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A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE SITE OF THE BATTLE OF PUERTECITO DE

POJOAQUE THAT OCCURRED ON JANUARY 27, 1838 BE COMMEMORATED BY

AN OFFICIAL HISTORIC MARKER AS AN EVENT AND LOCATION OF

HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE.

WHEREAS, the Rebellion of Rio Arriba has been the

subject of pundits and historians since its occurrence in

1837, and its causes have been analyzed by citizens and

authors in several publications, the most concise being

Rebellion in Rio Arriba, 1837 by Janet Lecompt; and

WHEREAS, several governors of the department of

New Mexico, including Manuel Armijo, Santiago Abreu,

Francisco Sarracino, Albino Perez and Donaciano Vigil, were

involved in the rebellion, either as protagonists or

antagonists; and

WHEREAS, Donaciano Vigil, who served as the civil

governor of New Mexico during 1847 and 1848, addressed the

departmental assembly of New Mexico, before New Mexico had

become either a territory or a state of the United States,

and provided narratives recorded in A Statement Concerning

Historical Events Between 1801-1851 to the historian and

collector William G. Ritch, in which the governor presented

the Rebellion of Rio Arriba as one of the major events of

New Mexico history; and

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WHEREAS, family folklore in the rio arriba, or the

"upper river" country from Chimayo to El Rancho, kept story

fragments of the Rebellion of Rio Arriba in their oral

tradition and songs; and

WHEREAS, history has failed to memorialize leaders of

the Rebellion of Rio Arriba, including Governor Jose

Gonzales, Rafael Garcia, Desiderio Montoya, Antonio Abad

Montoya, Alcalde Juan Jose Esquibel, Antonio "El Coyote"

Vigil and Baltazar of Ohkay Owingeh, because they lost the

battle of Puertecito de Pojoaque in the face of better-armed

and better-organized Mexican forces and local militias; and

WHEREAS, many citizens in what was then the Mexican

department of New Mexico sought to oppose the constitutional

reforms of 1835, reforms in which Mexico sought to impose

taxes, centralize authority in Mexico City and restrict some

liberties that had been guaranteed by the 1824 Mexican

constitution; and

WHEREAS, neglect by the Mexican national government due

to internal political turmoil promoted economic and military

insecurity in New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, Juan Jose Esquibel, the alcalde of Santa Cruz

de la Canada, and factions from throughout New Mexico arose

in open defiance of the Mexican government, its authorities

and its constitution during the summer of 1837 and formed a

revolutionary council called the "Canton"; and

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WHEREAS, fiscal irresponsibility, embezzlement and

political intrigue had reached a level that destroyed the

credibility of the Santa Fe government under the

administration of Governor Albino Perez and led to the

assassination on August 9, 1837 of Perez and several other

high-ranking officials; and

WHEREAS, during September of 1837, men who were

community leaders from the rio abajo, or the "lower river"

country of Albuquerque, Belen and Tome, issued the

"Pronouncement of Tome", which sought to bring order to the

chaos that ensued because of the Rebellion of Rio Arriba and

to counter the aims of the Canton and which installed

Manuel Armijo as political chief; and

WHEREAS, Lieutenant Colonel Justiniani of El Paso del

Norte arrived with a section of two hundred ninety-six men of

the Mexican army and an official appointment that made Armijo

the new governor of New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, on January 27, 1838, the forces under

Governor Armijo and Lieutenant Colonel Justiniani, numbering

five hundred eighty-two men, marched upon more than one

thousand three hundred revolutionaries at the Puertecito de

Pojoaque, located about eighteen miles north of Santa Fe, and

in the action, commander of the revolutionaries

Antonio "El Coyote" Vigil was killed, dozens died, many were

taken prisoner, others were seriously wounded and the dead

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were said to have filled five wagons; and

WHEREAS, the famous Padre Jose Martinez of Taos served

as chaplain under Governor Manuel Armijo during the battle of

Puertecito de Pojoaque, and he performed last rites for the

dying; and

WHEREAS, Manuel Armijo entered the villa of Santa Cruz

de la Canada and found no opposition, bringing an end to the

Rebellion of Rio Arriba; and

WHEREAS, Manuel Armijo summarily executed the remaining

leaders of the rebellion, Jose Gonzales, the Montoyas and

Alcalde Juan Jose Esquibel; and

WHEREAS, the location of the battlefield is associated

with the place of Puertecito de Pojoaque, the location of

which is used as a reference point in Section 4-21-1 NMSA

1978 dating to 1851, where the section identifies that "The

boundaries of the county of Rio Arriba are as follows: on

the south from the Puertecito of Pojuaque, drawing a direct

line toward the west in the direction of the mesilla of

San Yldefonso; from the mesilla crossing the Rio del Norte

toward the west and continuing until it reaches the

boundaries of the territory; drawing a direct line from said

Puertecito de Pojoaque toward the east until it reaches the

last house of the town of Cundiyo, toward the south,

continuing the same line until it reaches the highest point

of the mountain of Nambe; from thence, following the summit

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of the mountain toward the north, until it reaches the

southern boundary of the county of Taos; this shall

constitute the eastern boundary, and on the north the

boundary of the county of Taos, and on the west the boundary

line of the territory."; and

WHEREAS, the location of the Puertecito de Pojoaque as a

landmark and continued knowledge of the Rebellion of

Rio Arriba are important to the identity of Rio Arribenos and

Rio Arriba history; and

WHEREAS, the Rebellion of Rio Arriba and the site of the

battle of Puertecito de Pojoaque, and the importance of these

events to New Mexico's history, have nearly become lost and

forgotten, and a project to improve United States highway

84-285 between Pojoaque and the Espanola valley has failed to

preserve this site or deem it worthy of commemoration;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE

STATE OF NEW MEXICO that from this day forward the site of

the battle of Puertecito de Pojoaque will be preserved for

posterity and will be marked by an official historic marker;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following text be sent

to the historic preservation division of the cultural affairs

department for the consideration of the cultural properties

review committee, the statutory commission charged with

approving official historic marker text:

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"Battle of Puertecito de Pojoaque 27 January 1838

Puertecito means "little pass". The area extending one mile

to the south and to the north of this site was the scene of a

battle when the citizens of the Rio Arriba country, in

New Mexico, then a department of Mexico, rebelled against the

Mexican government over taxes and liberty. Governor Manuel

Armijo and the Mexican army defeated factions of Tewa and

Hispano revolutionaries led by Antonio "El Coyote" Vigil and

interim Governor Jose Gonzales."; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the historic preservation division of the

cultural affairs department, the state historian and the

governor.