Editing Agua Fria, New Mexico (section)

==History==
[[File:Agua Fria, New Mexico, 1900.jpg|thumb|left|House in Agua Fria, circa 1900]]
Native Americans lived in this area circa 3,000-3,500 BCE because of the water availability and moderate temperatures (about 30 fewer freezing days than in Santa Fe). Recent archaeological work shows a presence in this area back to 7,000 BCE.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pindi and Agua Fria Schoolhouse Pueblos |url=https://newmexicohistory.org/2014/09/10/pindi-and-agua-fria-schoolhouse-pueblos/ |website=New Mexico History}}</ref>

The Spanish under command of Juan de Oñate passed through this area on the way to founding the first capital of New Mexico San Gabriel in 1598 (near present-day San Juan Pueblo – Okhay Owinge). The first recorded settlement was circa 1640 by the grandparents of Major Roque Madrid (the area then known as Pueblo Quemado for a burnt native town in the area). The grandfather Francisco de Madrid may have 'dropped off' from a 1603 expedition to farm this area (he is the namesake of Madrid, New Mexico, a mining area).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://newmexicohistory.org/places/agua-fria-quemado | title=Agua Fria-Quemado – New Mexico History }}</ref>

As these settlements of Cieneguitas, Agua Fria and Cieneguilla expanded in Spanish Colonial New Mexico, they were called Ranchitos, as the population grew they became a Placita. Agua Fria was identified by two groups. The area by the Church was “La Placita de Los Romeros” and the other one in the area of the Tanque, the “watering hole” (area of Lopez Lane and Camino de Oro Road) became “La Placita de Los Lopez.” As the community grew, it acquired the status of a Village.<ref>Melinda Romero Pike 2010.</ref>

In the year 1776, Fray Francisco Atanacio Dominguez gave a census count to his superiors listing Agua Fria with 57 families and 297 persons; but at this time it was still known as Pueblo Quemado.

U.S. Army Colonel [[John M. Washington]]'s Expedition to Navajo Country passed through Agua Fria on August 16, 1849. This was the first known American reference to the community. The parroquia of Santa Fe was administered under the auspices of the Diocese of Durango, Mexico in the 1800s. Even though the people in Agua Fria had a strong faith, they found it difficult to attend church regularly, so they founded their own mission in the Village in 1835.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://aguafriavillage.ning.com/forum/topics/history-of-and-oral-histories |title=History of, AND, Oral Histories in Agua Fria Village - Agua Fria Village |access-date=January 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304131155/http://aguafriavillage.ning.com/forum/topics/history-of-and-oral-histories |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>