Salinas Pueblo Missions

https://www.nps.gov/sapu/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salinas_Pueblo_Missions_National_Monument The Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is a complex of three Spanish missions located in the U.S. state of New Mexico, near Mountainair. The main park visitor center is in Mountainair. Construction of the missions began in 1622 and was completed in 1635. Tucked away in the middle of New Mexico you’ll find Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. Its three distinct sites offer a glimpse into a unique time in history—a time entrenched with cultural borrowing, conflict and struggles. These sites continue to stand as reminders of the Spanish and Pueblo peoples’ early encounters and prompt exploration of today’s interactions among different people. Reach the Mountainair Headquarters by taking I-25 south from Albuquerque to Belen, then NM 47 diagonally to US 60, then east 21 miles to Mountainair. To travel the historic highway route (Turquoise Highway) from the north, take I-40 east from Albuquerque to NM 337, drive south 47 miles (76K) to junction with NM State Highway 55. Proceed right (west) on Hwy 55 about 16 miles (26 K). Turn right on Highway 60 and proceed one block to HQ. Information on the ruins & surrounding area is available here. Abó Visitor Center The Abo visitor center features restrooms, a bookstore, and a few exhibit panels. An oversized vehicle parking lot is around the corner to the north of the visitor center. Located 9 miles west of Mountainair, off Highway 60. Access road on black-top NM Highway 513, ¾ mile from highway. RV turnaround. Gran Quivira Visitor Center The Gran Quivira visitor center features restrooms, a bookstore, and a museum featuring artifacts recovered from the site. Headquarters Visitor Center For the best experience, kick off your visit at the Headquarters visitor center in Mountainair, NM. At this location, you can grab all four passport stamps from the park, watch a fifteen-minute film about the area, check out the museum, and shop at the WNPA bookstore. After that, get ready to explore Abó, Quarai, and Gran Quivira. You're in for a day full of adventure and discovery! Quarai Visitor Center The Abo visitor center features restrooms, a bookstore, and a museum. An oversized vehicle parking lot is around the corner to the north of the visitor center. Quarai Mission In Spring Pink flowers and green foliage frame the roofless remains of a stone mission. Quarai Mission in Spring Quarai Mission Stone walls of a roofless building rise into a bright blue sky. An overview of the Quarai Mission, seen from the west. Annular Eclipse Seen From Gran Quivira An solar eclipse outlines an old stone structure at Salinas Pueblo Missions. An annular eclipse was visible from Gran Quivira in 2012. A special program allowed visitors to experience this amazing celestial event. Kivas At Gran Quivira A paved path winds through the stone foundations of several old kivas. An overview of kivas at Gran Quivira An Overview Of The Abó Mission Stone foundations of an old mission structure. An overview of the Abó Mission with the convento in the foreground. Inside The Abó Church A path through stone walls of an old church. A view inside the Abó Church looking north. A nice carpet of grass is usually present during summer months. The Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau is centered on the four corners area of the Southwest, and includes much of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Hazy Fajada Butte, Chaco Culture National Monument Southern Colorado Plateau Exotic Plant Inventory Exotic plants take a heavy toll on biodiversity around the world. In the United States, exotic plant species invade tens of thousands of hectares every year, outcompeting native species and causing many to become threatened or endangered. Fire, flood, and other natural disturbance regimes can also be altered by exotic plants, broadly affecting land management. Common salsify, an exotic plant Paleontology Intern Profile - Emily Thorpe This article highlights paleontology intern Emily Thorpe who served as the first ever paleontology intern at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, New Mexico. Emily’s work resulted in the discovery of Permain age plant and vertebrate footprints, as well as a partial skeleton of an early reptile which is new to science. Emily Thorpe Southern Colorado Plateau Bird Inventories Birds are considered to be good indicators of environmental change. Inventories of bird populations not only provide valuable information that can help manage bird populations, but can also be helpful in managing other resources as well. Yellow-rumped warbler Vegetation Characterization and Mapping on the Southern Colorado Plateau Vegetation mapping is a tool used by botanists, ecologists, and land managers to better understand the abundance, diversity, and distribution of different vegetation types across a landscape. Vegetation plots used for the classification and mapping of El Malpais NM Climate Change on the Southern Colorado Plateau The combination of high. elevation and a semi-arid climate makes the Colorado Plateau particularly vulnerable to climate change. Climate models predict that over the next 100 years, the Southwest will become warmer and even more arid, with more extreme droughts than the region has experienced in the recent past. One result of climate change may be more, larger floods, like this flash flood in Glen Canyon NRA Monitoring Spring Ecosystems on the Southern Colorado Plateau Springs are important water sources in arid landscapes, supporting unique plant associations and sustaining high levels of biotic diversity. Because springs rely on groundwater, they can serve as important indicators of change in local and regional aquifers. On the Colorado Plateau, spring ecosystems also provide vital habitat for both endemic and regionally rare species, including several types of orchids and declining populations of leopard frogs. A pool of water filled with vegetation and sheltered by large rocks Spanish Colonial Missions of the Southwest Travel Itinerary Spanish Colonial Missions of the Southwest Travel Itinerary. The National Park Service invites you to travel the National Historic Trails, units of the National Park System, and other places listed in the National Register of Historic Places that bring alive the stories of Spanish colonial missions in the Southwestern United States. Missions were communities aimed at converting American Indians to Roman Catholicism and to Spanish ways of life. Spanish Colonial Missions of the Southwest Travel Itinerary Southern Colorado Plateau Mammal Inventories Mammal inventories help to close the gap in our knowledge and understanding of some taxonomic groups on the Colorado Plateau. Coyote (Canis latrans) National Park Service Completes Prescribed Burn at the Gran Quivira unit of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument he National Park Service completed a 325-acre active management project at the Gran Quivira unit of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in March 2020. A firefighter monitors a burn pile NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, New Mexico Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. stone walls and foundations of mission Series: Defining the Southwest The Southwest has a special place in the American imagination – one filled with canyon lands, cacti, roadrunners, perpetual desert heat, a glaring sun, and the unfolding of history in places like Tombstone and Santa Fe. In the American mind, the Southwest is a place without boundaries – a land with its own style and its own pace – a land that ultimately defies a single definition. Maize agriculture is one component of a general cultural definition of the Southwest. Series: Park Paleontology News - Vol. 09, No. 1, Spring 2017 All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/newsletters.htm">Park Paleontology News</a> provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources. <ul><li>Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/common/utilities/sendmail/sendemail.cfm?o=5D8CD5B898DDBB8387BA1DBBFD02A8AE4FBD489F4FF88B9049&r=/subjects/geoscientistsinparks/photo-galleries.htm">newsletter editor</a></li><li>Learn more about <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/">Fossils & Paleontology</a> </li><li>Celebrate <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossilday/">National Fossil Day</a> with events across the nation</li></ul> NPS Paleontology logo illustration with fossil icons Celebrating Women’s History Month at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is proud to celebrate Women’s History Month by recognizing the important roles that women have contributed to the History and Legacy of the monument. Here are some of the important women that are part of our history, beginning with the most recent. Luminaria de Abó, rows of candles in paper bags positioned around an historic mission at sunset. The Intersecting Crossroads of Paleontology and Archeology: When are Fossils Considered Artifacts? Understanding human knowledge and attitudes (human dimensions) towards paleontological resources through the cooccurrence of fossils and artifacts and/or tribal consultation (archeological context) helps us better appreciate those human values, perspectives, and beliefs. This understanding is important to the management, protection, and interpretation of these non-renewable resources.  colorful arrowhead on black background Series: Intermountain Park Science 2021 Integrating Research and Resource Management in Intermountain National Parks Group of National Park Service staff and volunteers standing in front of a desert canyon. Cat Tales Archeologists found skeletal remains of a gato (cat) at San Buenaventura, part of Gran Quivira, a vast big Native American pueblo. It had 226 rooms and kivas (a circular ceremonial structure found in the American Southwest). It was abandoned during the 1400s. The Spanish set up the Salinas Pueblo Missions right above on top of the Pueblo. The Spanish wanted the Native American peoples to adopt Christianity and a Spanish way of life. Artist's illustration of Gran Quivira Find Your Park on Route 66 Route 66 and the National Park Service have always had an important historical connection. Route 66 was known as the great road west and after World War II families on vacation took to the road in great numbers to visit the many National Park Service sites in the Southwest and beyond. That connection remains very alive and present today. Take a trip down Route 66 and Find Your Park today! A paved road with fields in the distance. On the road is a white Oklahoma Route 66 emblem. Changing Patterns of Water Availability May Change Vegetation Composition in US National Parks Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios. Green, orange, and dead grey junipers in red soil, mountains in background Water Resources on the Colorado Plateau Describes the origin, uses, threats to, and conservation of water on the Colorado Plateau. Dark green body of water winding through red rock formations with brilliant sun overhead. Gran Quivira and the Antiquities Act Gran Quivira's history began ca. 800 with a sedentary indigenous population who used distinct pueblo masonry architecture. It was into this delicate balance of subsistence that the Spanish entered. Missionary activities at Las Humanas began in earnest and around 1626. By 1672 the site was abandoned. The backside view of the first church built at Gran Quivira Rocky Mountain Youth Corps’ American Sign Language Crews Improve Trails and Historic Structures at Petroglyph and Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monuments The National Park Service Youth Programs Division continues to increase accessibility in our national parks and expand opportunities for youth and young adults through a partnership with Rocky Mountain Youth Corps’ (RMYC) American Sign Language Conservation Program. Read some highlights from 2022. Rocky Mountain Youth Corps ASL members at work 50 Nifty Finds #17: Common Threads Each National Park Service (NPS) employee has a unique story. We can't tell them all, but sometimes there's a personal account—like that of Sallie Pierce Brewer Van Valkenburg Harris—that speaks to common experiences. Although her NPS connections ran from 1933 to 1971, many of her joys, challenges, and frustrations can still be recognized in the NPS today. Sallie's story resonates regardless of era, gender, or position. How will it speak to you? Sallie Brewer in her NPS uniform standing at a gate Making an Impact: Long-Term Monitoring of Natural Resources at Intermountain Region National Parks, 2021 Across the Intermountain Region, Inventory & Monitoring Division ecologists are helping to track the effects of climate change, provide baseline information for resource management, evaluate new technologies, and inspire the next generation of park stewards. This article highlights accomplishments achieved during fiscal year 2021. A man looks through binoculars at sunrise. Testing Treatments for Mitigating Climate-Change Effects on Adobe Structures in the National Parks In the US Southwest, climate change is making it harder to preserve historic adobe structures for future generations. Using adobe test walls and rainshower simulators, staff at the Desert Research Learning Center are evaluating the potential for increased erosion, and testing the effectiveness of different treatments methods to protect against it. The results will help park managers tailor their preservation methods to better protect culturally valuable resources. American flag viewed through the remains of an adobe doorway. The Plateau Postcard: Spring-Summer 2023 The Plateau Postcard is the official newsletter of the Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network. In this issue, we say hello to many new faces within the network and head to the field with some of this year's spectacular monitoring crews. Pile of postcards with images of various southwest national parks on them. A Changing Bimodal Climate Zone Means Changing Vegetation in Western National Parks When the climate changes enough, the vegetation communities growing in any given place will also change. Under an expanded bimodal climate zone, some plant communities in western national parks are more likely to change than others. National Park Service ecologists and partners investigated the future conditions that may force some of this change. Having this information can help park managers decide whether to resist, direct, or accept the change. Dark storm clouds and rainbow over mountains and saguaros. Shaping the System Under President Jimmy Carter President Jimmy Carter oversaw one of the largest growths in the National Park System. Explore some of the parks that are part of the legacy of the presidency of Jimmy Carter, who served as the 39th president of the United States from January 20, 1977, to January 20, 1981. Historic photo of Jimmy Carter walking through a crowd at Harpers Ferry The Plateau Postcard: Winter 2024 The Plateau Postcard is the official newsletter of the Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network. In this issue, we learn about how we are trying to predict pinyon-juniper die-offs, as well as a new tool we developed to help make us all better field scientists, and we hear from Bob Parmenter about his remarkable career at Valles Caldera National Preserve. A pile of postcards. Updated Species Database Will Help Boost Amphibian Conservation Across the National Park System To steward amphibians effectively, managers need basic information about which species live in parks. But species lists need constant maintenance to remain accurate. Due to recent efforts, the National Park Service now has an up-to-date amphibian species checklist for almost 300 parks. This information can serve as the basis for innumerable conservation efforts across the nation. A toad sits on red sand, looking into the camera. A Succession of Priests: Archeology at the Quarai Mission and Convento Coinciding with repair and restoration efforts at the Quarai ruins, archeological investigations throughout the 1900s convey the meticulous design of the mission and the grandeur that still surpasses its neglect. Archeology does not resolve the ambiguities of Quarai’s timeline, but through architectural and human and material remains, it pictures Quarai as it was, not as how one-sided records imagine it to be. Overhead view of mission site The Plateau Postcard: Spring 2025 The Plateau Postcard is the official newsletter of the Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network. In this issue, we highlight the exciting and new scientific journal put out by Petrified Forest National Park, interview our newest partner about their efforts to track white-nose syndrome in regional bat populations, discuss special food diets while working in the field, and share our latest publications and 2025 field schedule. A pile of postcards showing various scenery from across the southern Colorado Plateau.

Salinas Salinas National Monument New Mexico National Park Service U.S. Department of the lnterior Photo by Russ Finley Pueblos of the Salinas Valley ln the stones of the Salinas Valley pueblo ruins are faint echoes of the communities that lived there three centuries ago. Before they abandoned the area in the 16OOs, Pueblo lndians forged a stable agricultural society whose members lived in apartment-like complexes and participated, through rule and ritual, in the cycles of nature. Two ancient southwestern cultural traditions-the Anasazi and Mogollon-overlapped in the Salinas Valley to produce the later societies at Abo, Gran Quivira, and Quarai. These traditions had roots as far back as 7,000 years ago and were themselves preceded by nomadic lndians who arrived perhaps 20,0OO years ago. As the southwestern cultures evolved, better agricultural techniques from Mexico and the migration of Tompiro- and Tiwa-speaking peoples from the Rio Grande spurred the growth of settlements in the Salinas Valley. By the 1Oth century, substantial Mogollon villages f lourished here. The dwellers practiced minimal agriculture supplemented by hunting and gathering, made a simple red or brown pottery, and lived in pit houses and, later, above-ground iacales of adobe-plastered poles. By the late 1 1OOs the Anasazi tradition from the Colorado Plateau, introduced through the Cibola (Zufri) district and Rio Grande pueblos, began to assimilate the Mogollon. The contiguous stone-and-adobe homes of the Anasazis represented the earliest stage of the pueblo society later encountered by the Spanish. Over the next few hundred years the Salinas Valley became a major trade center and one of the most populous parts of the Pueblo world, with perhaps 10,000 or more inhabitants in the 17th century. Located astride major trade routes, the villagers were both producers and middlemen between the Rio Grande villages and the plains tribes to the east. They traded maize, pifron nuts, beans, squash, salt, and cotton goods for dried buffalo meat, hides, flints, and shells. By 1300 the Anasazi culture was dominant, although the Salinas area always lagged behind the Anasazi heartland to the north in cultural developments. Brush-and-mud jacales had evolved into large stone complexes, some with hundreds of rooms, surrounding kiva-studded plazas. Besides the plants already mentioned, the inhabitants ate wild plants, raised turkeys, and hunted rabbits, deer, antelope, and bison. They wore breech cloths, bison robes, antelope and deer hides, and decorative blankets of cotton and yucca fiber. Turquoise and shell jewelry, obtained by trade, brightened rituals. The Spaniards were impressed by the Pueblos'weaving, basketmaking, and fine black-on-white pottery, a technique the Salinas people borrowed from the Rio Grande pueblos. The Salinas pueblo dwellers were an adaptable people who drew what was useful from more advanced groups. But strong influences from the Zufri district, the Spanish explorers, and deteriorating relations with the Apaches to the east radically altered pueblo life. ln the 167Os the Salinas villages were abandoned, and their peoples dispersed. Native Southwestern Architecture The Salinas peoples' communal life was reflected in their sharedwall, stone and adobe pueblos. The earliest pueblos at some sites were concentric circles of wedge-shaped rooms surrounding a kiva. These were later covered by rectangular complexes with hun- dreds of rooms for living and storage. Daily chores were performed on roofs and in the plazas, which on religious days were stages for ceremonial dances. For centuries before pueblos were developed, lndians lived in pit houses covered with pole-and-mud frames. f .& ;tn--, .& YJ ffi* ffi The Coming of the Spaniards Soon after Spain had conquered and colonized Mexico, tales of great wealth to the North drew explorers to New Mexico. Coronado's expedition in 1540 failed to turn up the fabled land of Quivira, although the name and story lingered on. ln 1598 a party led by Juan de Ofiate came to New Mexico to plant a permanent colony. He called salt, which was abundant in Salinas, "one of the four riches of New Mexico," but the other expected riches-especially mines-failed to materialize. Agriculture too proved difficult in the harsh climate. Relations with the lndians soured when the soldiers attempted to collect tribute to the Crown. Spain finally concluded that New Mexico would never be profitable. However, the Pope had charged the Spanish Crown with Christianizing the natives of the New World. Phillip ll therefore decided to maintain the colony, partly at the Crown's expense, as primarily a missionary effort. While many of the Franciscan missionaries were sincere and well-intentioned, the overlapping privileges granted to the church and civil authorities inevitably led to conflict between the Franciscans and the governors. Without the natural riches of some other colonies, the governors relied on profits from t