Kirjahaku

This biography of one of New Mexico's most distinguished citizens, J Paul Taylor (born 1920) recounts the life of the legislator, educator, community leader, and arts patron. J Paul Taylor was born to a pioneering New Mexico family. Taylor's mother, Margarita Romero y Lopez, was born in 1881 in Romeroville, near Las Vegas, New Mexico, to wealthy traders and merchants on the Santa Fe Trail who were instrumental in the development of Las Vegas as a commercial centre. Margarita and her husband Robert Taylor, settled in the Mesilla Valley near Las Cruces, where, in 1945, son J Paul and his bride Mary Daniels set up home. In 1947 the young couple relocated to Mesilla, where J Paul Taylor began his thirty-nine-year career in education. He was first elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives in 1986, a position he held until his retirement in 2004. In 1953 Taylor and his wife purchased the historic Barela-Reynolds property on the plaza in Old Mesilla, two miles from Las Cruces. The Taylor's home today is one of the great architecturally and historically significant properties in southern New Mexico, filled with a world-class collection of art from New Mexico, the Southwest, North and South America, Mexico, and Europe. On the National Register of Historic Properties, the property was dedicated a New Mexico State Monument in 2004. Ana Pacheco extensively interviewed Taylor and many of his family members while writing the story of Taylor's remarkable life in New Mexico. The book is illustrated with historical and family photographs as well as contemporary photographs of the Taylor Monument and art collections.

As early as 1851, photographers journeyed along the arduous Santa Fe Trail on horseback and in covered wagons on a quest to capture the magnificent vistas on film. In the ever-changing light of New Mexico's landscape, they photographed the faces of the Pu

New Mexico's harsh terrain, countless wars and epidemics were a challenging and fascinating environment for the many cultures and peoples who settled there. When tragedy struck, their faith and religious rituals allowed them to mourn, celebrate and commem

Shaped by early volcanic activity, the Sangre De Cristo and Jemez Mountain ranges surrounding Santa Fe create a uniquely spiritual landscape. Centuries ago, the Anasazi and their Pueblo Indian descendants believed the land was sacred and established communities in the area. In the early seventeenth century, the Spanish brought Catholicism to Santa Fe and christened it the City of Holy Faith. Other European faiths arrived in the mid-nineteenth century. By the twentieth century, religions from the East, along with New Thought and New Age practitioners, had established a foothold in the capital city. Sikhism, the fifth-largest religion in the world, was introduced to the western hemisphere from Santa Fe. The nature-based UDV religion of Brazil founded its first center in the United States in Santa Fe, which also includes the four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. Santa Fe city historian Ana Pacheco documents the rich religious and spiritual history of this high-mountain metaphysical community.

The history of Santa Fe is encapsulated in imagery. Remnants of unearthed Native American artifacts from eons ago shed light on its first inhabitants. By the 17th century, Spanish settlers were capturing everyday life with brushstrokes on canvas. In the 1850s, the epic of this ancient land was brought to life through the camera's lens. These early images, which tell the story of the convergence of humanity, are as varied as the people themselves. They arrived at different times on the four major arteries that connect in the heart of the city: the Camino Real (from Mexico City), the Santa Fe Trail (from Independence, Missouri), the Old Spanish Trail (from Los Angeles), and the Mother Road, Route 66, which began in Chicago.

As early as 1851, photographers journeyed along the arduous Santa Fe Trail on horseback and in covered wagons on a quest to capture the magnificent vistas on film. In the ever-changing light of New Mexico's landscape, they photographed the faces of the Pueblo People and helped to document their ancient, unimaginable world. They became witness to millennia of history. New Mexico's first inhabitants are believed to have descended from the Anasazi, the largely nomadic group that settled along the Colorado Plateau around 200 AD. Most likely, drought conditions brought the population centers of the Anasazi villages located in the Four Corners of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico to settle along the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico and the Mogollon Rim of Arizona in 1300 AD.

New Mexico's harsh terrain, countless wars and epidemics were a challenging and fascinating environment for the many cultures and peoples who settled there. When tragedy struck, their faith and religious rituals allowed them to mourn, celebrate and commemorate their dead. From Pueblo Indians and Spanish colonists to Jewish immigrants and American veterans, many old traditions have endured and blended into modern society. The area is also home to many unique death sites, including the graves of Smokey Bear and Billy the Kid, and the largest contemporary collection of human bones in the world. Author Ana Pacheco guides you through the history of Christmas death rituals, roadside descansos, communal smallpox graves, Civil War memorials and more.