Vestige | Native American vendors Along the portal Palace of the Governors |
T
he Santa Fe Plaza has been a commercial, social and political epicenter of New Mexico since 1610 when it was established by Don Pedro de Peralta. Originally it was constructed as a presidio surrounded by a large defensive wall enclosing residences, barracks, a chapel, a prison and the still remaining Governor's palace, considered the oldest extant public building in the United States. The low one-story adobe building has a long portal (open porch) supported on wooden posts that extends the length of the building. Crammed in this relatively confined space, natives now try to sell shinny trinkets to the tourist hoards.
“The whites are already nearly a match for us all united, and too strong for any one tribe alone to resist. Unless we support one another with our collective forces, they will soon conquer us, and we will be driven away from our native country and scattered as leaves before the wind...” - Techumseh
