PHOTO: GETTY


l Francisco Vásquez de Coronado was the first European to explore the Albuquerque area. In this painting by Frederic Remington, Coronado and his men, accompanied by a Native American guide, are depicted on their search for riches in the New World.


The city of Albuquerque was formally established in 1706 and originally named Villa de San Felipe de Alburquerque; the first “r” was later dropped. The town’s location on the Santa Fe–to–Mexico extension of the Santa Fe Trail and on the Rio Grande, the largest waterway in the area, attracted settlers and commerce. Many of the settlers built adobe homes around Albuquerque’s central plaza, which today is the hub of the city’s Old Town area.


In the early 1800s, Spain’s hold in the Americas began to weaken, and Mexico began to break away from Spain. In 1821, Mexico won indepen- dence from Spain and New Mexico became a province of Mexico. When the United States declared war on Mexico in 1846, New Mexico was caught in the fray. General Stephen Watts Kearny advanced on Santa Fe and raised the US flag in the central plaza. New Mexicans were offered protection if they swore allegiance to the United States. With the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, a large section of northern New Mexico was ceded to the United States, and five years later, the United States acquired southern New Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase, making the territory officially the property of the United States. Still, it wasn’t until decades later, in January of 1912, that


T H E E L K S M A G A Z I N E


lbuquerque’s location on the Santa Fe–to–Mexico extension of the Santa Fe Trail and on the Rio Grande, the


largest waterway in the area, attracted settlers and commerce.


u Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza is a favored meeting place, a venue for celebrations, and a welcoming rest stop for both locals and visitors.


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PHOTO: MARBLE STREET STUDIO.COM


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