Last weekend I gave another of my lectures on the Civil War on Route 66. This time, the venue was the Gutierrez Hubbell House. My only regret is that I didn't go there much sooner.
Hubbell came to New Mexico in 1846 as part of the American Expedition into Mexican territory led by General Stephen Watts Kearny. The twenty-two year old captain was born in Connecticut to an Anglo father and a Hispanic mother. Evidently, he liked the country and its inhabitants, for he resigned his commission and married Julianita Gutiérrez in 1849, when she was just sixteen years old.
After the war, Santiago and Julianita continued to build onto their house with the help of their twelve children. Located along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro,the oldest continuously used European roadway in North America, which runs north from Mexico City to Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo), north of Santa Fe, the house was a natural stop for travelers and became one of the important parajes, or camp locations, along the trail. It was used as a stagecoach stop, a trading post, and a post office in addition to being a private home. Trading must have become second nature to the Hubbells . The third of Santiago and Julianita's children, Don (John) Lorenzo Hubbell, established the famous Hubbell Trading Post located on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Ganado, Arizona.
The house, which has existed under three national flags, (Spain, Mexico and the United States) is listed on the State of New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties as a symbol of the blending of Spanish, Native American and Anglo cultures and traditions, and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is managed by the National Park Service and offers a traditional garden and a heritage garden as well as walking trails along the acequia madre (mother ditch) and around the property, and cultivated farm plots for visitors to enjoy. I was charmed by the displays within the house, which included a room with an extensive timeline, the room where the young sons slept, a room that served as a general store, and the main living room. The thickness of the walls, the vigas in the ceilings, and the territorial trim around the windows was impressive. Click here to download a pdf of the guide to this historical site.
The Gutiérrez Hubbell House is a historic, territorial-style hacienda in Albuquerque's South Valley, in the village of Pajarito. Although there was a house on the site that dated back to the 1820s, when the property was part of a 40,000 acre estate owned by Clemente and Josefa Gutiérrez, most of the existing structure was built in the 1850s and 1860s, after James Lawrence Hubbell married their great-granddaughter and heir, Julianita.
Julianita came from a prominent ranching and trading family. The Gutiérrezes were related to the Baca family and the Chaves clan, both powerhouses in New Mexico politics. Her paternal grandfather was among the first governors to serve New Mexico when it was still under Mexican rule. 
Santiago may have resigned his commission after the Mexican American War ended, but he rejoined during the Civil War, when Confederates threatened the territory. He organized and commanded a company of New Mexico Mounted Volunteers, called "Hubbell's Cavalry Company" or Company B of the 5th New Mexico Infantry Volunteers. As their Captain, Hubbell led his men in the front lines at the Battle of Valverde, defending the McRae Battery when it suffered a frontal attack. From a company of seventy-four men, thirty-nine (53% of the total company) were killed, wounded, or missing in action. The Confederates were able to overrun the battery and take possession of six guns. After the battle, Captain P.W.L. Plymptom, a US Regular Army officer, sent in a report explaining that his battalion had failed to save the guns from the Confederate charge because New Mexican Volunteers had broken from their position. Hubbell contested this report and was unhappy with how his volunteers were treated by regular army.
After the war, Santiago and Julianita continued to build onto their house with the help of their twelve children. Located along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro,the oldest continuously used European roadway in North America, which runs north from Mexico City to Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo), north of Santa Fe, the house was a natural stop for travelers and became one of the important parajes, or camp locations, along the trail. It was used as a stagecoach stop, a trading post, and a post office in addition to being a private home. Trading must have become second nature to the Hubbells . The third of Santiago and Julianita's children, Don (John) Lorenzo Hubbell, established the famous Hubbell Trading Post located on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Ganado, Arizona.
Click here to download a self-guided tour of the veterans interred in Fairview Cemetery.
click here to see trails in the south valley area.
click here to see trails in the south valley area.
