In 1890, scholar Adolph Bandelier wrote that Juan de Oñate's 1598 colonizing expedition at journey's end halted at San Juan Pueblo. Then later it moved across to the west side of the Rio Grande and founded San Gabriel.

The history for the 15 years of San Gabriel's existence is of considerable interest, since the community until 1610 served as New Mexico's second capital. Unhappily, the story is poorly documented, leaving us with a number of puzzles and gaps in our knowledge.

In at least two early letters, Gov. Oñate referred to San Juan Pueblo as the capital, so that place enjoys the distinction of being the initial seat of Spanish government in New Mexico.

Having the bulk of foreigners crowded into the native village was inconvenient for all concerned.
Hence, an arrangement was worked out whereby the colonists crossed the river to the neighboring pueblo of Yungue Oweenge, whose residents gave up their adobe apartments and moved in with relatives at San Juan.

So, Yungue Oweenge became San Gabriel de los Españoles (sometimes referred to as San Gabriel de la Paz). And it automatically was elevated to the rank of capital of the kingdom of New Mexico, as it was then known.

In time the Spaniards remodeled the Indian pueblo, making changes to meet their needs and producing a U-shaped village plan with a mission church at the open end.

Soon a cabildo, or town council, was created, composed of one or more alcaldes (magistrates) and several regidores, that is, councilmen. Thereafter, San Gabriel bore the title of "Villa," signifying that it was a chartered municipality.

One other detail is worth noting. By 1606 this struggling little Spanish capital was subject to periodic raids by newly hostile Apaches and Navajos.

San Gabriel's fate was sealed, though, not by Indian attacks, but by the viceroy at Mexico City. In 1609, he ordered Pedro de Peralta, recently appointed governor of New Mexico, to establish a new villa to replace San Gabriel, whose location had proved unsatisfactory.

That apparently occurred in the first half of 1610, with most of the population of San Gabriel moving south to become founding members of the new Villa de Santa Fe.

It is often assumed that San Gabriel was swiftly abandoned and fell into ruin. Elderly colonist Francisco García, however, in 1665 claimed that he had been born at the Villa de San Gabriel in 1615, which indicates that some Spanish inhabitants were still there at that date.

Bandelier's statement that San Gabriel lay across the Rio Grande from San Juan was well known. But the site's exact location long eluded archeologists.

In 1946, the Museum of New Mexico conducted a quick survey of the general area, all that was allowed by pueblo officials. Indian artifacts were recovered but "not one vestige of Spanish material came to light during the digging."

Then, a San Juan man in 1951 dug up the iron crown of an archer's helmet that proved to be the oldest piece of armor discovered to date within the United States. That find pinpointed the precise location of the villa.

Eight years passed, then archeologist Florence Hawley Ellis of The University of New Mexico received an unexpected invitation from the governor of the pueblo to conduct excavations at the site.

Beginning work in the summer of 1959, using student labor, she was able to identify the fixed limits of the original San Gabriel.

Time magazine ran a feature story on the exciting discovery. Titled "Conquistadors' Capital," it was written by New Mexico journalist Tony Hillerman.

A subhead opening the article read: "Beneath the morning-glories, chain mail and dog tracks." At the start of the project, Ellis had noticed wild morning glories growing on a low mound. The flowers are sometimes a marker of disturbed ground, and that proved to be the case here.

The paw prints of a pair of dogs from Oñate's day had been left in the old plaza when the animals crossed it after a rain.

The excavations yielded a quantity of Spanish artifacts, among them a cannonball, a religious medal, hardware, trade beads, a copper spoon and a gunstock ornament.

And finally, much about the architecture became known as the labyrinth of foundations was laid bare. Regrettably, none of that is visible today, since at the conclusion of the project the entire site was back-filled with earth.

Owing to a lack of funds, according to Ellis, no official report of her work was immediately published. In 1989, she did bring out a small narrative history of the excavations, San Gabriel del Yungue, published by Sunstone Press.

Prior to that, Ellis had proclaimed San Gabriel to be "the second oldest settlement in the United States." That's an accolade that would grab anyone's attention.

Historian Marc Simmons is author of numerous books on New Mexico and the Southwest. His column appears Saturdays.