In 1821, Spain signed the Treaty of Córdova and New Mexico became part of the new Republic of Mexico. In 1827, placer gold was discovered in the Ortiz Mountains south of Santa Fe, the mining camp of Dolores sprang up almost overnight, and the first gold rush in the West began – 22 years before...Read More
The City of Santa Fe’s Art in Public Places has contributed greatly to Santa Fe’s overall visual appeal. This includes the creation of a giant metal dog with a bench swing hanging from it located behind the Santa Fe Community Convention Center on the corner of Grant Avenue and S. Federal Place. Question: Why would...Read More
One of Santa Fe’s more “solid” ghosts, Julia Staab, is said to haunt various rooms of her former home, today’s La Posada de Santa Fe hotel. Her ghostly apparition is often seen drifting about the staircase, her upstairs suite, and former living room with its lovely fireplace. The comfortable living room is one of the...Read More
Photo of the Palace in the early American Territorial era. When American military forces occupied Santa Fe in 1862 at the beginning of the Mexican-American War, they were reportedly appalled to find a dozen or more human ears nailed to a wall inside the Palace of the Governors. “What is this?” they asked. “That’s pieces...Read More
Santa Fe has never been a pacifist’s enclave. In fact, over its long history it has seen heads on spikes on the Plaza, dozens of Texans’ ears nailed to walls in the Palace of the Governors, Indian battles in the streets, and violent crimes committed with fists, knives, and guns. However, one commercial establishment in...Read More
Perhaps the most famous, or infamous, New Mexican of all time is the much maligned, often glorified, and definitely mysterious young gunslinger, born in 1859 as Henry McCarty. He was later known as William Bonny and finally as Billy the Kid. It is commonly thought that he was buried in a small cemetery in Fort...Read More
Santa Fe’s Loretto Chapel is an exquisite Gothic-style structure, the oldest in the West. It features a beautiful altar and acoustics that make a concert here a real treat. It is a perfectly scaled down version of the famous Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, famous for its incredible stained glass windows. But most notable is its amazing...Read More
Santa Fe’s historic San Miguel Chapel is undeniably old. Age oozes from its thick earthen walls, the paintings on curling buffalo and deer hides, its dark, musty viga ceiling. If the bultos on the altar could talk, what tales they’d tell. Of workers sealing floors with ox blood to harden them, the day Pueblo warriors...Read More
Six sightseeing tours around Santa Fe, including hot air ballooning, whitewater rafting, Canyon Road art walks, fat tire mountain bike tours, guided canyon hikes, guided downtown Santa Fe scavenger hunt, and dog friendly and family friendly things to do in Santa Fe, New Mexico.Read More