When independence from Spain seemed an irreversible fact and he could no longer avoid acknowledging it, the last Spanish governor of the isolated frontier province of New Mexico, the loyal Facundo Melgares, ordered celebrations in honor of the birth of the new Mexican nation. On 6 January 1822, the streets of Santa Fe rang with the sound of church bells and guns fired into the air, as people made their way to Mass, participated in processions, listened to speeches, watched a special play, and danced well into the night. Among the revelers were Pueblo Indians from Tesuque who performed a splendid dance in the main plaza
