Southwestern history

Seven young women and one adult pose on stage, some holding certificates, in front of a screen displaying Nacha Mendez Music Scholarship for New Mexican Girls of Color.

Traveling the Latin World through Nacha Mendez’s Music

Notes from a guitar and Spanish lyrics float out of the Hotel Santa Fe as the lobby doors open on a Friday, inviting residents and visitors to step inside and travel to Latin America.

By Leah Romero

A white antelope skull with long, dark, straight horns mounted on a plain white background. [gen-ai]

Ritual Killing: Oryx in New Mexico

As the desert transitions from deep blacks to dim greys and blues, we creep through the mountain pass. We leave the city lights behind us and roll into the dark nothingness.

By Marcus Xavier Chormicle

Artist’s conceptualization of life at Lake Otero. Missing from the image are trees. Researchers believe that the area was forested with pine, spruce and cottonwood, among other species. Research on pollens from the footprint layers is ongoing, with results expected next year. Image by Karen Carr; courtesy of the National Park Service.

History, Science, Mythology, and the First Americans

A young woman hurried across the flat, trailing footprints. At times she slipped. At times she stretched to cross a puddle. She carried a child and possibly a container for water, or food, or perhaps a bag of firewood or stones for making tools.

By Dr. David Kilby and Jim O’Donnell

Black-and-white portrait of a man in a military uniform and cap, displaying several medals and stripes on his jacket, facing the camera with a neutral expression. [gen-ai]

The Power of One

By Stephanie PadillaPhotographs courtesy Dr. Michael H. Trujillo In 1948, Pueblo advocate Miguel H. Trujillo and Indian Law attorney Felix Cohen walked into a courtroom and prevailed in their fight to win the Native American right to vote in New Mexico.

By Stephanie Padilla

A brown historical marker sign stands beside a rural road, overlooking a wide, dry grassy plain under a cloudy sky. [gen-ai]

Writing Ourselves Back Into the Story

By Emily WithnallPhotographs by Alanna Romero When Patricia French saw Big Bird building an horno on Sesame Street in 1975, she knew she wanted to live in New Mexico.In 1978, she moved to the state with her husband and two-year-old son in tow.

By Emily Withnall

Six adults in theatrical costumes pose dramatically around a wooden chest onstage; expressions and attire suggest a comedic or whimsical performance. [gen-ai]

A Century of Antics Onstage and Off

By Jennifer Levin Art Olivas drove a friend to Santa Fe Community Theater and sat in the audience, watching the hopefuls take their turns. He wasn’t there to audition, but the director asked him to read anyway.

By Jennifer Levin

Early Southwestern archaeologist and photographer Charles F. Lummis, 1917. Photograph by Mojonnier Photo. Courtesy the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA), neg. no. 007700.

Hunting Miss Deuel

By James E. Snead On September 1, 1912, Charles Fletcher Lummis—author, “anthropologist,” and impresario of the American West—made a note in his diary. “Hunting Miss Deuel,” he wrote; “en vano.” Lummis coded his journals in what might today be called “Spanglish,” and this particular scribble referred to Elizabeth Deuel, whom he had met two weeks previously.

A man stands beside a horse-drawn wagon loaded with crops in a plowed field under a clear sky. [gen-ai]

I Change into My Levi’s That I Bought With Last Year’s Potato Harvest Money

By Jim O’Donnell Rosie left for Colorado when she was 6 months old. Her family travelled by covered wagon, crossing the mountains and making their way north. The year was 1921.

By Jim O’Donnell

A vintage train station with a “WELCOME” sign, an old building labeled “LAMY,” and part of a silver train car visible at dusk. [gen-ai]

Tracks Through Time

Part 2: The Lamy Branch Line 1880 to presentby Fred Friedman Read part I of this history in El Palacio's Winter 2021 edition, here. Even with the Iron Steed’s arrival in Santa Fe in February of 1880, railroads came late to New Mexico.

By Fred Friedman and Tira Howard

Sepia-toned portraits of a woman in a dark dress and a man in a suit with a striped shirt, both facing forward, set against a plain background. [gen-ai]

Excavating the Past and Present

By Robert Quintana Hopkins One email can radically change your understanding of yourself. I received that email in 2015 from Hannah Abelbeck, photo archivist at the New Mexico History Museum. A 1915 photo of Sam Adams at the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (see "Sam and the Adams Family") prompted a multi-year exploration into his life story by Hannah and me.

By Robert Quintana Hopkins