Historic Taos

Sightseeing through the historic city of Taos, New Mexico is one of the most breathtaking trips a traveler may take. The town is filled with the rich culture and history of the people living there, with everything from art colonies to rebellions being staged throughout the city.

Early History Around 1050 is when historians can place the building of the first multi-storied adobe houses, followed soon after by the appearance of more throughout the Taos Valley. Despite the Rio Grande River running through the valley here, it did not carve it over a period of years like in other locations. The valley is actually a rift valley caused by the separation of the Earth's crust due to fault line movements some 29 million years ago.

Not-as-early History
During the summer of 1540, the captain of a Spanish artillery explored the area and found the adobe homes. Further explorations lead to colonies of settlers appearing throughout the area. Throughout the 1770s, Comanche Indians raided the area repeatedly.

Nearly-new History By 1898, artists settled into the Taos area creating the "Taos Society of Artists" with many of the paintings depicting rural life and local scenery. More artists would come to the area and soon the Taos art colony would be developed. Many artists would stay at homes and take in the skill and craft of other artists, trying to perfect their own craft.

Sometime-around-that-time History The famous Taos Plaza dates back to the late 1700s, but it was in 1861 when the Plaza really made its mark in history. Southern sympathizers repeatedly tore down the United States flag from the Plaza every day, until Captain Smith Simpson and a few others nailed the flag to a cottonwood pole above the plaza. The captain and his men watched the flag every night to protect it, and eventually were granted Congress permission as one of the few sites in the nation that can fly the flag during both day and night.