Valencia County's history is rich with tradition, culture and momentous occasions. This section, Community and Growth, is filled with quizzes and facts about the county and notable citizens, elected officials and some of its more historical and recognizable places. The first quiz is strictly about the county's history, which was generously provided by the pages of "Valencia County: History Through the Photographer's Lens," by Margaret Espinosa McDonald and Richard Melzer. Take some time, have some fun and learn about Valencia County and its history.

1. Between 1540-1542,                explores New Mexico for Spain.

2. Don Juan de            conquers and settles New Mexico in 1598.

3. In 1610,              is founded as New Mexico’s capital.

4. Franciscan Mission Church was built in                 in 1613.

5. In the mid 1600s Tomé Dominguez de              settles the area that now bears his name.

6. Between 1692-93 Don Diego de Vargas reconquers                for the Spanish Empire.

7. In 1793,               is build on old town plaza in Belen.
8. Father                 coffin rises for the first of several times in 1819 in the St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Isleta.

9. In 1846,                     begins; New Mexico and the Southwest is conquered by the United States.

10. Father Jean Baptiste Ralliere arrives in 1858 to begin his 55 year career as pastor of the Catholic Church in             .

11. In 1860, Louis B. Huning buys the                      in Los Lunas from his cousin, E.E. Franz.

12. Despite strong opposition, the new                     is completed and blessed in 1860.

13. Between 1863-64, Navajo Long Walk to Bosque Redondo routed through Bosque de los                        .

14. In 1873,             opened the first U.S. Post Office in Belen, with himself as postmaster.

15. Valencia County seat moves from Tomé to                  in 1876.

16. In 1877, John Becker opens mercantile store in            .

17. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad built through Valencia County in           .

18. Since                   hacienda stood in the right of way of the Santa Fe Railroad’s proposed rail lines, the railroad agreed to build a home to Luna’s specifications in 1880 west of the hacienda. The mansion is today a restaurant.

19. Guadalupe Otero was          of Valencia County Schools in 1885.

20. In 1884, one of the worst        in Valencia County history.

21. In 1888, Valencia County’s first two                 , the Valencia County Tribune and the Valencia County Vindicator, were founded.
22.                            serves as Valencia County’s superintendent of schools in 1887.

23. In 1895, Francis Schlatter,  
arrives in Valencia County.

24. In 1898, “Bronco Bill” Walters and Kid Johnson robbed the                          south of Belen.

25.                    was one of the first doctors in the county. According to legend, the first local resident that he encountered on arriving in Los Lunas in 1900 was literally hanging from a rope.

26.                  , a wealthy businessman from Belen, opened the Academy for Girls in 1900.

27. In 1903, John Becker opens the                          of Belen.

28. Felipe Chaves,               , died in 1904.

29. Joe Tondre built the             in Los Lunas in 1906. Tondre worked for Neustadt and eventually, he and his brother-in-law, Frank Davila, bought the store.

30. In 1907, a                    , complete with good food and excellent service, opened next to the Belen depot.

31. Bertha Rutz, a former housekeeper to John Becker’s children, built the                          in 1907.

32. In 1908,                    died in a tragic accident at a sheep ranch in western New Mexico.

33. The                        was built in 1909 by J. D. Cordova.

34.              were introduced on a private basis in the Belen area in 1910. John Becker had his own private service, and would allow select individuals to hook into his operation.

35. In 1912, New Mexico becomes the            state in the United States.

36. In 1918, the Village of           was incorporated, with Manuel Garcia elected as its first mayor.

37. Frank Kaneshiero, a native of Okinawa, Japan, arrived in Belen in 1919 to open the area’s            .  

38. In 1923, the                          begins service.

39.                      created in 1925.

40. The New Mexico state legislature establishes the                  in 1925.

41. The Solomon Luna High School was founded in               in 1926.

42. In 1928, the Village of Los Lunas was incorporated,        elected as its first mayor.

43. The first           was shown in Valencia County in 1930.

44. Dennis Chavez, a native of,             was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1932, and became a U.S. senator in 1935.

45. In 1937, a            covered the Belen streets.

46. In 1939, the Belen Chamber of Commerce was founded with
as its first president.

47. Belen High School Homecoming Queen in 1939 was
.

48. The                        unit was established in 1947.

49. Gil Sanchez, having worked at Harrell’s Bakery, opened          in 1947.

50. The new                      was competed in Los Lunas in 1948.

51. In 1948,                   of Isleta helps win the right to vote for Indians.

52.                and other volunteers erected three crosses at the top of Tomé Hill in 1948.

53. In 1960, Ranchers State Bank was founded by                      and other local investors.

54. Los Lunas native Daniel Fernandez was killed in combat in Vietnam in 1966 and was posthumously awarded the                     .

55. The                  was sold to the Horizon Corporation in 1968.

56. In 1973, despite strong opposition, Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church was                                .

57. The Village of Bosque Farms incorporated in 1973 with           as its first mayor.

58. In 1978, The University of New Mexico satellite center opened in                      .

59. A medium security               opened in 1980 in Los Lunas.

60. Valencia County divided in 1982, creating the new            with Grants as its new county seat.

61. The University of New Mexico branch campus opened in 1986 in          .

62. The town of Peralta incorporated in 2007, and                  was elected its first mayor a few months later.

63. In 2005, the state Legislature approved a bill naming the            as the state’s official aircraft.

64. The State                 of New Mexico is the “Greater

Roadrunner.”

65. The            , a Western staple, was adopted as the state’s official tie in 2007.

66. The New Mexico Legislature adopted the               as the official state cookie in 1989.

67. The New Mexico State Legislature supported and adopted a bill to name the            as the official state flower.

68. The                            was selected as the state’s official animal on February 8, 1963.

69. In 1996, the New Mexico State Legislature passed a house joint memorial declaring            as the official state question.

70. The            is the official state tree.

ANSWERS TO HISTORY QUIZ:

1. Francisco Coronado
2. Onate
3. Santa Fe
4. Isleta Pueblo
5. Mendoza
6. New Mexico
7. Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church
8. Father Juan Jose Padilla’s
9. The Mexican-American War
10. Tomé
11. Huning Mercantile Store
12. Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church
13. Pinos
14. John Becker
15. Los Lunas
16. Belen
17. 1880
18. Don Antonio Luna’s
19. Superintendent
20. Floods
21. Newspapers
22. Father Jean Baptiste Ralliere
23. “The Healer”
24. Atchison, T Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad
25. Dr. William F. Wittwer
26. Felipe Chaves
27. First National Bank
28. El Millionairio
29. Simon Neustadt Store
30. Harvey House
31. Belen Hotel and Restaurant
32. Solomon Luna
33. Jarales flour mill
34. Telephones
35. 47th
36. Belen
37. Dry-cleaning establishment
38. Belen Light and Power Company
39. Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District
40. Los Lunas Hospital and Training School
41. Los Lunas
42. Antonio J. Archuleta
43. “Talkie” movie
44. Los Chavez
45. Flood
46. Edwin Leupold
47. Eva Garcia
48. Belen National Guard unit
49. Gil’s Bakery
50. San Clemente Catholic Church
51, Miguel Trujillo
52. Edwin Berry
53. Henry Jaramillo Jr.
54. Medal of Honor
55. Tome Land Grant
56. Destroyed and replaced with a new church
57. Robert Fisher
58. Rio Communities
59. Prison
60. Cibola County
61. Tomé
62. Edward Archuleta
63. Hot air balloon
64. Bird
65. Bolo Tie
66. Biscochito
67. Yucca
68. American Black Bear
69. “Red or Green?”
70. Pinon