San Miguel del Vado Historic District is just off I-25 between Santa Fe and Las Vegas, NM. It is off the beaten path today where it has some residences, a store and the San Miguel Del Vado Church which was founded in 1805.

In the past the town was very important. The Santa Fe Trail passed through San Miguel. The first American trader, William Becknell was taken there by Urbana Captain Pedro Ignacio Gallego, when he entered New Mexico. Mexico had just become free from Spain and the Mexicans wanted to trade with the United States whereas Spain did not. A major problem when meeting was that the Mexicans could not speak English and the Americans could not speak Spanish, but someone in the group of traders spoke French. Becknell's group was taken to San Miguel and where a man in the village spoke Spanish and French. French became the first language that was used to communicate between the members of the two countries!

The town was on the trail near a ford across the Pecos River not far from where there is a break in the mountains between the prairie and the Rio Grande. It became the first place in New Mexico where American goods on the Santa Fe Trail were taxed. In 1841, several Texans captured during the Texan Santa Fe Expedition were held prisoner there temporarily. On August 16, 1846, during the Mexican–American War, U.S. General Stephen W. Kearneyand his soldiers occupied San Miguel bringing the village under United States control.

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