Indigenous Cultures & Early Encounters
Who are the Ancestral Puebloans (or Anasazi)?
This ancient civilization built the impressive stone dwellings at Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde before migrating.
What is the Pueblo Revolt?
This 1680 uprising, led by the medicine man Popé, successfully drove the Spanish out of New Mexico for over a decade.
What is the Santa Fe Trail?
Opened in 1821 by William Becknell, this commercial route connected Missouri to the heart of New Mexico.
Who is Billy the Kid?
This legendary outlaw, born Henry McCarty, became a central figure in the bloody Lincoln County War.
What is 1912?
After more than 60 years as a territory, New Mexico finally became the 47th state on this exact year.
Who is Juan de Oñate?
He was the Spanish conquistador who established the first permanent Spanish settlement in New Mexico in 1598.
Who is Diego de Vargas?
This Spanish governor led the "reconquest" of New Mexico in 1692, returning Spanish rule with less harsh treatment of the Pueblos.
What is the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
This 1848 treaty ended the Mexican-American War and officially ceded New Mexico to the United States.
What is the Battle of Glorieta Pass?
This 1862 Civil War clash in New Mexico is often called the "Gettysburg of the West" because it stopped the Confederate advance into the territory.
Who are the Rough Riders?
Theodore Roosevelt’s famous cavalry regiment during the Spanish-American War drew many of its fiercest cowboy soldiers from New Mexico.
What are the Seven Cities of Cibola?
This mythical empire of gold drew early Spanish explorers like Coronado into the American Southwest.
What is Mexico?
New Mexico officially became a territory of this country in 1821 after it won its independence from Spain.
What is the Gadsden Purchase?
This 1853 land purchase from Mexico added southern New Mexico and Arizona to the U.S. to allow for a southern transcontinental railroad.
What is the Santa Fe Ring?
This powerful corrupt alliance of politicians, lawyers, and businessmen controlled New Mexico’s land and politics in the late 1800s.
Who is Francisco "Pancho" Villa?
This Mexican revolutionary general raided Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916, drawing the U.S. military into a manhunt just before WWI.
Who is Estevanico (or Esteban the Moor)?
He was the Moroccan slave whose survival story and tales of wealthy cities inspired the first Spanish expeditions into New Mexico.
What is the Chimayó Rebellion?
This 1837 rebellion against the Mexican government's taxes resulted in the brief overthrow and execution of Governor Albino Pérez.
Who is Stephen W. Kearny?
This general marched into Santa Fe in 1846 during the Mexican-American War and claimed New Mexico for the U.S. without firing a single shot.
Who is Geronimo?
This Apache leader famously led a fierce resistance against the U.S. government until his final surrender in 1886.
What is the Zimmermann Telegram?
This intercepted German telegram proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico, promising Mexico the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.
What is Santa Fe?
Established in 1610 by Governor Pedro de Peralta, this city became the capital of the New Mexico province.
What is the Texan Santa Fe Expedition?
This group of heavily armed Texans invaded New Mexico in 1841 to claim land east of the Rio Grande, but were quickly captured by Mexican forces.What is the Texan Santa Fe Expedition?
What is the Taos Revolt?
This tragic 1847 uprising against the new American government resulted in the assassination of Charles Bent, New Mexico’s first American governor.
What is the Long Walk of the Navajo?
This forced 1864 march led by the U.S. military drove thousands of Navajo people to the Bosque Redondo reservation.
`Who is William Howard Taft?
He was the president who signed the proclamation making New Mexico a state after it proved its loyalty during the Spanish-American War.