Fact Sheet

THE TAOS TIMELINE:
Wide Open Spaces and Historical Places

Some 6,000 years ago, nomadic hunter-gatherers passed through the Taos area, leaving behind arrowheads, pot shards, and pictographs. In the early 20th Century, Doc Martin, Taos’ beloved country doctor said: “God’s in charge of everything that happens in Taos!” As you visit our community, you’ll see that Taos is a place where history is honored and continues to be made every day.

900 – Settlements throughout the Taos valley. Some ruins can be seen today south of Abiquiu.
1000 – Present villages of Taos Pueblo and Picuris Pueblo were inhabited by this date.
1500s – Some rooms at Taos Pueblo set aside for visiting Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche traders.
1540 – Captain Alvarado leads the first European explorers, the Coronado Expedition into the area.
1598 – Don Juan de Onate comes as official colonizer of Spain’s province, Nuevo Mexico, and assigns Fray Francisco de Zamora to serve Taos and Picuris Pueblo.
1613-1690s – Numerous Spaniards have settled in Taos Valley and more than 50 missions constructed throughout New Mexico.
1680 – The Pueblo Revolt initiated at Taos, when growing conflicts escalated and all Spaniards were either killed or driven from the province. The uprising was more successful on the North American continent, and it was 13 years before the Spanish returned.
1692 – Diego de Vargas once again conquers New Mexico for Spain, and in 1693 begins resettlement of the province.
1696 – Second Taos revolt; de Vargas puts down the rebellion. Population of the area grows. Acequias (irrigation ditches) are built; some remain in operation today.
1725 – Ranchos de Taos (originally Las Trampas de Taos) becomes a permanent Spanish settlement.
1739 – The first French traders, led by the Mallete brothers, attend the Taos Fair. Such trade fairs were considered important; leaders of the annual caravan to Chihuahua, Mexico planned its schedule so as not to miss the Taos Fair.
1760 – Chronic attacks by the Plains Indians lead to a decline in population of the Valley. Spanish settlers sometimes moved into Taos Pueblo for protection from the raiders.
1779 – Colonel del Anza passes through Taos on his return from Colorado, where he decisively defeated Comanches led by Cuerno Verde. De Anza named the Sangre de Cristo Pass as well as the road between Taos and Santa Fe, designating it part of El Camino Real.
1796-97 – Land given to 63 Spanish families as the Don Fernando de Taos Land Grant.
1804 – Severino Martin (later Martinez) builds La Hacienda de los Martinez, which still exists as a museum. It becomes an important trade center and the headquarters of an extensive ranching operation. Martinez’s eldest son is Padre Antonio Martinez, who fought Bishop Lamy in an attempt to preserve the Hispanic character of the Catholic Church. He also created the first coeducational school in New Mexico (1833), brought the first printing press to Taos (1834), and founded El Crepusculo, a weekly newspaper (1835).
1800s – By the early part of the century, Taos had become the headquarters for a number of mountain men who trapped beaver nearby. In 1826, Christopher “Kit” Carson (1809-1869) moved to Taos. A soft-spoken man with a gift for languages, he bought the house (built in 1825), which is now the Kit Carson Museum, as a wedding present for his bride, Maria Josefa Jaramillo. They lived in it until their deaths in 1886.
1815 – The mission church, San Francisco de Asis at Ranchos de Taos, begun in 1772, is finished.
1821-1846 – Numerous land grants by Mexico lead to additional settlement.
1846-1848 – Mexican-American War. General Stephen Kearney and his troops occupy the province.


1847 – U.S. takes possession of New Mexico. Some former Mexican citizens and Taos Natives rebel, killing the first territorial governor, Charles Bent, in his Taos home. U.S. Army retaliates against the Pueblo, killing more than 150 people and destroying the original San Geronimo Mission.
1848 – Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the Mexican-American War.
1850 – Official designation of the Territory of New Mexico, which includes Arizona.
1866 – Gold discovered in the Moreno Valley, many new settlers move to the area.
1880 – A narrow-gauge railroad, the Denver and Rio Grande Western, built from Alamosa, Colorado to 25 miles southwest of Taos. Later named the Chili Line, it was discontinued in World War II.
1892-1906 – Carson National Forest gradually created from merging the Pecos River Forest Reserve, the Taos Forest Reserve, and part of the Jemez Mountain Ranges.
1898 – Artist Bert Phillips and Ernest Blumenschein stop in Taos to have a broken wagon wheel repaired. Enthralled by the scenery and clear light, they decide to stay. They invite other artists to Taos, and in 1912, form the Taos Society of Artists with other new arrivals.
1912 – New Mexico becomes the 47th state of the Union.
1917 – Mabel Dodge Luhan arrives in Taos and becomes a central figure in attracting celebrities that include Ansel Adams, Willa Cather, Aldous Huxley, Carl Jung, D. H. Lawrence, Georgia O’Keefe, Thornton Wilder, and Thomas Wolfe.
1931 – Patrocino Barela begins to be known as internationally for his artistic transformation of the Hispanic santero tradition.
1915-1944 – Many Taos residents fought in World Wars I and II, and died for their country. Bataan Hall, part of the Taos Civic Plaza and Convention Center, and a large cross at Taos Plaza honor the Taosenos who were in the Bataan Death March.
1942 – Publication of Frank Waters’ novel, The Man Who Killed the Deer, the story of a Pueblo man trying to live in two worlds.
1955 – Ernie and Rhoda Blake open Taos Ski Valley.
1965 – Steel arch bridge completed west of Taos, spanning the Rio Grande 650 feet above the river. It is the second highest suspension bridge in the U.S.
1950-1969 – Taosenos fight in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. The Vietnam Memorial in nearby Angel Fire lists names of those who gave their lives in the Vietnam War, as well as the survivors.
1960s-1970s – Remember Easy Rider? Most of the movie was filmed in Taos, which attracted hundreds of “hippies” during that period. Many of them stayed and became part of the diverse and colorful landscape of the Taos culture.
1970 – The U.S. returns Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo in a landmark decision.
1974 – Publication of Taos writer John Nichols’ novel, The Milagro Beanfield War, a fictional account of the Hispanic community in a town very much like Taos, centering on water rights issues in an arid region. Robert Redford adapted the book for a movie released in 1988.
1992 – The Old Village of Taos Pueblo designated a World Heritage Site by the World Heritage Foundation under the auspices of the United Nations.