To Taos

The next morning we were up early. We took a few photos of the “adorable adobe” in which we’d stayed (I’ll try to remember to include some of them here), had a quick breakfast at a local restaurant...the Range, also on Rio Grande(1)...and then we were on our way. This was the day, you see, that we were targeting ...

Taos.

What is Taos? Well, it’s two things. The oldest of them is the Taos Pueblo, which is actually located just North of the town of Taos proper. It is the home of the a Tiwa-speaking Native American people, and it’s a remarkable community. I gather that scholars can prove that it has been inhabited for at least a thousand years. In other words, about the time William the Conqueror was splashing across the channel to invade England, the Taos people were already living comfortably in their little city-state.(2)

About the photos: First, Martha in front of the Adorable Adobe. Actually, you’ve seen a close up of this one already, but here we have the whole wall. (Wanted to get those pups in!) Second, some of the foliage we came to see. This is along the road near Chimayo, New Mexico. Third, and last, the sitting room at an Inn we stayed at in Las Cruces-Alamedia in 2018. Is it any wonder why we were saddened when we left New Mexico?

By the way, I gather too that the Taos area has been inhabited a lot longer than that. In fact, apparently, Taos was visited by Paleoindians ...i.e., the first peoples in the New World...as early as 20,000 years ago.

But I’ll write a great deal more about the Pueblo and its people in future.

Meanwhile, second, Taos is also a modern town, just south of the Pueblo. It is, of course, much younger, dating back only to the 1780-1800s, when it was established by the incoming Spanish -- the Conquistadors--as a local fortified base. It remained a Spanish community until it became Mexican in 1821. And, not terribly long after that, in 1847, it became part of the United States following the Mexican-American War. (3)

As an aside, just in case you’re interested, that means Taos and all of New Mexico was Spanish for a lot longer than it was Mexican, and that explains why many long-term Spanish-surname Neomexicanos will bristle if you call them “Mexican-Americans.” They are “Hispanos,” or “Hispanic,” but they are *not* Mexican-Americans.(4)

Anyway, as an American town, Taos remained small and largely unnoticed in American culture until 1899 and thereafter. For a variety of reasons, it was discovered (along with Santa Fe) by European and Anglo-American artists and intellectuals. Soon it was an art colony, with all the good and bad that designation implies.(5) It’s still an art colony, in fact. Indeed, it has one of the most active artistic and literary communities in the state, if not in the country.

It is also one that I personally have, oddly enough, a distant connection to -- through my son and via an artist named Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955). But that’s another story I will tell in due time.(6)

Today, Taos is a happening place. It is still small (about 5,716 people as of 2010, according to Wikipedia), but the population is young and vigorous. The median age (again, according to Wikipedia) is only 44. There are lots of cool little shops, hotels, cafes, coffee shops and so on to visit. And there’s a lot going on--festivals, celebrations, and so on.

There’s also a terrific ski area--again, I’ll tell you about this in time. Suffice to say that if you have never been a not-too-competent, 15-year-old skier with asthma, myopia, and a case of acne that would have done credit to a mustard gas attack, standing at the bottom and looking up “Al’s Run,” you do not know the meaning of the word “terror.”(7)

But it was to Taos that we were now headed.

And we didn’t know it at the time, but...

It would prove to be one of our most successful trips...anywhere...and any time.

More to come.

Footnotes:

1. The Range is one of our favorite restaurants in New Mexico, and I know I’ve written about it here before. Suffice to say that there are now Range restaurants all over Albuquerque, but our favorite of them remains the original Range in Bernalillo. See here: https://rangecafe.com/

2. “Taos Pueblo,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taos_Pueblo

3. “Taos, New Mexico,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taos,_New_Mexico#

4. Once, when I was much, much younger, and a student in what would now be called Middle School, but which was then “Junior High,” I made the mistake of taking a Spanish Language class from a severe and unpleasant woman who, I soon learned, detested Anglos and everything about us. But, I also discovered that I had it relatively easy in her class. Her real venom was directed toward Mexican-American Hispanic students, whom she regarded as vulgar “wet-backs.”

5. “Taos Art Colony,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taos_art_colony

6. For more Fechin, see here: “Nicolai Fechin,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolai_Fechin. As I said, I will explain my (extremely) tenuous connection to him in the very near future.

7. Berman, Samantha. “Everything I Wish I Knew Before Visiting Taos Ski Valley.” SKI Magazine, 24 Mar. 2025, https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/southern-rockies/everything-you-need-to-know-taos-ski-valley/?scope=anon

Copyright©2026 Michael Jay Tucker

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