[CPProt.net] La Conquistadora: The Autobiography of an Ancient Statue

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

 Saturday, November 19, 2005

Where was La Conquistadora?

(La Historia del Rio Abajo is a monthly column about Valencia County history
written by members of the Valencia County Historical Society.

 
This month's article is based on information gathered at the Archives of the
Archdiocese of Santa Fe, contemporary newspaper accounts and Fray Angélico
Chávez's book, La Conquistadora: The Autobiography of an Ancient Statue.

An earlier version of this article appeared in La Crónica de Nuevo México,
published by the Historical Society of New Mexico.

Dr. Melzer is a professor of History at the University of New
Mexico-Valencia Campus, the vice president of the Valencia County Historical
Society, and the president of the Historical Society of New Mexico.

Opinions expressed in this and all columns of La Historia del Rio Abajo are
the author's alone and not necessarily those of the Valencia County
Historical Society, the News-Bulletin or any other group or individual.)

She stands only 28 inches tall. She is made of willow wood, native to her
native Spain. Having arrived in New Mexico in 1625, she is at least 379
years old, but she is well preserved, thanks to the excellent care she
receives from La Confradía de Nuestra Señora del Rosario (The Confraternity
of Our Lady of the Rosary).

Her wardrobe of 130 elaborate dresses would be the envy of almost any woman
in history. One dress, made by Cochití Pueblo artist Dorothy Trujillo, is of
Native American design and includes small silver bracelets and a miniature
squash blossom necklace.

The statue's jeweled crown's replacement value equals $65,378, while her
pectoral cross, donated in 1960 by an anonymous admirer, is currently valued
at $97,529. The replacement value of all of her jewelry equaled $180,856 in
2000.

Whole books have been written about her. And thousands of visitors have come
to admire her at her special chapel at St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe.
She is the center of attention at the annual Santa Fe Fiesta, where she is
carried through the capital city's streets at the head of a grand
procession.

She is the image of the Virgin Mary, the most venerated saint in the
Catholic Church. She is the oldest Madonna figure in the United States. She
is the most famous religious, cultural and historical artifact in all of New
Mexico. She is listed as a New Mexico Registered Cultural Property.

Originally known as Our Lady of the Rosary or Our Lady of the Conquest, she
is currently called Our Lady of Peace. She is best known as La
Conquistadora.

But on Sunday, March 18, 1973, La Conquistadora was kidnapped from her
sheltered place of honor at St. Francis Cathedral.

How could this have happened? Who could have committed such a terrible
crime? Why would anyone have stolen such a sacred symbol of love and peace?
To begin to answer these questions, we must return to the day and scene of
the crime.

As usual, the cathedral's sacristan, Della Garcia, had locked and secured
the cathedral's exterior doors by 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 18. The church
remained closed until it was time for 6 a.m. Mass the following morning.

Within moments, parishioners noticed La Conquistadora's conspicuous absence.
Church officials quickly notified the police. The press announced the
shocking crime with front-page headlines. The public was horrified. Grown
men and women wept at the news.

As if appealing for the safe return of a human victim, Santa Fe mayor Joseph
E. Valdes vowed to "do anything in my power to be sure that La Conquistadora
is found." At St. Francis Cathedral, Father Miguel Baca publicly pleaded
with the kidnappers to show mercy.

Archbishop James Peter Davis expressed shock and dismay, telling reporters
that he only hoped the thieves were not be so "deranged" that they would
destroy the famous statue, although he admitted that "you don't know what to
expect these days."

Outraged, Fray Angélico Chávez, a noted historian and the author of two
books about La Conquistadora, declared that the crime was an act of
sacrilege in an age when not even churches were respected by "the crooks"
any more.

According to Fray Angélico, the statue's disappearance in New Mexico was as
traumatic to the people of this state as the disappearance of the Statue of
Liberty would be for the nation as a whole.

State and local police used all available manpower as they launched their
search and investigation. La Conquistadora's altar was meticulously checked
for fingerprints, but none were found.

Only a single set of footprints was discovered to help the police identity
La Conquistadora's abductor. There was no sign of breaking and entering at
any of the cathedral's doors.

Santa Fe detectives, led by Paul Baca and Mike Montoya, surmised that one or
two perpetrators had probably hidden in the choir loft or elsewhere in the
huge cathedral as the building was being locked for the night on March 18.

When all was quiet, the intruders had apparently climbed to the high niche
where La Conquistadora normally stood, grabbed the holy statue and fled from
the church in the dark of night. If true, theirs had been a direct and
simple plan, as most successful criminal plans are in history.

With few physical clues to work with, detectives interviewed at least eight
persons who might have had information about the theft. Several people
agreed to take lie detector tests. Unfortunately, these interviews left the
police with as many questions as answers in the puzzling mystery.

For example, the police pondered why La Conquistadora had been kidnapped in
the first place. Given her fame, she could not possibly be sold either in
the legitimate art world or on the nefarious black market.

Some wondered if the kidnappers had taken La Conquistadora in hopes of
portraying themselves as citizens who had somehow discovered the lost statue
and had turned it over to the police to reap the reward that was bound to be
offered. In fact, local businesses and groups had pledged about $1,500 in
reward money within days of the crime.

Or would the kidnappers soon contact church leaders to make demands for a
ransom of much higher value? Would they threaten to damage or even destroy
the sacred image if their demands were not met?

Police also wondered if this crime was related to recent thefts of other
religious art in the capital. On July 5, 1972, a valuable statue of San
Miguel, as well as other statues and paintings, had been stolen from San
Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the United States.

(According to one theory, La Conquistadora had gone off in search of the
lost San Miguel because he'd been gone so long and clearly needed help in
finding his way back home!)

Or could the crimes at St. Francis and San Miguel be related to a series of
thefts from 24 churches and Penitente moradas (chapels) in northern New
Mexico over the previous two years? Close to a hundred religious artifacts,
valued at over $100,000, were recovered from galleries, private collections,
and art dealers by November 1972, but no arrests had been made and the
perpetrators were still on the loose in the spring of the following year.

Finally, there was the possibility that La Conquistadora's kidnappers may
have learned of these previous crimes and were boldly attempting a copycat
caper with far higher stakes and much greater risks.

Rumors of La Conquistadora's possible whereabouts circulated widely, as
rumors often do in the capital city. Some speculated that La Conquistadora
was being kept in northern New Mexico, not far from Santa Fe. Others
believed that she had been taken south to Albuquerque.

Another group thought that La Conquistadora had been transported as far away
as the East Coast where she was less well known and could fetch a handsome
price on the national or international black market. Legitimate art dealers,
museums, and collectors across the nation were notified to be on the alert.

But nothing happened for several days, despite the relentless efforts of
police officers and the countless prayers of Catholics across the state.
Reflecting the anguish of many New Mexicans, a poet named Magdalena Vigil
wrote:

¡Qué triste estamos sin ti! How sad we are without you!

¿Qué vamos a hacer ahora? What are we to do now?

Vuelve pronto con nosotros, Return quickly to us,

O Virgen Conquistadora! O Virgin Conquistadora!

Catholics in the Rio Abajo had an especially strong devotion to La
Conquistadora. Although the statue of Mary had been permanently displayed at
St. Francis Cathedral, La Conquistadora had occasionally traveled to various
parts of New Mexico on special religious occasions.

In May 1954, for example, La Conquistadora had toured several central and
southern New Mexico communities to the enthusiastic reception of thousands
of devoted church members. Accompanied by Fray Angélico Chávez, the statue
visited churches in Isleta, Tomé, La Joya and Socorro. On Thursday, May 20,
it visited Belen for the first time in the town's history.

La Conquistadora arrived in Belen on schedule that Thursday afternoon. A
large procession was planned, with the statue carried from the home of
Placido Jaramillo, at 700 North Main St., (where the Circle K now stands at
Aragon and Main), to Our Lady of Belen Church off South Main.

Senior Girl Scouts of the parish carried La Conquistadora on a portable
throne. Fourth-degree members of the Knights of Columbus served as her honor
guard.

Once at the church, an estimated 3,000 parishioners attended a solemn High
Mass celebrated by Our Lady of Belen's Reverend Aloysius Boland. Fray
Angélico delivered a stirring sermon.

Many years had passed since that eventful day in 1954, but many residents of
Valencia County remembered the procession and Mass quite vividly. Learning
of La Conquistadora's disappearance, these local men and women prayed
fervently for the statue's safe return.

Little did the people of Valencia County know that their region of the state
was about to play a key role in resolving the mystery of La Conquistadora's
disappearance in 1973.

No one in the county or the state could have anticipated the dramatic events
that were about to unfold.

(Part 2 of this famous case will appear in the December installment of La
Historia del Rio Abajo.)


http://www.news-bulletin.com/lavida/56391-11-19-05.html