Pecos

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 collected. Yields were apparently considerable. When Coronado came through in 1541, he found the pueblo's storerooms piled high with corn, three years' supply by one estimate. Kivas are special places to Puebloan people. They are ceremonial and social spaces located between the underworld, where the people originated, and the world above, where they now dwell. Architecturally, they derive from the semi-subterreanean pithouses that preceded the surface houseblocks of later Pueblo times. Spiritually, they represent a step back toward their origins, allowing a closer communion with the spirits of the underworld. The shapes and sizes of kivas vary. Common to most kivas are the ventilator shaft, the deflector, the firepit, and the sipapu, the hole in the floor that symbolizes the place of mankind's emergence and the point of access to the spirits dwelling below. In large pueblos like Pecos there were many kivas. As in modern pueblos, they were used by different clans or societies. Each performed ceremonies and rituals attuned to a specific spirit or power. These powers in turn granted or denied the needs of pueblo life: abundant crops, plentiful rain, good hunting, health, success in war. The kiva ceremonials, rituals, and offerings together formed a mosaic of duties by the people to the gods. If these duties were not performed, the world would become unbalanced and the life of the people would suffer. No wonder the Franciscan fathers could not stamp out the kiva. Location, power, and the ability to supply needed goods made Pecos a major trade center on the eastern flank of the Puebloan world. The Pecos Indians bartered crops, clothing, and pottery with Apaches and later with Spaniards and Comanches for buffalo products, alibates flint, and slaves. These Plains goods were in turn swapped west to other pueblos for pottery, parrot feathers, turquoise, and other items. Trading could go quickly or take weeks. The rings left by tipis set up for long spells of bartering are still visible in the area. Because of uneasy relationships between Pueblos and the Plains tribes, hostilities were a continual threat. The rock wall circling the pueblo is also a relic from trading days. Too low to serve a defensive purpose, it was probably a boundary that other tribes were not allowed to cross. Photos: George H H. Huey Pecos Pecos National Historical Park New Mexico National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Encounters with the Spaniards T h e idea of a " n e w " M e x i c o — a n o t h e r land of great cities w e i g h t e d w i t h g o l d — a p p e a l e d to the latec o m e r s w h o t h r o n g e d into M e x i c o City after t h e c o n q u e s t s of t h e Azt e c s and Incas. T h e s e a m b i t i o u s seekers needed only direction. W h e n t h e s h i p w r e c k e d Cabeza de Vaca s t u m b l e d back into M e x i c o in 1536 after his long w a n d e r i n g s t h r o u g h N e w Spain's northern frontier, he b r o u g h t back tales of rich cities farther north. This news c o m b i n e d wiLh tantalizing i e y e n d s of lost bishops and t h e i r s e v e n cities s o m e w h e r e in t h e w i l d s p r o v i d e d that d i r e c t i o n . This was the vision that Francisco Vasquez de C o r o nado p u r s u e d in 1540. L e a d i n g an a r m y of 1200, he m a d e his w a y into the c o u n t r y north of M e x i c o . Six months into the march, he rode into a cluster of Zuni p u e b los—Cibola—near present-day Gallup. At H a w i k u h , a principal t o w n of the g r o u p , C o r o n a d o attacked t h e Z u n i and t o o k o v e r the t o w n and its f o o d stores for his f a m i s h e d soldiers. A t C i c u y e (later called Pecos), 150 miles east, the r e c e p t i o n was d i f f e r e n t . T h e Indians w e l c o m e d t h e Spaniards with music and gifts. W h e n a Plains Indian c a p t i v e at Pecos t o l d of a rich land to the east called Quivira, Coronado set out in spring 1541 to f i n d it. W a n d e r i n g as far as Kansas, he f o u n d only a few villages. W h e n his Indian g u i d e c o n f e s s e d he had lured the army onto the plains to die, C o r o n a d o had the man s t r a n g l e d . The e x p e d i t i o n turned back. After a bleak w i n t e r along the Rio G r a n d e , t h e e x p l o r e r led his b r o k e n army back to M e x i c o , d i s i l l u s i o n e d , e m p t y - h a n d e d , harassed by Indians most of the way. During Coronado's sojourn, the Pecos Indians and their Pueblo neighbors had felt the wrath of a p o w e r f u l w o r l d . T h e y had seen gray-clad priests plant crosses for t h e i r gods. But t h e s t r a n g e r s w e n t away, and t h e P u e b l o s s e t t l e d back into their o l d ways. Colonizers and Missionaries N e a r l y 6 0 years passed b e f o r e Spaniards c a m e to N e w M e x i c o to stay. D u r i n g this t i m e N e w Spain's f r o n t i e r had slowly a d v a n c e d with the d i s c o v e r y of silver in n o r t h e r n M e x i c o . F r o m t h e s e bases, b e g i n ning in 1 5 8 1 , e x p l o r e r s p r o s p e c t e d for silver in the land of t h e Pueblos. T h e i r failures f o r e s h a d o w e d a t r u t h that d e t e r m i n e d a large part of Spanish N e w Mexico's history: In that p r o v i n c e w e r e n e i t h e r g o l d e n cities (as the r e v i v e d l e g e n d s insisted) nor ready riches. B u t settlers c o u l d farm and herd t h e r e . This reality f o c u s e d t h e j o i n t strategies of Cross and C r o w n : Pueblo Indians w o u l d be c o n v e r t e d , their lands c o l o n i z e d . T h e first to p u r s u e this m i x e d o b j e c t i v e was Don J u a n d e O h a t e in 1598. Taking settlers, livestock, and 10 Franciscans, he m a r c h e d north to c l a i m the land across the Rio G r a n d e for S p a i n . Right away he assigned a friar to Pecos, the richest and most p o w e r f u l of N e w Mexico's pueblos. T h e new religion got off to a shaky start. After e p i sodes of idol-smashing and c o n s e q u e n t Indian r e s e n t m e n t , t h e Franciscans in 1621 assigned t h e v e t e r a n missionary Fray A n d r e s Juarez to Pecos. H e c a m e as a h e a l e r a n d builder. U n d e r his d i rection the Pecos built an a d o b e c h u r c h south of the p u e b l o . I t w a s the most imposing of N e w Mexico's mission c h u r c h e s , w i t h t o w e r s , buttresses, and great pine-log beams h a u l e d f r o m t h e m o u n t a i n s . The m i n i s t r y of Fray J u a r e z ( 1 6 2 1 34) c o i n c i d e d w i t h the most e n e r g e t i c mission p e r i o d in N e w M e x i c o , n o w a royal c o l o n y . It was a t i m e of e x p a n s i o n and m i s s i o n b u i l d i n g u n d e r Franciscan leadership. This success b r e d c o n f l i c t b e t w e e n c h u r c h and civil officials, w h o v i e d for the labor, t r i b u t e , and loyalty of the Pueblo Indians. These s t r u g g l e s for w e a l t h and p o w e r c a m e d o w n on Indian heads as religious and e c o n o m i c r e p r e s s i o n . War and R e c o n q u e s t Spanish d e m a n d s and Indian r e s e n t m e n t s o v e r the d e c a d e s c l i m a x e d in t h e Pueblo R e v o l t of 1680. The Indians in their scattered p u e b l o s u n i t e d to d r i v e t h e S p a n iards back into M e x i c o . A t Pecos, loyal Indians w a r n e d the local priest of t h e c o n s p i r a c y , but most f o l l o w e d a tribal e l d e r and j o i n e d in the revolt. They killed t h e priest and d e s t r o y e d t h e c h u r c h . In a g e s t u r e central to t h e i r d i s c o n t e n t , the Pecos Indians built a f o r b i d d e n kiva in t h e v e r y c o n v e n t o of t h e mission. Led by D i e g o de Vargas, the S p a n i a r d s c a m e back to t h e i r lost p r o v i n c e 12 years later, peacefully in s o m e places, w i t h the sword in others. Vargas e x p e c t e d fighting at Pecos, but in the interval o p i n i o n had shifted. The Indians w e l c o m e d Vargas back and e v e n supplied 140 warriors to help h i m retake Santa Fe. A new and smaller c h u r c h was built on t h e ruins of the o l d c h u r c h . It was, fittingly, t h e first mission reestablished after t h e R e c o n q u e s t . Frorp t l ^ T i to ^^^ ©rid r^^ SDsnish rule, t h e majority of t h e Pecos helped sustain that rule. In r e t u r n , t h e Franciscans m o d e r a t e d t h e i r old zeal, t r i b u t e w a s a b o l i s h e d , and the Pecos—as allies and traders — b e c a m e partners in a r e l a x e d Spanish-Pueblo c o m m u n i t y . By the 1780s, disease, C o m a n c h e raids, and m i g r a t i o n had r e d u c e d t h e Pecos p o p u l a t i o n to less than 3 0 0 . Perhaps long-standing internal divisions b e t w e e n t h o s e loyal to the C h u r c h and t h i n g s Spanish and those w h o c l u n g to the o l d ways c o n t r i b u t e d to t h e d e c l i n e of this o n c e p o w e r f u l city-state. Pecos's f u n c t i o n as a t r a d e c e n t e r faded as Spanish c o l o n i s t s , now prot e c t e d f r o m the C o m a n c h e s by treaties, e s t a b l i s h e d new t o w n s to the east. Pecos was almost a ghost t o w n w h e n the Santa Fe t r a d e began f l o w i n g past in 1 8 2 1 . T h e last survivors d e p a r t e d in 1838, leaving a d e c a y i n g p u e b l o and an e m p t y mission c h u r c h . T h e y j o i n e d their Towa-speaking relatives at J e m e z p u e b l o , 8 0 miles west, w h e r e their d e s c e n d e n t s live today. Visiting the Park The encounter of the Pueblo and Spanish cultures brought exchanges of food, clothing, weapons, animals, and technology beneficial to both. Illustration by Louis S. Glanzman. A.v. Kidder, Pecos, and Southwestern Archeology The mysterious ruins of Pecos inspired much romantic speculation among Santa Fe travelers, who veered from the main trail to camp here. In a hidden recess burned the "ancient flame of Moctezuma." Coiled somewhere was the "feathered serpent of the Aztecs." These stories vanished when archeologist Alfred Vincent Kidder began to dig in the ruins in 1915. Kidder had come to Pecos because of its extensive trash mounds. "There is . . . no known ruin in the Southwest," he said, which seems to have been lived in continuously for so long a period." He wanted to try out his theories of dating by stratigraphy. He knew that the bottom layers of a site would naturally be the oldest. By seeing the Kidder's twelve field seasons at Pecos laid the groundwork for the new science of Southwestern archeology. The great trash mound on the lee side of the pueblo, which appeared to be a natural part of the ridge, proved a time capsule. When he trenched into the mound, Kidder found centuries of discard in exact chronological order. It was a trove of scientific data. Without the benefit of sophisticated dating methods commonplace today, Kidder identified the periods of occupa- tion at Pecos through changes in pottery styles and techniques. In 1927 he invited archeologists working at sites throughout the Southwest to come to Pecos and develop a classification system to help identify the cultural development of the Southwestern peoples. The system they came up with —Basketmaker and Pueblo—is still in use today, and the Pecos Conference is still an important annual meeting for archeologists of the Southwest. Kidder dealt in more than just chronology. He pieced together a picture of ancient life here. His work and others who followed help us understand the powerful and complex people who flourished for centuries in this spacious valley. The Way it Was T North Pueblo Pecos was at the peak of its power and influence from 1450 to 1550. "The houses of this pueblo are arranged in the form of house blocks . . . four and five stories high," wrote a Spanish visitor in 1591. They use light ladders Pecos National Historical Park is 25 miles s o u t h e a s t of Santa Fe, N. Mex., off I-25. If t r a v e l i n g north on I-25, exit at Pecos-Glorieta Interc h a n g e 2 9 9 , go east on N M 5 0 to the t o w n of Pecos, and t u r n south on N M 6 3 . The park is 2 miles s o u t h . If t r a v e l i n g south o n I-25, exit at R o w e I n t e r c h a n g e 3 0 7 and g o n o r t h on N M 6 3 for 5 miles to the park e n t r a n c e . There is no p u b lic t r a n s p o r t a t i o n to the park. changes in pottery and other remains layer by layer, he expected to be able to date sites, relatively if not absolutely, and to work out the general chronological sequence of sites over a wide area of the Southwest. The ruins of Pecos e m b r a c e a t h o u s a n d y e a r s of h u m a n history. For an i n t r o d u c t i o n , go first to the visitor c e n t e r and see t h e film and exhibits. In s u m m e r N a t i v e A m e r i cans and Hispanics d e m o n s t r a t e traditional crafts. Ruins Trail A 1 %-mile s e l f - g u i d i n g trail starts at the visitor c e n t e r and w i n d s t h r o u g h the ruins of Pecos P u e b l o and the Mission C h u r c h . You are i n v i t e d to enter t h e two rec o n s t r u c t e d kivas. Pick up a g u i d e to the trail at the visitor c e n t e r . Camping N o c a m p i n g is p e r m i t t e d in the park. T h e nearest c a m p i n g is in Santa Fe National Forest, just north of the park. For i n f o r m a t i o n , w r i t e : Santa Fe National Forest, Pecos District Ranger S t a t i o n , B o x 4 2 9 , Pecos N M , 8 7 5 5 2 . Tours G u i d e d tours are not regularly scheduled but groups can make arrangements in advance for a guided tour by calling (505) 7 5 7 - 6 0 3 2 . Accommodations The park has no o v e r n i g h t l o d g i n g , but t h e t o w n of Pecos, 2 miles north of t h e park, has two small inns and a g u e s t r a n c h 21 miles north o p e r a t e s during s u m m e r . Write for i n f o r m a t i o n . Access The visitor c e n t e r and about 8 0 p e r c e n t of the Ruins Trail is accessible by w h e e l c h a i r . A s i g n e d v e r s i o n of the park interpretive film is s h o w n u p o n request. that can be pulled up by hand. Every house has... 15 or 16 rooms, very neat and thoroughly whitewashed. " While no one knows exactly what either the north or south pueblo looked like, thanks to Kidder and his fellow archeologists we can spec- ulate about their general form and extent. This conception of the north pueblo shows few openings in the outer wall, suggesting that it was constructed for defense. The pueblo was built of shaped stone plastered over with mud. Ground floor rooms were used mainly for food storage; the living spaces were on the upper levels. Administration Pecos National Historical Park is administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. A superintendent, whose address is P.O. Box 418, Pecos, NM 87552-0418, is in immediate charge. Drawings by Lawrence Ormsby Mission Complex To Spanish Franciscans, "mission" meant both an idea—the conversion of Indians to Catholic Christianity—and a place— the mission complex of church and convento where this work took place. The convento was the heart of the mission. Here were the priest's quarters, workshops, corrals, stables, kitchen, kitchen garden, and dining room. In this part of the mission the priest taught the Indians new ways of construction, carpentry, and the care of domestic animals. The mission ruins show two distinct periods of building. The first church (above) was finished in the early 1600s. Itwas huge—150 feet from the entrance to the altar— and the convento was relatively small. The second church, completed in the early 1700s, was built within the foundations of the first church, but its convento was twice the size of the earlier one. This expansion reflected more emphasis on teaching trades to the Pecos than on conversion. Stage Station, a tavern and watering stop on the Santa Fe Trail. A short distance west two 300acre tracts were set aside to preserve sites associated with Civil War engagements at Glorieta Pass. not be opened until this process is completed, and resources are inventoried. The Park of the Future Regulations All natural and cultural features within the park are protected by law. Please do not remove or disturb any artifact. The centuries-old ruins walls are fragile: do not climb, sit, or lean on them. Pets are allowed on the Ruins Trail if on leash but are not permitted in park buildings. For your safety The elevation at Pecos is 7,000 feet. Persons unaccustomed to the altitude should use caution. Rattlesnakes are occasionally found along park trails in summer. Please do not disturb them; report sightings to a ranger. New lands authorized by Congress in 1990 greatly expand the park's scope and mission. The Forked Lightning Ranch adds 5,500 acres surrounding the core park. Its resources include a mile and a half of the Pecos River, several early Puebloan sites, a 19th-century Spanish frontier settlement, Santa Fe Trail ruts, and the old Kozlowski s Planning for public use of the new land will take several years. Some parts of the expanded park will The Glorieta units are still in private ownership. Please respect the owners rights and do not trespass on their land. Check with a park ranger about facilities and programs open to the public. OGPO 1992-312-248/60042