Mora, New Mexico
Encyclopedia
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in, and the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of, Mora County
Mora County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*70.9% White*0.7% Black*1.3% Native American*0.3% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.3% Two or more races*23.5% Other races*81.0% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is located about half way between Las Vegas, New Mexico
Las Vegas, New Mexico
Las Vegas is a city in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities both named Las Vegas, west Las Vegas and east Las Vegas , divided by the Gallinas River, retain distinct characters and separate, rival school districts. The population was 14,565 at the 2000...
and Taos
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
on Highway 518 at an altitude of 7,180 feet. The Battle of Mora
Battle of Mora
The First Battle of Mora was part of the Taos Revolt and the Mexican-American War, between United States Army troops and New Mexican militia. It took place in January 1847.-Battle:...
was fought in Mora in 1847, where US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
troops eventually defeated the insurgents, effectively ending the Taos Revolt
Taos Revolt
The Taos Revolt was a popular insurrection in January 1847 by Mexicans and Pueblo allies against the United States' occupation of present-day northern New Mexico during the Mexican–American War. In two short campaigns, United States troops and militia crushed the rebellion of the Mexicans and...
in the Mora Valley.
History
Hispanic settlers had occupied lands within the Mora Valley without legal title ever since Governor de AnzaJuan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Early life:...
had made peace with the Comanches in the late 18th century opening up the east side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Sangre de Cristo Mountains
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States...
for settlement. However, Mora was formally founded as a farming community in 1835 The settlers came from primarily from Las Trampas
Las Trampas, New Mexico
Las Trampas or Trampas is a small unincorporated town in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. Located on the scenic High Road to Taos , it is approximately halfway between Santa Fe to the south and Taos to the north.Founded in 1751 by twelve Spanish families from Santa Fe, it is known for the...
, but also from Picuris
Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico
Picuris Pueblo is a census-designated place in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 86 at the 2000 census. The Pueblo people are from the Tiwa ethnic group of Native Americans. Picurís Pueblo is a member of the Eight Northern Pueblos.Picuris village has occupied its present...
and Embudo
Embudo, New Mexico
Embudo is an unincorporated community in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. It is on NM State Road 68. The Embudo Station is located 2.9 miles south of the intersection of NM State Road 75, near where the Embudo River flows into the Rio Grande.The name "Embudo", meaning "funnel" in...
. The 76 families each received a strip of land by grant of Governor Albino Perez
Albino Pérez
Albino Pérez was a Mexican soldier and politician.Pérez was appointed Governor of New Mexico in 1835. He was assassinated near the city of Santa Fe in 1837 during the Revolt of 1837 after he tried to impose taxes ordered by President Antonio López de Santa Anna.In June 2007 a monument...
. Despite fanciful stories about fur trappers, scattered bones and subsistence on mulberries (mora means mulberry in Spanish), the fact is that the valley, the river and the town took their name from the family name "Mora" of several of the settler families.
In 1843, there was a raid on the town by Texas
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...
freebooters
Filibuster (military)
A filibuster, or freebooter, is someone who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution...
under Colonel Charles A. Warfield claiming that the people in Mora had purchased stolen beef from the Comanches. The Texans killed five men and took eighteen women and children captive as well as 75 horses. The people of the Mora Valley convened a posse, overtook the Texans, and sent them back to Texas on foot.
In 1847, after the Battle of Mora
Battle of Mora
The First Battle of Mora was part of the Taos Revolt and the Mexican-American War, between United States Army troops and New Mexican militia. It took place in January 1847.-Battle:...
, Federal troops killed stragglers, looted and burned the town, the nearby ranches, and all the crops. The town was essentially destroyed and was rebuilt by the insurgents who had fled at the news of artillery coming up the valley. After 1851 when Fort Union
Fort Union National Monument
Fort Union National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service located north of Watrous, Mora County, New Mexico, USA. The national monument was founded on June 28, 1954....
was established on the Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1822 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880...
, these same farmers sold their crops to the fort.
Ceran St. Vrain
Ceran St. Vrain
Ceran St. Vrain , also known as Ceran de Hault de Lassus de St. Vrain, was a major fur trader near Taos, New Mexico, where he and his partner William Bent established the trading post of Bent's Fort. St...
settled in Mora in 1853 built a grist mill and became a major supplier of flour, grain and fodder to Fort Union. At the peak in the 19th century there were five grist mills operating in Mora. The ruins of St. Vrain’s mill still sit one block north of Mora’s main street.
On 22 February 1916, the common lands of the Mora landgrant are sold to "The State Investment Company" at the courthouse door in Mora. Without access to the grazing and timbering lands, many residents sought work outside Mora.
Cultural references
The settlement is mentioned in Willa CatherWilla Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
's 1927 novel Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death Comes for the Archbishop is a 1927 novel by Willa Cather. It concerns the attempts of a Catholic bishop and a priest to establish a diocese in New Mexico Territory.The novel was included on Time's 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005...
, Book Two Chapter 2.
One of Frank Waters’s most popular novels, "People of the Valley" takes place high in the Sangre de Cristo mountains where an isolated Spanish-speaking people confront a threatening world of change. Based on Mora, NM ISBN 0804002436
Mora was also in "The Daybreakers" by Louis L'Amour
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American author. His books consisted primarily of Western fiction novels , however he also wrote historical fiction , science fiction , nonfiction , as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into movies...
. The character Orrin Sackett was the fictional Marshal of Mora.
Further reading
- Stanley, Francis (1963) The Mora, New Mexico Story Pep, Texas OCLC 2744942
- Goodrich, James W. (1972) "Revolt at Mora, 1847" New Mexico Historical Review 47(1): pp. 49–60