San Juan Pueblo is best noted for its close association with the first
Spanish settlement in New Mexico in 1598. Oñate, colonizer of New
Mexico, selected a site for his first headquarters which was a part of
the ancient Pueblo of San Juan. The natives living in that part of the
village willingly gave up their homes to the Spaniards and were taken in
by the remainder of the people of San Juan. Oñate, in appreciation for
this hospitality, bestowed upon the pueblo the name _San Juan de los
Caballeros_, a name which the pueblo is still proud to bear.
Yet this same friendly people also contributed Po-pé, the great leader
of the Pueblo Revolt, to the history of New Mexico. While Po-pé shared
with many other pueblo leaders a hatred of the Spanish conqueror, he was
the spiritual force and the organizer of the rebellion that broke the
control of the Spaniard for twelve years and returned New Mexico to the
Indian. This great rebellion stands as one of the significant efforts in
the history of the world of a people to cast off the bonds of foreign
control.
San Juan cannot claim a church dating back to the _conquistadores_, but
it does have one of the great landmark churches in the Southwest. In
1890, the chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes was dedicated at San Juan. It
was constructed of red volcanic rock found west of the Rio Grande. This
beautiful structure is an architectural jewel set in desert
surroundings.
The nearly 700 people of San Juan welcome visitors to their homes; their
undecorated burnished black pottery is particularly distinctive and
popular. The pueblo’s annual festival is held in June.