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I have nothing to add on the Juan Tabo mystery except that Juan Tabo roads in San Diego and Phoenix might imply Juan was a well-known sheep herder!
Found no mention of a Juan Tabo anything near San Diego. Link?
I did, however, locate a Juan Tabo Way in the San Antonio TX suburb of Helotes.
My theory for these newer Juan Tabo's is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It's a unique name, it's got mystery, and it reminisces of a faraway culture. When you're a master developer trying to sell houses, and just about every name you can come up with is already in use, you're going to start using names in other towns just because you can.
I'm hard-pressed to think of a more distinctive road name to represent Albuquerque.. everything else exists somewhere else, it seems.
Oddly enough, unlike most major cities, there is no "Albuquerque" or "New Mexico" street in the metro area. You can, however, find the following Albuquerques:
Albuquerque Road, Reno, NV
Albuquerque Street, San Diego, CA
Albuquerque Street, Roswell, NM
Albuquerque Street (and Place), Broken Arrow, OK
Albuquerque Avenue, Litchfield, NH
Albuquerque Drive, Virginia Beach, VA
Albuquerque Trail, French Village, MO
Albuquerque Circle, Pensacola, FL
Lots of Albu(r)querques in Mexico, too. One in Havana, Cuba.
There is also a ghost town called Albuquerque, TX. It was named after the NM one.
Evidentally, the reality of who Juan Tabo is, is surrounded with legends, tales and no clear cut explanation of exactly who he was.
There is a lot of speculation on the source for the name. But I found this answer from a highly reputable source, Joe Sabatini:
This question is a hardy perennial at the Albuquerque Public Library. I compiled the following summary from available sources; it was later printed in the April/May 2004 issue of Albuquerque The Magazine:
Juan Tabo Blvd.
The following is from Stories behind the Street Names of Albuquerque, Santa Fe & Taos by Donald A. Gill (Chicago: Bonus Books, Inc. 1994)
“According to Marc Simmons 'Albuquerque: A Narrative History') the identity of Juan Tabo has not been satisfactorily determined. One legend says that he was a priest who lived nearby, but no such name occurs in early church records. Another story says that he was a sheepherder who grazed his flocks in Tijeras Canyon, a portion of which is designated as the Juan Tabo Recreation Area.
T.M. Pearce (New Mexico Place Names) says that on April 5, 1748, a petition designated La Canada de Juan Taboso as west of the Sandia Mountains. The Taboso Indians were akin to the Texas Apaches. Pearce also suggests that tabo is a Spanish word in the Philippines meaning “cup made from coconut shell.”
The name is also listed by Elsie Clews Parsons as one used by members of a ceremonial society at Jemez Pueblo, northwest of the Juan Tabo Canyon, according to Pearce.”
The following is from "Atrisco to Zena Loma; a Snappy Survey of Albuquerque Street Names" by Judy Nickell (Albuquerque, New Mexico: Caniama Press, 1995)
One of Albuquerque’s most mysterious street names is Juan Tabo (…extended discussion of various pronunciations…). “La Canada de Juan Tabo” appears in a 1748 document. It refers to what is now known as Tijeras Canyon. … Who was Juan Tabo? Was this a real person? A group of people? A tribe of Indians? A coal miner? A shepherd? A priest? There are many legends, but nothing has turned up in black and white. ( …reference to T.M. Pearce research… ). It is conceivable, he wrote, that “Lipan Taboso” could have evolved into Juan Tabo.
Tabo is also a nickname for Octaviano.”
It seems to me that since there is no conclusive answer, and people believe that there must be one, we ought to make one up. This occurred to me in a conversation with Millie Santillanes in August, 2005.
Let's say that Juan Tabo was one of the ill-fated settlers of the Can~on de Carnue' grant established in 1763. In 1770, a series of raids by Apache warriors forced the abandonment of the settlement, as described by Marc Simmons in "Albuquerque, A Narrative History", p. 108-111. Let's say that Juan Tabo gave his life holding off the Apache assault, enabling the rest of the colony to escape with their lives. We could attribute all sorts of heroic qualities to the man, like Horatio at the Bridge. Perhaps someday we can erect an equestrian sculpture of him, next to the aluminum yucca at the mouth of Tijeras Canyon.
Joe Sabatini,
Branch Manager, Special Collections Library, Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System
03/07/07 08:20:01
Wow! That was probably the best explanation of Juan Tabo that I have ever read. Thanks, Thrillseeker for that informative piece.
I was told in elementary school that Juan Tabo was a priest. But I am sure that the Historical Society may just know a little bit more about JT than I would. Doh!
Jack Tone Rd in Ripon, CA must be named after a prominent rancher from that area who was also a very prominent Arabian horse breeder decades ago. I believe he owned a multi-National/Canadian/Scottsdale Champion Stallion that is today considered a foundation sire of that breed. Cannot recall the famous stallion but surely google will tell you if google: Jack Tone Arabian Stallion
Trucking thru Albuquerque on a frequent basis, I always wondered who Juan Tabo Blvd is named after. Just one of those silly things, but does anybody know?
I always heard :
Quote:
that "Juan Tabo" was based on an old stage coach stop-over off old Rt. 66.
The tale goes that a guy named John, a world traveller, built a hotel for travellers and included delightful gardens for his guests to enjoy. He even built a fish pond to delight the visitors. He did very well and his clients were happy. His reputation grew and he made more money than he would ever need.
Then tragedy struck. A terrible thunder storm struck in August. The torrential rains washed away John's hotel, the road off old 66 and the water deluge swept all away. Guests were rescued. Livestock was saved and the sun came out to dry the earth again.
As the sun dried the land, John walked about his property, surveying the damage. He noticed his ponds were empty, yet, he saw a fish. A lone fish, thrashing in the mud for it's life. John was kind enough to sooth the fish with a gentle pat about the gills.
The fish recognized the gesture and began to follow the source of such affection. The fish flopped along, begging for more. John noticed but continued with his repairs.
It wasn't long until the fish was a constant companion, flopping along after John, enjoying each day with a scaly glee.
John rebuilt the hotel, the roads were improved and eventually, the ponds were rebuilt. Life was back to normal.
Then, the rains came, again. August. Torrential rains, flooding the land, wiping out everything in their path.
John went wading through the rushing waters. Searching, desperately hunting, looking for his faithful, flopping loyal companion, the flopping fish who had adapted to living without water. The one lovingly name Tabo, after a monastery in India, where life is always cherised.
John found Tabo. His body was caught between two rocks and a hard place. The fish, Tabo, had drowned.
Oddly enough, unlike most major cities, there is no "Albuquerque" or "New Mexico" street in the metro area. You can, however, find the following Albuquerques:
. . . .
Albuquerque Street (and Place), Broken Arrow, OK
. . . .
Lots of Albu(r)querques in Mexico, too. One in Havana, Cuba.
There is also a ghost town called Albuquerque, TX. It was named after the NM one.
My grandma's parents and sister (and her offspring) have lived in Broken Arrow beginning about 100 years ago. My parents have lived in Albuquerque since the mid-40's, and my mother always corresponded with my great aunt. That makes me wonder if someone noticed Albuquerque on an envelope and decided it would make an interesting street name. Food for thought . . . .
Las Lomas still exists. It's a few blocks south of Lomas and runs from I-25 east to Stanford, where it merges with Campus Boulevard on the UNM campus.
While I don't know the exact way things went, something tells me that Las Lomas Road was renamed that after Lomas was rerouted north of it to become a major street. If you look at maps you can see that Lomas and Las Lomas have pretty much the same alignment except where Lomas takes a curve up around north of present-day Las Lomas near the freeway.
Also, In old aerial pictures of the north campus of UNM you can also see that the present day routing of Lomas in the vicinity of UNMH actually had the current "Lomas" alignment continuing straight through at an angle through the campus as "Campus Boulevard". And the current Las Lomas Road was the one that intersected with that aligment to continue on further into the heights along the alignment of the current Lomas Boulevard. Today, however, Las Lomas becomes Campus Boulevard entirely inside of the main UNM campus, while Lomas of course straightens out near UNMH to continue on through the heights. It'd be interesting to me to find out exactly how all these alignments used to be and what roads indeed came first.
Another area of interest to me is in the southeast heights where Zuni turns into Lead and Coal. In that vicinity there is a tiny sliver of a street called "Arlote" that goes at an angle much like Ridgecrest Drive. Part of this diagonal alignment, I assume, was actually used in connecting Zuni to Lead and Coal. Just look on a map and you can see how feasible that is. In an even more interesting vein, if you look on a map you can see that Arlote actually seems like just an extension of today's Campus Boulevard, were it to cross Central instead of turning to become Copper Avenue at Carlisle. I've always wondered if this entire diagonal alignment (from UNM into the southeast heights) was ever intended as a more major street to traverse that area diagonally alongside Ridgecrest.
It's all interesting to me since I love learning about the history of this city and how it developed over time.
Found no mention of a Juan Tabo anything near San Diego. Link?
I did, however, locate a Juan Tabo Way in the San Antonio TX suburb of Helotes.
My theory for these newer Juan Tabo's is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It's a unique name, it's got mystery, and it reminisces of a faraway culture. When you're a master developer trying to sell houses, and just about every name you can come up with is already in use, you're going to start using names in other towns just because you can.
I'm hard-pressed to think of a more distinctive road name to represent Albuquerque.. everything else exists somewhere else, it seems.
Oddly enough, unlike most major cities, there is no "Albuquerque" or "New Mexico" street in the metro area. You can, however, find the following Albuquerques:
Albuquerque Road, Reno, NV
Albuquerque Street, San Diego, CA
Albuquerque Street, Roswell, NM
Albuquerque Street (and Place), Broken Arrow, OK
Albuquerque Avenue, Litchfield, NH
Albuquerque Drive, Virginia Beach, VA
Albuquerque Trail, French Village, MO
Albuquerque Circle, Pensacola, FL
Lots of Albu(r)querques in Mexico, too. One in Havana, Cuba.
There is also a ghost town called Albuquerque, TX. It was named after the NM one.
I know this is old but I just wanted to say that I found this interesting to read. I never knew just how many places in the U.S. had a street named for Albuquerque.
On a side note, I do find it disappointing that Albuquerque has yet to name a street for the state of New Mexico. Something I've been thinking about lately is that we should name one sometime in the coming year since it will be the state's centennial. A place I think would be perfect for this is Mesa del Sol. The major corridors for that development have already been indentified so it wouldn't be hard to find a future major street for this purpose (rather than a minor street) and the state is involved in the development of that land through UNM, so it seems fitting to me to name a street there after the state.
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Yeah? But Who Was 'Pisado Mojado"?
Doh! 
Las Lomas Road
