Taos has many tales to tell. Humans settled in this area over 1000 years ago, when the inhabitants of Taos settled on the Rio Pueblo, a small tributary of the Rio Grande. Located at the base of Wheeler Peak, with ample water and game, the Tewa-speaking pueblo thrived. What visitors see today is very similar to what the Spanish saw when Coronado and his expedition arrived in 1540 looking for “Cities of Gold.” Recognized as a National Historic Landmark since 1965, the impressive, four to five-story adobe structures are almost 1000 years old. It is the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States, established before Europe emerged from the Dark Ages. The World Heritage Society recognized Taos as one of the most significant historical cultural landmarks in the world in 1992, on par with the Acropolis, Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, the Taj Mahal, etc.
Taos History | Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is one New Mexico’s 19 Pueblos. The community has been a crossroad of culture for a long time, sitting at the north end of Puebloan territory, surrounded by potentially inhospitable neighbors, like the Comanche, Ute, Navajo, and Apache. The village engaged in trade with more affable tribes, hosting summer and fall trade fairs. The fairs connected tribes from the Great Plains with the Rio Grande pueblos, with an impressive variety of commodities available, including turquoise, shells, buckskins, buffalo hides, seeds, copper, macaw feathers, salt, slaves, and more. Trade is still an integral part of the pueblo’s economy, with numerous small shops selling a variety of wares by local artisans, including mica-flecked pottery, handmade flutes, silver and turquoise jewelry, moccasins, boots, and drums. The artistic traditions go back centuries, passed from one generation to the next.
Though many families own and maintain homes in the Pueblo for ceremonies, cultural activities, and gatherings, they live in modern homes on tribal land outside the Pueblo walls. Approximately 150 people live at the Pueblo full time. There is no electricity or running water allowed within the Pueblo walls.
Spanish Soldiers & Settlers
The Spanish arrived in the late 1500s, with priests and soldiers disrupting day-to-day life in the pueblo, demanding tribute, and disrespecting (or outlawing) spiritual practices. The cultural clashes were often fatal for both groups. Warriors from Taos Pueblo killed the priest and several Spanish settlers in 1640, abandoning the pueblo until 1661 to avoid Spanish retaliation.
Pueblo Revolt
Not only did Taos Pueblo join the Pueblo Revolt, they were an integral part of the planning process, providing safe haven and support for Po’pay after his release from Spanish custody. Po’Pay had been arrested with several medicine men and spiritual leaders on charges of sorcery. Though he was originally from Oh’kay Owingeh pueblo, Po’pay organized the revolt while laying low in Taos. He traveled to over two dozen communities to coordinate the attack, overcoming the language barrier between villages. I often wonder if the Pueblo Revolt was planned in Spanish? That would have been a shared language at that point.
After the Spanish Reconquest of 1692, Taos Pueblo continued armed resistance until 1696, when Governor Diego de Vargas defeated their warriors in Taos Canyon. Afterwards, Spanish settlers moved into the fertile foothills of the Sangre de Cristos, establishing Ranchos de Taos in 1725. The area was ideal for farming and ranching, with two reliable sources of water, the Rio Chiquito and Rio Grande del Rancho. Settlers dug a network of acequias, creating a web of water throughout the community to feed fields of wheat and corn.
The centerpiece of Ranchos de Taos is the San Francisco de Asís church, a beautiful example of Spanish Colonial architecture. Of the original churches built in the Taos area, it is the only one that is still intact and actively serving a congregation. Construction began in 1772. The mission was a true sanctuary, an adobe fortress, with impenetrable walls that are several feet thick. Dirt has the added advantage of being difficult to set on fire. During the 1770s, the Comanches from the eastern plains of Colorado were raiding every target in the region regularly.
Don Fernando de Taos
In 1796, the King of Spain gave the Don Fernando de Taos Land Grant to 63 families in the Taos area. The grant paved the way for a settlement two miles south of Taos Pueblo. Settlers built their homes in large quadrangles to fortify the community. The residential structures surrounded a large, central plaza, with ample space to secure livestock at night or during attacks. They stationed sentries at the corners of the fortified village to watch for raiding parties. The sole entrance to the compound was heavily gated.
Merchants used the enclosed area to ply their wares during the day, with livestock brought in at night. Today, Taos Plaza in the heart of the Taos Historic District. Though the area is a hotbed of human history, most of the storefronts surrounding the plaza were actually built in the 1930s. One unfortunate downside associated with connecting all the buildings — fire spreads easily and rapidly.
By the early 1800s, mountain men started moving in, drawn to the abundance of beaver and other wildlife in the area. A few of these scouts and trappers became iconic symbols of the American West, like Kit Carson and one of his best friends, Lucien Maxwell. In fact, through a combination of Spanish land grants, marrying well, and business acumen, Maxwell became one of the largest land owners in American history, a baron of his own feudal fiefdom in northern New Mexico.
Aftermath of the Mexican American War
The United States attacked Mexico in 1846. The attack was based on a disputed boundary between Mexico and the Republic of Texas. Mexico considered the annexation of Texas as an act of war. After the U.S. Army took over the provincial government in Santa Fe, Taos revolted, killing and scalping the appointed U.S. Governor, Charles Bent on January 19, 1847. When the U.S. Army dispatched troops to suppress the revolt, the alliance of hispanic farmers and Taos Pueblo warriors sought refuge in the San Jeronimo mission near the Taos Pueblo plaza. The soldiers showed up, attacking with cannon fire on the first day. That was ineffective. The cannon balls hit the adobe walls like rocks hitting mud. The U.S. troops adapted their strategy on day two. They set fire to the roof to create a distraction, while simultaneous hacking through the thick walls with axes.
Arts Colony
Taos’ trajectory as an arts colony started in 1898, when an wagon accident deposited a couple of aspiring American artists in Taos for an unexpected visit. Ernest L. Blumenschein and Bert G. Phillips had recently finished studying in Paris when they decided to embark on a trip between Denver and northern Mexico to do some sketching in the American West. On a trail north of Taos, their wagon wheel got stuck in a deep rut and broke. Blumenschein trekked 20-miles to town to get the wheel repaired. The unexpected delay gave both men time to fall in love with the landscape and local culture. They sold the horse and wagon and stayed for the summer.
At the end of the summer, Bert Phillips decided to stay. Ernest Blumenschein returned to Paris to continue his studies. He returned to Taos almost every summer until 1919, when he relocated to Taos permanently with his wife, artist Mary Greene Bluemenschein. They purchased several rooms in a home from a fellow artist, purchasing adjacent rooms in the property over the following decade. Today, the home is a museum showcasing the art of the Blumenscheins’ and other founding members of the Taos Society of Artists. The property became a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
“In just a few weeks I had found more material and inspiration for creative work than I could use in a lifetime. One artist alone could do no more than scratch the surface in this one spot, while the Great Southwest—an artistic empire—was yet practically undiscovered country to the art world.”
~ Bert Phillips
Taos Society of Artists
Blumenschein and Phillips spread the word about the inspiring natural beauty of the region. They enticed other artists to move to the area. In July 1915, E.L. Blumenschein, Bert Phillips, Joseph Henry Sharp, and fellow Taos artists, Oscar E. Berninghaus, E. Irving Couse and W. Herbert “Buck” Dunton, created the Taos Society of Artists. They formed the society to promote their work with traveling exhibitions to major American cities. The exhibitions brought attention to both the artists and Taos. More artists relocated to Taos to participate in the Society. Eventually, the group grew to include 21 members.
The society was active until 1927, when they officially disbanded. By that time, Taos was recognized as a dynamic colony of artists. Despite the liquidation of the organization, the influence of the arts continued to flourish. Today, Taos is home to more than 80 art galleries and several of the original homes and studios are museums, including the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, Eanger Irving Couse House and Studio—Joseph Henry Sharp Studios, the Nicolai Fechin House, the Leon Gaspard House, and the Ernest Martin Hennings House.
Taos Moderns
The evolution of Taos as an arts community evolved, as a new wave of artists moved to the area. Mabel Dodge Lujan was instrumental, enticing a new wave of artists to visit, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Dorothy Brett, Andrew Dasburg, and author D.H. Lawrence. As a result, modernism took hold in Taos at the end of World War II.
The GI Bill facilitated an infusion of a new generation of talent. Several artists used the bill to study at the University of New Mexico Summer Field School of Art and the Taos Valley Art School, including Earl Stroh, Cliff and Barbara Harmon, Malcolm Brown, and Oli Sihvonen. In 1954, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation was established. The foundation financed the study and work of more artists, an initiative that is alive and well today. The era of the Taos Moderns dominated the local art scene until the late 1960s. Today, creative inspiration and talent saturates the community. The art scene provides support for every form of artistic expression.
Counter Culture in Taos
By the 1960s, northern New Mexico was perceived as an artsy, spiritual place. As more young people became disenchanted with the quagmire of the Vietnam war, they sought solace and peace in sparsely populated areas, creating communities with like-minded individuals. For those following the advice of counter-cultural icons like Timothy Leery to “Turn on, tune in, drop out,” gravitating to northern New Mexico made sense. By the late 1960s, there were more communes per capita in northern New Mexico than virtually anywhere else in the country. “Getting back to the land” isn’t optional in an area that is notably dominated by nature, not humans. For example, the earthship community on the west side of the Rio Grande gorge is self-sustaining for a reason. City utilities aren’t available on that side.
Easy Rider, the Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda cult classic, cemented Taos’ legacy as a hippie haven. Written and directed by Hopper and Fonda, the movie became the cinematic expression of the counter-culture philosophy and motivation. Dennis Hopper’s character in the movie, Billy, exemplified the anti-establishment idealism and rebellion of the 1960s. Furthermore, Hopper was genuinely smitten with the area, moving to Taos during the 1970s. He bought the Mabel Dodge Lujan house and hosted an unforgettable, decade-long party. His escapades are legendary locally. Furthermore, his friends continue to celebrate his life and influence annually in May during Dennis Hopper Days.
Hippie Chicano War
Though Taos celebrates the counter-culture era today, it wasn’t uniformly viewed as positive at the time. Just as Easy Rider ended with violence, the counter-culture movement also encountered violent opposition. Some locals perceived the 1969 “Summer of Love” as a hippie invasion. Trust fund babies moved to the area from big cities, buying parcels of land to establish communes. The flouting of social conventions, public nudity, sexual activity, and drug use, didn’t go over well with some locals. Many were conservative Catholics. Additionally, several local business owners were concerned that the influx of hippies would negatively impact the travel and tourism industry.
Taos became the site of the most explosive conflict between local inhabitants and hippies in the U.S., known locally as the “Hippie-Chicano War.” There were numerous altercations involving arson, dynamite, and telephone threats. However, the conflict eventually escalated, with one commune member murdered, two beaten, and a third raped, which slowed the growth of communes in the area. Several eventually dissipated; however, the hippies who held on eventually became integral members of the Taos community.
Taos Vibes
Taos is an amazing mix of people, many with connections to the land that go back centuries or thousands of years. The landscape is exquisite, a combination of southwestern stark and alpine green. It isn’t surprising that a place like this would attract and inspire artists from around the world. There is an abundance of natural splendor in all directions, amazing light, and it is easy to find a peaceful, quiet place to get lost in thoughts (or art) for a day, a week, a month — time and space seem vast in the valley.
For those who want to follow in the footsteps of Taos’ original inhabitants, Spanish conquistadors and settlers, pioneers of the American West, and over a century of artists, writers, musicians, and actors, check out the Travelers Guide to Taos and Outdoor Adventures for more information and suggestions.
Taos Visitor Center
1201 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur
Taos, NM 87571
(575) 758-3873
