Editing Taos Pueblo (section)

==History==

===Pre-Columbian===
It is most likely that the Taos Indigenous people, along with other Pueblo Indigenous people, settled along the [[Rio Grande]] after migrating south from the [[Four Corners]] region.<ref name="natlgeo">{{Cite web | url=http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/pueblo-de-taos/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121075033/http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/pueblo-de-taos/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 21, 2010 | title=Pueblo de Taos | publisher=National Geographic Society | access-date=2012-12-10| date=2010-11-15 }}</ref> The dwellings of that region were inhabited by the [[Ancestral Puebloans]]. A long drought in the area in the late 13th century may have caused them to move to the Rio Grande, where the water supply was more dependable. However, their reason for migrating is still disputed and there is evidence that a violent struggle took place. Ultimately, archeological clues point to the idea that the Natives may have been forced to leave.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Throughout its early years, Taos Pueblo was a central point of trade between the native populations along the Rio Grande and their [[Plains Tribes]] neighbors to the northeast. Taos Pueblo hosted a trade fair each fall after the agricultural harvest.<ref name="nps"/>

===Post-contact===
Spanish conquistadors first arrived at Taos Pueblo in 1540; they were members of the [[Francisco Vásquez de Coronado]] expedition, which stopped at many of New Mexico's pueblos in search of the rumored [[Seven Cities of Gold]]. Around 1620, Spanish Jesuits oversaw construction of the first Catholic Church in the pueblo, the mission of '''San Geronimo de Taos'''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=National Park Service - Explorers and Settlers (Taos Pueblo)|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/explorers/sitec41.htm|access-date=2022-01-24|website=www.nps.gov}}</ref> Reports from the period indicate that the native people of Taos resisted the building of the church and forceful imposition of the Catholic religion.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Nomad|first=New Mexico|date=2018-12-14|title=New Mexico History : The Pueblo Revolt of 1680|url=https://newmexiconomad.com/the-pueblo-revolt-of-1680/|access-date=2022-01-24|website=New Mexico Nomad|language=en-US}}</ref> Throughout the 1600s, cultural tensions grew between the native populations of the Southwest and the increasing Spanish colonial presence. Taos Pueblo was no exception. By 1660, the native people killed the resident priest and destroyed the church.<ref>{{Cite web|title=San Geronimo de Taos - Spanish Missions/Misiones Españolas (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/travelspanishmissions/san-geronimo-de-taos.htm|access-date=2022-01-24|website=www.nps.gov|language=en}}</ref> The Spanish replied brutally. Several years after it was rebuilt, the [[Pueblo Revolt]] of 1680 began.<ref name=":3" /> The Catholic church in Taos Pueblo still stands today.

===US control and 1847 revolt===
{{Main|Taos Revolt}}
During the [[Mexican-American War]], New Mexico came under United States control after the [[Battle of Santa Fe]] in August 1846. [[Charles Bent]] was appointed as the American territorial governor. Many of the Taos Pueblo people and [[Hispanos of New Mexico|Hispanos]] feared that the new American regime would dispossess them of their land, especially since Bent had been involved in [[speculation|land-grant speculation]] schemes under the Mexican regime.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crutchfield |first=James A. |author-link= |date=2015 |title=Revolt at Taos : the New Mexican and Indian insurrection of 1847 |url= |location= |publisher=Westholme Publishing |page=71 |isbn=}}</ref><ref name=Beyreis>{{cite journal |last1=Beyreis |first1=David C. |date=Spring 2019 |title=Dangerous Alliances in the New Mexico Borderlands: Charles Bent and the Limits of Family Networks |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26905408 |journal=Journal of the Early Republic |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=57-80 |doi= |access-date=11 Nov 2024}}</ref> On January 19, 1847, Hispanos and Taos Pueblo people launched a rebellion against the US territorial government. [[Tomás Romero (revolutionary)|Tomás Romero]] led a group of Taos Puebloans to Charles Bent's house in the town of Taos. The governor was shot with arrows, [[scalping|scalped]], and killed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crutchfield |first=James A. |author-link= |date=2015 |title=Revolt at Taos : the New Mexican and Indian insurrection of 1847 |url= |location= |publisher=Westholme Publishing |page=73 |isbn=}}</ref>

Following the death of Bent and several other Americans, Col. [[Sterling Price]], commander of the US forces based in Santa Fe, led an expedition against the insurgents, defeating them at the [[Battle of Cañada]] on January 24. The rebels retreated inside Taos Pueblo, and Price [[Siege of Pueblo de Taos|bombarded the town]] and the church where the defenders were sheltering with artillery on February 3.<ref name = Crutchfield>{{cite book |last=Crutchfield |first=James A. |author-link= |date=2015 |title=Revolt at Taos : the New Mexican and Indian insurrection of 1847 |url= |location= |publisher=Westholme Publishing |page=92-97 |isbn=}}</ref> The next day, a hole was broken in the wall of the church to fire shells and [[grapeshot]] at those seeking refuge within. More than 150 people were killed during the attack.<ref name = Crutchfield>{{cite book |last=Crutchfield |first=James A. |author-link= |date=2015 |title=Revolt at Taos : the New Mexican and Indian insurrection of 1847 |url= |location= |publisher=Westholme Publishing |page=92-97 |isbn=}}</ref> Tomás Romero was [[summary execution|summarily executed]] after US forces captured Taos Pueblo,<ref name = Crutchfield>{{cite book |last=Crutchfield |first=James A. |author-link= |date=2015 |title=Revolt at Taos : the New Mexican and Indian insurrection of 1847 |url= |location= |publisher=Westholme Publishing |page=92-97 |isbn=}}</ref> and other leaders of the revolt were later put on trial and executed by hanging. Further battles against US forces took place until July of that year.

===Taos Mountain===
[[File:South Pueblo, Taos Indian Pueblo. New Mexico.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Residential adobe complex, and [[Sangre de Cristo Mountains#Taos Mountains|Taos Mountain]] pictured on an old postcard, circa 1930-1945.]]
The Pueblo's {{convert|48000|acre}} of mountain land was taken by President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and designated as the [[Carson National Forest]] early in the 20th century. It was finally returned in 1970 by the United States when the Republican [[Richard Nixon]] signed [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[United States Senate|senator]] [[Fred R. Harris|Fred Harris]]' Public Law 91-550.<ref>Julyan, B: ''New Mexico's Wilderness Areas: The Complete Guide'', page 73. Big Earth Publishing, 1999</ref> An additional {{convert|764|acre}} south of the ridge between Simpson Peak and Old Mike Peak and west of Blue Lake were transferred back to the Pueblo in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/laws/104/publ333.104.pdf|title=Public Law 104-333|access-date=July 19, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031073121/http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/laws/104/publ333.104.pdf|archive-date=October 31, 2008}}</ref>

===Blue Lake===
Blue Lake, which the people of the Pueblo consider sacred, was included in this return of Taos land. The Pueblo notably involved non-native people in lobbying the federal government for the return of Blue Lake, as they argued that their unrestricted access to the lake and the surrounding region was necessary to ensure their religious freedom.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 20067803|title = Blue Lake: A Struggle for Indian Rights|last = Bodine|first = John J.|date = 1973|journal = American Indian Law Review|volume = 1|issue = 1|pages = 23–32|doi = 10.2307/20067803|url = https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1643&context=ailr|url-access = subscription}}</ref> The Pueblo's web site names the reacquisition of the sacred Blue Lake as the most important event in its history due to the spiritual belief that the Taos people originated from the lake.<ref>{{cite book |first=Marcia |last=Keegan |title=Taos Pueblo and Its Sacred Blue Lake: Reflections on the Fortieth Anniversary from Members of Taos Pueblo |publisher=Clear Light Pub |year=2010 |isbn=9781574160994}}</ref> It is believed that their ancestors live there,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-11-14|title=Taos Blue Lake|url=https://sites.coloradocollege.edu/indigenoustraditions/sacred-lands/taos-blue-lake/|access-date=2022-01-24|website=Indigenous Religious Traditions|language=en-US|archive-date=March 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318163408/https://sites.coloradocollege.edu/indigenoustraditions/sacred-lands/taos-blue-lake/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the Pueblos themselves only ascend the mountain for ceremonial purposes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ABOUT {{!}} Taos Pueblo |url=https://taospueblo.com/about/ |access-date=2023-11-14 |language=en-US |archive-date=October 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004153841/https://taospueblo.com/about/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>