THE SECRET SANCTUARY LOS LUCEROS is unforgettable to those who encounter it. Dip into this (relatively) brief history of its diverse dwellers. 38 El Palacio THE NEW MEXICO HISTORIC PROPERTY KNOWN today as Los Luceros has supported consistent human occupation for about 800 years, according to the archaeological record. Today, that occupation metric is miniscule: the ranger’s lodgings and occasional travelers who bunk in the guest house overlooking a rambunctious stretch of the Rio Grande. Visitors, who are welcomed by appointment or during special events, can stroll the apple orchard, enjoy a picnic on the riverbank, or encounter a hushed moment in the quiet, diminutive chapel. Most drivers who zip past its exit lane on arid NM 68 about seasonal fishing and farming village, it served the greater ten miles north of Española have no idea that this lush, storied community of Native pueblos on both sides of the river. The estate is just a mile off the highway, and that the green column of lengthy occupation of the site supports the local lore that Los old-growth trees in the distance signals its fertility. Los Luceros’ Luceros also functioned as a small, fortified Spanish outpost historic marker is so shot up and covered with spray paint that dating from the early 1600s. its purpose, like the property itself, is hard to make out. The remains of pottery from this later period—from about My first childhood memory of Los Luceros is of a northern New 1625 to the 1900s—indicate continuous settlement at Los Mexico apple picking adventure; Velarde and the surrounding Luceros since the earliest days of the Spanish colonization of New areas are well-known for apples. Mexico. These artifacts include large quantities of the pueblo- Every fall my father would load up his kids and head north produced pottery that is commonly found at historic settlement from Santa Fe in search of the perfect Red Delicious, just after sites of the era. This pottery was more modern in design and the first frost when the sugar content was at its height. My used micaceous clay that held liquids for cooking, and withstood dad, a biologist for the state of New Mexico, knew many of the higher ranges of heat. Clay slip, polishing techniques, higher- farmers and ranchers, including the foreman at Los Luceros, temperature glazes, and new designs for cooking appealed to the who would encourage him to come and avail of the bounty. Spanish colonists. It was more economical and convenient for Later, as an archivist at the New Mexico State Records and early colonists to use an available source of earthenware mate- Archives, I was assigned to assist the staff at the Office of rials than to make their own. Most cooking, storage, and serving Historic Preservation (DCA) in their research on Los Luceros pieces used during the colonial period were pueblo-crafted. for federal and state historic preservation site designation. This During the Mexican Period of New Mexico history (1821–46), assignment gave me the opportunity to learn the history of this Los Luceros evolved into a sustainable, working farm and special place from the inside. ranch. New families took ownership of the land and water and Potsherds at the site date from around 1150 to 1350. Since new irrigation and agriculture techniques resulted in increased that time, the course of the river has drifted consistently to yields in crops and livestock production. The slow-moving, the west, exposing a large tract of fertile bottomland that global exchange between the Old World and the New World, succeeding cultures have farmed for centuries. known as the Columbian Exchange, began to take root in Named after the prominent Spanish Colonial family that northern New Mexico. once lived there, its existing structures were built on the ruins The arrival of Colonel Stephen Watts Kearney in June 1846 of a Tewa-speaking Indian settlement known as P’o yege. A brought more change to the Los Luceros community. Known El Palacio 39 LOS LUCEROS as the Territorial Period of New Mexico history (1846–1912), entered into it from the underworld. This place of origin is this era brought new laws, new people, a new language, and located in what is now southern Colorado, where they emerged many economic and social changes to the region. After New from a lake and migrated south to Ojo Caliente. There, they Mexico achieved statehood, the Los Luceros area absorbed an established Ouinge and Sapawe, forming a community along influx of “New Women” from the East, including Mary Cabot the Rio Chama and its tributaries. Wheelwright, who bought Los Luceros and made it into an The Tewas established two other pueblos near the confluence estate that employed local Native and Hispano people. of the Rio Grande and the Rio Chama: Ohkay Owingeh on the east side of the Rio Grande and Yungue Owingeh on the west. Within this Tewa homeland, communities were established on THE TEWA TIME both sides of the Rio Grande, the Tewa pueblo known as P’o yege I first learned about the early oral history of Los Luceros in the [now Los Luceros] among them. 1980s while assisting Tewa elder Esther Martinez (P’oe Tsawi) Traditional pueblo agricultural with research for her book, San Juan Pueblo Tewa Dictionary, at practices have been a part of the the New Mexico State Library (DCA) in Santa Fe. Mrs. Martinez culture since ancient times, and was well-known as a consultant to linguists, as well as a revered their use is documented at the teacher, storyteller, and pueblo historian who willingly shared Los Luceros site. Archaeological her knowledge and memories well into her nineties with evidence reveals that community members of her own community, the state, and the nation. This fishing practices were also an is some of what she shared with me. important part of the sustainable According to the Tewa origin story, four pairs of sibling deities economy at the site. were sent out to explore the world before the Tewa people Community fishing was accom- plished by stretching long nets made from yucca thread across the water, after weighing them A BOOK TO down with rocks and attaching guajes (gourds) and animal skins LOOK OUT FOR to keep them afloat. In Fall 2018, the Museum of One group of fishermen with New Mexico Press, in association ropes dragged the nets upriver with New Mexico Historic Sites, will on one side of the bank, while another group stood on the oppo- publish a book on Los Luceros written site bank awaiting its assigned by best-selling author and historian task. A fisherman with a long Michael Wallis and featuring contempo- wooden rod walked behind the rary photography by Gene Peach. Wallis, net in the middle of the river to help keep it from breaking. who lived at Los Luceros for a short Following repeated dredging, the time, chronicles the colorful second group of fisherman crossed history and legacy of this the river, where both groups historic property. teamed to pull the fish-laden net ashore. After a day of fishing a stretch of the river, the catch was Page 38: Casa Grande after nightfall. Right: The River House, on the banks of the Rio Grande. Photographs by Gene Peach. 40 El Palacio LOS LUCEROS divided among the different clans of the greater community. Mrs. for long-term settlement, including food, iron tools, medicine, Martinez explained that communal work, and the sharing of paper, blacksmithing equipment, clothing, armor, weapons, the bounty it creates, strengthens the concept of regional home- church furnishings, crop seeds, and thousands of cattle, sheep, land within the ancient traditions of the Tewa lifeway. goats, and horses. They intended to establish a permanent colony in northern New Spain, and they chose two locations. The first they called San Juan de los Caballeros, which was the occupied 1598: ENTER THE SPANISH pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan) on the east side of the Rio In 1598, Juan de Oñate and a group of settlers traveled up el del Norte. Several months later the Spanish capital was moved Camino Real de Tierra Adentro to the confluence of el Rio del to Yunge Owingeh, which the Spanish named San Gabriel. This Norte and el Rio de Chama. The expedition brought supplies location was across the river from present day Los Luceros. El Palacio 41 Around 1609, the capital of New Mexico was moved to Santa lands on the west side of the Rio Grande.” The grant covered Fe. Some of the first Hispano families who came with Oñate about 50,000 acres. It extended five miles upriver from Ohkay remained in the San Gabriel area and attempted to establish Owingeh on the south end to Picuris Pueblo on the north. It outlying farms and ranches. Los Luceros was the site of one stretched for eighteen miles from Black Mesa on the west side such rancho during the 1600s, but exact documentary evidence of El Rio del Norte to the Sangre de Cristo mountains in Las remains elusive. Trampas. Sebastián Martín, in fact, donated a portion of the grant to the village of Las Trampas when settlers there began to build their community in 1751. SEBASTIÁN MARTÍN SERRANO LAND GRANT Sebastián Martín was a leader in the reconquest of New The earliest record of Spanish settlement of Los Luceros is the Mexico led by Diego de Vargas in 1692, following the Pueblo Sebastián Martín Serrano grant in 1703. In 1705, following Revolt of 1680. He became one of the leading citizens of the the order of Governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdes, Lieutenant province.