Taos Unlimited | Taos A To Z: A Glossary of Terms, Definitions and Descriptions of Everything Taos

Martin, Doc
Doc and Helen Martin came to Taos, New Mexico, in the 1890s, purchasing the largest of several adobe houses surrounding a small plaza. Doc's concern for the town he had adopted made him a popular and well respected man, and one of a very few of that time who was not touched by one scandal or another. As in-laws of Taos Society of Artists founder, Bert Phillips, Doc and Helen were also patrons of the arts. They provided an early meeting place for the Taos Society of Artists. In addition, Helen Martin was herself a batik artist. Over time, the Martins bought the other buildings on the plaza, which they rented to artists and writers. When Doc died, Helen bought the last remaining building, formally opening the Hotel Martin in 1936. Today, the Hotel Martin is the Taos Inn. (~Aimee)

Mesas in the Los Alamos, New Mexico area.

Mesas in the Los Alamos, New Mexico area.

Mesa
Spanish for "table," a mesa is an elevated area of land with a flat top, often with steep cliff-like sides. Mesas are common landforms in arid environments, such as New Mexico. (~Aimee)

Millicent Rogers Museum
Art patron, stunning beauty, talented designer, and heir to the Standard Oil fortune, Millicent Rogers (1902-1953) settled in Taos, New Mexico in 1947. Her distinguished, once-private art collection of more than 5,000 pieces (including turquoise and silver jewelry, hand-woven baskets and textiles, and traditional San Ildefonso Pueblo pottery) remains one of the most important in the country. Rogers, a fashion icon in her day, was one of the first Americans of "high society" to appreciate the silver and turquoise artistry of the Native American jewelry makers. The museum offers 15 galleries featuring both permanent and temporary exhibitions of the traditional and comtemporary arts of the Native American and Hispanic cultures of the Southwest. (~Jean)

Museums of Taos
The major museums in the Taos, New Mexico, area are: E.L. Blumenschein Home and Museum, La Hacienda de los Martinez, The Harwood Museum of Art, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos Art Museum and Fechin House, Kit Carson Home and Museum, and Governor Bent House and Museum. (~Jean)
NOTE: See our special section on The Museums of Taos.

Mustang (or Wild Horse)
During the 16th century, Spanish settlers brought their cattle-raising traditions, as well as horses and domestic cattle, with them to the Americas. The arrival of horses was especially significant, as equines had been extinct in the Western hemisphere since the Ice Age. Once here, they quickly multiplied, becoming crucial to the settlers of all nations. As time went on, the original Arabian and Andalusian breeds brought by the Spanish evolved into American horse breeds through selective breeding and natural selection. As descendants of domesticated horses, the Mustang and other horse breeds which are now considered to be "wild horses" could be more accurately termed feral. (~Aimee)

Jean's 1967 Mustang

A Bit of Mustang Pop Culture Trivia: One of the most popular cars in the history of the Ford Motor Company was the Mustang. An affordable everyman's (and everywoman's) sports car, it was seen nationwide in the 1960s and 1970s. It actually bore an emblem of the Mustang horse. It was the extremely hot Mustang fad that inspired the Top Ten hit song, Mustang Sally, recorded by Wilson Pickett in 1966. Yours truly was a proud owner of a metallic green 1967 Mustang. (~Jean)

Pictured: Mesas are part of the scenery near Los Alamos, New Mexico