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History of the Duke City
Published: 12/05/2011
History of “The Duke City”:
Albuquerque’s history dates back 12,000 years ago when the ancient pueblo indians settled in the area. They lived in the area for two centuries between 1000-1300 and established several communities throughout northeastern New Mexico connecting them with sophisticated roads. Then, in 1540, Conquistador Fransisco Vasquez de Coronado came north in search of the seven cities of Cibola, he left empty handed but persuaded other Spanish settlers to check out the area. By the beginning of the 17th century, the area that would one day become Albuquerque was called Bosque Grande de San Francisco Xavier. In 1706, the ambitious provisional governor of the territory, Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdez, petitioned the Spanish government for permission to establish the bosque as a formal villa and call it Alburquerque, after Viceroy Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, the Duke of Alburquerque. Later the spelling was changed because some influential person couldn't pronounce the "R" in Alburquerque. Resulting in people calling it the Duke’s City. Albuquerque today is still nicknamed "Duke City.”
