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Santa Fe: History of an Ancient City

Revised and Expanded Edition

Edited by David Grant Noble

In 2010, Santa Fe officially turned 400—four centuries of a rich and contentious history of Indian, Spanish, and American interactions. Pueblo Indians settled along the banks of the Río Santa Fe as long ago as the sixth century CE. By 1610, Spanish colonists had established the town as a distant outpost in Spain’s expanding empire. Drawing on recent archaeological discoveries and historical research, this updated edition of a classic history details the town’s founding, its survival through revolt and reconquest, its turbulent politics, its lively trade with Mexico and the United States, and the lives of its most important citizens, from the governors Peralta, Vargas, and Armijo to the madam doña Tules. The origins and transformations of the very building blocks of Santa Fe, from the iconic Palace of the Governors to the city’s acequia irrigation system, are revealed in these pages.

2008. 144 pp., 33 color & 120 black-and-white images, reading list, index, 10 x 10

Contributors: Adrian H. Bustamante, Stanley M. Hordes, John L. Kessell, Janet Lecompte, Frances Levine, David Grant Noble, Tara M. Plewa, Stephen S. Post, Joseph P. Sanchez, Marc Simmons, John P. Wilson

Download an excerpt.

“Drawing on recent archaeological discoveries and historical research, this updated edition of Santa Fe, History of an Ancient City, edited by acclaimed photographer David Grant Noble, details the town’s founding, its survival through revolt and reconquest, its turbulent politics, its lively trade with Mexico and the United States, and the lives of its most important citizens, from the governors Peralta, Vargas, and Armijo to the madam doña Tules. The origins and transformations of the very building blocks of Santa Fe, from the iconic Place of the Governors and the city’s acequia irrigation system, are revealed in these pages.

Santa Fe, History of an Ancient City is a classic history that forms a good starting point for deepening our understanding and pursuing further research.

[E]ach scholar-writer has a remarkable story to tell, and the photography is plentiful and historic.

Quoted within the review:
“For tourist and scholar, this history of Santa Fe is a delight.”-Terrae Incognitae

“This is a must for aficionados of Southwestern history and anyone who wants to know what makes Santa Fe different.”-The Santa Fe New Mexican
—Savannah (“Savvy”) Jones, Review Editor, SirReadaLot.org, September Issue, 2008


“State of the art summary…about the prehistory and history of the Santa Fe area…invaluable for its presentation of recent research in Santa Fe.”
—David Hill, New Mexico Archeological Council


“Each chapter whetted my appetite for more. This publication has been updated with new research and knowledge….I would heartily recommend [this book] as a fun and engaging popular history with this caveat: the book is an introduction to a subject that is far more complex and layered than is portrayed.”
—Dennis P. Trujillo, New Mexico Historical Review, Summer 2010, vol. 85, no. 3

 

  1. Ancient Santa Fe: Ten Thousand Years of High Desert Living
    Stephen S. Post
  2. The Peralta-Ordóñez Affair and the Founding of Santa Fe
    Joseph P. Sánchez
  3. Twelve Days in August: The Pueblo Revolt in Santa Fe
    Joseph P. Sánchez
  4. By Force of Arms: Vargas and the Spanish Restoration of Santa Fe
    John L. Kessell
  5. Españoles, Castas, y Labradores: Santa Fe Society in the Eighteenth Century
    Adrian H. Bustamante
  6. When Santa Fe Was a Mexican Town, 1821 to 1846
    Janet Lecompte and Joseph P. Sánchez
  7. The United States Occupation of Santa Fe: “My Government Will Correct All This”
    John P. Wilson
  8. Santa Fe in the Days of the Trail
    Marc Simmons
  9. Acequia Agriculture: Water, Irrigation, and Their Defining Roles in Santa Fe History
    Tara M. Plewa
  10. The Palace of the Governors: A Witness to History
    Frances Levine
  11. A History of the Histories of Santa Fe
    Stanley M. Hordes

There are no working papers for this book at the present time.