Pueblo legend Teresita Sandoval to be painted on levee mural
A painting with beautiful landscapes, an adobe trading post and one of Pueblo's most captivating figures will fit in nicely on the 3-mile long Pueblo Levee Mural.
Teresita Sandoval was one of the founding members of the El Pueblo Trading Post in 1842 and was crucial to the post's daily operations. El Pueblo History Museum has commissioned local artists Shannon Palmer and Desiree Talmich to recreate a painting of Sandoval on the Pueblo Levee Mural. The original painting was designed by Arlette Lucero, the former artist in residence at History Colorado Center in Denver.
"We just felt like this was going to be an opportunity to give life to one of our founders of Pueblo," said Dianne Archuleta, director of El Pueblo History Museum. "We have a lot of stories about men, but we also just want to make sure that we have representation of women on the levee mural as well."
Palmer, also known as Deadhand Art, painted a tribute to the 140th anniversary of St. Mary Corwin Hospital on the levee last October. It was her second mural on the levee. Talmich, a Pueblo resident since 2011, won the 2023 Pueblo Levee Mural Project contest sponsored by the city of Pueblo with a history-laden submission. The Sandoval painting will be the third levee mural for both artists.
The goal is to get the mural painting of Sandoval as close to Lucero's painting as possible, Palmer said. Walls of the levee slope at about a 45-degree angle and measure more than 25 feet in height. Artists hope to have the levee painting finished by the middle of September.
"I do have some experience in recreating pieces, but this is the biggest I've done," Palmer said. "I think it'll be an exciting journey for us."
The original painting of Sandoval was one of three pieces that Lucero painted for History Colorado's "Year of La Chicana" celebration in 2019. Sandoval's likeness was based off the only known portrait of her— a sketch by Sandoval's third husband, Alexander Barclay.
"(Sandoval) was a strong, powerful woman," Lucero said. "All of the pioneer women were at that time. She did what she had to do."
Teresita Sandoval paved the way for Pueblo as a cultural and commercial hub
Teresita Sandoval was born Dec. 3, 1810, in Taos, New Mexico, to a family of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent.
By the time Sandoval came to what is now Pueblo in 1841, the Arkansas River served as the border between the United States and Mexico. Sandoval arrived in the area with her second husband, Matthew Kinkead, her children and several business partners to start a trading post, El Pueblo, on the north side of the river.
Sandoval helped plaster the adobe to build El Pueblo. Once the post was completed, it attracted visitors from Anglo, French, Mexican and Native American backgrounds who came to trade fur pelts, food, hides, jewelry and tools. Sandoval's skills as a leader, negotiator, trader, farmer and hunter were on display throughout her days at the trading post.
In 1843, Sandoval married for the third time, to Barclay. They soon moved to the Hardscrabble settlement, now part of Fremont County. Sandoval planted various crops at Hardscrabble, including beans, corn, melons, onions and peas. In 1848, Sandoval and Barclay left Hardscrabble to build Fort Barclay in New Mexico.
"Barclay had a hard time dealing with an assertive woman like Teresita because she was someone to reckon with and sometimes the workers listened to her and not him," according to a history compiled by local historian and librarian Charlene Garcia Simms. "Since assertiveness in a woman was not part of his culture, he resented this. But he could not have built the fort without Teresita's resources including much of her families' labor."
Sandoval separated from Barclay in 1853. She returned to Pueblo County, living with her daughter Cruzita and Cruzita's husband, Joseph Doyle — a man at one point believed to be the richest in Colorado. Sandoval lived on the Doyle Ranch until her death in 1894.
By the time of her death, Sandoval had 24 grandchildren living throughout the United States. The old trading post was long gone, but a bustling downtown business district in one of Colorado's largest cities had popped up in its place. This may not have been possible had Sandoval and other founders not established and grown the trading post to be a commercial hub for southern Colorado.
Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain atsubscribe.chieftain.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: El Pueblo museum, local artists to re-create tribute to pioneer
