Editing Los Cerrillos, New Mexico (section)

==History==
The first, confirmable [[Native Americans in the United States|human presence]] on the Galisteo River occurred around 10,500 years ago. Over the centuries, both large and small communities spread throughout the [[Galisteo Basin]].<ref name="Timeline">{{Cite web |title=Timeline of the Galisteo Basin |url=http://galisteowatershed.org/PDF/Timeline_GalisteoBasin.pdf |publisher=Galisteo Watershed Partnership  |website= galisteowatershed.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726072353/http://galisteowatershed.org/PDF/Timeline_GalisteoBasin.pdf |archivedate=2011-07-26}}</ref> Archeological evidence of [[Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian]] human inhabitants includes [[pottery]], vases, cups, eating and cooking utensils, [[Hammerstone|stone hammers]], [[wedge]]s, mauls, and religious items.<ref name="Chalchuitl">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= 1880 |title= Mount Chalchuitl |url= https://archive.org/details/MountChalchuitl/mode/1up |location= Sante Fe County, New Mexico |publisher= Turquoise Gold & Silver Mining Company |pages=6–9}}</ref>

The [[Ancestral Puebloans]] began mining Cerrillos [[turquoise]] in approximately 700-900 AD.<ref name="Timeline"/><ref name="CHS">{{cite web |url= https://www.cerrillosnewmexico.com/cerrillos-historical-society |title= Cerrillos Historical Society: The History of Cerrillos |author=  |date= |website= cerrillosnewmexico.com |language=en |publisher= Las Candelas De Los Cerrillos |access-date= 26 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="Hayward">{{cite book |last= Hayward |first= J. Lyman |author-link= |date= 1880 |title= The Los Cerrillos Mines and their Mineral Resources |url= https://archive.org/details/loscerrillosmine00wils/page/n8/mode/1up |language= English |location= South Framingham, MA |publisher= J.C. Clark Pringing Co |pages=4–5 |isbn= |access-date = 26 August 2023}}</ref> Evidence of established long-term settlements, dating back to the 13th century, includes [[pit-house]] villages. In the 14th century, there was increased upheaval and conflict between communities, including the burning of the [[List of Ancestral Puebloan dwellings in New Mexico|Burnt Corn Ruin]]. During the 15th century, an influx of [[Apache]] and [[Navajo]] in the Galisteo Basin influenced and impacted the [[Puebloan]]s. By the time [[Francisco Vázquez de Coronado]] arrived in the region, circa 1540–42, a number of indigenous settlements were abandoned.<ref name="Timeline"/>

Mining in the Cerrillos Hills continued with the arrival of [[Spanish colonization of the Americas#United States|Spanish colonizers]]. The Native peoples were used for slave labor to mine these materials out of the hills under Spanish colonial rule.<ref name="Chalchuitl"/> In 1581, the Spanish identified lead-silver deposits in “Sierra de San Mateo,” the modern Cerrillos Hills. At the turn of the 17th century, the Spanish permanently settled in the area. During the 1660s, however, a [[drought]] put economic pressure on the Spanish, while Puebloans abandoned settlements and [[Plains Indians]] conducted raids.<ref name="Timeline"/>

A Spanish explorer, [[Antonio de Espejo]], wrote about these treasures being mined at a place of “little hills." This is the source of Cerrillos' name.{{Citation needed|reason=Source and date of writing?|date=August 2023}}

In 1680, a [[landslide]] occurred in the hills, causing mines to [[cave-in|cave in]] and bury about 25 miners. When the Spanish attempted to restart mining operations, the Native workers revolted.<ref name="Timeline"/><ref name="Hayward"/> Around 1695-1696 [[Diego de Vargas]] appointed [[Alonso Rael de Aguilar]] as [[alcalde]] of the mining camp El Real de Los Cerrillos.<ref name="CHS"/> However, tumultuous events in the late 17th century&nbsp;– drought, [[small pox]], and ongoing raids&nbsp;– effectively ended Native turquoise mining. The [[Tewa]] people left the area, though there were efforts in the early 18th century to repopulate with reassembled [[Tanoan languages|Tanos]].<ref name="Timeline"/>

During the 18th century, the Spanish continued to register [[land grant]]s and [[Land claim|mine claims]] in the area. The earliest well-documented Spanish mine claim was registered in 1709 by General Don Juan de Ulibarri. After [[Mexican War of Independence|Mexican Independence]], restrictions on foreign visitors in New Mexico were lifted in 1821, increasing trade. Following the end of the [[Mexican–American War]] in 1848, the US Government manipulated land grants to make it easier for [[Anglo-Americans]] to purchase land. Between 1846 and 1869, the Cerrillos Hills were claimed by the Baca y Delgado Family Land Grant. In 1870, the US Government rejected the family's grant claim and made the land available for public purchase.<ref name="Timeline"/>

In 1871, [[Stephen B. Elkins]] purchased 606 acres of US Government land located along the Galisteo River. He planned to build a mining town on the railroad.<ref name="HMdb">{{cite web |url= https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=181859 |title= Cerrillos through the Years |website= hmdb.org |publisher= The Historical Marker Database |access-date= 26 August 2023}}</ref> In the same year, Elkins gained ownership of the Ortiz Mining Grant, which contained coal deposits. Frank Dimmick and Robert Hart registered their Bonanza #3 claim in the Cerrillos Hills on January 15, 1879.<ref name="CHS"/> The two Colorado miners set up camp and by 1880 there were five camps with a combined population of between 1,200 and 1,500 people.<ref name="Hayward"/> Further discovery of [[precious metal]] deposits led to increased immigration and an [[Economic expansion|economic boom]].<ref name="Chalchuitl"/> Eventually, there were over 2,000 Territorial mines established in the hills. March 8, 1880 was declared Cerrillos Founder's Day. In addition to turquoise, the mines produced gold, copper, silver, galena, manganese, and iron.<ref name="CHS"/>

Cerrillos Station was connected to the railway on February 15, 1880.<ref name="HMdb"/> The main line of the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] ran within only three miles of Los Cerrillos.<ref name="Chalchuitl"/> The rapid growth of Cerrillos gave opportunities to people who moved in. During the 1880s, the rate of development increased around Cerrillos Station and saloons, a school, churches, stores, and hotels were built.<ref name="CHS"/>

In either 1899<ref name="CHS"/> or 1901,<ref name="HMdb"/> electricity was first supplied to the town of Cerillos by the Cochiti Gold Mining Company electric plant in [[Madrid, New Mexico]]. Telephone lines arrived in 1905.<ref name="CHS"/><ref name="HMdb"/> By 1900, the mines began to shut down.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} The population of the area dwindled during the [[Great Depression]] and [[World War II]].<ref name="HMdb"/> In 1961, the Cerrillos [[Elementary schools in the United States|primary school]] was closed due to shrinking enrollment and financial difficulties.<ref name="CHS"/>

Today, only a few of the buildings from Cerrillos' boom remain. Some of the buildings still show evidence of past movies filmed ("Young Guns" and "Outrageous Fortune") on Main Street.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} In January 2000, Santa Fe County purchased 1,116 acres of the Cerrillos Hills and created the Santa Fe County Cerrillos Hills Historic Park. In 2009, the park was renamed [[Cerrillos Hills State Park]].<ref name="CHS"/>