Taos
County
This cache is part of the New Mexico Challenge. One cache is hidden in each of New Mexico's 33 counties.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it is to find and log all 33 caches with a photo of yourself at the cache site.
Remember growing up? Cowboys and Indians? Remember all the imagery gathered in that attic of a mind you have? Well there is a lot of that in Taos County except the boys and girls play Cowboys e Indios. When visiting Taos County, start with the historic and blammo, the cache hides itself.
Some 6,000 years ago, nomadic hunter-gatherers passed through the Taos area, leaving behind arrowheads, potsherds, and pictographs. In the early 20th Century, Doc Martin, Taos' beloved country doctor said, "God's in charge of everything that happens in Taos!"
Taos is a place where history is honored and continues to be made every day. Some dates relating to human habitation and activities in Taos and its environs include:
900A.D. - Settlements throughout the Taos valley. Some ruins can be seen today south of Abiquiu.
1000 - Present villages of Taos Pueblo and Picuris Pueblo were inhabited by this date.
1500s to 1540 - Some rooms at Taos Pueblo set aside for visiting Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche traders. Captain Alvarado leads first European explorers, the Coronado expedition, into the area.
1598 - Don Juan de Oate comes as official colonizer of Spain's province, Nuevo Mexico, and assigns Fray Francisco de Zamora to serve Taos and Picuris Pueblos.
1613 to 1690 - Numerous Spaniards have settled in Taos Valley and more than 50 missions constructed throughout New Mexico.
1680 - The Pueblo Revolt initiated at Taos, when growing conflicts escalated and all Spaniards were either killed or driven from the province. This uprising was the most successful on the North American continent, and it was 13 years before the Spanish returned.
1692 - Diego de Vargas reconquers New Mexico for Spain, and in 1693 begins resettlement of the province.
1696 - Second Taos Pueblo revolt; de Vargas puts down the rebellion. Population of the area grows. Acequias (irrigation ditches) are built; some remain in operation today.
1725 - Ranchos de Taos (originally Las Trampas de Taos) becomes a permanent Spanish settlement.
1739 - The first French traders, led by the Mallete brothers, attend the Taos Fair. Such trade fairs were considered important; leaders of the annual caravan to Chihuahua, Mexico, planned its schedule so as not to miss the Taos Fair.
1760 - Chronic attacks by the Plains Indians lead to a decline in population of the Valley. Spanish settlers sometimes move into Taos Pueblo for protection from the raiders.
1779 - Colonel del Anza passes through Taos on his return from Colorado, where he decisively defeated Comanches led by Cuerno Verde. De Anza named the Sangre de Cristo Pass, as well as the road between Taos and Santa Fe, designating it part of El Camino Real.
1796 to 1797 - Land given to 63 Spanish families as the Don Fernando de Taos Land Grant.
1800s - By the early part of the century, Taos had become the headquarters for a number of mountain men who trapped beaver nearby. In 1826, Christopher "Kit" Carson (1809-1868) moved to Taos. A soft-spoken man with a gift for languages, he bought the house (built in 1825), which is now the Kit Carson Museum, as a wedding present for his bride, Maria Josefa Jaramillo. They lived in it until their deaths in 1868.
1804 - Severino Martin (later Martinez) builds La Hacienda de los Martinez, which still exists as a museum. It becomes an important trade center and the headquarters of an extensive ranching operation. Martinez's eldest son is Padre Antonio Martinez, who fought Bishop Lamy in an attempt to preserve the Hispanic character of the Catholic Church. He also created the first coeducational school in New Mexico (1833), brought the first printing press to Taos (1834), and founded "El Crepusculo," a weekly newspaper, in 1835.
1815 - The mission church, San Francisco de Asis at Ranchos de Taos, begun about 1772, is finished.
1821 to 1846 - Numerous land grants by Mexico lead to additional settlement.
1846 to 1848 - Mexican-American War. General Stephen Kearney and his troops occupy the province.
1847 - U.S. takes possession of New Mexico. Some former Mexican citizens and Taos Natives rebel, killing the first territorial governor, Charles Bent, in his Taos home. U.S. Army retaliates against the Pueblo, killing more than 150 people and destroying the original San Geronimo Mission.
1848 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the Mexican-American War.
1850 - Official designation of the Territory of New Mexico, which includes Arizona
1866 - Gold discovered in the Moreno Valley; many new settlers enter the area.
1880 - A narrow-gauge railroad, the Denver and Rio Grande Western, built from Alamosa, Colo., to 25 miles southwest of Taos. Later named the Chili Line, it was discontinued in World War II.
1892 to 1906 - Carson National Forest gradually created from the Pecos River Forest Reserve, the Taos Forest Reserve, and part of the Jemez Mountain Ranges.
1898 - Artists Bert Phillips and Ernest Blumenschein stop in Taos to have a broken wagon wheel repaired. Enthralled by the scenery and clear light, they decide to stay. They invite other artists to Taos, and in 1912, form the Taos Society of Artists with other new arrivals.
1912 - New Mexico becomes the 47th state of the union.
1917 - Mabel Dodge Luhan arrives in Taos, and becomes a central figure in attracting celebrities that include Ansel Adams, Willa Cather, Adous Huxley, Carl Jung, D.H. Lawrence, Georgia O'Keefe, Thornton Wilder, and Thomas Wolfe.
1931 - Patrocino Barela begins to be known internationally for his artistic transformation of the Hispanic santero tradition.
1915 to 1944 - Many Taos residents fought in World Wars I and II, and died for their country. Bataan Hall, part of Taos Civic Plaza and Convention Center, and a large cross at Taos Plaza honor the Taosenos who were in the Bataan Death March.
1942 - Publication of Frank Waters' novel, The Man Who Killed the Deer, the story of a Pueblo man trying to live in two worlds.
1955 - Ernie and Rhoda Blake open Taos Ski Valley.
1965 - Steel arch bridge completed west of Taos, spanning the Rio Grande 650 feet above the river. It is the second highest suspension bridge in the U.S.
1950 to 1969 - Taosenos fight in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. The Vietnam Memorial in nearby Angel Fire lists names of those who gave their lives in the Vietnam War, as well as the survivors.
1960 to 1970s - Remember Easy Rider? Parts of the movie were filmed in Taos, which attracted hundreds of "hippies" during that period. Many of them stayed and became part of the diverse and colorful landscape of Taos culture. Remember Twins? Arnold and Danny Davito in the '80s.
1970 - U.S. returns the sacred Blue Lake to Taos Pueblo in a landmark decision.
1974 - Publication of Taos writer John Nichols' novel, The Milagro Beanfield War, a fictional account of the Hispanic community in a town very much like Taos, the book for a movie, released in 1988. 1992 Old village of Taos Pueblo designated a World Heritage Site by the World Heritage Foundation under the auspices of the United Nations.
2007 - The Geocaching "New Mexico Challenge" visits TAOS!
Many of the folks you read about above are buried at the Kit Carson cemetery in the town of Taos smack in the middle of Taos county! Padre Martinez lived in Taos when Governor Bent was around. The Padre was deeply loved by the community. Mable Dodge made Taos an artisan community and decided that she wanted to marry a man from each indian tribe but Mr. Luhan didn't believe in divorce and that ended Mable's dream. Kit Carson was an honored scout who lived and died in Taos. He was buried in the Taos Cemetery along with many of Taos's legends and even some family. Be sure to visit the listed waypoints as you quest for this cache. If time allows, visit the Martinez Hacienda and Love It Here (Mabel Dodge Luhan) geocaches while in Taos!
WAYPOINTS:
1) The WITT graves (Geowalkabout) family 36 24.507N by 105 34.171W
2) The grave of Mabel Dodge Luhan 36 24.470N by 105 34.214W
3) The grave of Padre Antonio Martinez 36 24.472N by 105 34.207W
4) The grave of Kit Carson and Family 36 24.502N by 105 34.188W
5) The grave of Arthur Rochford Manby 36 24.511N by 105 34.158W