New Mexico Territorial Suite

Dr. Roy E. Howard has composed a work for orchestra for the New Mexico Centennial celebration. ( about the composer ) The suite uses traditional melodies to suggest immigrations, technologies, and relationships that prepared New Mexico for statehood.

The "New Mexico Territorial Suite" by Dr. Howard, quotes Civil War bugle calls and songs of the NM Territorial Period, 1848 to 1912, representing Native American, Hispanic, Pioneers, Soldiers, wars, outlaws, boarding schools, trains, telegraph, cowboys, etc. Video length is 9:37. The mp3 is more complete at 11:04.

Listening to the suite helps us contemplate the relationships and processes that led to the unique Constitution of 1912 that recognized the former treaties and protected the cultures, religions, and languages of historical New Mexico.

Funded in part by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

Orchestra parts:. Contact the composer for prices of alternative arrangements, including band or other ensembles Place your order with an email to Dr. Howard: 2rhoward@att.net

Click to view the program brochure in pdf | NM Territorial Suite mp3 | Click on video to hear the suite | La del Pinion

Lesson Plan associated with pillars of Character Counts

1. Introduction (Citizenship - becoming a Territory of the U.S. 1848

2. Hispanic cultures were dominant in New Mexico at the time of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

8. Pioneers are safe to settle thanks to Army protection (Responsibility - in their wagon trains they brought families, governments, economies, industry, and agriculture)

9. Corn Grinding Song, another verse, reminding us of the indigenous people in New Mexico (Responsibility - people caring for their families)

10. Many bugle calls, representing the Army's conquest and the Long Walk to Fort Sumner (Hwéeldi)

11. Billy the Kid song and gunfire representing the outlaw era (Fairness - the young men should not have been making their own rules)

3. U.S. Army comes with a drum roll and bugle call

4. Cowboys arrive, protected by the Army (Trustworthiness is important to building New Mexico)

5. Navajo corn grinding song with drum, saxophones, flutes, representing the Navajo, Apache, Tewa, Tiwa, Towa, Keres, and Zuni people (Respect for the land)

6. Drum and bugle announces the arrival of many military units

7. Battle representing the "Indian Wars"

New Mexico Territorial Suite, 1848 to 1912

12. Bugle transition as the Army brings order and law

13. Flute represents the treaties at Fort Sumner, June, 1848,then "Shii Naa Shaa", the celebration of the return to Navajo Land (Caring)

14. Railroad and telegraph and technologies that bring transportation, communication, and wage economies (Science)

15. Boarding school song starts with bugles, reminding us of the military orientation of these schools in the beginning (Citizenship)

16. Cielito Lindo representing the Pancho Villa era ending with the statehood of New Mexico and the Constitution of 1912 that recognized the former treaties and protected the cultures, religions, and languages of historical New Mexico (Citizenship)

La del Piñón
a history of New Mexico
Roy E. Howard, Ph.D.

Each wave of conquest brought a leader who is long gone, along with men who stayed and became a long term part of New Mexico history by starting families who are still here today. This version of history is a New Mexico love story. In each verse, the soldier or worker quits his job, declares he has found what he came for, and lives happily ever after with the girl of his dreams: the girl he found by the pinion tree. In this ballad, the true treasure of New Mexico is characterized as the people who continue to live here generation after generation. Many stories are missing from this sampling of history. This tradition continues to the current generations, as my father found his bride in New Mexico in 1938, I found my New Mexico gal in 1970, and both my sons married New Mexico women in the 1990s. As I write this history, I am surrounded by a vast pinion forest in the Zuni Mountains of my New Mexico home. This is a love song to my wife and an honor song to all the New Mexico women. The true treasure we seek for is not possession and power, but acceptance and relationships. Take time to get to know the people of New Mexico, and you will discover the reason that so many visitors have stayed.

Stories of romance missing from this New Mexico timeline: Sandia People, 25000 B.C; Clovis hunters, 10000-9000 B.C.; Folsom People, 9000-8000 B.C.; Cochise People, 10000-500 B.C.; Mogollon Culture, 300-1400 A.D.; Anasazi People, 1-1300 A.D.; 1200 A.D. the Pueblos are established; 1600 A.D. the Navajo and Apache arrive.

1539 Fray Marcos de Niza and Estevan the moor lead an expedition to find the Seven Cities of Cíbola
Estevanico vino buscando ciudades, yo fuí el señor que halló felicidades
Estevan came searching for cities, I was the one who found happiness
Estaba acostadita en el lado del piñón, ella es lo que buscaba, en mi opinión
She was lying beside the pinion, she was what I searched for, in my opinion

Chorus
En mi opinión, la del piñón es el tesoro de esta región
In my opinion, the girl by the pinion tree is the treasure of this region
Vete a tu palacio, hombre barbón; yo seguiré a mi corazón.
Go back to your palace, bearded man, I will follow my heart.
¡Ay. corazón!
Oh my heart!
mi galardón, en mi opinión,
my reward, in my opinion,
es la del piñón.
is the girl by the pinion.

1540-42 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores from the Gulf of Mexico to Kansas
Coronado vino buscando por oro, yo fuí el señor que halló el tesoro
Coronado came searching for gold, I was the one who found treasure
Estaba sentadita en la sombra del piñón, ella es lo que buscaba, en mi opinión
She was sitting in the shade of the pinion, she was what I searched for, in my opinion

1580 Friar Agustín Rodríguez leads expedition to New Mexico
Fray Augustín Rodríguez vino buscando por almas, yo fuí el señor que halló a las calmas
Friar Agustín Rodríguez came searching for souls, I was the one who found peace
Estaba arrodillita en el polvo del piñón, ella es lo que buscaba, en mi opinión
She was kneeling in the dust of the pinion, she is what I searched for, in my opinion

1598 Juan de Oñate establishes the first Spanish capital of San Juan de los Caballeros at the Tewa village of Ohke
de Oñate vino buscando la plata, yo fuí el señor que halló a la chata
de Oñate came searching for silver, I was the one who found the girl
Estaba paradita en la rama del piñón, ella es lo que buscaba, en mi opinión
She was standing on a pinion branch, she is what I searched for, in my opinion

1692 Don Diego de Vargas recolonized New Mexico (after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680)
Don Diego de Vargas vino buscando control, yo fuí el señor que halló la faz del sol
Don Diego de Vargas came searching control, I was the one who found the face of the sun
Estaba caminando en medio del piñón, ella es lo que buscaba, en mi opinión
She was walking among the pinion, she is what I searched for, in my opinion

1846 Stephen Watts Kearny annexes New Mexico to the United States at the beginning of the Mexican-American War
Stephen Kearny vino buscando expansión, yo fuí el señor que halló conversación
Stephen Kearny came searching expansion, I was the one who found conversation
Estaba recogiendo a la fruta del piñón, ella es lo que buscaba, en mi opinión
She was gathering the fruit of the pinion, she was what I searched for, in my opinion

1863-68 Kit Carson led the conquest of the Navajo Nation and initiated the “Long Walk”
Kit Carson vino buscando poder, yo fuí el señor que halló el placer
Kit Carson came searching for power, I was the one who found pleasure
Estaba moliendo a las nueces del piñón, ella es lo que buscaba, en mi opinión
She was grinding the pinion nuts, she is what I searched for, in my opinion

1923 L.E. Teague, drilling for Midwest Refining Company of Texas, struck oil and started NM’s first commercial oil well
Midwest Refining vino buscando aceite, yo fuí el señor que halló el deleite
Midwest Refining came searching for oil, I was the one who found joy
Estaba cocinando con la harina del piñón, ella es lo que buscaba, en mi opinión
She was cooking with the pinion flour, she is what I searched for, in my opinion

Roy E. Howard, Ph.D.
Professor, Bilingual Education, Retired
Western New Mexico University