Primary Sources

Last week, the New Mexico State Library Facebook page asked some interesting questions about the first governor of the New Mexico Territory, Charles Bent. The Santa Fe Public Library, aka me, was the only one to attempt the answer to their questions. I won't step on their toes in the local history quiz category, but I will share where I got the (correct) answers from. Hint: I didn't get them from reading a book or article about Charles Bent.

For years, Taos, NM, has been one of my favorite locations for both weekend mini-cations and day trips. There's always a lot of art, culture, poetry, cuisine, history, and natural beauty to explore up there. On my last visit, I did the double-whammy of visiting Kit Carson's house and Charles Bent's house on the same day. While the two men were quite related in their time, their homes and how history is currently presenting them could not be any more different. Mr. Carson's house is more of a hands-off museum, with the information about his life carefully edited and doled out. Mr. Bent's house is more of a jumble, a warts-and-all presentation about a still-controversial figure. I learned more about New Mexico history and culture in that juxtaposed museum day than I had in more than a dozen years of residency and study.

If you're looking for an incredibly entertaining and educational way to spend a day, I highly recommend visiting both places in Taos, with a tasty lunch between the two. It will not only give you a lot of food for thought, but hopefully it will give me some healthy competition in local history quizzes.

Portrait of Charles Bent from Find A Grave.