Timeline of New Mexico History

What do you know about the history of New Mexico?

The Earliest People■As far back as 12,000 years ago, New Mexico drew early humans to its lands and evidence of their presence has been found in many locations throughout the state.

13,000-10,000 BCE (or even earlier)- The Sandia People13,000-9,000 BCE- Clovis People9000 – 8000 BCE- Folsom People10000 – 500 BCE- Cochise People

700 BCE -1300 CEThe Anasazi build & sustain a developed

civilization at Chaco Canyon

BandalierFrom 1150 CE to 1550 CE the Ancestral Pueblo People lived here, built homes in the walls of the canyon, and planted crops on top of the mesa.

By 1550, the Ancestral Pueblo people had moved from this area to pueblos along the Rio Grande because severe drought added to what were already becoming difficult times.

A.D. 1200-1500s Pueblo Indians establish villages along

the Rio Grande and its tributaries.

1519 – Hernando Cortez

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

1598Juan de Oñate

1599 Battle at Acoma between natives and Spaniards.

Statue of Juan de Oñate located a few miles north of Española, New Mexico. In January of

1998, it was damaged by vandals.

1680 - Pueblo Indian Revolt Santa Fe, NM

The Pueblos unify against the Spanish and defeat them! It was the only successful Native American revolt against the Spanish in all of the Americas.

1706 Villa de Albuquerque founded.

1821 Mexico declares independence from Spain.

1846 Mexican-American War begins. .

1848New Mexico as a territory of the United

States

1863-1868 "The Long Walk"

Led by Kit Carson, about 8,000 Navajos were forced to walk 300 miles across the desert of New Mexico.

1881 Billy the Kid shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner N.M.

1912

1930-1943 – The Great Depression

"Walking 30 miles to visit family in Santa Fe"; Chomita, New Mexico (Circa May 1935)

A displaced family looking for work in 1935

The Manhattan Project On August 2nd, 1939 Leo

Szilard and Albert Einstein sent a letter to President Roosevelt warning that Germany might develop atomic bombs.

On December 6th, 1941 FDR authorizes “The Manhattan Project” and the goal is to create an atomic bomb

Attack on Pearl Harbor On Dec. 7th, 1941 Japan attacks Pearl

Harbor leading to the entry of The United States into WWII.

Executive Order 9066Japanese Internment Camps

Americans of Japanese ancestry were forced to relocate to Internment Camps.The DOP incarcerated 4,555 men of Japanese ancestry in Santa Fe.The Army operated a POW camp in Lordsburg, New Mexico where men of Japanese ancestry also found themselves imprisoned.

They later chose Los Alamos, New Mexico as the site for Project Y.

September 23rd, 1942Colonel Leslie Groves is placed in charge of the Manhattan

Project. J. Robert Oppenheimer becomes the Project's Scientific Director.

Navajo Code Talkers

The Code Talkers used codes and their Navajo language to help end the war in the Pacific. Many were from New Mexico.

The Bataan Death MarchMarch-April 1942

New Mexico soldiers serving in the 200th Coast Artillery during WWII are captured by the Japanese and forced to endure a 60 mile march. About 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100–650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach their destination.

Trinity Site in Southern NM 1945

Japan’s Surrender August 15th, 1945

The Cold War 1947-1991

After WWII, there was a state of political and military tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The Nuclear Arms Race-This was a competition to develop nuclear weapons during the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union dominated

nuclear warhead production

1948 Native Americans win the right to vote in state

elections only.

Sandia National LaboratoriesKnown as Site Z during the Manhattan Project, Sandia National

Laboratories has a location in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

2005 The Federal Government provides more than a

quarter of the jobs in New Mexico and is a major driver of the New Mexico economy!

Looking at New Mexico History What surprises you about New Mexico’s

history? Do you know anything about New Mexico’s

history that was NOT in this PowerPoint? What about New Mexico’s history are you

interested in learning more about?

Sources: http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.

php?fileID=312 http://acoma.sks.com/About_Acoma.aspx http://www.shgresources.com/nm/timeline/ http://weber.ucsd.edu/~rfrank/class_web/

ES-112A/Onate.html