Abiquiu. Abiquiu is about 53 miles north of Santa Fe, in Rio Arriba County. It is portrayed in art through the work of Georgia O'Keeffe, who was captivated by the region’s dramatic desert landscapes, unique adobe structures, and striking light. Her paintings, such as those of the Pedernal mountain and desert flowers, highlight the area’s vivid colors, textures, and vast, intimate vistas. As of 2010, the population was 231. Abiquiu's one school, an elementary school, is part of the Espanola Public Schools. Abiquiu means wild chokecherry place in the Tewa language. Abiquiu is also called Santo Tomas de Abiquiu, and the Pueblo of Santo Tomas de Abiquiu. In the mid-eighteenth century, the Spanish crown provided land grants to genizaros here and in other places to establish buffer towns to defend the frontier from raiding tribes such as the Comanche. Abiquiu was the home of American artist Georgia O'Keeffe from 1949 until 1984. The Georgia O'Keeffe Home and Studio is in Abiquiu. The artist also owned property at the nearby Ghost Ranch. Many of her paintings depict scenes near Abiquiu. Abiquiu was first settled in 1754 by 24 Tewa Pueblo families led by a Roman Catholic priest, Francisco Delgado. The Tewa returned to New Mexico after living among the Hopi people in what is now Arizona. Their settlement in Abiquiu was part of the strategy by New Mexican colonists to defend its frontiers against marauding indigenous peoples such as the Apache, Comanche, and Navajo. Abiquiu was on the northern border of the Spanish settlements of New Mexico. In 1747, in one of the numerous raids in the area, the Comanche took 23 women and children captive, forcing the temporary abandonment of Abiquiu. The captives probably were sold or traded in the flourishing slave trade between and among the Spanish and the surrounding indigenous nations. In 1754, to deal with the raids and the faltering settlement, New Mexico governor Tomas Velez Cachupin gave 34 genizaro families a land grant in exchange for them taking a prominent role in frontier defense. Abiquiu was the third such genizaro settlement established in New Mexico, after Belen and Trampas. The genizaros were detribalized Native Americans from various tribes whose origin was typically as war captives, either captured by the Spanish or sold by raiding tribes to the Spanish to work as slaves and servants. Because they had few rights under the casta laws of the Spanish, acceptance of land grants and resettlement on the dangerous frontier of New Mexico was the principal way for genizaros to become landowners. Abiquiu became a quintessential genizaro settlement. Many residents still celebrate their genizaro heritage in the 21st century. In the late 18th century, peace was established between New Mexico and the Comanche and the Ute. An annual trade fair at Abiquiu drew many indigenous people to the town, especially the Utes, who traded deer skins for horses and tools. Also, settlers purchased or redeemed captive children from the native people. Bands of Utes often camped for the winter near Abiquiu. In the 1840s, the peace with the Utes broke down and 1,000 of them came to Abiquiu with a list of grievances and demands. Several Utes were killed in this confrontation. Peace with the Utes was restored in 1849 by the U.S. government, which had recently invaded and conquered New Mexico in the Mexican–American War.