Note 44 — COMMENCEMENT OF THE EXPEDITION

San Fernandez de Taos was one of two small Spanish towns in the fertile valley of Taos, about seventy-five miles northeast of Santa Fé. This valley formed the Mexican boundary for those who came up Arkansas River, and crossed to New Mexico from the north. The first Spaniard to settle in Taos valley, so far as records show, came about the middle of the eighteenth century; for his story, see Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, in our volume xx. Fernandez de Taos is at present the seat for Taos County, with a population of fifteen hundred. See Report of the Governor of New Mexico to the Secretary of the Interior (Washington, 1903), p. 287.

The Indian pueblo of Taos, discovered in 1541 by Barrionuevo, one of Coronado's lieutenants, lies about three miles northwest of San Fernandez, and has had a varied history. A Franciscan mission was established here before 1617, when was built the church which suffered bombardment from the American army in 1847. The great Pueblo revolt of 1680 was largely fomented at Taos; and again, in 1837, a half-breed from Taos, José Gonzales, was the leader of a revolt against the Mexican government. There is still a community of Indians at this pueblo, where in 1847 the final stand was made against Price's army.—Ed.