TCHS LECTURE FOR NOVEMBER 2, 2024
2:00 PM - Kit Carson Electric Co-op

Who was Simeon Tejada?
In June, 2010, the Taos County Historic Society was mailed a binder containing voluminous writings by an obscure author named Simeon Tejada.  The binder containing the writings had been kept by different family members after Simeon’s passing in 1946.  A granddaughter of Simeon, recognizing the historical significance of the writings, donated the binder to the TCHS.  The binder contained writings on different topics: children’s fairy tales (cuentos de hadas), poems, interviews, essays on a variety of topics, and short stories describing the culture and traditions of various villages in Taos County.  The pieces, all dated in the 1930’s and 40’s, were written in longhand and in the Spanish language.
So, who was Simeon Tejada?  No one seemed to know.  Not even local, native Taoseños within the Historic Society board knew who he was or to whom he was related.  Tejada is a rare apeilldo (last name)in Taos County. Recently, board members responsible for “Folklore” presentations made the decision to research the unknown author with the intent of using his writings for the Society’s monthly historical presentations. Through website searches and reaching out to the one known descendant, the life story of Simeon Tejada was slowly revealed.  It is a compelling and fascinating story, filled with adventure, courage, strife, and accomplishments.

Of principal interest to our Folklore presentations are Tejada’s original writings about the life and culture of various villages throughout Taos County.  His essays were based on personal visits to the villages and interviews with village elders and average, everyday folks.  One most interesting essay is the History of Rodarte, a village in the Peñasco valley.  Through his interviews with village elders, Tejada reported the greatest challenges for farmers were attacks from bears and Comanches.  Interviews with sheepherders revealed the discovery of a “Carlsbad-Cavern” type cave way up in the Jicarilla mountains.  And then there was the story of the railroad that ran-through Rodarte, built to transport millions of trees out of the Santa Barbara Land Grant for the purpose of supplying railroad ties for America’s railroads.  Special guest speakers include Loren Tejada, grandson of Simeon Tejada, who will tell his grand-father’s life story, and Alex Lopez, Trampas native and historian, who will recount the history of the Santa Barbara Tie and Pole company, the railroad that operated in the Peñasco Valley starting in 1909 and for 17 years hauled an estimated 400,000 logs annually out of the Valley.
All these topics and more will be presented during the November 2nd Historical Society presentation, “The Tejada Papers-Rodarte” to be held at the Kit Carson Board Room, located at 118 Cruz Alta Road, scheduled for 2pm on November 2nd.  The public is invited.  Admission is free to Historic Society members.  Non-members are asked for a $5.00 donation, which goes to support our non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Northern New Mexico history.

The Taos County Historical Society is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1952 and dedicated to the recording and preserving of the irreplaceable in Taos County.
Membership is open to anyone upon payment of dues.
For additional information on the programs, activities and history of Taos visit the Society's website at www.taoscountyhistoricalsociety.org

Mil Gracias, A THOUSAND THANKS, does not begin to cover the many, many individuals to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. This debt is not only the living but also to those men and women who long ago began to preserve the journals and documents we now depend upon for knowledge of the past: the chroniclers who accompanied the explorers and settlers and who, dusty, tired and hungry, sat in the light of a candle to record in their journals the events of the day and the Franciscan clerics who made detailed reports of their canonical visits to the mission churches of Nuevo México.

Corina A. Santistevan
Acknowledgements in "Taos: A Topical History"