A Historical and Cultural Time Line of Santa Fe
12,000 B.C. - A.D. 2000

Compiled by William H. Mee

Circa 12,000 B.C.
First human contacts recorded: Paleo-Indian inhabitants flourish at present-day Pecos Pueblo area.

A.D. 900
The cultural flowering of the Chaco-Anasazi begins.

1000
Chaco Pueblo established as the center of the society emerging in Chaco Plateau. Anasazi basketweavers begin elevating weaving to art form.

1541-1549
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado explores the southwest area looking for the mythical Seven Cities of Gold.

1598
Don Juan de Oñate founds first settlement at San Juan de los Caballeros north of present-day Espanola.

1605--1607
A Spanish settlement in the Santa Fe area is started.

1609-1610
Governor Pedro de Peralta founds capital at Santa Fe; building of Palace of the Governors begins.

1626
Spanish Inquisition established in New Mexico.

1680
Pueblo Revolt orchestrated by Indian leader Popè.

1692-1693
General Don Diego de Vargas reconquers Santa Fe from Indian rebel.

1696
Second Pueblo Revolt thwarted by De Vargas.

1791
Europe's musical age starts: Mozart's "The Magic Flute" premieres in Vienna, Austria.

1793
Taos priest-school teacher-benefactor Fray Antonio José Martinez prints the first school text book in New Mexico (maybe first textbook printed north of Mexico City and west of the Ohio River). The church to be named "Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe" is built (later renamed Santuario de Guadalupe).

1803
United States makes the "Louisiana Purchase" from France who won the lands from Spain in a peace treaty.

1807
First Anglo-American expedition in New Mexico, led by Zebulon Pike, who later publishes a book about life in New Mexico.

1821
New Mexico becomes an official protectorate of the new nation of Mexico, after its revolution separating it from Spain.

1829
Antonio Barreiro, a Santa Fe delegate to the Mexican Congress, decries the lack of a press in the territory, noting that a press would promote literacy.

1834
The Spanish-language El Crepusculo de la Libertad, the first known newspaper in the West, publishes in Santa Fe.

1848
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War and guarantees the Spanish language rights of native citizens.

1849
The first edition of The New Mexican newspaper is issued, on November 28. The paper is a weekly four-page tabloid. From the first issue: "We understand that (theatrical proprietor) Mrs. Jones has a larger building in process of construction and will probably be opened on Christmas Evening with a Fancy Dress and Masquerade Ball. This we feel assured will be attended by all the respectability of our city and we hope will amply repay this lady all that she deservedly merits." Anne Brontë dies.

1850
Mexico cedes New Mexico to the United States as part of its treaty. Nathaniel Hawthorne writes "The Scarlet Letter."

1851
A territorial library is founded in Santa Fe.

1852
Harriet Beecher Stowe writes UncleTom's Cabin.

1853
Gadsden Purchase from Mexico enlarges the area that later will become Arizona and New Mexico.

1854
The April cover of Harper's Monthly Magazine features Doña Gertrudes de Barcelo (the Doña Tules in the Wind Leaves No Shadow), proprietor of a Santa Fe gambling establishment (and a major influence in New Mexico political circles although women were not allowed to hold office) located near the present-day El Dorado Hotel. Charles Dickens publishes Hard Times.

1861
Confederates invade New Mexico from Texas and set up capital in Mesilla near present-day Las Cruces (at this time New Mexico comprised the states of New Mexico and Arizona). In the east, Matthew Brady starts documenting the Civil War through photographs.

1862
On March 28 the "Battle of Glorieta Pass" (Union name, Confederate name is Pigeon's Ranch) starts between Union and Confederate forces. This key battle supported by the Colorado Volunteers turns back the Confederate forces who were trying to capture the gold mines found in Denver as a method of financing arms purchases from England and France.

1863-'68
"The Long Walk" - Navajos and Apaches are relocated to Bosque Redondo reservation near Roswell, New Mexico. Many women and children die in this forced march.

1866
According to diarists of the time, "bailes" are taking place in Santa Fe. The bailes range from wild dances patronized by ladies of questionable virtue to refined evenings among the then-social elite.

1867
Francisco Perez, a bugler in the Confederate Army during the army's Santa Fe invasion, returns to town and founds "La Banda de Santa Fe", which today continues as the "Santa Fe Concert Band." Christopher Sholes invents the typewriter.

1868
Civil War hero, Lt. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Indian Commission, arrives in Santa Fe to investigate conditions of the Navajos. The New Mexican becomes a daily paper on July 8th. The paper reports Santa Feans are questioning the wisdom of building flimsy "mud-roofed houses" (the adobe casa).

1869
The New Mexican reports that a lad attending a March 9th baile saw at least 16 fights before he was knocked out. The opening of Suez Canal in Egypt enhances the naval dominance of Great Britain.

1871
New Mexico's first publicly-funded library founded in Cimarron, New Mexico.

1876
Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone, he once worked on his inventions at the old Palace Hotel in Cerrillos, New Mexico.

1877
The New Mexican calls attention to the "sad condition" of the Palace of the Governors, the territorial capital.

1878
The Atkinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad arrives in New Mexico to reach its namesake, but sadly bypasses Santa Fe for Lamy, New Mexico when the mountainous territory worries investors. Lew Wallace, author of Ben-Hur appointed territorial governor.

1880
Original Jake Gold Curio store, later renamed the Original Old Curio Store, opens its doors Adolph Bandelier begins survey of Southwestern archaeological ruins.

1883
The New Mexican reports the sorry condition of San Miguel Chapel, reputed to be the oldest church in the country.

1883-1886
Joseph Sharp, Charles Lummis. and Frederic Remington first visit New Mexico; Lummis later publishes: The Land of Poco Tiempo, calling New Mexico "the anomaly of the Republic."

1888
Adolph Bandelier sketches and documents Pecos Pueblo.

1892
Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker premieres in St. Petersburg, Russia.

1893
Works by painter Warren Rollins make up the first solo exhibition at the Palace of the Governors.

1895
The Lumiere Brothers invent the film projector in France.

1896
Santa Fe School District, later renamed Santa Fe Public Schools, comprises five schools whose nine teachers instruct 491 students.

1897
In the November 18^th edition of The New Mexican it is reported: "The city needs an opera house and needs it very much. With existing prices of, real estate, or building material and of labor, such a building could be erected in a suitable part of the city at a very reasonable cost. The public spirited citizens should heed this." For the December 31^st edition: "The ladies of the city who intend to be 'at home' for New Year's Day are requested to hand in their names for publication in The New Mexican."

1898
Artists Ernest Blumenschein and Bert Phillips end up in Taos; their reports of the area and the landscapes touch off a westward migration of artists. Inventor Thomas Edison shoots the film "Indian Day School" near Santo Domingo, the first movie made in New Mexico. He takes up residence in Cerrillos, New Mexico.
-- In the December 24^th edition of The New Mexican it is reported: "Last Wednesday evening at Miss Gulliford's school, the pupils presented a series of tableaux from Dickens to a large number of guests."

1899
The Fred Harvey organization begins buying Navajo silver work made exclusively for the tourist market.
-- In the November 4^th edition of The New Mexican it is reported: "Manager A.M. Dettlebach complains of several boisterous young men who at last evening's performance at the theater annoyed the audience by their antics and loud talk. Steps will be taken to prevent annoyances of that kind in the future." In the November 11^th edition of The New Mexican it is reported: "Among new books at the library are: Westward Ho, by Kingsley; David Harum, by Westcott; Captain January, by Richards; Red Rock, by Page; When Knighthood Was in Flower, by Caskoden; Mr Dooley in Peace and War, by Dunne; and Richard Carvel, by Winston Churchill."

1900
First Spanish-language teacher hired for Santa Fe schools, at $25 per month; the superintendent makes $85 per month.

1902
An editorial in The New Mexican deplores citizen' disparaging use of the term "Mexican": "If anybody is entitled to the appellation of 'American' it is the people who are descendants of men and women who lived in New Mexico when the ancestors of the later comes were probably living in the squalor of some European hamlet or Asiatic village."

1903
Edward S. Curtis photographs New Mexico Native Americans.

1904
The ice-cream cone is invented in St. Louis by an immigrant.

1906
Gideon Sunheck invents the zipper.

1907
First art-and-music teacher hired for Santa Fe schools, at $25 a month; she has to buy her own music materials and books but receives an additional $1.50 a month for tuning whistles.

1909
The joint Museum of New Mexico School of American Archaeology, under the influence of Edgar Lee Hewitt, establishes the criteria for "Santa Fe Style"; numerous downtown buildings are restored to original conditions.

1910
Museum of Archaeology opens in the Palace of the Governors, marking the beginning of the Museum of New Mexico system.
-- George Washington Armijo is elected to portray Don Diego de Vargas in the first "DeVargas Pageant", which replaces the original "Reconquest" celebration for Santa Fe Fiesta.

1911
Neon is invented.

1912
On January 6th New Mexico gains statehood after 64 years of being a United States territory. The "unsinkable" S.S. Titanic sinks.

1913
In the January 19^th edition of The New Mexican: "The local impresarios are deserving of all the patronage the theaters get and we would be hard put to it for amusement in Santa Fe were the playhouses to be eliminated from the scheme of things." In the July 18^th The New Mexican, the editor advocates adoption of a public policy to help retain the city's "old Spanish style of architecture, including the stucco finish ... the ancient mode that has come down for centuries." The "Taos Society of Artists" is formed in Taos, New Mexico. Alfred V Kidder begins his archaeological excavations at Pecos Pueblo east of Santa Fe.

1916
Artists Robert Henri and J. Rolshoven first visit New Mexico; eventually settle near Taos after their car tire breaks. Painter William Penhallow Henderson and his wife, poet Alice Corbin , Henderson, settle in Santa Fe; painter Theodore VanSoelem. moves to New Mexico.

1917
School of American Research founded in affiliation with the Museum of New Mexico and replaces the School of American Archaeology. The Museum of Fine Arts is also dedicated. Georgia O'Keeffe visits New Mexico for the first time.

1918
Andrew Dasburg, Marsden Hartley and Mary Austin move to New Mexico. Maria and Julian Martinez make first the black-on-black pottery at San Ildefonso Pueblo. Formation of Santa Fe Community Theater, later renamed Santa Fe Playhouse.

1920
Painters such as Joseph Henry Sharp begin painting idyllic scenes from Native American life. While digging for a new sewer on Johnson Street, workers uncover proof that in ancient times a pueblo was sited near what is now the Plaza. Commercial radio broadcasting begins on KOB. Women win the right to vote via the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

1921
The New Mexican states that a cluster of artist homes on Camino del Monte Sol "may be the beginning of a great art colony."

1922
Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, Inc. is established to "support and preserve American Indian cultures." Gallup inaugurates the first Inter-Tribal Ceremonial. The formation of "Los Cinco Pintores" in Santa Fe by artists: Will Shuster, Willard Nash, Fremont Ellis, Walter Mruk and Jozef Bakos.

1924
John Gaw Meem begins practicing architecture in New Mexico.

1925
The Zia symbol as designed by an anglo based on Sandia Pueblo designs is adopted as New Mexico state symbol for the flag. The Spanish Colonial Arts Society is formed.

1926
In opposition to the exclusionary nature of Santa Fe Fiesta, Will Shuster founds a "revolutionary protest fiesta" that includes the burning of Zozobra. The Old Santa Fe Association founded to promote architectural conservation
-- Fred Harvey Co. establishes Indian Detours, operating out of La Fonda Hotel; the tour quickly becomes a status symbol for well-heeled Easterners
-- Community-wide controversy erupts over a proposal from the Federation of Women's Clubs of the Southwest to form a summer colony in Santa Fe; locals are concerned over the possibility of a "Texas immigration"

1927
Willa Cather's Death Comes for.the Archbishop is published, based on the life of Santa Fe Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy.
-- The Daughters of the American Revolution offer to Santa Fe the Madonna o the Trail statue of a white Madonna pioneer; Frank Applegate and Mary Austin speak out against the statue, noting it does not "represent the real pioneers of the region at all ... Spanish people"; city refuses statue. Al Jolson appears in the first talkie, The Jazz Singer

1929
Oliver La Farge publishes Laughing Boy. Laboratory of Anthropology established with donation from John D. Rockefeller
-- Oct. 29: Stock market crashes.

1930
Spanish Colonial Arts Society opens its first store on Palace Avenue in Santa Fe. Nationally, the Great Depression begins.

1932
Dorothy Dunn teaches first studio classes at the Santa Fe Indian School and Emil Bisttram founds Heptagon Gallery, the first commercial gallery in Taos.

1933
Prohibition repealed.

1934
Attempts to force assimilation of Native Americans officially ceases and Native religions are "decriminalized" by federal decree.

1936
The New Mexican newspaper in its January 1^st edition looks back on social activities of 1935, which included: "a Gay '90's Bowery Ball given by the Rio Grande artists" and a poetry reading by Robert Frost.

1937
Mary Cabot Wheelwright and Navajo medicine man Hastiin Klah found Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian located on Old Pecos Trail in Santa Fe. Santa Fe Concert Association founded as a branch of the national presenting body Community Concerts.

1938
Artists Emil Bisttrarn and Raymond Jonson found New Mexico Transcendental Artists group.

1941
United States declares war on Japan and Germany; New Mexico 200^th Coastal Artillery is captured and forced on Bataan Death March in 1942. The Navajo "Code Talkers" play a vital part in the war effort.

1942
The Manhattan Project begins; "secret city" of Los Alamos selected as site for atomic-bomb research and construction. Bruns Army Hospital and Japanese Internment Camp opened in Santa Fe. Frank Waters writes his book: The Man Who Killed the Deer.

1945
The First atom bomb exploded, at "Trinity Site" near Alamogordo. With the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrenders and World War II ends.

1947
The New Mexican of June 27 says: "Visitors and citizens who are in the habit of saying "New Mexico has everything except the theater can now omit their qualification. When El Teatro de Santa Fe opens July 4th for a nine-week session in Santa Fe, New Mexico will have the only professional summer theater in the Southwest."
-- American muralist Harry Garrison Miller, Jr. moves to Santa Fe.

1949
The 100th anniversary of The New Mexican newspaper in Santa Fe. Georgia O'Keeffe moves to Abiquiu and George Orwell writes his book: 1984.

1950
Berean Baptists request removal of a nude female figure, one of sixteen terracotta panels specially designed for the new State Capitol.

1951
Artist Cady Wells donates his collection of santos to the Museum of New Mexico with the condition that a separate department be established for Spanish colonial art.

1953
Florence Dibell Barlett founds the Museum of International Folk Art.

1957
The Santa Fe Opera opens.
-- Buddy Holly records "Peggy Sue" at the Norman Petty Studio in Clovis, New Mexico.

1958
Stereo records introduced.

1962
St. Michael's College (College of Santa Fe) builds the first new building after outgrowing the barracks of the old Bruns Army Hospital.

1964
St. John's College opens it first western "fine arts" campus in Santa Fe.

1968
Richard Bradford writes the book Red Sky at Morning.

1971
The United States Congress returns the sacred Blue Lake to Taos Pueblo after sixty years of negotiation.

1972
The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival is founded.

1981
Among art aficionados Santa Fe is referred to as "The Salzburg of the Southwest."

1985
Villa Linda Mall opens.

1986
Georgia O'Keeffe dies.

1992
New Mexico observes the Columbus Quincentenario with a goodwill visit to Spain.

1995
Santa Fe observes the Centennial of the St. Francis Cathedral's consecration.

1997
The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum opens in Santa Fe featuring the celebrated paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe, some 80 years after her first visit to the state.

1998
New Mexico celebrates the Cuartocentenario or 400^th anniversary of its discovery by Spanish Conquistadors.

1999
The New Mexican observes its 150^th anniversary.

2000
New Mexico observes its 88^th year of statehood.

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