SANTA FÉ’S CORAZÓN: A Long marriage, an enduring legacy Santa Fé celebrates two pivotal events in its history during 1998: the arrival of the first Spanish settlers in Nuevo Mexico 400 years ago and the signing of the treaty 150 years ago by which New Mexico became a territory of the United States. For historian Thomas Chavez and many New Mexicans, these anniversaries are not a textbook exercise, but a family affair. "Four hundred years ago began a marriage, the start of a new culture that is still evolving today," says Chavez, director of the Palace of the Governors, the state’s history museum. We remember the pomp, the hardships and the emotion because the marriage endures. New Mexico was old long before Juan de Ońate led several hundred settlers, eight Franciscan friars, two lay brothers and thousands of animals-horses, mules, cattle and sheep-from Mexico to the Espańola Valley. Twelve thousand years ago the state was home to Clovis man, a mammoth hunter succeeded by Folsom man. Various distinct Native American civilizations thrived here, including the Anasazi and Hohokum.
Trades traveled east and west on the Santa Fé Trail, and north and south on the Camino Real, also called the Chihuahua Trail. Movement accelerated after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo joined New Mexico to the U.S. in 1848, a union that Chavez likens to "a shotgun marriage that worked out." "Each overlay of people made the people here different," he explains, "and the people who came here changed, too." When the railroad reached Northern New Mexico around 1880, it brought U.S. settlers and a new, more mechanized way of life to the traditional Spanish and Indian Society. Early in the twentieth century, artists and writers from crowded Eastern cities followed in search of light, space and a sense of freedom. "We became a poor man’s Europe, a domestic haven for the sensitive mind," says Chavez. That movement continues today, although most travelers reach Santa Fé via Albuquerque Airport and interstate highways, and many of the artists are at the top of their fields. They, too, find a city where the past is intensely alive, the future open and animate. Santa Fé’s architecture, its winding streets, its food, its holidays and its traditions are a vivid legacy of this complex history, a reelection of the Native American, Spanish Colonial, Territorial and more recent influences and cultures. The state flag is yellow and red, the colors of Spain, with a Pueblo Zia symbol, representing the sun. New Mexico is the only state to put U.S.A. on its license plates, an acknowledgment, Chavez suggests, that within the U.S. it is still mistaken, on occasion, for a foreign country. During 1998, numerous events will commemorate the cuartocentennial, as the 400th anniversary is called in Spanish. Santa Fé will also be celebrating their future, as the Santa Fé Opera opens its new theater and the Museum of International Folk Art a new wing. Old and new, the people who live here will continue to make Santa Fé the City Different, unlike any other in the Old World or the New.
JANUARY 4 Caballeros De Vargas / Tres Reyes Magos TBD Cuartocentenario Poster Contest & License Plate Unveiling 1 Official Release of Book, History of Church in New Mexico Archbishop Sheahan Declaring official opening / Jubilee Year 4 Caballeros De Vargas / Tres Reyes Magos 13 Chavez Lecture Series / The First Settlement 20 Chavez Lecture Series / Historia De La Nuevo Mexico 27 Chavez Lecture Series / A New Society Develops EVERY THURS. FRI. SAT. CVB / Lecture Series / Celebrate Santa Fé 4th Centennial FEBRUARY 13 Sesqui Centenario / Hidalgo Treaty / Fresco Unveiling 14 Sesqui Centenario / Hidalgo Treaty / Educational Symposium 15 Sesqui Centenario / Hidalgo Treaty / Educational Symposium 13 Chavez Lecture Series / New Mexico’s Mexican Years 19 Chavez Lecture Series / New Mexico as a part of the U.S. 26 Chavez Lecture Series / New Mexico’s Message EVERY THUR. FRI. SAT. CVB / Lecture Series / Celebrate Santa Fé 4th Centennial MARCH TBD La Historia De Nuestra Fe TBD Gregoriano Music (Canto De Monjes) EVERY THUR. FRI. SAT. CVB / Lecture Series / Celebrate Santa Fé 4th Centennial APRIL TBD El Paso Ceremonies 18 Sociedad Folkorica / Baile De Las Cascarones 24 - 26 Cuartocentenario / Celebraciones De Paises 27 Cuartocentenario / Unveiling of Statue 27 Cuartocentenario / Las Golondrinas Exhibit opening 27 Cuartocentenario / Mass of Thanksgiving TBD BLM Unveiling and Reception 24 - 2 BLM / Camino Real Exhibit EVERY THUR. FRI. SAT. CVB / Lecture Series / Celebrate Santa Fe 4th Centennial 30 Commemorative Mass of Actual Entry into New Mexico "1598" 30 400 Run" 3 Day Run from Las Cruces to San Juan MAY 3 Chimayo Group / Play of "Los Moros Y Los Cristianos" 5 Palace of the Gov. / Taste of Santa Fé (400 Yrs. Of Sabores) 3 Feast of the Holy Cross & Conclusion of "400 Run" EVERY THUR. FRI. SAT. CVB / Lecture Series / Celebrate Santa Fé 4th Centennial SATURDAY NIGHTS (CVB) El Corazon De Santa Fé / In the Heart of Santa Fé Events JUNE Las Golodrinas Spring Festival TBD Genealogy Conference EVERY THUR. FRI. SAT. CVB / Lecture Series / Celebrate Santa Fé 4th Centennial SATURDAY NIGHTS (CVB) El Corazon De Santa Fé / In the Heart of Santa Fé Events TBD Annual Fiesta Processions JULY 4 Chamber of Commerce Food Music and Fire Works Celebration Mexico’s Contributions to our Independence 4 Pancake Breakfast 10 400 Years Arrival to San Juan / Mexican Delegation / Theme Dinner 25 - 26 Spanish Market 7 Mass the First Encounter of Spanish Missionaries & Colonists with Native Americans From New Mexico Villages EVERY THUR. FRI. SAT. CVB / Lecture Series / Celebrate Santa Fé 4th Centennial SATURDAY NIGHTS (CVB) El Corazon De Santa Fé / In the Heart of Santa Fé Events AUGUST 8 - 9 Native American Pow-Wow & Fashion Show / Food Exchange 9 Reconciliation Mass" Acknowledging the Hurt of the Past 400 Yrs. EVERY THUR. FRI. SAT. CVB / Lecture Series / Celebrate Santa Fé 4th Centennial SATURDAY NIGHTS (CVB) El Corazon De Santa Fé / In the Heart of Santa Fé Events SEPTEMBER 11-13 Fiesta De Santa Fé De Vargas Entrada on the Plaza EVERY THUR. FRI. SAT. CVB / Lecture Series / Celebrate Santa Fé 4th Centennial SATURDAY (CVB) El Corazon De Santa Fé / In the Heart of Santa Fé Events OCTOBER Present Aciones De Musica De Latino America MONTHS OF OCT., NOV. (Invitation / Basque Delegation) Latin American Music Presentation 3 Harvest Festival / Ranchos De Las Golondrinas 12 El Dia De La Raza / Dia Hispanidad / Columbus Day Invite Parral Mexico / Music Food and Dance 23 Northern New Mexico Hispanic Music Awards (Education) 4 Feast of St. Frances NOVEMBER 2 Dia De Los Muertos Celebration / Music Food and Dance MONTHS OF OCT., NOV. Presentaciones De Musica De Latino America MONTHS OF OCT., NOV. Latin American Music Presentation DECEMBER 12 Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe / Mass and Music 12 - 13 Winter Spanish Market TBD Las Posadas TBD Vamos Todos a Belen (Play) |
