If you take SR 68 into Espanola you can gain access to US 84 and US 285.

At one time or another three peoples inhabited the area. At first the Tewa, a group of Native Americans who were here from the beginning of the 13th century. They occupied pueblos, four of which, Ohkay Owingeh, Pojoaque, Santa Clara and San Ildefonso, are located near the city. Next the Spanish came to the area only to be driven out by the Tewa around 1680 and then return a few years later. When New Mexico was annexed by the United States as a result of the Mexican-American war, settlers began arriving and added their cultural influence to the two previous ones. Around 1878 when the railroad reached New Mexico there was a significant increase in the trade and migration from the Eastern United States. Be sure see Plaza de Espanola with Mision Museum y Convento. The Mision Museum is a a replica of the church built the Spanish at the San Gabriel settlement at the end of the 16th century. The museum is replete with original artwork in the form of traditional church decoration from the past four centuries and displays the coats-of-arms of the Spanish surnamed settlers who came to the Española Valley around 1598.

Hon. Stephen S. Salazar