"President Richard Nixon signing H.R. 471 Blue Lake Bill Taos Pueblo American Indian Land Deed,” (NAID 66394205)
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1000 - 1450 : Most likely when the earliest sections of the present buildings of Taos Pueblo were built.
1500 : King Charles V gifts a cane to the Pueblo people of the Southwest, recognizing their individual autonomy. This is one of two canes that Taos Pueblo leaders took with them to Washington, D.C.
1540 : Conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado leads his expedition up the Rio Grande Valley (current-day New Mexico).
1598 : Spanish soldiers and priests imposed forced-labor system, called encomienda, which resembles slavery and prevented the Pueblos from communing their religious ceremonies.
1599 : Battle at Acoma Pueblo between Pueblo nations and the Spanish.
1626 : Spanish Inquisition established in New Mexico.
1680 : Pueblo leaders organize a revolt against Spanish Rule, successfully driving the Spanish forces as far south as current-day Mexico.
1681 : Spanish forces attempt to retake Northern New Mexico but is driven back.
1692 : The Spanish, led by the new Governor Don Diego de Vargas, re-conquer the lands in New Mexico.
1821 : Mexico assumed sovereignty over the territory following the Mexican Revolution.
1848 : The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war between the United States and Mexico. The treaty recognized the property rights of Pueblo peoples brought under U.S. sovereignty.
1850 : The Taos Rebellion takes place where over 150 men, women, children, and elderly are killed in the old St. Jerome Church.
1863 : President Abraham Lincoln gifts Taos Pueblo a “cane of power”, recognizing Taos Pueblo's unique self-governing system. Taos Pueblo leaders take this cane with them to Washington, D.C.
1903 : The process of appropriating the Blue Lake area begins.
1906 : The U.S. government completes its appropriation of the area of Blue Lake into the Taos Forest Reserve, which soon becomes Taos National Forest.
1908 : Taos National Forest and Jemez National Forest are merged to form Carson National Forest.
1916 : Elliott Barker becomes supervisor for the Carson National Forest. Under his tenure, trails are cut leading to the lake and it becomes stocked with trout for recreational fishing.
1924 : Congress passes the Pueblo Lands Act, which establishes a Lands Board to oversee claims.
1926 : The Pueblo Lands Board offers compensation for lands occupied by non-Puebloans. Taos Pueblo waives this compensation in return for the title to the Blue Lake area. They receive neither.
1928 : The Forest Service builds a cabin by Blue Lake with horse corral, garbage pits, and an outhouse.
1951 (Aug. 13) : Taos Pueblo files suit before the Indian Claims Commission.
1965 (Sept 8) : Indian Claims Commission finds in favor of Taos Pueblo. They ruled that Taos Pueblo had exclusive use of the land since 1906.
1966 (March 15) : S. 3085 is introduced which would return the area. It does not pass.
1968 (May 10) : H.B. 3306 passes unanimously by the House of Representatives. Introduced in 1967, this legislation would also return the sacred area. It dies in the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs subcommittee.
1969 (Jan 3) : The Blue Lake bill is reintroduced as H.B. 471.
1970 (July 8) : President Nixon announces support for the bill.
1970 (July 9) : Hearings open on H.B. 471 and on S. 750.
1970 (Dec 2) : Senate approves H.R. 471, 70-12.
1970 (Dec 15) : President Nixon signs H.R. 471 into law. After 64 years of dispossession, the Blue Lake area is returned to Taos Pueblo.
Information from:
Gordon-McCutchan, R. C. The Taos Indians and the Battle for Blue Lake. Santa Fe: Red Crane Books, 1991.
Taos Pueblo website. "About." Accessed 11/18/2020
Testimony given by Paul Bernal and the Taos Pueblo delegation in congressional hearings. In United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. Subcommittee on Indian Affairs. Taos Indians--Blue Lake Amendments: Hearings, Ninety-first Congress, Second Session, On S. 750 And H.R. 471 ... July 9 And 10, 1970. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1970.