Martinez Hacienda

Wednesday July 1, 2015

Severino Martinez purchased this property 2 miles

south of the Taos plaza in 1804. The original structure was four rooms,

and was expanded as he became more successful. It has thick adobe walls.
There are no exterior windows. This served as a protective fortress.

He married Maria del Carmen Santisteban in 1787.
They had six children, who all survived the death of their parents.

The structure has two courtyards and 21 rooms. In times of threat

or attack by the plains tribes, livestock could be brought in through 

a larger gate and protected within the inner courtyard.

The hacienda was a working farm and ranch with Navajo and Ute

workers for ranch and agricultural work.
 His wife also managed 30 Native American servants.
The hacienda was also a final stop for trading during the Spanish Colonial

period. Trade occurred with goods between Mexico City, Santa Fe and Taos.
Taos still hosts the annual Taos Trade Fair at the Martinez Hacienda,

honoring the past when times of truce were needed to facilitate trade

among tribes, Spanish settlers, and mountain men.

His son, Antonio Jose Martinez, studied to be a priest in Mexico,

and returned to serve Taos as spiritual leader from 1826 to 1867.
Severino Martinez died in 1827.

Padre Antonio Jose Martinez

The Martinez family held onto the property until 1931. It fell into disrepair.
Reconstruction began in 1961. 
It was sold to the Kit Carson Foundation in 1969 or 1972. 
It was fully restored to its 1820 state by 1982.

We started by crossing the river on the property.

We passed the small animal stall for animals such as 

sheep and goats. It is on the other side of the bridge.

The restored Martinez Hacienda stands as representation

of the history of Spanish Colonial New Mexico,

complete with an old ox cart in front of it.

The front courtyard has several rooms of the museum,

which we saw after wandering around the back rooms.

The front courtyard had more grass on it.

Working in a clockwise fashion, the first room in the front courtyard

hosted a museum display of photographs. We passed through the arches

into the back courtyard area.

The next room was a room used for a local quilting group.
Nobody was in the room at the time of my visit, but quilts

are on the walls and their frame was raised up.

We moved onto the weaving room,

where I was able to get some better photos.

During Spanish Colonial times, weaving was a way to make

rugs and blankets. Items such as socks were also made with dyed wool.

They had a variety of looms in the room, including a smaller

portable or child loom.
Carding comes and other items used to turn wool into yarn

were displayed on the walls.

Older woven pieces were on the walls along with socks

and the frame used to help size them while they were made.

The Rio Grande style of rugs and blankets created by Hispanic weavers
tends to work mostly with stripes.

Ella stood on the table near the smallest loom, 

determining it to be a modern enough piece to safely touch

in the museum.

Voir also enjoyed this room. She posed in front of the

striped rug on the wall and in front of the old foundation

displayed on the wall behind the larger loom.

We stepped out the door to the back courtyard.

The next room had retablos (painted images of saints)

and dressed statues of faith, death, marriage, and life.

These symbols and art are used to express

the religious path of early Catholics.

Voir, Ella and Amaya cringed at the figure

representing the "Grim Reaper".

There were a few rooms with guns, leather, buffalo and beaver trapping,

and important aspects of trade and life in early New Mexico,

but we did not find them as appealing.

We quickly moved in the kitchen with its display of natural

dishes, bowls and foods.

The kitchen also had a "shepherd's bed" near the kiva fire.
Shepherd could bring young lambs born early when it was cold,

or ill to sleep along a bunk attached the wall and fireplace to keep warm.

The small cot hanging from the ceiling was used as a cradle

for infants. The swing could be tied to a woman rocking and back

and forth with the grinding stones as she ground corn and rocked the baby

at the same time.

Our tour brought us into a room that displayed
items and the process for early trade.
I can image travelers bringing goods for trade
also enjoying the time to socialize, play cards,
and negotiate for what they want and what they are looking for.

Then joy of joys!!!
We found Josefina and stuff we could TOUCH!!!
Author Valerie Tripp used the Martinez Hacienda

and living history museum El Rancho de Las Golondrinas

for her research in the Josefina stories.

I bet many children have happily discovered this corner

where they could play, look at "Josefina's World"

and play dress up.

The bedside table, miniature chile ristras, black pot,

and bound sticks are a part of Josefina's AG collection.
I have them at home, but the girls were happy to play with them

and pose with them in an authentic setting.
The brown pot is not a part of Josefina's AG collection,

but fits in as a Pueblo piece.

As we continued, we found a room that looked much like Josefina's room.

I was happy to see the bed with the sleigh style frame.

The window sill demonstrates a good example of what happens

with adobe. Adobe bricks were made in frames and dried in the sun.
The same adobe was used as a mortar to attach the bricks together as they

were built into walls. Adobe was then used like stucco is used to cover

over the bricks. As a natural earth based building material, it erodes with the weather.

Annual repairs were made by adding more adobe to the walls.
They continued to grow thicker and thicker until a full restoration was done.

Thick adobe walls keeps rooms cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

They also have a protective quality to them.

We worked our way back to the rooms in the front courtyard.

The above bedroom and a similar bedroom are located in the front courtyard.

I took some more photos and made sure I had done

everything I wanted to do before leaving.

One sidebar item of interest is this wood framed donkey.
I wondered what it was used for and why it was in the front

courtyard near the hallway.

I discovered the secret of the donkey as I searched 

for online photos to supplement mine for this blog entry.

It is used to demonstrate how the smaller carts

were meant to be pulled by donkeys!

It was an interesting and enjoyable visit to the hacienda.

There were just a few more things to see before leaving.

There are two horno ovens on the property.
Fires are built inside the hornos. The fire is allowed

to burn down to ashes. The ashes are cleaned out,

and the remaining heat in the oven is used to cook

foods like breads.

Near the river, there is an area that can be used by

the mountain men as a camp out area during the trade fair.

There is an area for fires and for gatherings where people

can sit in a circle on the logs.

There also is a log target in the back used for ax throwing events.

The adobe playhouse is a treasure in this area.
I believe it was built as a community project

having children as helpers as they learned about adobe

and how adobe houses were built.

Ella, Amaya and Voir wanted to pose in front of this house

that was almost their size!

We were back at the bridge over the river,

and it was time to leave and look forward

to our next adventure.