History of Santa Fe

igadier General Stephen W. Kearny led the main body of his Army of the West of some 1,700 soldiers into the city to claim it and the whole New Mexico Territory for the United States. By 1848 the U.S. officially gained New Mexico through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Colonel Alexander William Doniphan, under the command of Kearny, recovered ammunition from Santa Fe labeled "Spain 1776", showing both the quality of communication and military support New Mexico received under Mexican rule.

American visitors saw little promise in the remote town. One traveller in 1849 wrote:

"I can hardly imagine how Santa Fe is supported. The country around it is barren. At the North stands a snow-capped mountain while the valley in which the town is situated is drab and sandy. The streets are narrow... A Mexican will walk about town all day to sell a bundle of grass worth about a dime.

In 1851, Jean Baptiste Lamy arrived; in 1853 he became bishop of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado and traveled to France, Rome, Tucson, Los Angeles, St. Louis, New Orleans and Mexico City. He built Saint Francis Cathedral and shaped Catholicism in the region until his death in 1888.

For a few days in March 1862, the Confederate flag of General Henry Sibley flew over Santa Fe, until he was defeated by Union troops.

On October 21, 1887, "The Padre of Isleta", Anton Docher went to New Mexico where he was ordained as a priest in the St Francis Cathedral of Santa Fe by Bishop Jean-Baptiste Salpointe. After a few years spent in Santa Fe, Bernalillo and in Taos, he arrived in Isleta on December 28, 1891. He wrote an interesting ethnological article published in The Santa Fé Magazine on June,1913, in which he describes the early 20th century's life in the Pueblos.

Santa Fe was originally envisioned as an important stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe