| What makes it historical? |
After the Spanish retook New Mexico following the Pueblo Revolt, they set to dividing up the land into royal grants. In 1796, the Spanish king, Carlos IV, gave 63 families land as part of the Don Fernando de Taos Land Grant! With memories of the Revolt still on their minds, the Spanish families set up their homes in large, heavily fortified quadrangles that were only accessible by one large gate!
There were plenty of struggles within the walls, however! In 1816, 280 residents rebelled and were jailed over taxes, the town was occupied by the “Army of the West” in 1846, and the Taos Pueblo tribe revolted once again n 1847 over that occupation! Many fires in this plaza destroyed the surrounding homes, which had to be rebuilt. Today, thanks to a broken wagon wheel that brought Ernest Blumenschien and Bert Phillips to Taos in 1898, this city is most famous as an artist colony! |
