Founding Women of Albuquerque

The women on this marker's back were heads of households in their own right, the Albuquerque Museum notes; many of the founding families were women's. Santa Fe's cabildo reported the villa founded on February 23, 1706. What they founded was a string of riverside farms from Alameda to Isleta, and it was not secure: by 1774 raids and drought were pressing hard on it. When Fray Francisco Atanasio Domínguez visited in 1776 he counted 157 families, 763 people and twenty-four houses.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Founding Women of Albuquerque In February 1706 several families participated in the founding of Albuquerque but the names of only 22 are preserved in the historical record. Within those families were many women honored as being founders of La Villa San Felipe de Alburquerque. Their success in the face of incredible challenges is testament to their courage and bravery. Their names are recorded on the back of this marker. Official Scenic Historic Marker Founding Women of Albuquerque Isabel Cedillo Rico de Rojas María de la Encarnación Francisca de Góngora Gregoria de Góngora María Gutiérrez Juana Hurtado Juana López del Castillo Antonia Gregoria Lucero de Godoy Leonor Luján Domínguez Francisca Montoya Juana Montoya María Montoya Clementa de Ortega María de Ortega María de Ribera Jacinta Romero Gregoria Ruiz Bernardina de Salas Orozco y Trujillo Josefa Tamaris Catalina Varela Jaramillo María Varela Petrona Varela

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Petroglyph National Monument — 5.4 mi
  Some 24,000 images pecked into the dark basalt of Albuquerque's West Mesa, protected in 1990 and then crossed by a city boulevard.

More markers nearby

• Albuquerque — steps away
• La Doctora María Dolores Gonzáles — 1.4 mi
• Harvey Girls / Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, 1869 - 1958 — 1.4 mi
• Crossroads at Martineztown — 1.6 mi