Cuartocentenario

Published with permission from the Santa Fe New Mexican

Timeline of New Mexico History

From the New Mexico Blue Book 1997-1998

c. 25,000 B.C. – Sandia people leave earliest evidence of human existence in what is now New Mexico.

c. 10,000-9,000 B.C. – Clovis hunters roam area in search of mammoth, bison and other game.

c. 9,000-8,000 B.C. – Folsom people flourish throughout Southwest at the end of the last Ice Age.

c. 10,000-500 B.C. – Cochise people are first inhabitants to cultivate corn, squash and beans, the earliest evidence of agriculture in the Southwest.

A.D. 300-1,400 – Mogollon culture introduces highly artistic pottery and early architecture in the form of pit houses.

A.D. 1-700 – Anasazi Basketmakers elevate weaving to a high art, creating baskets, clothing, sandals and utensils.

A.D. 700-1,300 – Anasazi culture culminates in the highly developed Chaco Civilization.

A.D. 1200-l500s – Pueblo Indians establish villages along the Rio Grande and its tributaries.

1536 – Cabeza de Vaca, Estevan the Moor and two others reach Culiacan, Mexico, after possibly crossing what is now southern New Mexico, and begin rumors of the Seven Cities of Cibola.

1539 – Fray Marcos de Niza and Estevan lead expedition to find Cibola and reach the Zuni village of Hawikuh, where Estevan is killed.

1540-42 – Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores area from Gulf of California to present day Kansas, discovers the Grand Canyon.

1580-81 – Fray Agustin Rodriguez leads expedition to New Mexico; four members of the party killed by Indians.

1582-83 – Fray Bernadino Beltran and Fray Antonio de Espejo lead expedition to New Mexico to search for survivors of the ill-fated Rodriguez mission.

1598 – Juan de Oñate establishes the first Spanish capital of San Juan de los Caballeros at the Tewa village of Ohke north of present day Española.

1599 – Battle at Acoma between Indians and Spaniards; seeds of Pueblo Revolt sown.

1600 – San Gabriel, second capital of New Mexico, is founded at the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Chama River.

1601 – Mass desertion of San Gabriel by colonists; new recruits from Spain and Mexico sent to reinforce colony.

1605 – Oñate expedition to the Colorado River; visits El Morro, leaves message on Inscription Rock.

1608 – Oñate removed as governor and sent to Mexico City to be tried for mistreatment of the Indians and abuse of power. Decision made by Spanish Crown to continue settlement of New Mexico as a royal province.

1609-10 – Governor Pedro de Peralta establishes a new capital at Santa Fe. Construction begins on the Palace of the Governors. Gaspar de Villagra publishes epic history on the founding of New Mexico, the first book printed about any area in the modern United States.

1626 – Spanish Inquisition established in New Mexico.

1641 – Governor Luis de Rosas assassinated by colonists during conflict between the church and state.

1680 – Pueblo Indian Revolt; Spanish survivors flee to El Paso del Norte.

Late 1600s – Navajos, Apaches, and Comanches begin raids against Pueblo Indians.

1692-93 – Don Diego de Vargas recolonizes Santa Fe. Spanish civilization returns to New Mexico.

1695 – Santa Cruz de la Cahada (Cañada) founded.

1696 – Second Pueblo Revolt; efforts thwarted by de Vargas.

1706 – Villa de Alburquerque founded.

1743 – French trappers reach Santa Fe and begin limited trade with the Spanish.

1776 – Franciscan friars Dominguez and Escalante explore route from New Mexico to California.

1786 – Governor Juan Bautista de Anza makes peace with the Comanches.

1793 – First school text printed in New Mexico by Padre Antonio Jose Martinez of Taos.

1807 – Zebulon Pike leads first Anglo American expedition into New Mexico. Publishes account of way of life in New Mexico upon return to U.S.

1821 – Mexico declares independence from Spain. Santa Fe Trail opened to international trade.

1828 – First major gold discovery in western United States made in Ortiz Mountains south of Santa Fe.

1837 – Chimayó Revolt against Mexican taxation leads to the assassination of Governor Albino Perez and top officials.

1841 – Texas soldiers invade New Mexico and claim all land east of the Rio Grande. Efforts thwarted by Governor Manuel Armijo.

1846 – Mexican-American War begins. Stephen Watts Kearny annexes New Mexico to the United States.

1847 – Taos Rebellion against the U.S. military. Governor Charles Bent killed.

1848 – Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends Mexican-American War.

1850 – New Mexico (which included present-day Arizona, southern Colorado, southern Utah and southern Nevada) is designated a territory, but denied statehood.

1851 – Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy arrives in New Mexico and establishes schools, hospitals and orphanages throughout the territory.

1854 – The Gadsden Purchase from Mexico adds 45,000 square miles to the territory.

1861 – Confederates invade New Mexico from Texas. The Confederate Territory of Arizona is declared with the capital at La Mesilla. Territory of Colorado is created. New Mexico loses extreme northern-most section to the new territory.

1862 – Battles of Velvarde and Glorieta Pass fought, ends Confederate occupation of New Mexico.

1863-68 – Known as the “Long Walk,” Navajos and Apaches are relocated to Bosque Redondo; finally allowed to return their homelands after thousands die of disease and starvation.

1863 – New Mexico is partitioned in half; Territory of Arizona is created.

1878 – The railroad arrives in New Mexico, opening full-scale trade and migration from the east and midwest. Lincoln County War erupts in southeast New Mexico.

1881 – Billy the Kid shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner.

1886 – Geronimo surrenders; Indian hostilities cease in the Southwest.

1898 – First movie filmed in New Mexico, Indian Day School by Thomas A. Edison.

1906 – People of New Mexico and Arizona vote on issue of Joint Statehood, New Mexico voting in favor and Arizona against.

1910 – New Mexico Constitution drafted in preparation for statehood.

1912 – New Mexico admitted to the Union as the 47th state.

1916 – Pancho Villa raids Columbus, New Mexico.

1920 – Adoption of the 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote.

1922 – Secretary of State Soledad Chacón and Superintendent of Public Instruction Isabel Eckles are elected; they are the first women to hold statewide office.

1923-24 – Oil is discovered on the Navajo Reservation.

~1930-43 – Great Depression. Federal New Deal funds provide employment for many and pays for construction of numerous public buildings.

1942-45 – New Mexico soldiers serving in the 200th Coast Artillery during World War II are captured by the Japanese and forced to endure the Bataan Death March. Navajo “Code-talkers” are influential in helping end the war. Secret atomic laboratory established at Los Alamos.

1945 – World's first atomic bomb detonated at Trinity Site in southern New Mexico after its development at Los Alamos.

1947 – UFO allegedly crashes between Roswell and Corona; believers claim U.S. government institutes massive cover-up of the incident.

1948 – American Indians win the right to vote in state elections.

1950 – Uranium discovered near Grants.

1957 – Buddy Holly records Peggy Sue at Norman Petty Studio in Clovis.

1966 – New state capitol, the “Roundhouse,” is dedicated.

1969 – Proposed new state constitution is rejected by voters.

1982 – Space shuttle Columbia lands at White Sands Space Harbor on Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo.

1992 – New Mexico observes Columbus Quincentenary, welcomes Cristóbal Colon XX, direct descendent of Christopher Columbus.

1998 – New Mexico celebrates its cuartocentenario, commemorating its 1598 founding by Don Juan de Oñate.