Cowboys and Indians

We spent about a week in Taos. There's a lot of history here, of the old West - of cowboys and Indians.

Our first day in Taos we wandered in and out of shops around the square. We also walked up to an arts and crafts fair in Kit Carson park and then down to the historic home of Kit Carson on Kit Carson Road. Though we knew the name, both of us learned a lot about Kit Carson. One of the greatest frontiersman, Kit helped explore and tame the West. Few know the true story about him because dime-store novels, films and as well as more current books have painted a different picture of this man than historical fact. The author of an article in True West magazine, Paul Hutton, says that one reason Carson is not so well known is that New Mexico does not celebrate him like Kentucky does Daniel Boone. On the other hand, New Mexico does exploit the outlaw saga of Billy the Kid (who has stayed everywhere in New Mexico if you believe the signs!). In the musuem, a documentary recounts his life and you can walk through his Taos house.

We also visited the Taos Pueblo. This is the most visited pueblo in New Mexico. We took a walking tour ($10 each plus $5 for a photo permit) with a native guide. Starting with the San Geronimo Chapel, we saw where the original chapel had stood, saw adobe ovens and where the kivas are located, plus learned about some of their traditions. Within the compound, no electricity or plumbing is permitted, thus only about 50-100 people live here full-time. Other families have second homes and live here during ceremonial times. The dwellings have doors, usually colorfully painted but until the late 1800s, the only entrances were through roof-top openings. The ladders were pulled up when the pueblo was in danger. Now that they are no longer in danger from nomadic tribes, they have added doors for easier access.

Many of the ground floor dwellings have shops in them. Native artisans sell their work. Women bake bread, cookies and a rather different fruit pie to sell to visitors too. The cookie was rather like a shortbread cookie and the pie a crust folded over with fruit filling. We also saw the pole that the clowns try to climb on San Geronimo Day, Traditional Pole Climbing at the end of September. It's greased. I could not get my arms around it! (see pole in photo of large Pueblan dwelling.)

Of course there are many museums in Taos that celebrate the artisans, past and present, from the area. The one I tried to visit was unexpectedly closed. I do recommend both the Kit Carson home and museum and the Taos Pueblo when you visit Taos.