Talk:Abiquiú, New Mexico

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General comments

I looked at the article; the first sentence is sort of correct--- it is true that it is an "unincorporated town," but it was and still is a Spanish land grant given to the Genizaro by Governor Vélez Cachupín.

The Genizaro were and are the children of Spanish men and Pueblo women (i.e. bastards produced by rape) and "Christianized Indians." The purpose of the land grant was to make Abiquiu a buffer zone between the Apaches, the Navajos, the Utes, and the Comanches, and the city of Santa Fe and the Taos Pueblo. The Comanches raided from the north even though they lived in the north-east, and they some times joined with Ute and/or Apache raiders and headed southward towards Santa Fe.

Governor Cachupín set aside the land grant and ordered a dozen or so families to occupy the land; he also ordered them to grow crops, form a militia, and train in combat. This was the 1750s when the governor had the power of a god over the citizens, and the people he ordered to occupy the land had to either do so or rot in prison. Families who occupied the land were given that land as their own property if they stayed and defended it.

Governor Cachupín also was the first governor of New Mexico who set up redoubts and militia along the raiding routes, and he was the first European who fought and won battles against the Comanches. In fact, Cachupín took to the battle field and lead his army against the Comanches with such success that the Comanches sued for peace and Governor Cachupín was the only Spaniard the Comanches would deal with. In fact, Cachupín's final battle against the Comanches was so decisive, and so impressive, he was considered something of an "honorary Comanche" as a sign of respect for his war skills.

Cachupín was also liberal, freeing slaves and treating the Indios more or less like human beings. Slavery was against the law in New Spain, but slavery was also common: the enslavers just didn't call it "slavery."

The land grant at Abiquiu more or less prospered until Governor Cachupín was replaced by an inferior human being as governor; Abiquiu was promptly raided and the occupants driven off. The new governor ordered the families to return to Abiquiu and fight, and some of them did and died. The new governor could not successfully oppose the northern raiders, and he was eventually replaced for a short time by Cachupín. As soon as the raiders heard Cachupín had returned, the raiding ceased.

The Land Grant Wars came to New Mexico in the 1800s, and the Abiquiu Land Grant was attacked by Anglos seeking to steal the land away from the owners. When Cachupín granted the land, he used vague bounders to define it--- a dirt road to the north, two arroyos to east and west, and Rio Chama to the north (more or less: the directions are not that exact). The USA government had been trying to take some of that land away because of the poor boundry descriptions, but the land grant holders have more or less successfully fought that attempted theft in court and "won," as recently as the 1980s.

--Desertphile (talk) 02:46, 26 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Does the name "Abiquiu" mean anything? I don't suppose it's the Spanish approximation of "ABQ" (i.e. Albuquerque)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.161.139.200 (talk) 23:08, 1 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This article is severely short on information about the actual town (if it is a town, it doesn't even say that!) - there's plenty of "cultural references" but how about some actual info about its current population and content? 188.223.34.231 (talk) 01:33, 26 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Talk:possible additions to content

I just reviewed the article and had a few ideas on content - firstly, to add to information about the town, here are some community points of interest including Plaza Blanca or Bode's General Store. Additional services include The Abiquiu Inn and Las Clinicas del Norte. Would these be worth adding in any form?

Other headings that would be relevant to the area and good to add once resources are found include: geology, religion (the area has a varied religious history with groups including penitente, muslim, catholic missions, and the monastery) and transportation (there is a bus that travels through from Espanola to Chama. Annenoravalentino (talk) 05:12, 19 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]