Taos Valley, also called Lower Taos Canyon, is a valley located in Taos County, New Mexico. [1] It is bounded by the Rio Grande Gorge; the deep ravine, or Arroyo Hondo, of the Rio Hondo; and the Taos Mountain range. [2] Included in the valley are Ranchos de Taos, the Taos Pueblo, and Taos Plaza.
The Taos Valley Overlook of the Río Grande del Norte National Monument, about 11 miles (18 km), provides a view of the Taos Valley and the Rio Grande Gorge. [3] Four rivers cross the Taos Valley: Rio de Taos, Rio Lucero, Rio de las Trampas, and Rio de San Fernando. [4]
The valley was used for more than 9,000 years as a major route for travel and trade according to archaeological evidence. [5] Pit houses and room blocks provided the first permanent housing for inhabitants beginning about 900 A.D. [5] Ancestral Puebloans are believed to have moved into the area of the Taos Valley and tributaries of the Rio Grande at that time. [6]
It was the home of the puebloan people of Taos Pueblo beginning about 1100 [7] or 1200 A.D. [5] At that time, construction began on multiple dwellings. [7] It was first visited by people of European descent in the 1500s, when Capitan Hernando Alvarado arrived on August 29, 1540. He was part of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado's expedition. Alvarado met the Tiwa people of Taos Pueblo. [8] Fray Francisco de Zamora spread the Catholic religion throughout the Taos Valley, will based at the Taos Pueblo from 1610 to 1617. [7] The Spanish were driven out of the area by the Puebloans in 1680. [7] Sixteen years later, Diego de Vargas resettled the area around Ranchos de Taos, the Taos Pueblo, and Taos Plaza. Taos Valley had a population of 306 people of Spanish descent in 67 families in 1776. The most populated area in the valley at that time was Ranchos de Taos. [7] The Spanish brought modern methods for irrigation called acequias and introduced fruit and vegetables to the region. They also introduced livestock. [5] The Puebloans taught the Spanish how to build adobe structures. [5]
The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Pueblo, which means "village" in Spanish, was a term originating with the Colonial Spanish, who used it to refer to the people's particular style of dwelling.
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking (Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan people. It lies about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. The pueblos are considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. This has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until formally established in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Chacón to act as fortified plaza and trading outpost for the neighboring Native American Taos Pueblo and Hispano communities, including Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, El Prado, and Arroyo Seco. The town was incorporated in 1934. As of the 2010 census, its population was 5,716.
Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, known locally simply as "Los Ranchos" or "The Village," is a village in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 6,024 at the 2010 Census. Part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area, Los Ranchos is located on the east side of the Rio Grande, adjacent to the unincorporated North Valley area. Los Ranchos is surrounded on three sides by the larger city of Albuquerque, and its location astride busy transportation routes has been a source of friction with its larger neighbor, as Los Ranchos' efforts to maintain its rural character conflicts with Albuquerque's desire to enhance transportation. Like the North Valley and Corrales, Los Ranchos is an expensive, mostly rural area with widely spaced large houses and dense vegetation.
Questa is a village in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,770 at the 2010 census. The village has trails into the Rio Grande Gorge, trout fishing, and mountain lakes with trails that access the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that overlook the area. Questa is on the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, near the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Red River. The "Gateway to the Rio Grande del Norte Monument", its visitors can drive to an overlook of the Red River meeting the Rio Grande in the depth of the gorge. The Carson National Forest parallels Questa to the east. The Columbine Hondo Wilderness and Latir Peak Wildness are in the Carson National Forest close to Questa.
Taos Pueblo is a census-designated place (CDP) in Taos County, New Mexico, just north of Taos. The population was 1,264 at the 2000 census.
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings. The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain used the term pueblo to refer to permanent indigenous towns they found in the region, mainly in New Mexico and parts of Arizona, in the former province of Nuevo México. This term continued to be used to describe the communities housed in apartment structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material. The structures were usually multi-storied buildings surrounding an open plaza, with rooms accessible only through ladders raised/lowered by the inhabitants, thus protecting them from break-ins and unwanted guests. Larger pueblos were occupied by hundreds to thousands of Puebloan people. Various federally recognized tribes have traditionally resided in pueblos of such design. Later Pueblo Deco and modern Pueblo Revival architecture, which mixes elements of traditional Pueblo and Hispano design, has continued to be a popular architectural style in New Mexico. The term is now part of the proper name of some historical sites, such as Acoma Pueblo.
The Tiguex War was the first named war between Europeans and Native Americans in what is now the United States, although the De Soto expedition fought numerous battles earlier. It was fought in the winter of 1540-41 by the expedition of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado against the twelve or thirteen pueblos of Southern Tiwa Indians as well as other Puebloan tribes. These villages were along both sides of the Rio Grande, north and south of present-day Bernalillo, New Mexico, in what was called the Tiguex Province.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of New Mexico.
The 56-mile (90 km) High Road to Taos is a scenic, winding road through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Santa Fe and Taos.. It winds through high desert, mountains, forests, small farms, and tiny Spanish Land Grant villages and Pueblo Indian villages. Scattered along the way are the galleries and studios of traditional artisans and artists drawn by the natural beauty. It has been recognized by the state of New Mexico as an official Scenic Byway.
The Rio Pueblo de Taos, also known as Rio Pueblo, is a tributary of the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico. From its source in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains it flows about 33 miles (53 km), generally south and west, to join the Rio Grande in the Rio Grande Gorge. On the way the river passes by Taos and through Taos Pueblo.
The Pueblo IV Period was the fourth period of ancient pueblo life in the American Southwest. At the end of prior Pueblo III Period, Ancestral Puebloans living in the Colorado and Utah regions abandoned their settlements and migrated south to the Pecos River and Rio Grande valleys. As a result, pueblos in those areas saw a significant increase in total population.
The Pueblo V Period is the final period of ancestral puebloan culture in the American Southwest, or Oasisamerica, and includes the contemporary Pueblo peoples. From the previous Pueblo IV Period, all 19 of the Rio Grande valley pueblos remain in the contemporary period. The only remaining pueblo in Texas is Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, and the only remaining pueblos in Arizona are maintained by the Hopi Tribe. The rest of the Pueblo IV pueblos were abandoned by the 19th century.
Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area is a federally designated National Heritage Area in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The national heritage area includes a section of the upper Rio Grande Valley that has been inhabited by the Puebloan peoples since the early Pre-Columbian era.
Pot Creek Cultural Site is an abandoned 13th century pueblo located on private land owned by Southern Methodist University and on public Carson National Forest land in Taos County, New Mexico.
Taos Downtown Historic District is a historic district in Taos, New Mexico. Taos "played a major role in the development of New Mexico, under Spanish, Mexican, and American governments." It a key historical feature of the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway of northern New Mexico.
The Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway is a New Mexico Scenic Byway and National Forest Scenic Byway located in Northern New Mexico. It begins and ends in Taos, New Mexico.
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, and southwestern Colorado. The people and their archaeological culture are often referred to as "Anasazi". This, meaning "ancient enemies", was the name they were called by Navajo, who are not their descendents. Contemporary Puebloans object to the use of this term. The Ancestral Puebloans are believed to have developed, at least in part, from the Oshara Tradition, who developed from the Picosa culture.
Manby Hot Springs, also known as Stagecoach Hot Springs are thermal springs located near the town of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico. The three rock pools have sandy bottoms and are located near the ruins of an old bathhouse and a historical stagecoach stop.
The Puebloans of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico are descended from various peoples who had settled in the area, and shaped by the arrival of Spanish colonizers led by Juan de Oñate at the end of the 16th Century.
Coordinates: 36°22′30.09″N105°40′17.05″W / 36.3750250°N 105.6714028°W
Municipalities and communities of Taos County, New Mexico, United States | ||
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