Over the generations, many Santa Fe residents were devoted to saving and protecting the city's heritage. The following individuals illustrate the range of those efforts.

Donaciano Vigil

Born in Santa Fe in 1802, Donaciano Vigil chose when he turned 21 to make the military his career. After U.S. conquest of New Mexico in 1846, Vigil's acceptance of American rule influenced other Hispanos to recognize the reality of the federal presence and calm largely political unrest in the territorial period. During the earlier Spanish colonial period, government and church officials were careful to preserve historical records. After arrival of the Americans, however, it fell to Vigil to champion the cause of saving historical records. As New Mexico's first civil governor, Vigil organized archival records and made it his cause to preserve New Mexico's history.

Source: Office of the State Historian

Cleofas Martinez Jaramillo

Her father was a prominent land owner. Her husband was a rising political star. But Cleofas Jaramillo's legacy overtook the men in her life because of her commitment to preserve Hispanic culture. By age 20, when she married in 1898, Jaramillo already knew privilege and influence and proved herself as an excellent student at Loretto Academy. When her husband and three children all died before Jaramillo reached 55, she turned her attention to preserving what she feared was her fading culture. She wrote, "On account of familiarity with the old customs, we had not awakened to the fact that they were worth preserving, until in recent years, and have turned our effort to revive them." In 1935, she co-founded the Sociedad Folklórica, and soon she began a prolific writing career, documenting traditional cooking, storytelling, celebrations and religious customs. She died in 1956.

Source: Tey Diana Rebolledo

Feliciana Tapia Viarrial

Pojoaque Pueblo grew from near extinction to become the cultural center and economic power it is today. Feliciana Viarrial was a matriarch of the community as it experienced that cultural revitalization. Almost by chance in 1932, her father learned that the federal commissioner of Indian affairs was seeking heirs to Pojoaque tribal lands. Led by Viarrial's father, Jose Antonio Tapia, a caravan of 14 Pojoaque members returned to the pueblo. By 1934, all of the Pojoaque Pueblo land had been fenced. By 1936, the Pojoaque Pueblo became a federally recognized Indian reservation of 11,603 acres. In 1940, just four years after Pojoaque became a recognized reservation, Tapia died. His daughter, Feliciana, who died in 1988, and her son, Jacob Viarrial, carried on the work of developing and strengthening the pueblo.


William Penhallow Henderson

The Pueblo Spanish Building Company under William Penhallow Henderson was a major contributor to the revival movement in Pueblo-Spanish architecture in the prewar 1900s. Henderson's company designed and built several noteworthy projects, including the present-day School of American Research and Wheelwright Museum. The remodeling of Sena Plaza in downtown Santa Fe in 1927 was a major achievement. Henderson's furniture, influenced by the Spanish colonial period and handmade by craftsmen, was popular locally and nationally.

Source: Corinne P. Sze

Carlos Vierra

The person arguably most responsible for launching Santa Fe style was Carlos Vierra. A Californian of Portuguese decent, Vierra studied art in New York City before moving to Santa Fe in 1904 to get well. He was a painter who created watercolor images of mission churches and a photographer who used aerial photography to advance the study of prehistoric Native ruins. His association with the Museum of New Mexico fed an interest in traditional architecture. In 1918, he opened eyes in Santa Fe by designing a home that incorporated pueblo influences, particularly a set-back second story. When Vierra died in 1937, his friend Paul Walter, another leading figure in historical preservation, said, "Carlos Vierra left an impression on Santa Fe that will endure for ages. ... That Santa Fe is not only a 'City Different' but also a 'City Beautiful' is more largely owing to him, perhaps, than any other individual."

Source: Maurilio E. Vigil

Maria Chabot

If not for Maria Chabot's idea, Indian Market wouldn't be what it is today. Influenced by outdoors markets she saw in Mexico, Chabot brought to Santa Fe the idea of an open-air market on the Plaza. Indian Market began modestly as a fair and exhibition in 1922. With still no permanent home 10 years later, the market stopped for four years. In 1936, Chabot's idea of an outdoor market took hold, and the market was revitalized to run over eight consecutive Saturdays in July and August. Indian Market found its niche. Chabot died in 2001 knowing that the market had gained international fame as Santa Fe's largest event, a celebration of Indian arts and culture that has drawn millions over the years to the city.

Source: Southwestern Association for Indian Arts

Pedro Ribera Ortega

La Conquistadora needed protection, and The Caballeros de Vargas stepped up to the job. The Caballeros de Vargas needed a leader, and Pedro Ribera Ortega took charge. He is considered the founder of the group organized in 1956 as guardians of the Our Lady of Peace statue, popularly known as La Conquistadora, the oldest image of the Virgin Mary in the United States, first brought to Santa Fe in 1625. The Caballeros de Vargas and the statue have prominent roles in the most visible celebration of heritage, the annual Santa Fe Fiesta. Ortega taught Spanish, Latin and history for 30 years and wrote widely on Santa Fe traditions. He lived simply — a life dominated by books, writing and teaching — and died in 2003.

Source: Center for Southwest Research

José Antonio Esquibel

Hispanos are able to research readily their family histories thanks largely to the work of José Antonio Esquibel. A native of Santa Fe, Esquibel is a historian, lecturer and genealogist. He also is a prolific writer who is equally respected and well known for his willingness to share information on Hispanic heritage with anyone who asks. Esquibel frequently speaks to genealogy groups and presents his meticulous research — both well-known records and newly uncovered information — about Hispanic families.

Source: New Mexican Hispanic Culture Preservation League