the wandering chick

Consider standing in a spot where, for thousands of years, peoples of all kinds and generations have stood. That, I suppose, can be said of anywhere, but here, at the Pecos National Historic Park, the sensation is a little more real. Between the Glorieta Mesa (in the picture to the left) and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (in the picture below left), it's easy to visualize a multitude of cultures that has used the pass to enter into the Pecos Valley, where now sits the Pecos National Historic Park.

It's through this pass that native Indians, missionaries, warriors, settlers and ranchers made history beginning in the years Before Christ and continuing to present day when railroads replaced The Santa Fe Trail.

It's here that various battles were fought through the ages, and where New Mexico became a territory of the United States.

What we see today on these grounds are the ruins of past cultures, the most magnificent being the mission church, partially standing. Short walls mark various rooms, and several kivas can be seen; some of them can be entered by ladder.

The trail to the ruins starts behind the Visitor Center, but the surrounding grounds are filled with hiking trails that wander through ancestral sites, battlefields and areas of former ranching.

Enjoy this wonderful historical area and please remember to leave no trace.

...Pecos Natl Historic Park
and the Glorieta Pass
mountain pass
The Glorieta Mesa
mountain range
The Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range
The Pecos Pueblo was in existance between 1350 and 1838. It is believed to have around 1000 rooms and a population of about 2000 people. Construction began on the mission church in the 1620s.
rock-lined trail
ruins
pueblo ruins
church remains

Of the four churches built over the course of habitation on this land, the remains of two can be seen today. In 1625, the Franciscans built a church, the short stone walls of which can be seen in the picture above. Nearly a hundred years later, in 1717, they built a smaller church, and that is the large structure seen above., considered the last church.

ruins
church remains
mission church remains
mission church remains
mission church remains
mission church remains
mission church remains
mission church remains

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scrollwork on visitor center
adobe oven
Scrollwork on the Visitor Center
A typical adobe oven