There is so much to see (museums : history and art), mountain vistas, Spanish architecture, indian historic pueblo, etc. A description published by Southern Living says it all, "Taos feels like a comfortable Navajo blank, wrapping you with coziness and color. This town, which sits on a mesa at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, magically speaks to the soul. This isnt Santa Fe. There's no rat race here. It's tranquil, laid-back and low-key. American Indian culture blends with Spanish and Anglo, embracing you and providing a weekend of discovery and a step outisde your everyday zone. Sociable Taosenos make the town a welcoming place to explore." Reading their weekly newspaper (www.taosnews.com), I discovered that there was alot going on that would fit very well with me. I will have to say that I yearn to live in such a liberal place. I talked to the manager of the Mabel Dodge Luhan museum and was telling her how I was a liberal and lived in Clovis and she spoke in a very compassionate way that I probably felt bereft and spiritually bankrupt living in such a conservative enclave. Her compassion touched me.
We planned on seeing the museums of the town. Our first museum was seeing the lovely Mabel Dodge Luhan home, small convention hall and inn. In the convention hall, I walked in and was told that there would soon be a seminar taught
by Natalie Goldberg. An interesting bit of synchronicity, I had read Natalie Goldberg's memoir and had planned to read more of her books!The Luhan house is a two story adobe with many interesting additions of Mexican tile and ceramic roosters. The house had a huge flagstone patio with adobe and Mexican tiles inset. Of everything we saw in Taos, we were most impressed with the Mabel Dodge Luhan museum. When Mabel Luhan lived in the home; her guests included Margaret Sanger, Georgia O'Keeffe, Willa Cather, Ansel Adams, Carl Jung, D. H. Lawrence, Martha Graham and other notables. For more information, see at www.mabeldodgeluhan.com
We went next to the Kit Carson Home & Museum. Kit Carson's home is a low-slung 12-room adobe home that was built in 1843 for his wife, Josefa. For a cumulative history of Kit Carson's life, see http://www.sangres.com/history/kitcarson.htm. Three of the rooms are furnished as they were when the Carson family lived here. Carson gained notoriety for his role as John C. Fremont's guide in the American West. During the Civil War, he helped organize the NM volunteer infantry and fought against Navajo Indians, against his will, but by order of the U.S. Army. When the Civil War ended and with the Indian campaigns successfully concluded, Carson left the army and took up ranching near Las Animas in Colorado. Carson died at age 58 from an abdominal aortic aneurysm in the surgeon's quarters in Fort Lyon, Colorado (east of Las Animas). He is buried in Taos, alonside his wife, Josefa, who died a month earlier of complications following child birth.
Our next stop was the St Francis of Assisi Church in Ranchos de Taos built in 1772. Adobe chu
rches were built during Spanish colonialism. The Ranchos de Taos church has been the subject matter of art done by Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams. The church has adobe walls four feet thick and enormous buttresses. The feast of St Francis is celebrated in the church and village on October 4th. During our time of residence in southeastern Arizona (1993-95), we have seen other adobe missions and churches such as the one in Tumacacori, Arizona. http://www.toursantacruz.tom/tumacacori.asp and http://www.santacruzvalley.com/tumacacori_arizona.htm What is so striking about the Ranchos church is the four square crosses and the color of the adobe placed up against the robin egg blue of the New Mexico sky. For photography buffs, there is a house next to the church with blue doors and windows. According to Pueblo Indian legend, the color blue keeps evil spirits out and good spirits in.We went to the Millicent Rogers museum which consisted of collections of art, jewelry and textiles. Millicent Rogers was the granddaughter of a founder of Standard Oil. In 1947, after living around the world, she moved to Taos, drawn by the peace and grandeur of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Her collections were opened to the public in 1953.
We drove into the Taos Pueblo.
We were waved away as they were closing public entrances at 4:30 pm. Taos Pueblo is open daily Monday - Saturday 8:00am-4:30pm and Sunday 8:30am-4:30pm. Guided tours are available. They have trade fairs, ceremonial dances and powwows during the year http://www.taospueblo.com/calendar.php . The people have lived on the land area there for over 1,000 years. The Taos Pueblo speak an unwritten Tiwa language. As I understand from the blog of "As the White Crow Flies", the original St. Jerome Church (which is now crumbling) inside the Pueblo is a tragic picture. History annotates that the church was built in 1619 by the Spanish colonization. It was destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 when the native americans threw the Spanish out of New Mexico. Unfortunately, the Spanish returned in 1692, reconquered the area and rebuilt the church. The church stood until 1847 when the U. S. Army attacked the Taos Pueblo because t
hey thought that the Taos Pueblo indians had taken part in the murder of Taos Governor Charles Bent. The Taos Pueblo native americans hid inside the church. The church with the people inside was destroyed. The courtyard 
surrounding the ruins of the original church is now a burial ground. Only the bell tower is still standing. The people of the Taos Pueblo do not allow anyone to cross over the walls onto the church grounds. Historical housing buildings are still being lived in at present. Homes are passed down through families in addition to upkeep. The pueblo is divided into two parts (the North House or "Hlaumma is five stories tall); (the South House or "Hlaukwima" is four stories tall. Both houses are by Red Willow Creek which they use for their drinking water. 
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