The Spanish Side of Cimarron’s Story

By Carol Mell, 3-22-07

I wanted to place our good friend and fellow Presbyterian, Edmundo Vasquez’s comment about my first Cimarron blog here for all my readers to consider.

Edmundo wrote—
“You get the anglo history as you move. What you missed in Cimarron is that is where the followers of Father Martinez who left Taos first settled. They went on to Black Lake (La Laguna Negra to the natives - just beyond what is now Angel Fire) and established a church there. Descendants of those families still live in the area. Many studied at the Allison James School in Santa Fe and Menaul School in Albuquerque.

The Padre’s son, Jorge went on to Ocate where he bought and settled with Rosario’s family as well. Jorge sent a call to Vicente, his younger brother, who was now the leading elder at the church in Taos, to bring the Rev. John Roberts and together established the Presbyterian Church in Ocate. So you move with Presbyterian historical events and places when you travel northern New Mexico.”

Edmundo’s point is so true. The Spanish have an older history of the settlement of these lands they inhabited for hundreds of years before the Americans arrived. The Native Americans have an even older history here and would usually tell another story quite different from those of either the Americans or the Spanish.

If you’d like to learn more about Cimarron’s history I offer the following website. Be aware though that this too is an Anglo version of history with a lot of emphasis on the bad guys. This goes to show that not only is history written by the victor but also that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

http://www.nenewmexico.com/index.php

Padre Martinez Emerges as a Hero of the People
By Carol Mell
Taoseños gathering at the plaza for fiestas will find a new ten-foot statue of Padre Antonio Jose Martinez, 1793-1867. The statue will be new but the person is familiar. 
The words of his tombstone, “La Honra de su Pais,” or “Honor of his Homeland,” will be placed on the statue created by Huberto Maestas.
The inscription could just as easily read, “The Father of Our Town,” as it is no secret that the padre did his part to populate our village. (This was considered a libelous statement that had to be removed from the published article.)
Born in Abiquiu, 17 years after the American Revolution, his family moved to Taos and built Martinez Hacienda, still an example of Spanish Colonial architecture. When his wife died he studied for the priesthood in Mexico where he was immersed in revolutionary fervor. His young daughter died while he was away. The Mexican Revolution opened the Santa Fe Trail bringing Americans to Taos. Kit Carson arrived in 1826 just as Martinez returned as parish priest.
Padre Martinez obtained a printing press and published educational tracts and a newspaper. He took charge of educating both boys and girls. When American domination seemed imminent he traveled the region, urging his countrymen to accept the new government that promised liberty, freedom and justice.
Rumors of Martinez’ involvement in the mob murder of the American Governor Charles Bent in 1847 have never been proven. Historians call the incident an Indian rebellion but Taos Pueblo members say the murderers were Hispanics dressed as Indians. At any rate, the perpetrators took refuge in the San Geronimo church at the pueblo, Martinez’ church and at that time the mother church in the region, where they were attacked and the church destroyed. And though, just a few years earlier, Martinez tutored Carson in Catholicism so he could marry Josefa Jaramillo, Carson accused Martinez of putting the “Indians” up to the murder of his brother-in-law, Governor Bent.
It seems unlikely, as Martinez soon became the first president of the new legislative assembly for the New Mexico Territory.
More troubling to Spanish Taoseños was his excommunication by the French Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy, a story fictionalized in Willa Cather’s novel, “Death Comes for the Archbishop,” in which the Martinez character is portrayed as dark, backward and corrupt.
What triggered Martinez’ banishment was not his brood but his published opposition to mandatory tithing and charges for the sacraments.
One of Martinez’ first legislative bills was to forbid European-style state sponsorship of churches. Lamy, who felt the Spanish were primitive, needed money for his grand cathedral in Santa Fe. At that same time land-hungry Americans sought to break up the communal holdings of the villages and the vast Spanish land grants, the Martinez grant among them. The people of Taos, land rich but cash poor could only pay the tithe, ten percent of their income, by selling their land. Those who refused were denied burial in consecrated ground, tantamount to eternal condemnation. Other priests arrived after his excommunication but Martinez continued marrying, burying and saying Mass, causing a fracture in the Catholic community.
Martinez’ son, Vicente, joined the Presbyterians who were opening churches and schools teaching English language and American ways. That’s how my husband, a Presbyterian minister, came to be called to Taos. 
Both Catholic and Presbyterian descendents will take part in the unveiling on Sunday, July 16. Father Juan Romero, who was born in Taos but grew up in California, has been the impetus behind the statue. He is pressing the Vatican to reverse the Martinez excommunication in hopes that the Padre’s body can be moved from Kit Carson park to holy ground. Presbyterian great-great grandson Edmundo Vasquez will also give his blessing.
Martinez led his people, the Spanish pioneers who lived so far away from the halls of power first in Spain, later in Mexico and finally in Washington, D.C. He defied the church when it no longer represented his parishioners. He not only spiritually and genetically fathered Taoseños, he bred the spirit of independence that still invigorates, and sometimes plagues, our community.
State Senator Carlos Cisneros wrote the bill for $75,000 in state funds for the statue.
“We know who he was but we couldn’t express it in the language of the day because of the ex-communication,” he said. “Those were turbulent times. There were emotional, human and racial issues brewing. His efforts to educate children are notable and he was our first representative in government. He was the hero and role model for the Hispanic community. He had a vision and knew that we needed to move with the grain. He never received recognition for his commitment to the community. It doesn’t go without controversy but I hope people will start talking about him now.”
No matter what flag flew over it, Padre Martinez was indeed an honor to his homeland and a credit to his people worthy of remembrance.

For Father Martinez:  www.thetaosconnection.com or www.padremartinez.org

For general NM culture the Herencia magazine:  www.herencia.com They have a great offer on the subscription and several books as a package.  Their most recent book is the 300th anniversary of Albuquerque.

And of course, New Mexico magazine.  The current May issue has an article on Rosario, the Indian slave who served the family, and about whom my mother, Dora Ortiz Vasquez, wrote in the Enchanted Temples of Taos.  The article is by Estevan Rael Galvez, the NM State Historian, who is a graduate of Menaul; as was his father, Eric, who was at Menaul during our high school days.

The National Hispanic Cultural center in Abuquerque probably has a page - you need to get the book by Dr. Tomas Chavez about how Spain financed the Revolutionary War, and even little ole NM contributed over $100,000.00

Stay well.  Edmundo

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