"Upheavals at Taos, San Ildefonso and Isleta have been studied and written up by anthropologists. Less well-known is the case of Laguna, where the interference of whites living in the pueblo contributed to a permanent split between traditionalists and progressives.

The long-running discord started in 1851 with the arrival from Cincinnati of Baptist missionary the Rev. Samuel Gorman. He built a small church a half-mile northeast of the pueblo and began winning converts.

Gorman remained at Laguna for 10 years, being recalled to Cincinnati at the outbreak of the Civil War. Owing to his success in attracting many Lagunas to Protestantism, he left behind a divided village. Traditionalists remained staunch Catholics.

Then in 1871 the Indian Bureau appointed and funded a teacher for Laguna, young Walter G. Marmon. By training he was a civil engineer who had come to the area several years earlier to work on a boundary survey.

As the first government teacher, Marmon automatically gained prestige, especially among the loyal Protestants left behind by Gorman. One reliable source claims that he also became doctor, adviser and minister to the Indians.

His place in their society strengthened when he married the daughter of headman Luis Serracino (native name Kwimé). Serracino soon afterward embraced Protestantism."

Get the Story:
Marc Simmons: Trail Dust: A time of religious division in Laguna pueblo (The Santa Fe New Mexican 8/21)

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