Miguel Romero y Baca House Photo Courtesy of Museum of N.M. # 70252

1. Miguel Romero y Baca House

North of Mills-East of Gallinas River

1833-ca.1880

Miguel Romero y Baca was Las Vegas's first permanent settler, moving onto the lush meadows that line the Gallinas River. In 1833, Romero a Mexican soldier from La Cienaga, established his seasonal home here to grow wheat and beans, returning to Santa Fe for the winters to avoid Native-American attacks. It is likely Miguel Romero was the ranchero Josiah Gregg met at the Gallinas River in 1831. In 1835, Mexican colonists from San Miguel del Bado were awarded the Las Vegas Land Grant. The Baca, Ulibarri, Maes, Lopez, Rendon, Duran, Martin, Blea, Lucero, Ortega, Tafoya, Griego, Archuleta and Crespin families moved to the Gallinas meadows, established the perimeter of the Plaza, and initially lived here seasonally as well. The Plaza at Las Vegas was built as a complete square of adobe buildings with a northern and southern gate for communal protection. All of these pioneers were farmers and used their lands communally, but for many of them Las Vegas's location on the Santa Fe Trail was to change their vocations and their lives.