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The history of the De Vargas pageant in Santa Fe and the Seligman influence

By

Arthur Scott

   The pageant which portrays the entry of de Vargas to Santa Fe in 1692 actually began in 1911, as New Mexico was preparing for statehood; and contrary to what many now believe.  In the beginning, it had nothing to do with the Santa Fe Fiestas. The pageants were first held in conjunction with the town’s Fourth of July festivities. The pageant was intended to emulate the popular pageants being held in eastern cities and Europe at the time.

The tiny village of Embudo about fifty miles north of Santa Fe was a location of a station on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Few know the true place Embudo has in the development and settlement of the arid west during the eighteen eighties. Embudo became known as the "Birthplace Of Systematic Stream Gaging." The attached is a synopsis of this and the demis of "The Chile Line."  Download and readd the article below.

Even in 1934 travel in New Mexico was somewhat precarious and possibly muddy.

    From New Mexico Blue Book 1933-1934, State Official Register, Issued by Mrs. Marguerite P. Baca, Secretary Of State.

State Population:

1930   423,317 (29 percent increase since 1910)

1910 (prior to statehood) 327,304

Highways in state:      Mileage

Hard Paved                127

Oiled                         1014

Gravel                       1999

Graded                      1838

Unimproved             5392