An Excavation at Galisteo
Galisteo lies in the next valley east of Santa Fe. (From New Mexico:A Guide to the Colorful State) "Within the Galisteo Valley are nine pueblo ruins, two on the north side and seven on the south side, in the Galisteo Basin. Five of these were occupied when the Spaniards came, the best known being Galisteo pueblo, l/2 miles above the present village. First called San Lucas by Castaño de Sosa (1591), it was remaned Santa Ana by Oñate (1598). During the Pueblo Rebellion (1680), the missionaries here and in neighboring pueblos were killed, and these Indians established themselves in Santa Fe until De Vargas drove them out in l692. In l706 Governor Cuervo y Valdez re-established the pueblo, which was renamed Santa Maria and later called Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, with 90 Tano Indians, whose number by 1749 had increased to 350; but small pox and Comanche raids reduced them so greatly that in 1794 the few survivors moved to Santo Domingo where a few Tanos now live. One of the ten churches in the Province of New Mexico in 1617 was at Santa Cruz de Galisteo. Coronado came here in 1541 on his way to Pecos and the pueblo was visited by Espejo in 1583." The Spanish village also has a long history being founded by Spanish land grant .(See Jose Ortiz y Pino Don José:The Last Patrón) The Tano Indians of Galisteo were active in the 1680 rebellion and occupied Santa Fe until the reconquest. Some moved to the Santa Cruz area (Española) and also built a pueblo above present day Cordova until the Spanish burned them out, hence the old name for Cordova, Quemado (burned). Other Tanos moved in with the Hopis where there descendants remain today. About 1959 Frank Ortiz y Davis, the owner of Galisteo, expressed an interest to my friend Jack Underhill and
myself in locating the old Church at the Galisteo Pueblo. The Pueblo had long been in Ruins with only a low mound to mark its location. We jumped at the chance to dig in the old ruin located in such a beautiful spot. It was a bonus when each afternoon Frank would come out to check our progress and bring cold beer and icecream.
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