Cristobal Martinez, Santa Cruz, will receive the Martinez Hacienda Award Saturday at the Sagebrush Inn in Taos.
The board of the Taos Historic Museums selected Martinez and three other honorees in recognition of their assistance and service to the museums (the Blumenschein Home and Museum and the Martinez Hacienda, also known as La Hacienda de los Martinez).
Don Severino Martinez, Abiquiu, built the hacienda along the banks of the Rio Pueblo near Taos in 1804. Cristobal Martinez is Severino’s great-grandson.
Cristobal Martinez has helped his family with chores at the hacienda and traveled with elders for visits to the home almost all his life. He served on the Taos Historic Museums’ Board for several decades.
The honoree has helped with many trade fairs and fundraisers of the Board and museums.
“All these years, Cristobal has traveled to Taos for meetings and activities,” said Board President Kathy Córdova. “Sometimes, he travels with his niece and fellow board member Cecilia Martinez-Salazar who lives in Española. At other times Cristobal drives alone. Recently, he requested to serve in an ex-officio capacity, as opposed to active status, and the board honored his request.”
A very visible Cristobal Martinez contribution rests in front of the Martinez Hacienda/Museum. A wooden carreta (cart) created by Cristobal Martinez, John Atkins and the late Ernest Lyckman symbolizes the agriculture and commercial past when the Martinez Hacienda lay at the end of the trail along the Camino Real during the heyday of bartering and the use of wooden carts during the New Mexico Territorial Period. Last year, Taoseño Charles Randall refurbished the cart.
Martinez enjoyed a 30-year career as an Engineer for the U.S. Forest Service. His wife Evangeline has also served area museums and historical entities.