Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico

History

The pueblo plays a supporting role in Spanish colonial history. Francisco Vázquez de Coronado made first contact with Kewa in 1540. When the Spanish first came to the Rio Grande Valley, they found over 70 villages that manufactured goods and had a strong trade network. Kewa was one of these villages. After first contact, Spanish expeditions into the area continued, one of them being Juan de Oñate's expedition in 1598. Oñate arrived in Kewa Pueblo with the intention of bringing Kewa and pueblos in its vicinity under Spanish rule. Soon after his visit, a mission was established and a church was built. In 1680, Kewa and other nearby pueblos rose in revolt against their Spanish colonizers, killing four priests and Spanish settlers nearby. Similar strife occurred again during the tail end of Spanish colonization in the area in 1696. In both cases, the revolts were eventually quelled by the Spanish. A century later, in 1807, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike visited Kewa. In his journal, he described the church as adorned with elegantly ornamented paintings, one of which being Saint Domingo.

From the History section of Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.