The Pueblo of Laguna, in conjunction with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, determined that Casa Blanca Road required improvements. As such, a cultural resource survey was completed and the Paisano House (HCPI No. was recommended as eligible to the National Register of Historic Places. As a result of the road improvement project, the Pasiano House was slated for demolition. In consultation with the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, it was determined that prior to demolition, the Tribe would contract for Historic American Building Survey (HABS) documentation of the building. This HABS Level II documentation is a result of that stipulation and was completed by Photographic documentation was completed by Martin Stupich in February PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 2) Part I.
Historical Information A. Physical History 1. Date of erection: Prior to as noted by aerial photograph from that date. It could date to when Casa Blanca was settled (it is said to be one of the first buildings in the area). 2. Architects: Built by Jose Antonio Paisano and/or Chester Paisano for their family. 3. Original and subsequent owners, occupants, uses: Grace Tafoya, daughter of Chester Paisano lived in the home and then sold it to Sam and Ruth Lucero in the The Luceros did not use the building because they were told the Tribe was going to raze the structure. 4. Builder, contractor, suppliers: Constructed by Paisano family. 5. Original plans and construction: None. 6. Alterations and additions: Unknown on house. A wood shed was added to the property fairly early.
A CMU garage was added by the the exact date is unknown. B. Historical Context Claims, Grants, and Executive Orders Archaeologists have determined that the ancestors of Laguna first occupied the area of Laguna as early as A.D. and that the tribe interacted with the Spanish as they explored and settled the area that was to become New Mexico.1 Oral histories and early Spanish documents reveal that during that time, the Queres were tanning leather, using the maguey plant, and herding turkeys (in a similar manner as sheep).2 The turkey feathers were woven into fabric made from maguey for clothing, although assuredly the meat would have been included in the diet as the Spaniards reported that the primary food, which was in great supply, included beans, corn, melons, and fowl.
3 Before agriculture and to supplement agricultural endeavors once they began, the tribes would have used many wild plant foods, including potato, onion, yucca, and pi on.4 1 Marjorie Baer and Ann Baggerman Frej, Pueblo of Laguna: A Project Report (Washington U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, p. 2. 2 John M. Gunn, Schat-Chen: History Traditions and Naratives [sic] of the Queres Indians of Laguna and Acoma (New York: AMS Press, reprint of edition), pp. and Pueblo of Laguna, p. 2. 3 Queres Indians of Laguna and Acoma, p. 12. 4 Florence Hawley Ellis, Laguna Pueblo, Handbook of North American Indians: Southwest Volume 9, (Washington D. C.: Smithsonian Institution, p. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No.
(page 3) There are documents that show that Laguna village was recognized by a Spanish land grant in but in there was unrest and Diego De Vargas, the governor of New Mexico, led an attack on the western pueblos and subjugated Laguna. The Spanish then required the tribe to build a church and told them that when it was completed, a priest would be sent to lead. A structure was constructed, and it was still standing in the early century, adjacent to the current Catholic church, and was known as the House of Principales. 5 Finally, in Governor Pedro Rodriguez Cubero and Franciscan vice-custos (religious leaders), including Fray Juan Merando, visited Laguna to assume formal custody of the area for Spain, bestow the village s patron saint, and name the pueblo Laguna de San Jos .
Although the tribe had named the village after the lake in their native tongue, Kawaika, the village was renamed using the Spanish word for lake: Laguna. 6 This lake has since dried up. Although the Spanish had formally recognized the western pueblos, there were land disputes and one in particular was between Acoma and Laguna. In the first Laguna irrigation ditch along the Rio San Jos was constructed nine and a half miles west of Laguna (just west of Seama) and another ditch was developed 20 years later three miles west of the current location of Acomita (well into the current boundary of Acoma land). Around there was a dispute between Acoma and Laguna over the land where these ditches were located.
The land had previously been purchased by Laguna from a Spaniard named Garviso the acreage was called the Santa Ana Purchase (later called Rancho de Santa Ana). When it was formally surveyed after the skirmish, it was discovered that much of the purchase was inside Acoma Pueblo land. Through negotiations, Laguna relinquished the one half of the land inside the Acoma grant and Acoma provided a quit claim deed for the remainder.7 Although Spanish rule had acknowledged Laguna land and the Laguna and Acoma had solved their dispute, the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo turned the area of Arizona and New Mexico over to the United States (U.S.) and in New Mexico became a Territory of the U.S.
At that time, Laguna Pueblo was left out of the treaty and the tribe again had to reestablish their claim.8 The Laguna tribe filed title papers for their pueblo land grant in the U.S. Surveyor General s office on June 29, Their title papers included a history of New Mexico, a Cruzate Grant, and minutes from the original Spanish grant meeting held on September 20, In the 5 Queres Indians of Laguna and Acoma, p. 51. 6 Ferguson, The Pueblo of Laguna and Tsibina: Mount Taylor as a Traditional Cultural Property, Application for Registration, New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties, Mount Taylor Cultural Property, Section 12, pp. 45 46; and Queres Indians of Laguna and Acoma, pp. 50 51; Laguna Pueblo, pp. 438 7 Queres Indians of Laguna and Acoma, pp.
8 Bowden, Pueblo of Laguna Land Grant, accessed February 10, and Queres Indians of Laguna and Acoma, pp. 51 52. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 4) minutes, a Bartolome de Ojeda, a Zia warrior, presented the case for land claims of the pueblos to Governor Domingo Jironza Petriz Cruzate. Ojeda described the Queres nation and expressly mentioned the Pueblo of Laguna as one of the nation s pueblos. He requested Cruzate to make grants to all of the pueblos of New Mexico so that they might remain in possession and be subject to the lines to which they are entitled. 9 The governor conceded that the grants should be made, that they should have specific boundaries for the tribe s security, and that these should be marked.
The documents were signed by Ojeda and Governor Cruzate and attested to by a Don Pedro de Guitara, Secretary. The Cruzate Grant document noted that Laguna land was bounded by the following natural landmarks: On the north, by a spring of cold water called the Ojo de Paguate; on the east, by the Mesita Colorado and the Mesita de Amolar; on the south, by the pool which is under a rock; and on the west, by the wide ravine, which empties to the north when it rains.10 Although the tribe had filed papers, the grant had not been formally approved by the U.S.
This came to light in when the tribe petitioned New Mexico s Surveyor General William Pelham, asking for the addition and confirmation of six tracts of land which they had acquired at different times sometime prior to In July of the surveyor general named this private land claim number 30 and recommended confirmation of some of the tracts including Rancho de Paguate acres), Rancho de San Juan (approximately acres), Rancho de Gigante, Rancho El Rito, and Rancho de Santa Ana, because they were adjacent to the land granted by Spain in He did not make a recommendation regarding the Spanish grant, but he did include a copy of the Cruzate Grant in the documents he transmitted to Congress.
The result of the transmittal was Congressional approval on June 21, for claim number 30; however, the original grant was not addressed.13 Since the Spanish grant had yet to be approved by Congress, in Laguna petitioned New Mexico s Surveyor General James K. Proudfit to gain confirmation of their title to the Cruzate Grant land. Proudfit researched the grant and found that indeed, the Pueblo of Laguna grant had not been formally recognized by the U.S. government. He issued a decision in which he stated: 9 Laguna Pueblo, pp. 438 Pueblo of Laguna Land Grant, accessed February 10, 10 Pueblo of Laguna Land Grant, accessed February 10, and Queres Indians of Laguna and Acoma, p. 53.
Later it was noted that the three signatures on the minutes and grant were almost identical, casting doubt on their authenticity; other publications note that the papers for Acoma and Laguna have been lost. 11 In the case of Paguate, the tract of land is believed to either have been transferred to the Pueblo in by V lez Capuchin, or after supporting the Town of Cebolleta during an Navajo raid, Cebolleta relinquished to Laguna their claim on the strip of land lying between the two settlements. Denise Holladay Damico, The Cebolleta Land Grant: Multicultural Cooperation and Contention, Natural Resources Journal Vol. 48, No. 4, Fall and Bowden, Rancho de Paguate, accessed February 17, 12 The tract called Rancho de Cubero was the tract Pellham did not include.
13 Pueblo of Laguna Land Grant, accessed February 10, Rancho de Paguate Grant, accessed February 17. and Bowden, Rancho de San Juan Grant, accessed February 13, PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 5) It is historically, and by common repute notorious, that this Pueblo of Laguna is, and has been, from time immemorial doubtless from a long time anterior to the tenure under which that community here claims, in existence, and its inhabitants in the possession and enjoyment of this land.
And having investigated the case, I approve the claim therefore, under said grant of September 25, with the boundaries in the latter hereinbefore stated and adopted, and recommend that the Congress of the United States recognize and confirm the same to the inhabitants of the Pueblo of Laguna, and their successors and assigns Five years later, a preliminary survey of Laguna land was completed by Deputy Surveyors Sawyer & White, which included acres. Although the surveyor general had made a decision and the land had been surveyed, the U.S. Congress still had not approved the claim. So, on February 27, the tribe initiated a suit to the Court of Private Land Claims (Court), which had been established in to oversee land claims, removing the burden from Congress.
The Court questioned the validity of the documents and the Court s jurisdiction, because U.S. Congress had previously weighed in on claim number 30 in the Court felt that Congress should retain jurisdiction. Although these issues were raised, the case did move forward. During the case, the Cruzate Grant was questioned as to its authenticity and was ultimately conceded by the Court and Laguna as specious. To overcome this, the tribe stressed that the pueblo land had been acknowledged during Spanish rule.
They noted that around their ancestors had established the Pueblo of Laguna by virtue of the royal laws, usages and customs of the Crown of Spain, as found in Law 1, Title 2, Book 6, of the Recopilaci n de las Indians which provided: That the Indians shall be reduced to pueblos, and that they shall not live separate in the mountains, depriving themselves of all spiritual and temporal benefits the sites on which pueblos and reductions must be formed shall have convenience of water, land, and wood, entrance and departure, and land for cultivation, and an exido of a league in length where the Indians can have their cattle without their mixing with those of the Spaniards.14 The tribe backed up their argument with the Royal Cedula, which conferred unlimited power on viceroys to determine the quantity of land that was to be given to pueblos.
They maintained that this should allow all of the land within the exterior boundaries of the acre tract that had been established in by the Sawyer & White survey, because Laguna had nearly 200 years of peaceful occupation of the area with the knowledge, consent and acquiescence of the Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. authorities. If the entire tract would not be granted, they argued that the tribe should have at least four square leagues, measured a depth of 14 Pueblo of Laguna Land Grant, accessed February 10, PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 6) one league in each of the cardinal directions from the center of the pueblo.15 To support a grant for at least four square leagues, the tribe filed a certificate that recognized the pueblo s previously purchased tracts.
The certificate was signed by Alcalde Manuel Aragon and dated March 25, it was approved by Governor Antonio Narbon in The land in the certificate had been granted by U.S. Congress in and in the document there was a reference to the league allowed them by the King. The tribe preferred to have the entire 125,000-acre tract of land, but it entered the Spanish four leagues as an alternative. Tribal members offered oral evidence, showing that they had occupied the large acreage of land claimed under the grant of both by cultivation and pasturage.
The government argued that the Cruzate Grant was inadmissible because it was spurious, and without the grant there was no evidence to sustain the claim except that afforded by the Indians lengthy possession of the land, and the court had no jurisdiction to confirm a possessory title. The Court also believed that the character of the possession would not allow for granting the entire acres because the tribe only had isolated patches of farmland and use of the balance of the tract for pasturage. 16 So, while Spain may have provided a grant to Laguna, the Court determined that it would not have been for acres, because the Aragon certificate showed that the grant was for a league. On October 2, the Court rejected the 125,000-acre claim made by Laguna under the Cruzate Grant.
However, it did confirm four square leagues, with the church of the pueblo as its center. Deputy Surveyor John H. Walker surveyed the four leagues of land acres) in September, A patent for acres of land was finally issued to the Pueblo of Laguna on November 15, As a result of this, the ancestral lands that had been used by generations for agriculture and pasturage were greatly reduced. This newly approved grant and the Congressional approval of land claim number 30 resulted in a void of land area for Laguna that was bounded on the west by Acoma Pueblo and Cubero, on the north by the tribe s Paguate land, and on the east by the grant for Old Laguna. It seems that this void was the original Rancho de Santa Ana land that had been deeded to Laguna from Acoma.
The San Juan River ran through this piece of land between the Laguna and Acoma grants. Because they had previously owned the land, it is likely the tribe petitioned for this area, as on July 1, President William H. Taft signed Executive Order No. (E.O.), which provided the legal description of the land and set it aside as a reservation for the use and 15 A league is generally accepted as 3 miles in length. 16 Pueblo of Laguna Land Grant, accessed February 10, 17 Pueblo of Laguna Land Grant, accessed February 10, and Appendix I: Detailed Data on the 295 Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in New Mexico, accessed February 10, PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 7) occupation of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico belonging to the Pueblo Laguna.
18 At that time, the legally acquired Laguna land included Ranchos de San Juan, Gigante, and El Rito acres); Paguate acres); the Laguna Grant acres); and the E.O. land (approximately acres). The total encompassed approximately acres, a little more than the area the Laguna had originally claimed.19 In the Indian Claims Act was passed by U.S. Congress to address aboriginal claims and ensure fair and honorable dealings that are not recognized by any existing rule of law or equity. 20 Under this act, in order for the Laguna tribe to recover ancestral land, they had to prove that: 1. Their claim was based on exclusive use, occupation and possession of such land. 2. Such exclusive use and occupation must be from time immemorial. 3. A clear title before the sovereignty of the U.S.
could be attached to the lands. 4. The tribe must not have voluntarily abandoned the lands. 5. There must have been a taking of the land by the U.S., either by action or inaction. Experts in history, anthropology, archaeology, and ethnology were called in to testify with regard to the Laguna land.
Finally, on February 28, the Indian Claims Commission, authorized under the act, held that in when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, the Laguna tribe held exclusive use and occupation of a tract described as follows: Beginning at a point where Highway #6 intersects the Rio Puerco; thence, on a line westerly to the northernmost tip of the Mesa del Oro; thence, following the northern edge of the Mesa del Oro to a point where said Mesa intersects the stipulated Acoma Laguna common boundary line between Ranges Six (6) and Seven (7) West; thence, proceeding in a northerly direction following said line to a point where said line intersects the southern boundary of the Cubero Grant; thence, following the southern boundary of the Cubero Grant to the southwestern corner thereof; thence, proceeding northwardly along the west boundary of said Cubero Grant to a point where the Cubero Grant and the Cebolleta Grant meet; thence, on a line northeasterly to Marquez; thence, easterly on a line to the northeastern most corner of the Cebolleta Grant; thence, in a southerly direction following the boundary of the Cebolleta Grant to the southeast corner thereof; thence easterly on a line to where the Rio Puerco intersects the eastern boundary of the Bernabe Montano Grant at the southernmost point on said eastern boundary; thence, in a southerly direction, following the meanderings of the Rio Puerco, to the point of beginning; save and except the lands covered by certain valid Spanish and Mexican grants lying within said boundaries.
18 Charles J. Kappler. Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, Volume III, Laws, December 1, accessed February 17, and I.P. Berthrong, Map of the Territory of New Mexico (Washington, U.S. Department of the Interior, General Land Office, 19 Rancho de San Juan, accessed February 13, 20 The U.S. Department of Justice, Lead Up to the Indian Claims Commission Act of updated May 12, accessed February 10, PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 8) As a result of the claim, Laguna Pueblo now encompasses acres. Tribal Use of Land and Paraje Prior to European exploration and settlement of the area, the Queres tribes used land as they needed. But, when the Spanish arrived with a culture requiring land ownership, they determined that the Indians shall be reduced to pueblos.
Translated from Spanish, a pueblo is a village, but even with such a reduction, each pueblo grant was to include mountains, water, wood, land for cultivation, land for entrance and departure, and a league where the Indians can have their cattle without their mixing with those of the Spaniards. 21 It was clear from the earliest Spanish documents that the Queres were involved in farming and that they should retain land for crops and as pasture for livestock (cattle and sheep). At Laguna, agriculture traditionally included both dry farming and ditch irrigation. Prior to many of the farms near Paraje and Mesita were dry farms that included crops of corn, beans, squash, and wheat.22 Irrigation began in some areas during when ditches were dug along the Rio San Jos on land to the west of Laguna.
Allotments of land along the Rio San Jos were used primarily for cultivating crops, while the Rancho de San Juan land to the east of the Pueblo (and likely the other land that was included in the number 30 grant) was used as pasture for livestock.23 Prior to men would travel to these outlying fields or grazing areas to manage the crops and livestock. If they needed to remain away from the village, they would stay in small dugout shelters close to the fields and pasture. Over time, Laguna began to develop summer farming settlements with houses along the Rio San Jos , which runs east/west through the Old Laguna grant and President Taft s E.O. reservation tract.
Eventually these summer farms developed into separate permanent villages that were part of the Laguna tribe.24 In the mid-1800s these villages, and Cebolleta (established in north of the Paguate area) were subject to raids by bands of Navajo. Although the tribe and Spanish settlers of Cebolleta often disagreed over land and water, they did come together to fight the raiding bands, with the Laguna often offering shelter to the Cebolleta settlers. Also seeking shelter at the main village during this period of terror and raids by Navajo bands, were the Laguna tribal members that had been living in the outlying villages moved back to Old Laguna. In Samuel C. Gorman arrived at Laguna on a mission from the Baptist Mission Society, and once at the pueblo he erected a school and chapel.
Then a few years later, around a military camp was established on pueblo land and several members of Laguna aided the military as scouts to counteract Apache raids. New outside influences were affecting the cultural makeup 21 Pueblo of Laguna Land Grant, accessed February 10, 22 Laguna Pueblo, p. 23 Rancho de San Juan, accessed February 13, 24 The Pueblo of Laguna and Tsibina, Section 12, p. 46; and Laguna Pueblo , p. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 9) of the Pueblo and there began to be a rift between conservative traditionalists who wanted to preserve the historic way of life and progressive factions who embraced change, including new religious ideas and modern improvements to the tribal buildings.
In the mid-1860s, the same period as cultural changes began to occur, Kit Carson moved the raiding Navajo bands from the Cebolleta/Laguna area to Bosque Redondo. This provided peace in the area and the opportunity for tribal members to move back to the outlying farming communities. At that time, the outlying villages began to expand.25 In Walter Marmon moved to Laguna, originally as a U.S. government employee. He and his brother, Robert, set up a trading post and school, married into the tribe, and both served as governors (Robert in and Walter in The brothers were staunch Presbyterians and had a large influence on the Pueblo.
Robert ordered the destruction of two kivas, and as a result, many of the traditionalists who had remained during progressive changes in the moved and established Mesita, a small village to the east of Old Laguna.
The Marmon brothers brought the railroad to Laguna in likely seeing this as economic development for their trading post and individual tribal members who, through an oral agreement, would be given priority for railroad employment, free housing, and free transportation along the line.26 The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad had been chartered in and by early the line ran to Acoma Pueblo and on February 13, the first timetable with a completed route to Albuquerque was published.27 The route included a station at Old Laguna with stops one to two times each day, during which passengers were encouraged to disembark and purchase local products. This brought tourism and new changes to Laguna, including new goods and a cash economy.
Some of the new goods included modern building materials, such as milled lumber and wood windows, that would alter the method of construction on tribal land. The trend would be away from flat roofs constructed with vigas (logs that served as structural beams), to gabled roofs constructed of milled lumber and corrugated metal, in what has become known as the New Mexico Vernacular style. In the railroad station was moved by the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Company, which had purchased the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad through a foreclosure sale in from Old Laguna to New Laguna to the west.
The new station included a hotel, restaurant, and boarding house.28 Paraje, encompassing Casa Blanca along the Rio San Jos , became one of the outlying farming villages and was established after the railroad came to Laguna between and The land of Casa Blanca was settled by the Jose Antonio Paisano family and many of the homes and allotments are still owned by Paisano family members or descendants. This community is located on the land that was eventually included in Taft s E.O. that established a federal 25 Laguna Pueblo, p. 26 Pueblo of Laguna, p. 12. 27 Donald B. Robertson, Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History: The Desert States Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, (Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, p. 75. 28 Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History, p. 75; and Pueblo of Laguna, p.
12. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 10) reservation, trust land held by the U.S. for use by the tribe.29 Although the land used by the Laguna tribe, especially in this area, did not have official U.S. standing at the time it was settled, the tribe inhabited the area and used it as they had traditionally used land near the river. When moving into the Paraje area, the Paisanos developed irrigation ditches to move the water from the river to their land; the crops they were watering included corn, chile, and vegetable gardens. The area had many horses, as they were used to help plow the land, and a few sheep.30 In a Miss Josephine Foard wrote a letter that described traveling eight miles along the Rio San Jos from Old Laguna to Paraje for a missionary meeting.
In the letter she explained that the drive was much more enjoyable than going to Paguate, because the area to the west was irrigated, resulting in green spots like oases. 31 She also related stories of her Laguna friends at other locations of the pueblo carrying water with buckets to maintain a peach orchard and those who had goats for milking.32 Many of the crops and products resulting from farming were likely bartered. Bartering agricultural goods became a popular method of commerce in the late by which families could trade their crops or meat for other types of provisions available at trading posts.
This practice of trading goods continued well into the Although we know the area of Casa Blanca was settled by the Paisano family in the late and that there were many agricultural fields in the area well into the we do not know exactly when the L shaped Paisano House was constructed. Descendants have stated that the house was one of the first in the area and the structural wood members are full dimension.
The area was settled in the late the first standard size of dimensional lumber, of which this building is constructed, resulted in milled wood being smaller than the stated dimension (ex: a 2 x 4 standard size is 1 x 3 ), was developed in and the house appears on a aerial.34 The Paisano residence was on the site by but likely constructed in the late with newly available wood delivered by the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The members of the family that were likely involved in its construction were Jose Antonio Paisano and his son Chester Paisano. Chester Paisano married a woman named Maria from Paraje and they had two children: Grace and Alfred. Maria passed away at a young age and Chester raised the children at the house.
Grace s aunt took a great interest in being sure that Grace had a motherly influence in her life, so there was a lot of activity between the houses in Casa Blanca. Other members of the family were nearby in houses across Casa Blanca Road to the west and the dirt road to the north. Grace 29 Laguna Pueblo, pp. 441 and 30 Interview with Sam and Ruth Lucero at the Paisano House on February 21, 31 Dwight P. Lanmon, Lorraine Welling Lanmon, and Dominique Coulet du Gard, Josephine Foard and the Glazed Pottery of Laguna Pueblo, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, pp. 104 32 Glazed Pottery of Laguna, p. 33 Pueblo of Laguna, p. 14. 34 Forest Products Laboratory, History of Yard Lumber Standard Sizes, (Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, pp.
1 3; and aerial photograph. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 11) eventually became the first family member to attend college and she graduated from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, New Mexico (the family did not remember the year). Upon graduating, she became a teacher at the Isleta Day School on Isleta Pueblo, to the east of Laguna Pueblo and south of Albuquerque. After she left for university she returned to the house at Casa Blanca in the summer and occasionally for a week at a time during other parts of the year.35 Grace s niece, Ruth, remembers the home during this time and that it had a large lilac bush on the west side, many red rose bushes on the north with small flowers, and pear and apple trees to the south.
She recalled sitting on the north porch, taking in the fragrance of the roses and watching relay races between Laguna and Acoma Pueblo, as the runners ran by the house down an unpaved Casa Blanca Road; the same dirt road that she walked to school on each day. On the opposite side of the house, and just south of the asphalt drive that leads from Casa Blanca Road to the east side of the house (where one could have parked under the shade of a large elm), there was an irrigation ditch. Ruth lived in the two story house across the street and remembers that the ditch ran right in front of their house, where she would sit with her feet in the cool running water. The water then ran under the road to the Paisano House property and continued east.
Adjacent to the ditch were pear and apple trees; it is possible that there was a vegetable garden in the area, as well. The land to the east of the Paisano property was donated by Chester Paisano to the Presbyterian Church and the irrigation ditch continued east across that property. Today there is a small, one story gable roofed church on that land. 36 Once Grace married and became a Tafoya, she and her husband moved to a home on Tyler Road in Albuquerque. They had two children: Evelyn and Chester Dale Tafoya Blue After her move to Albuquerque, she would return to the house at Laguna for a week or so at different times of the year. Then in the early about 20 years after the area ceased to be agricultural due to the lack of water, there was a large flood at the house.
Grace asked her daughter Evelyn to purchase and care for the building, as Evelyn was still living in the area. Evelyn did not take the house, but her cousin Ruth did. In Ruth and Sam Lucero purchased the house for as a potential home for one of their children. A year later, the mayordomo (village mayor) notified them that the house was to be taken and demolished as part of a planned road improvement project.
At that time, the Luceros provided the sale paperwork to Wilbur Lewis, the mayordomo for Paraje, who said he would work on reimbursement, and the Luceros stopped maintaining the building.37 The Paisano House has remained vacant for the last 24 years and is slated for demolition in 35 Interview with Sam and Ruth Lucero at the Paisano House on February 21, 36 Interview with Sam and Ruth Lucero at the Paisano House on February 21, 37 Ibid. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 12) Part II. Architectural Information A. General statement 1. Architectural character: This building is a typical adobe New Mexico vernacular structure with 18" thick walls, a gable corrugated metal roof, and wood doors and windows. The residential area is in the shape of an L with 12' 8" wide rooms. 2.
Condition of fabric: The building retains its structural characteristics, but is in overall poor condition. Much of the porch wood plank flooring has been removed and the porch rail is missing sections. The floor on the interior is missing on the east side of the building, but the joists are present and only wall structure is present without finishes. The supporting structural piece for the roof along the wall of the main building is no longer present for most of the elevation and the corrugated metal roof is rusted and bent. The wood doors and windows are deteriorating. There are depressions at grade that lead under the structure on the east and south. B.
Description of Exterior The Paisano House is an L-shaped, gable roofed adobe building coated with textured, cementitious plaster with a shed roof porch on the north elevation. The roof of the main building consists of 2" x 8" ceiling joists surmounted with a horizontal 2" x 4" and an angled 2" x 6" rafter capped with a 1" x 6" fascia board at the eave end (the fascia is only extant in some areas). The eave extends slightly from the wall. The rafters are surmounted by a 1" x 4" or 6" inch lumber substrate with gaps between the boards on the south extension of the L and a 1 x 10" alternating with 1" x 4" substrate (no gaps) on the west extension of the L.
The substrate is covered with sheets of corrugated metal roofing across the entire building.38 Many of the wood ceiling joists extend beyond the face of the 18" thick adobe walls, primarily along the north and south elevations of the L extension to the west (although three rafter tails extend over the southernmost window on the east elevation of the southern L ). A metal half round gutter was added at the eaves and remains only on the northern half of the east elevation, the west elevation of the southern L and the south elevation of the western L. The north elevation includes a shed roof porch constructed with 4" x 4" wood posts.
There are 1" x 4" rafters that originally set on a wood cross member attached to the exterior of the adobe wall (similar to traditional vigas) and were notched to rest on a 4" x 4" wood support beam that crossed the wood posts. The rafters were crossed with 1" x 6" substrate covered with asphaltic rolled roofing and the rafters ended with a fascia board. This fascia has failed, although a portion 38 The wood lumber is not standard, it has its full dimension as noted. This reveals that the structure was constructed prior to the use of lumber from more modern wood mills that would nominally call a piece of lumber a 2 x 4, but the actual milled size is 1 inch by 3 inch. The dimensions in the text may not be exact, as each individual piece varies slightly in size. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No.
(page 13) of it remains on the east end, the roof is dipping causing the fascia to detach and hang below the roofline. The porch floor was wood with 2" x 4" wood sleepers and 1 tongue and groove flooring. The porch floor is primarily missing, although some loose boards remain on the west end and some boards remain in place on the east end. The porch included a wood enclosure 3' 5" tall with a flat rail at the top. The vertical boards are 1" x 6" and it seems that originally this was a screened porch. Towards the west, the enclosure has failed and there are missing boards. At the east end there are blue painted jambs with hinges for an opening that appears to originally include a screen door.
The north elevation of the house includes two wood doors with wood screens alternating with 1/1 wood windows, beginning with a door 9' 6" from the east corner. The doors are flush wood, painted white, with a deadbolt, hung on the inside of the 18" adobe wall, and they swing inward. Each door opening has a wood screen door, painted blue, which swings outward. The window flanked by the doors is a 1/1 wood unit with a wood screen; the window at the west end has been boarded up. There is a gable end on the east end of the north elevation, above the porch roof. A rectangular 2 pane wood casement window is in the gable end. Its wood surrounds are painted blue. The east elevation includes two 1/1 wood windows with 4" wood surrounds painted blue.
The windows were installed flush with the exterior face of the wall, leaving a deep sill on the interior. There are three exposed ceiling joists above the southernmost window and a half round, metal gutter that extends from the north end to over halfway the wall. The corrugated roofing is deeply rusted and bent down at the eave. The east end of the south elevation includes an asymmetrical gable roof with no fenestration. The west end includes two windows. There is one small modern bathroom window that is an aluminum slider set deep into the wall with an exterior wood sill that extends slightly from the face of the wall.
To the east of the bathroom window in the corner of the L is a 2/2 wood window that is set into the wall with a wood surround and sill that are flush with the exterior stucco. This window also has a wood screen. The west elevation also includes an asymmetrical gable with a square attic window in the gable end. The window has been boarded. The window for the first floor room on the west end is a 1/1 wood window with a wood surround and sill that are flush with the exterior stucco. This window also has a wood screen. C. Description of Interior The house included five rooms. The east end was originally divided into two rooms, although only the structural wood remains, wall and floor finishes are missing.
There is a hallway that leads to three rooms in the west portion of the L and the middle room served as the bathroom. The floor was rolled flooring and the interior walls were gypsum board with a 1" x 6" PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 14) dimensional lumber baseboard. The ceiling is supported by 2" x 8" boards that extend through the wall to expose the ends on the north and south elevations. The 2" x 8"s are surmounted by 1" x 6"s that were placed at an angle to the ceiling joists. The ceiling structure is exposed and the walls of the rooms extend up to the joists. D. Site The house is set on a roughly triangular piece of land bounded by the curve in Casa Blanca Road on the west, a dirt road on the north, and a fence line on the east.
There is a small asphalt paved extension from the road leading onto the property, and this includes a galvanized metal gate at the road. The house is at the northwest corner of the site with a number of adjacent juniper trees. There is a large elm tree to the east of the house. North of the tree there is a concrete masonry unit garage with a flat roof, in the northeast corner. South of the tree there is a rectangular plank wood building with a shed roof. The southwest corner of the house is just a few feet from a rail guard on the curve of Casa Blanca Road, which is approximately 3' higher than the grade at the base of the exterior wall of the house. Part III. Sources of Information Baer, Marjorie and Ann Baggerman Frej. Pueblo of Laguna: A Project Report, Washington U.S.
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, Berthrong, I.P. Map of the Territory of New Mexico, Washington, U.S. Department of the Interior, General Land Office, Bowden, Pueblo of Laguna Land Grant, fileID=24980, accessed February 10, Rancho de Paguate, accessed February 17, Rancho de San Juan Grant, accessed February 13, Damico, Denise Holladay. The Cebolleta Land Grant: Multicultural Cooperation and Contention, Natural Resources Journal Vol. 48, No. 4, Fall Ellis, Florence Hawley. Laguna Pueblo, Handbook of North American Indians: Southwest, Volume 9, Washington D.
C.: Smithsonian Institution, Ferguson, The Pueblo of Laguna and Tsibina: Mount Taylor as a Traditional Cultural Property, Application for Registration, Mount Taylor Cultural Property, New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties, PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 15) Forest Products Laboratory, History of Yard Lumber Standard Sizes, Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Government Accounting Office. Appendix I: Detailed Data on the 295 Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in New Mexico, accessed February 10, Gunn, John M. Schat-Chen: History Traditions and Naratives [sic] of the Queres Indians of Laguna and Acoma, New York: AMS Press, [reprint of edition]. Kappler, Charles J.
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, Volume III, Laws, December 1, accessed February 17, Knaut, Andrew L. Knaut. The Pueblo Revolt of Conquest and Resistance in the Seventeenth-Century New Mexico, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, Lanmon, Dwight P., Lorraine Welling Lanmon, and Dominique Coulet du Gard, Josephine Foard and the Glazed Pottery of Laguna Pueblo, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, Lucero, Sam and Ruth. Interview by Karen Van Citters at Paisano House, February 21, Robertson, Donald B. Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History: The Desert States Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, U.S. Department of Justice, Lead Up to the Indian Claims Commission Act of updated May 12, accessed February 10, PAISANO HOUSE HABS No.
(page 16) ILLUSTRATED APPENDIX A. Sketch Drawings Figure 1. Location map showing land grants for Laguna (pre Indian Land Claim), on base map. Source: Map of New Mexico, The Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives. accessed March 3, Sketch by Karen Van Citters. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 17) Figure 2. Site Plan of Paisano House. Drawn by Karen Van Citters. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 18) Figure 3. Floor Plan. Drawn by Karen Van Citters. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 19) Figure 4. North and South Elevations. Drawn by Karen Van Citters. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 20) Figure 5. East and West Elevations. Drawn by Karen Van Citters. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 21) B. Color Photographs All color digital photographs were taken by Martin Stupich, February Figure 6.
Detail, north side, shed porch showing shed roof support columns. Note dimensioned lumber rafters projecting through wall, similar to vigas in traditional adobe houses of New Mexico. North elevation. Figure 7. Exterior detail, front porch fa ade wall showing typical sash window and one of two doors penetrating adobe wall. North elevation, view to southwest. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 22) Figure 8. Exterior front porch detail showing shed roof rafters penetrating adobe wall, or nailed to rafters projecting to the exterior. View to southwest. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 23) Figure 9. Exterior porch detail showing fa ade wall of adobe, partially exposed by stucco's gradual erosion. Door is one of two at front elevation. One of them is probably part of the original smaller adobe structure.
View to east. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 24) Figure 10. Window for ventilating attic space at east end of north fa ade. View to south. Figure 11. Exterior view showing east wall, shed porch, typical sash window and corrugated steel-covered pitched roof. View to west. PAISANO HOUSE HABS No. (page 25) Figure 12. Exterior general view of south and east sides. View to northwest. Figure 13. Shed east of house. View to east.
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