Mountainair New Mexico

We never expected to be in a tiny town nearly in the center of New Mexico, but near Mountainair we found another US National Monument that we hadn’t visited. Since its only 80 some odd miles southeast of Albuquerque where we were heading for the Balloon Fiesta and with some time on our hands and with an RV park there with good wireless internet, we were in!

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument recognizes the presence of both Spanish Conquistadores and the Franciscan Church to the early development of what is now New Mexico.

The record of the Spanish in what is now the southwestern US would not put our record to shame at all. When the Spanish entered this land, they were in search of the 7 lost cities of Cibola (hence now the naming of the forests in this area as the Cibola National Forest). When they entered, chronicled as early as 1527, the only focus was the location of these 7 ancient cities, which were rumored to be rich with gold. In their search for the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, the Spanish did not allow the local residents to get in the way – they simply overpowered them.

When the Spanish ultimately decided that the Golden Cities didn’t exist, they saw no other reason to occupy this baron land, and decided just to leave. The Franciscan Church, however, saw thousands of potential converts, and decided they would take on this challenge. In 1622 they built a massive mission at the pueblo known as Abo, an impressive classic mission built by the labor of the resident natives. The only focus the church had at the time was conversion – they assessed the local agrarian natives to give up a significant portion of their cultivated crops to the church, allegedly in support of their education. Unfortunately, the burden on the crops in this borderline desert region ultimately resulted in the failure of the entire culture.

In 1627, the Franciscan’s then built the Quarai Mission, much larger and more elaborate than even the massive structure at Abo. It was early in the time that the Franciscans occupied the region and the taxing of its capacity had not yet been felt. In visiting the ruins of the mission in Humana, it is very clear this was a much more impressive development than even that at Abo, which was impressive nonetheless. You could clearly see the aggression of the church in spreading the “conversion” mentality.

Finally, in 1629, the mission at Gran Quivira was established, and it topped them all in both scale and eloquence. While now the missions are only the foundations of the once impressive structures, in the 1600’s they contained wide wooden balconies, massive golden altars and statues, and all the trappings of a modern cathedral. All the fantastic furnishings had been shipped by the Franciscan’s up from Mexico City on the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the historical road of commerce in the days of Spanish occupation. Of course all these beautiful and valuable pieces were removed when these missions were abandoned.

One thing that I found interesting was how the Missions and pueblos looked like whatever native material existed in the area. Where the Abo and Quarai Missions were constructed, the only material locally available to be quarried was red sandstone. So, both these Missions are huge deep red monoliths that really stick out against the mottled green of the surrounding foliage.

At Gran Quivira, however, there was no red sandstone. The only material available to quarry was white limestone. So, Gran Quivira is solely constructed of white limestone, and because of this, it blends in far more with the surrounding terrain of stone and plants. Despite the change in local materials, the construction methods didn’t vary – rectangular stone cut from the earth, stacked and mortared to create these monuments. Although not all that far from each other, the available construction materials varied significantly.

Unfortunately, despite their impressive size and construction quality, all these Missions and surrounding Pueblos are simply ruins. The primary reason is the more hostile conditions in the area. The Anasazi and other dwellers had learned how to grow low water agriculture, and kept their numbers at a level where the land could sustain their life. When the Franciscans came, they demanded that the locals give their sole allegiance to God, and required tributes in the form of food and labor be given to the church for protection of their souls (whether they needed it or not). Also, the Spanish Conquistadores demanded that the locals give their sole allegiance to the Queen, and also required tributes in the form of food and labor to the Crown for their physical protection (again, whether needed or not). There were frequent disputes between the Franciscan Priests and the Spanish military as to which allegiance was primary, each side believing its demands should take precedence. Anyway, all the demand for tribute eventually caused the land not to be able to sustain the demands for food, crops failed and drought conditions set in.

All this led to the Pueblo Revolts of 1680. The locals rose up against both the Church and the Crown. Of course the Spanish had no problems inflicting more damage due to their superior weapons and armor and horses. But in the end, since there was really no value to this area, the Spanish eventually fled to the Rio Grande Valley where there was more reliable water for ongoing agriculture. The locals also fled to the Rio Grande Valley for the exact same reasons. With no locals and no Spanish protections, the Church also left, leaving these magnificent structures to slowly waste away to what we can see today.

While it is relatively remote, the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is well worth a visit. The understanding of the area a century or two before it became part of the US is really interesting.

In Mountainair we discovered, as usual, other unsuspected rewards. Just south of Mountainair lies the Shaffer Hotel National Historic Site. The Shaffer Hotel was built in 1923 by Clem “Pop” Shaffer when he moved from his home in Indiana to Mountainair New Mexico. Pop Shaffer was a blacksmith by trade, but fancied himself an artist, and move to NM as a way to follow his art. He reveled in creating wood and metal animal sculptures that were seen as masterpieces in their time.

Unfortunately, the hotel, while in good repair, has fallen on hard times. Mountainair is not a tourist draw, but also has little competition for a well-run hotel. The main problem seems to be the ghosts. The Shaffer Hotel is well known to be haunted. While the hotel changes hands frequently, once opened by the new owners, it does not take long for it to fail financially.

We once stayed in a B&B in Gettysburg that was alleged to be haunted. While we were probably on edge all night and really didn’t get much sleep, we were fascinated by the history of the place, and actually hoped we might encounter some soul who found it hard to get rest in the place. While I know that had a lot to do with our not sleeping much, it was still fun. Maybe the folk who visit Mountainair are not in search of that kind of fun.

When he built the Shaffer Hotel, Pop Shaffer live in Rancho Bonito, just south of town. Also a National Historic Site, Rancho Bonito is where Pop chose to display much of his artwork that he had moved to NM to expand upon. Built in 1937, the Rancho Bonito grounds still hold many of his original creations. Because of his skill as a Blacksmith, most of Pop Shaffer’s creations were mythical creatures made of natural wood, metal and stone. (Don’t worry, those symbols on the building are not Nazi Swastikas, they are actually Native American symbols denoting healing rituals)

Also near Mountainair is Manzano Mountain State Park. The Park has some really nice trails on the sides of Manzano Mountain in the Cibola National Forest. For some reason doing 8 miles in one trek of 5 hours does the Woman in. However, we ended up hiking more than 8 miles in this beautiful wilderness area as well as the Missions, and probably clocked more than 5 hours in doing it. But there were nearly no complaints from the Woman at all today – interesting!

Talk to you soon!