Gotta have Fé: New Mexico's capital city is steeped in 'holy' history

Editor’s note: The Journal continues “What’s in a Name?,” a once a month column in which Elaine Briseño will give a short history of how places in New Mexico got their names.

The holiday season is well under way. Many celebrate this time of year in a non-secular way, but for millions it’s a time of great religious importance, marking the birth of Jesus Christ.

Gotta have Fé: New Mexico's capital city is steeped in 'holy' history

New Mexico is no stranger to religious observation. The Spaniards brought with them their Catholic faith. The area’s breathtaking churches, places honoring its beloved saints and the faith itself are evidence of that.

Santa Fe is one of those places. Non-religious observers stay tuned because Santa Claus is going to make an appearance in this tale too.

Santa Fe has deep New Mexico roots steeped in centuries of culture, springing from both the conquering Spanish peoples and the Indigenous communities that were the first to call the area home. The majority of lands in America were first home to American Indians, but in Santa Fe they are not a long, forgotten civilization. Native Americans still call the area home and their traditions have been ingrained into the way of life there.

The English translation for its name is Holy Faith, which most people probably know. What’s less known is that many people claim it’s actually a shortened version of its original holy title – La Villa Real de Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís, which translates to “The Royal City of Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi.” Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar born in 1181. He committed himself to following the word of Jesus as literally as possible and founded the Franciscan order. Pope Gregory IX canonized him on July 16, 1228.

However, Bob Julyan, in his book “The Place Names of New Mexico” disputes this assertion, saying there is little documentation to back up the claim. Like many place names, this hardly seems to matter because now the Royal City moniker has become part of the legend, in essence making it true for today’s storytellers.

But in all story versions, the phrase Santa Fe remains a constant.

Santa Fe, whatever its true elongated name, was truly settled from 1609 to 1610 by the conquistador and governor of Nuevo México, Don Pedro de Peralta, who officially relocated the colony’s capital from San Gabriel. The colonists settled on a site that was abandoned by pueblo people, and Peralta named it La Villa Real de Santa Fé.

“In his naming, Peralta likely transferred to the new capital the name of the Santa Fe outside Granada in Spain that was the royal encampment from which the (Catholic) monarchs Ferdinand (II of Aragon) and Isabella (I of Castile) oversaw the final conquest of the Moors in 1492,” Julyan said.

Peralta established the Palace of the Governors, which stands today and is one of the oldest public buildings in America, according to Santafe.org.

Otra Santa Fes that are and were

Before the city and the county were established, the area was a province of the Spanish empire named Santa Fe de Nuevo México. As a side note, many mistakenly believe New Mexico takes its name in honor of Mexico, but the moniker Nuevo México was used 260 years before Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821.

The Santa Fe province predates the arrival of the Mayflower, getting its start in about 1598. What is today Santa Fe the city started to form in 1607 after a smattering of dwellers from San Gabriel started to trickle into the area.

Meanwhile, New Mexico’s possible namesake in Spain was the result of the centuries long battle between the Moors and Spanish for territorial and religious dominance that started in 718 A.D. According to stories, the monarch reconquered an area 12 kilometers south of Granada and named it Santa Fe de la Vega. The Spanish Santa Fe exists to this day, helping make up the metropolitan of Granada.

The city got its beginning as a military camp, as Julyan noted, and was the location where the Capitulations of Santa Fe were written. The capitulations feature the records and agreements reached with Christopher Columbus regarding his expedition to the west.

In addition, there are several cities around the world bearing the name of Santa Fe, including the capital city of the province of Santa Fe in Argentina. There are unincorporated areas in Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee named Santa Fe.

And I leave you with this fun tidbit in the spirit of Christmas. A small farming settlement of German immigrants in Indiana was once called Santa Fe (spelled Santa Fee in some tellings), according to old stories. When it grew large enough to request a post office in the 1850s, the post master rejected the application. He said there was another town in Indiana to the north named Santa Fe and they would have to choose another name, according to the town’s official marketing website.

Neighbors were perplexed about what to do next and gathered at a small church on Christmas Eve to discuss what they should do.

The story goes like this: “Several names were tossed around but nothing seemed to be the right fit. Children were running around playing while the adults were deep in discussion. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew open the church doors and the sound of sleigh bells drifted inside. The children ran to the door and shouted, ‘Santa Claus! Santa Claus!’”

The decision was made and the Santa Claus, Indiana, post office was established on May 21, 1856. A Jan. 29, 2018, story in the Evansville (Indiana) Courier & Press estimated the post office there receives about 400,000 pieces of mail come Christmastime.