Spanish officials in New Mexico. The successful American War of Independence led to renewed Anglo-American interest in the Spanish southwest, and the series of expeditions sponsored by the new nation triggered alarm in the Spanish capital at Santa Fe. The Dominguez Escalante expedition also took place during this year.
Another view of Santa Fe from the Monument
1821: When Mexico declared its independence from Spain in this year, New Mexico was no longer under Spanish protection and was opened for international trade. Merchants set out from the east following the recently developed Santa Fe trail.
1848: In May of 1846, U.S. President James K. Polk ordered the invasion of Mexico by U.S. troops, thus beginning the Mexican War. Three months later, General Stephen Watts Kearney led a victorious U.S. Army unopposed across northern New Mexico and into Santa Fe. Kearney's conquest was formalized by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, under which the U.S. paid 15 million dollars for New Mexico, Arizona and California. New Mexico became a territory of the U.S. in 1850.
Overlooking Santa Fe from the Monument
1862: Shortly after the Civil War began, the Confederacy turned its attention to the southwest, and in February 1862, three thousand three hundred troops under the command of Confederate General Sibley, defeated the Union troops at Velarde, raised the Confederate flag, and occupied Santa Fe. The Confederates were defeated two weeks later in the Battle of Glorieta Pass.
1876: While the nation was celebrating its centennial, Santa Fe was into its 266th year. Although the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo guaranteed the property rights of Hispanics and Indians, problems in the interpretation of Spanish and Mexican land laws worked to the disadvantage of these landholders. Many of their claims continued to appear in the courts into the 1980's.
The Santa Fe Mountains from the Monument
1912: In 1906, Congress passed an act that would enable New Mexico and Arizona to become one large state. The residents in Arizona voted against the act, while New Mexicans voted for it. It was not until 1912 that the opposing forces were reconciled and New Mexico was admitted to the union as the 47th state. At that time, it had a population of 330,000. Shortly afterwards the discovery of oil and gas, together with increasing tourism, opened the state for rapid expansion.
1926: Every year since 1926, when Will Shuster and Jacques Cartier created the image, Santa Fe and friends have been able to release their ties to depression, gloom and uncertainty by burning a symbol of these misfortunes...Zozobra! The burning of the 40 foot monster marks the beginning of the Fiesta de Santa Fe and since 1963, the downtown Kiwanis club has been responsible for the creation, construction and staging of the temporary death of Old Man Gloom.
Walkway continues past Monument
1945: During World War II, the federal government set up a secret facility in Los Alamos to coordinate the Manhattan Project, resulting in the development of the first atomic bomb, on July 16, 1945. The atomic bomb exploded at "Trinity Site" near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Shortly afterwards, two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan and the Japanese surrendered.
1960: Santa Fe celebrated its 350th anniversary. During that year, special guests Maria Teresa Perez-Balsera and Maria Luisa Benez-Balsera arrived from Spain. The two ladies are direct descendants of Capitan-General Don Diego de Vargas, the central figure of the resettlement of New Mexico in 1692. On June 26, 1960, His Excellency Egidio Vagnozzi, the Papal Legate, crowned La Conquistadora, reputedly the oldest Marian image in the U.S. La Conquistadora, or our Lady of the Conquest, arrived in New Mexico in 1625.
Walkway continuing past Monument (notice couple near tree having picnic in open area past end of walkway)
1976: Santa Fe, now 366 years old, joined the rest of the United States in celebrating the nation's 200th birthday. New Mexico and the entire southwest continued to see tremendous expansion and population growth with the influx of migration from the east. Our state was now ranked 4th among the states in the production of natural gas and 7th in the production of crude oil.
1982: While responding to a request to give the Last Rites to a dying man, Franciscan Father Reynaldo Rivera, Rector at St. Francis Cathedral, was kidnapped and brutally murdered, sending Santa Fe and the entire state into shock. Ironically, Father Rivera was laid to rest on August 10th, the same date that the 21 Franciscan Priests and Friars lost their lives in the Pueblo revolt of 1680.
The Santa Fe Mountains from the Walkway
1985: By proclamation of the City Council, Santa Fe celebrated its 375th anniversay. During the year, this property was donated to the city by Archbishop Robert Sanchez and the Santa Fe Fiesta Council. These gifts, together with approprations by the city and the people, made this commemorative walkway a reality.
Return to Santa Fe Attractions page, New Mexico Photos home page or New Mexico page.
When you call a business, please tell them you saw their ad in the New Mexico Entertainment web site.