Pecos

https://www.nps.gov/peco/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecos_National_Historical_Park Pecos National Historical Park is in San Miguel and Santa Fe Counties, New Mexico. The park encompasses thousands of acres of landscape infused with historical elements from prehistoric archaeological ruins to 19th-century ranches, to a battlefield of the American Civil War. Its largest single feature is Pecos Pueblo, a Native American community abandoned in historic times. First a state monument in 1935, it was made Pecos National Monument in 1965, and greatly enlarged and renamed in 1990. Two sites within the park, the pueblo and the Glorieta Pass Battlefield, are National Historic Landmarks. Pecos is a natural and cultural crossroads through which hunters, gatherers, traders, missionaries, immigrants, soldiers, ranchers, and other travelers passed and lived. Follow in their footsteps and imagine Pecos through the centuries. Visit sites where cultural demonstrations and traditional practices continue today - a living legacy of the people who passed this way. At Pecos, past is present. Pecos National Historical Park is 25 miles east of Santa Fe, New Mexico off of Interstate 25. Visitors travelling north on I-25: take exit 299 on to HWY 50 to Pecos village and south two miles on State Road 63. Those travelling south on I-25: take exit 307 and proceed four miles north to the Park on State Road 63. E. E. Fogelson Visitor Center Begin at the Visitor Center, where you can view an excellent museum that covers the region's history and archeology. Before your walk, you'll receive a narrative brochure. You may also purchase an interpretive guide that you take on the Ancestral Sites Trail with you. Be sure to wear sunscreen and bring a water bottle, which you can fill up with chilled water in the Visitor Center. Pecos National Historical Park is 25 miles east of Santa Fe, New Mexico off of Interstate 25. Visitors travelling north on I-25: take exit 299 on to HWY 50 to Pecos village and south two miles on State Road 63. Those travelling south on I-25: take exit 307 and proceed four miles north to the Park on State Road 63. Mission Church and Kiva Church and preservation workers in distance, kiva in foreground.jpg (943 kb) Clouds gather on a summer day at the mission church Mission from front An adobe building under cloudy skies. As the largest remaining building from the 1700s, the Mission Church draws in folks on the Ancestral Sites Trail every day. Civil War Encampment Reenactors prepare a cannon under a mesa and blue skies. Civil War Encampment reenactors ready a black powder cannon demonstration in front of Glorieta Mesa, Feast Day at Pecos Pueblo A line of people walk past adobe bricks, trees, and the road. The Feast Day of Pecos Pueblo draws in hundreds from Jemez Pueblo, Pecos, and the surrounding communities each year. Winter at Pecos Snow covers a landscape with trees and mesas. Winter at Pecos can have snow blanketing the pass and local area. Air Quality Monitoring in the Southern Plains and Chihuahuan Desert Networks Both the Clean Air Act and the National Park Service Organic Act protect air resources in national parks. Park resources affected by air quality include scenery and vistas, vegetation, water, and wildlife. Over the past three decades, the National Park Service has developed several internal and cooperative programs for monitoring various measures of air quality. Cactus and clear skies at Tonto National Monument NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Pecos National Historical Park, New Mexico Pecos NHP is at in a geologic and cultural gateway between the Great Plains and the Rio Grande valley, where three physiographic provinces meet. The park’s cultural stories are closely tied to its geologic and geographic setting. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports. ruins of adobe building Streams Monitoring in the Sonoran Desert and Southern Plains Because of their importance, streams were chosen as a focus for monitoring in the National Park Service (NPS) Sonoran Desert and Southern Plains inventory and monitoring networks. Portions of several major river systems (or their tributaries) are found within many parks of both networks. Monitoring water quality from a boat What soil can tell us about the Pecos, NM area Learn more about the soil in the Pecos, NM and discover what it tells us about the geologic history of the area. Mountains, Old and New Find out how the mountains in the Pecos, NM area were created. The War and Westward Expansion With Federal resources focused on waging the war farther east, both native tribes and the Confederacy attempted to claim or reclaim lands west of the Mississippi. The Federal government responded with measures (Homestead Act, transcontinental railroad) and military campaigns designed to encourage settlement, solidify Union control of the trans-Mississippi West, and further marginalize the physical and cultural presence of tribes native to the West. Painting Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way showing settlers moving into the American west Forts and Park Units along the Trail The U.S. opened military forts along the route of the Santa Fe Trail to protect trail travel and trade. The first military fort, Fort Leavenworth, was established in 1827 in eastern Kansas and is not a national park site. Fort Union and Fort Larned followed. Bent’s Fort, not a military fort but a trading post, was built in 1833. The trail also passed along the ancient pueblo of Pecos, now a part of Pecos National Historical Park. Fort ruins in the snow at Fort Union National Monument Elk of Northern New Mexico Learn about the life history of the elk found in Pecos National Historical Park elk standing in open grass field Hispanics and the Civil War The Civil War was an American epic and an American tragedy. The bloodiest war in United States history claimed the lives of more than 620,000 Americans. Hispanics were very much a part of this conflict. They knew hardship, fear, death, and destruction. They experienced victory and defeat. Some performed acts of spectacular gallantry. Others provided steady service that attracted little comment or notice. Painting of the Battle of Glorieta Pass Pecos Breeding Bird Inventory The first thorough survey for breeding birds at Pecos National Historical Park was conducted in May-June 2002 by the New Mexico Natural Heritage Program. Violet-green swallow Exotic Plants Monitoring in the Southern Plains and Chihuahuan Desert National parks, like other publicly managed lands, are deluged by new exotic species arriving through predictable (e.g., road, trail, and riparian corridors), sudden (e.g., long distance dispersal through cargo containers and air freight), and unexpected anthropogenic pathways (e.g., weed seeds mixed in with restoration planting mixes). Landscape with a uniform, green foreground consisting of invasive kochia Southwest River Environments In the arid Southwest, water means life, and prehistorically, rivers were the lifelines of the people. The Colorado River flowing through a canyon Climate Change in the Southern Plains Network Climate change may have direct and/or indirect effects on many elements of Southern Plains network ecosystems, from streams and grasslands to fires and birds. Russian knapweed (Acroptilon repens) is an invasive plant that has invaded the Southern Plains Trail Beginnings & Geographic Setting Covering approximately 800 miles, the Santa Fe Trail extends from Independence, Missouri to present day Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Trail originally began in Franklin, Missouri, but the trail head was moved to Fort Osage and, by 1827, to Independence. Map of the Santa Fe Trail and National Park Units along its route. Notable People of the Trail Prior to use of the Trail by white traders and settlers, it was a part of the Native American trade network. It was also used by Spaniards of New Mexico for exploration and trade with the Plains Indians. Soldiers also used the Trail throughout its 60-year history. Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, including a reconstructed tipi Management & Preservation of the Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail became a part of the National Trails System in 1987. The National Park Service works in cooperation with the Santa Fe Trail Association, a nonprofit organization, to coordinate the preservation and use of the Trail. Inner courtyard of the reconstructed fort at Bent’s Old Fort NHS More Trail Facts & the Decline of the Santa Fe Trail More than 60 years of life on the Santa Fe Trail ended when the first steam engine reached Santa Fe in February of 1880. Goods such as weapons and cooking supplies at the reconstructed fort at Bent’s Old Fort NHS Santa Fe Trail Links & Literature More information about the Santa Fe Trail is available on the web, and via a list of literature cited throughout the chapters above. Santa Fe Trail reenactment with oxen and horses drawing a cart and a wagon 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 The Changing War Begun as a purely military effort with the limited political objectives of reunification (North) or independence (South), the Civil War transformed into a social, economic and political revolution with unforeseen consequences. As the war progressed, the Union war effort steadily transformed from a limited to a hard war; it targeted not just Southern armies, but the heart of the Confederacy's economy, morale, and social order-the institution of slavery. Woodcut of spectators watching a train station set fire by Sherman's troops Climate Monitoring in the Southern Plains, Sonoran Desert, and Chihuahuan Desert Climate is one of many ecological indicators monitored by the National Park Service (NPS) Division of Inventory & Monitoring (I&M). Climate data help scientists to understand ecosystem processes and help to explain many of the patterns and trends observed in other natural-resource monitoring. In NPS units of the American Southwest, three I&M networks monitor climate using the scientific protocol described here. Kayaking across a fl ooded parking lot, Chickasaw NRA, July 2007. 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: The Santa Fe Trail In its day, the Trail served primarily as a commercial highway. The military used the trail to haul freight to supply the southwestern forts. The Trail was also used by stagecoach lines, those seeking gold in California and Colorado, fur trappers, and emigrants. The Trail in effect brought together Spanish and American cultures and. Many interactions, both amicable and contentious, between settlers and soldiers and the Plains Indians also occurred along the Trail. A small amount of snow fills the ruts that mark where the Santa Fe Trail passed through Pecos NHP Series: Southern Plains Bird Inventories Birds are a highly visible component of many ecosystems and because they respond quickly to changes in resource conditions, birds are good indicators of environmental change. Bird inventories allow us to understand the current condition, or status, of bird populations and communities in parks. These data are important for managing birds and other resources and provide baseline information for monitoring changes over time. Violet-green swallow 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. 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 Climate and Water Monitoring at Pecos National Historical Park Climate and hydrology shape ecosystems and the services they provide. The Southern Plains Network monitors climate and groundwater at Pecos National Historical Park to provide context for the condition of park resources. Long-term climate datasets are valuable for understanding how climate, water, and park resources are changing over time. Large, thick gray and white clouds over trees and a masonry, ranch entry wall. 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. 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. Project Profile: Expand Southwest Seed Partnership for Intermountain Region Parks The National Park Service and organizations of the Southwest Seed Partnership will implement the National Seed Strategy and associated revegetation and ecosystem restoration efforts. The project focuses on native plant development and involves collecting, producing, cleaning, testing, tracking, and storing seeds from native species. grasses and shrubs on a hillside Climate and Water Monitoring at Pecos National Historical Park: Water Year 2022 The Southern Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network monitors climate and water at Pecos National Historical Park as part of a larger monitoring program. This report summarizes Water Year 2022 climate and water data at the park. Mean annual maximum and minimum air temperatures were above the long-term average. Knowing how climate and water are changing over time allows us to understand changes in other natural resources on the park. An NPS scientist stands in calf-deep water reading a water discharge measurement. National Park Service project to build up 'workhorse' native seed stocks for major restoration and revegetation efforts The National Park Service, with funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will be able to build up stocks of the native workhorse plant species that can out compete invasive plant species so that native grasses and forbs can grow in previously disturbed areas.  a man kneels next to a bucket collecting seeds in a field 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. 2023 Excellence in Interpretation Awards View the recipients of the 2023 National Park Service Excellence in Interpretation Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the practice of interpretation and education by NPS employees. 13 people in tribal attire, uniform, or hiking clothes amid mud bricks. Climate and Water Monitoring at Pecos National Historical Park: Water Year 2023 The Southern Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network monitors climate and water at Pecos National Historical Park as part of a larger monitoring program. This report summarizes Water Year 2023 climate and water data at the park. Knowing how climate and water are changing over time allows us to understand changes in other natural resources on the park. Brown grasslands with scattered shrubs in front of evergreen tree-covered mountains and snowy peak. Restoring Balance: The Battle Against Invasive Riparian Plant Species We’re incredibly fortunate to have some of the most beautiful mountain, river, and grassland landscapes across the United States but their resilience – a key characteristic of national parklands – is threatened by invasive species. National Park Service (NPS) park managers, restoration biologists, and other partners are at work to control invasive species through multiple projects in parks of the American southwest. An extra wide shot of a desert, dry, barren landscape - with red canyon walls and steep cliffs. Project Profile: Restore Native Plants and Reduce the Vulnerability to Climate Change Across the Arid Southwest The National Park Service will remove over 4,000 acres of riparian invasive plant infestations and replace them with native vegetation in 14 parks, building drought resiliency. A pond surrounded by palm trees with mountains in the background.

Pecos National Historical Park New Mexico Pecos National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior i Pueblos, Plains Indians, and Spaniards swap goods during an autumn trade fair in this view of Pecos pueblo about 1625 The People of Pecos At midpoint in a passage through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the ruins of Pecos pueblo and a Spanish mission share a small ridge. Long before Spaniards entered this country, this town commanded the trade path between Pueblo farmers of the Rio Grande and the hunting tribes of the buffalo plains. Its 2,000 inhabitants could marshall 500 fighting men. Its frontier location brought both war and trade. At trade fairs here, Plains tribes— mostly nomadic Apaches—brought slaves, buffalo hides, flint, and shells and exchanged them for the pottery, crops, textiles, and turquoise of the river Pueblos. The Pecos Indians were middlemen in this trade, transmitters and partakers of the goods and cultures of the very different people on either side of the mountains. They thus became economically powerful and practiced in the arts and customs of two worlds. from Mexico, borne by the seeds of sacred corn. By the late Pueblo period—the last few centuries before the Spaniards arrived in the Southwest—people in this valley had congregated in multistoried towns overlooking the streams and fields that nourished their crops. In the 1400s these groups gathered into Pecos pueblo, which became a regional power. A Spanish conquistador saw the pueblo in 1584. It sits on a "high and narrow hill," he wrote, "enclosed on both sides by two streams and many trees. The hill itself is cleared of trees... It has the greatest and best buildings of these provinces and is most thickly settled . . . They possess quantities of maize, cotton, beans, and squash. [The pueblo] is enclosed and protected by a wall and large houses, and by tiers of walkways which look out on the countryside. On these they keep their offensive and defensive arms: bows, arrows, shields, spears, and war clubs. These cultural blendings did not change the essential nature of their life. The Pecos Indians remained Puebloan in culture, practitioners of an ancient agricultural tradition that had spread north The Pecos, like other Pueblo groups, enjoyed a rich cultural tradition, with an inventive architecture and beautiful crafts. Their Before the Spaniards Land and Life The first settlers here were a prepueblo people who lived in pithouses along drainages about AD 800. Around 1100, the first Puebloans began building their rockand-mud villages in the valley. Some two dozen villages rose here over the next two centuries, including one where Pecos pueblo stands today. Sometime during the 14th century, settlement patterns changed dramatically. Within a single generation, small villages were abandoned and Pecos pueblo grew larger. By 1450 it had metamorphosed into a well planned frontier fortress, five stories high with a population of 2,000. Why this sudden growth? The answer is unclear. Perhaps there was a need to gather on a rocky ridge to free up land for farming. More likely, there was a need for defense against newly arrived Plains Indians. Whatever the reason, Pecos soon became a force to be reckoned with. I he land surrounding the pueblo was a storehouse of natural products which the Pecos knew intimately. They used virtually every plant for food, clothing, shelter, or medicine and turned every part of the game they hunted into something useful. Farming supplied most of their diet. The staple crops were the usual trio of corn, beans, and squash, Photo by David Muench by artist Louis S. Glanzman. Its location beside a natural corridor across the mountains made Pecos a meeting ground for three cultures—Indian, Spanish and Anglo —that have shaped the American Southwest. elaborate religious life, evidenced by many ceremonial kivas, reached out to the nurturing spirits of all things, animate and inanimate. Their finely tuned adjustments to their natural and cultivated world rested on a practical science infused with spirituality, transmitted by tradition-bearers who by story and dance conveyed the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of centuries past. Regulation of individual, family and social life stemmed from a religion that bound all things together and counselled balance, harmony, and fitness as the highest ideals. These ideals did not always prevail. Warfare between Pueblo groups was fairly common. The frontier people of Pecos had to be especially vigilant in their relations with the nomadic Plains Indians, who varied war and trade unpredictably. Neighboring pueblos viewed the Pecos as dominant. The Spaniards, about to make their entradas, soon learned that the Pecos could be determined enemies or powerful allies. Trade cultivated along Gloneta Creek and the numerous drainages in the area. Water was as important to the Pecos as to us. They built check dams to slow runoff and planted their crops where the topsoil collect