OCTOBER 9, 1960

TAOS PUEBLO (PUEBLO DE TAOS) DESIGNATED A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK

Taos Pueblo, built on both sides of the Pueblo River, is one of a chain of Pueblo Native dwellings in the Taos Valley dating back to the 900s. First visited by Europeans in 1540, Mission San Gerónimo de Taos, founded in 1598, was finally abandoned in 1846. Taos Pueblo was historically one of the major centers of trade between the Rio Grande pueblos & Plains peoples. Seasonal trade fairs gave rise to merchant caravans traveling along the Chihuahua Trail to the cities of Mexico. It was also a center of the 1680 Great Pueblo Revolt in response to Spanish mistreatment of the Pueblo people and which drove the Spanish out of New Mexico until 1692. The pueblo consists of adobe 2 to 5-story residential blocks (many accessible only by ladder), the original defensive wall, kivas, and the ruins of the mission. It is currently home to about 150 people who live traditionally–no electricity or running water. One of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the U.S., it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

Sources:
  “Taos Pueblo,” U.S. National Park Service.  Retrieved 3/29/2022, Taos Pueblo--American Southwest--A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary (nps.gov)
“Taos Pueblo,” New World Encyclopedia.  Retrieved 3/29/2022, Taos Pueblo - New World Encyclopedia
Photo:  John Mackenzie Burke, 5/5/2017. Permissive Use.