Mora Plaza Nueva: The Second Battle of Mora, 178 Years Later

How Mora, NM lost it’s Plazas and What We Can Do to Revive Them.

Today marks the 178th anniversary of the Second Battle of Mora and the destruction of Mora, New Mexico’s plazas. On this day in 1847, troops of the U.S. occupation forces descended on the Mora Valley to “avenge” their loss the week before during the First Battle of Mora. And, yes, two plazas –

The Two Plazas

Lower Mora Plaza, likely situated near and around St. Gertrude’s Church in Mora along State Highways 518 and 94

On Oct.20, 1835, Alcalde Sanchez established the Valle de Santa Gertrudis Plaza on the south bank of the Agua Negra River. It was situated in the upper Agua Negra drainage at an elevation of 7,200 feet. The Santa Gertrudis (Saint Gertrude’s) Plaza measured 200 Varas (548.5 ft) on the north-south and 150 Varas (411.4 ft) on the east-west axis. The perimeter designated at “Chorreras y piso de todos” was 30 Varas (82.27 ft). The public spaces were designated as the meadow and roadways that led to it. *

Upper Mora Plaza, probably in Cleveland around the junction of Highway 518 and Tramperos Road

The San Antonio Plaza mirrored the dimensions of the Santa Gertrudis Plaza and was to be located three miles upstream from the lower valley. The nearby cienega was set aside to benefit all the settlers. Once the plaza locations had been mapped and footprint identified, Alcalde Sanchez proceeded to measure and divide the irrigable agricultural land. Five thousand nine hundred Varas (16,181 ft) along both sides of the Mora River were distributed to 40 grantees. In San Antonio, land was more restricted than in the lower valley, and 29 settlers shared the 3,610 Varas (9,900 ft) with most receiving 100 Varas (274.2 ft) each. One of the leading settlers, Miguel Olguin received 250 Varas (685.6 ft) facing the plaza on the southeast side.*

*These sections are paraphrased from From “Reparticion To Partition: A History of the Mora Land Grant, 1835-1916″ by Robert D. Shadow and Maria Rodriguez-Shadow

The Second Battle of Mora

In 1846, hundreds of Mora vecinos arose to take part in the widespread insurgency against United States occupation known as the “Taos Revolt.” By January 1847, United States forces had suppressed the popular uprising along the Rio Grande and made way to Mora. On January 24th, Moreños successfully defended their communities, driving the army back to Las Vegas. Occupation troops returned to Mora on February 1st, this time they brought howitzers.

Using the artillery to drive back the defenders, the army of occupation troops drove up the Mora valley, destroying houses, crops – and the plazas. Most Moreños retreated to the mountains to the west until they found it safe to return to their grants and rebuild. A hardened cadre led by Manuel Cortez continued the fight against occupation into the 1850s.

The Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire Disaster

Fast Forward 175 years and, once again, a federal agency brings disaster to the people of Mora. In the Spring of 2023, the Rural Community Assistance Corporation and Visiones Collaborativas-Collaborative Visions held several public sessions to work out long-term recovery for Mora County. One initiative born from these sessions was the Mora Plaza Nueva Project.

Mora Plaza Nueva Project

With the support from the HHS grant, VC-CV held two community engagement sessions on May 17 and 18, 2024 to gather ideas about the project – where Plaza Nueva should be located, what it should include, and how it should look.

Throughout the summer and early fall of 2024, VC-CV conducted extensive public outreach about Mora Plaza Nueva. At our booths set up at Mora Fiesta, Valley of the Mills Fest, and Wagon Mound Bean Day, we spoke about the project with hundreds of Mora county residents. And we were able to collect formal input from more 121 Moreños!

Mora Plaza Nueva Planning & Design Charette, February 15, 2025

A design charrette is a collaborative meeting where people from different backgrounds and disciplines work together to develop a design or vision for a project.

As we move into the new year, VC-CV is going into the final phase of preliminary planning for this project and we need your help! Please join us on Saturday, February 15th to take part in the Mora Plaza Nueva Design Charette. This event is an opportunity to establish community priorities for the design, physical elements, and services to be included in the Mora Plaza Nueva. 

The Charette will be held from 9:00am to 3:30pm in the Distance Learning Center the the Helping Hands Building (where Guadalupe Credit Union is, across from Family Dollar). Sign in starts at 8:30 with light breakfast, lunch is provided to all participants.  

Please Register and Attend

In person attendance is limited to 35, so please register here as soon as possible

If you can’t attend in person, we will be sharing the event on Zoom. Register for the Zoom here

For more information on the Mora Plaza Nueva Project, please visit 

We look forward to seeing you and hearing your thoughts!