"The history of small Sandia Pueblo is unfamiliar to most New Mexicans today, though its glitzy hotel and casino just north of Albuquerque are popular with the public.

Sandia's long story is punctuated with episodes of violence. At the time of the Pueblo Revolt in 1680, its people abandoned their village and fled to the Hopis of Arizona.

They remained in exile, longing for their old home on the Rio Grande, until the 1740s. Franciscan missionaries then persuaded some 350 Sandias to return and reoccupy their ancestral pueblo.

They found it in ruins, with the roof gone on the original mission. Father Miguel de Menchero tried to restore the building, but he failed — the small baptistery room next to the church was made usable and services were held there for many years.

The Native Americans had to start from scratch in constructing new lives. They worked hard at clearing old fields along the river and reopening irrigation ditches. They also resumed breeding herds of livestock.

Years drifted by and the pueblo prospered, at least until the fatal day of June 23, 1775. On that date began a little drama that quickly spelled disaster for the people."

Get the Story:
Marc Simmons: Trail Dust: Forgotten raid a dark day for Sandia Pueblo (The Santa Fe New Mexican 10/16)

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