| Santa Fe de Nuevo México | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of theSpanish Empire andNew Spain[1] (1598–1821) Territory of theFirst Mexican Empire (1821–23) Territory of theFirst Mexican Republic (1823–1848) | |||||||||
| 1598–1846a | |||||||||
.svg) | |||||||||
| Capital | Santa Fe | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• 1842 | 603,345 km2 (232,953 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1842 | 63,510[2] | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| Spanish governors | |||||||||
• 1598–1610 (first) | Juan de Oñate | ||||||||
• 1818–1822 (last) | Facundo Melgares | ||||||||
| Mexican governors | |||||||||
• July – Nov. 1822 (first) | Francisco Xavier Chávez | ||||||||
• August – Sept. 1846 (last) | Juan Bautista Vigil y Alarid | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 1598 | |||||||||
| 1821 | |||||||||
| March 2, 1836 | |||||||||
| from April 25, 1846 | |||||||||
• Surrender to U.S. occupation | September 1846 | ||||||||
| 2 February 1848 | |||||||||
• New Mexico statehood | January 6, 1912 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Southwestern United States | ||||||||
| While the Mexican territory theoretically existed until theMexican Cession under theTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, theNew Mexico Territory had been annexed under U.S. military occupation in September 1846, after the surrender by Mexican interim governorJuan Bautista Vigil y Alarid to GeneralStephen W. Kearny. | |||||||||
Santa Fe de Nuevo México (English:Holy Faith of New Mexico; shortened asNuevo México orNuevo Méjico, and translated asNew Mexico in English) was a province of theSpanish Empire andNew Spain, and later a territory of independent Mexico.[3] The first capital wasSan Juan de los Caballeros from 1598 until 1610, and from 1610 onward the capital wasLa Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís.
The name of "New Mexico", the capital inSanta Fe, thegubernatorial office at thePalace of the Governors,vecino citizen-soldiers, andrule of law were retained as theNew Mexico Territory and laterstate of New Mexico became part of theUnited States.[4] TheNew Mexican citizenry, primarily consisting ofHispano,Pueblo,Navajo,Apache, andComanche peoples, becamecitizens of the United States as a result of theTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848).
Nuevo México is often incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the post-independent nation of Mexico. But as early as 1561[5] (260 years beforeMexican independence), Spanish colonial explorers usedel Nuevo México to refer toCíbola, cities of wealth reported to exist far to the north ofthe recently conquered Aztec Empire.[6][7][8] This name also evoked theMexica people's accounts of their ancestral origin inAztlán to the north before their migration to Mexico centuries prior. The Nahuatl-language history of theMexica people, theCrónica Mexicayotl, dated to 1609, makes this identification explicit, describing how the Mexica left "their home there in OldMexico Aztlan Quinehuayan Chicomoztoc, which today they call New Mexico (yancuic mexico)."[9][10]
Nuevo México was centered on the upper valley of theRio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte): from the crossing point of Oñate on the river south ofCiudad Juárez, it extended north to theColorado River, encompassing an area that included most of the present-day American state of New Mexico and sections of Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and the Oklahoma panhandle. Actual Spanish settlements were centered atSanta Fe, and extended north toTaos pueblo and south toAlbuquerque (Tiguex). Its provincial capital was in the foothills of theSangre de Cristo Mountains at the ancient city ofLa Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís (modern-day Santa Fe). At its furthest extent, its reach extended eastward throughout theLlano Estacado due to early exploration byFrancisco Vázquez de Coronado, and westward intoLas Vegas Springs due toAntonio Armijo's later expeditions. Its outposts were widespread, throughout what is now theSouthwestern United States. From the time ofCamino Real de Tierra Adentro, which eventually connected to theOld Spanish Trail,Santa Fe Trail, and the subsequentAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
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In 1536, the legendary explorersÁlvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca andEstevanico, and two other men, survived an ill-fated expedition known as theNarváez expedition. For 8 years they wandered across what is today northern Mexico and the Southwest United States. In 1539, FrayMarcos de Niza led an expedition north fromMexico City. He caught glimpse of a Zuni town in the distance, probablyHawikuh, and returned to Mexico City claiming it might have been one of the fabledSeven Cities of Gold. The disappearance of Estevanico in the region prompted future expeditions to be more heavily armed, and far more cautious. 1540-1542 with Marcos de Niza's tales in mind,Francisco Vázquez de Coronado began the most ambitious expedition. Fears caused by rumors surrounding Estevanico's disappearance eventually led to tensions underlying theTiguex War. In two years, the Coronado expedition journeyed from present-day Mexico throughout the Southwest United States and as far east as Kansas.
In 1581-1582, Fray Augustin Rodriguez, two other friars, and a few soldiers and servants walked across much of present-day New Mexico seeking converts.
In 1590-1591, an order had arrived from Spain requiring all expeditions to be authorized by the crown. However, Lieutenant Governor Gaspar Castano de Sosa of Nuevo Leon launched an expedition on his own authority. He planned to start a colony in New Mexico and persuade the viceroy to accept it after the fact. Pursued through New Mexico, he was arrested and taken back to Mexico City.
On July 12, 1598,Don Juan de Oñate Salazar established theNew Spain colony ofSanta Fe de Nuevo Méjico at the new village ofSan Juan de los Caballeros adjacent to theOhkay Owingeh Pueblo at the confluence of theRío Bravo (Rio Grande) and theRío Chama. The expedition had been authorized byPhilip II to survey the region. Though the Spanish believed that cities of gold such as Tenochtitlan of theAztecs, whom they had previously conquered, lay to the north in the unexplored territory, the major goal was to spread Catholicism[citation needed]. Other expeditions had taken place before Oñate's 1598 expedition. He was unable to find any riches, however. As governor, he mingled with thePueblo people and was responsible for the establishment of Spanish rule in the area. Oñate served as the first governor of the Nuevo México Province from 1598 to 1610. He hoped to make it a separateviceroyalty from New Spain in an original agreement made in 1595, but the terms failed when the Viceroy changed hands in 1596. After a two-year delay and lengthy vetting by the new viceroy, Oñate was finally allowed to cross the Rio Grande River into modern-day Texas and New Mexico.
Most of the Spanishmissions in Nuevo México were established during the early 17th century with varying degrees of success and failure, oftentimes building directly atop ancient pueblo ruins, and in the centers of pueblos. The encounter between different worlds--Native and Spanish--took place all across New Mexico, but especially at the missions. They were small communities, centers of Spanish religious and economic life, and a permanent intrusion into Pueblo ways and beliefs. Here the clash of faiths, customs, and people was immediate, personal, and sometimes bitter and violent. At missions across New Mexico, Franciscan priests baptized thousands of Native Americans in the 1600s, mostly Pueblo people. The missionaries commanded new converts to take part in Catholic services and rituals. They also destroyed Pueblo religious objects, banned ceremonies, and persecuted holy men. Despite the spread ofCatholicism across the province, Pueblo men and women worshiped in secret and their traditional faith endured. By 1668,Juan de Medrano y Mesía became governor of the province, holding this position until 1671. His tenure was marked most notably byApache raids in the region.
Some pueblos were friendly to the foreigners, but after cultural differences and the banishment of local religions, tensions against the Spanish rose significantly. After compounding misdeeds and overbearing taxes by the Spanish invaders, the indigenous communities rebelled in what is now referred to as thePueblo Revolt of 1680. This rebellion saw the Spanish expelled from Nuevo México for a period of 12 years, and the pueblo people were able to regain lost lands. In 1692, they returned to battle against the Spanish, who sought restoration of the conquered holdings.Diego de Vargas achieved the reoccupation of Santa Fe. The province came under the jurisdiction of theReal Audiencia de Guadalajara, with oversight by theViceroy of New Spain at Mexico City.
In 1777, with the creation of theCommandancy General of the Provincias Internas, the Nuevo México Province was removed from the oversight of the Viceroy and placed solely in the jurisdiction of the new commandant general. This caused much unrest, due to the sudden lack of representation in Santa Fe for the region of Nuevo México.
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The province remained in Spanish control untilMexico's declaration of independence in 1821. Under the1824 Constitution of Mexico, it became the federally administered Territory of New Mexico.
TheOld Spanish Trail was expanded in 1829, merchantAntonio Armijo expanded the traderoutes of Nuevo México to reach theMormon Road andThe Californias out west.[11] Their original campsite is now located about 300 feet below the surface ofLake Mead.[12] Armijo's scoutRaphael Rivera foundLas Vegas Springs, at what is todayLas Vegas,Nevada, and it became the furthest western outpost for Nuevo México.[13][11] The governor of New Mexico,José Antonio Chaves, published the report on June 19, 1830.[14]
The part of the former province east of theRio Grande was claimed by theRepublic of Texas, which won its independence in 1836. This claim was disputed by Mexico. In 1841, the Texans sent theTexan Santa Fe Expedition, ostensibly for trade but with hopes of occupying the claimed area, but the expedition was captured byNew Mexican troops underNew Mexico governorManuel Armijo.[15][16]
The United States inherited the unenforced claim to the east bank with theTexas Annexation in 1845. The U.S. Army underStephen Kearny occupied the territory in 1846 during theMexican–American War, aprovisional government was established, and Mexico recognized its loss to the United States in 1848 with theMexican Cession in theTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Texas continued to claim the eastern part of the region. However, as part of theCompromise of 1850, Texas accepted $10 million in exchange for relinquishing its claims to areas within and north of the present boundaries of New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle..[17] The compromise also granted Texas control ofEl Paso, while recognizing the establishment of theNew Mexico Territory, based in part on trade routes such asCamino Real de Tierra Adentro,Santa Fe Trail, andOld Spanish Trail through theLas Vegas Valley and into what is nowArizona and New Mexico itself. In 1855, theOld Mormon Fort was established in theLas Vegas Valley, in what is nowClark County, Nevada. These developments also contributed to New Mexico securing water rights to theRio Grande andColorado River, allowing the territory and its subsequent states to fill their reservoir lakes.[18][19]
PresidentsZachary Taylor andAbraham Lincoln both proposed that New Mexico immediately become a state to sidestep political conflict over slavery in the territories. The already established rule of law which had passed from New Spain and Mexico within New Mexico already outlawed slavery, as was the legal precedent withgenízaros.[20]
New Mexico became an officialU.S. state in 1912.
In the hope of seeing in my time another spiritual conquest like that of [Mexico], I set out ... in search of the New Mexico, of which there has been word, although unverified, ever since we came to this land
There was Francisco de Ibarra, a great seeker after gold mines. In 1563 he went far to the north ... when he returned south, Ibarra boasted that he had discovered a New Mexico. Doubtless, like others, he stretched the tale, and certainly the land of which he told was well south of the one now so called. Yet men remembered the nameNuevo México, though not at first as that of the region which Coronado had once conquered.
inchan yn ompa huehue mexico aztlan quinehuayan chicomoztoc yn axcan quitocayotia yancuic mexico
