Non-balloon Albuquerque

We discovered some great stuff to check out in Albuquerque that we had been previously unaware of. First on our list was the Jemez State Historic Site. Jemez Pueblo is a 500 year old village deep in the Jemez National Forest. The Pueblo predates by more than a century the visits by Coronado and the Spanish Conquistadores.

In 1621, the occupying Spanish forces introduced the Franciscan Priests. The Priests selected Jemez as the site to build the San Jose de los Jemez Church. The layout of the church is very similar to what we saw in the San Pueblo Missions National Monument. The long narrow nave with flares left and right just before the altar – essentially making the church foundation into the shape of a cross. But the quarries of sandstone and limestone used near Mountainair were not present here. While still as large and impressive, the walls instead of cut to size “bricks” are made of mortared stones of all shapes and sizes. The impression left is a far cruder structure, even though it is every bit as massive.

The valley that the church is in is beautiful. It’s not hard to imagine why the locals chose this site for their pueblo. It is also not hard to imagine why the Franciscan priests chose Jemez for the site of the church. I guess beauty deserves beauty.

Our other discovery was the Coronado State Historic Site. The site has been identified historically as the Kuaua Pueblo, situated along the Rio Grande River. When first discovered, this archeological site was believed to be where Coronado had established his winter quarters, and because of that, the State of New Mexico invested considerable money for archeology, and also received CCC money and assistance. Because of that, one of the greatest archeological finds resulted. The site has been so well preserved that there are 700-800 year old pottery shards all over the place!

Upon exploring one of the largest kivas in the pueblo, archeologists discovered painted walls on multiple layers of plaster that were at least 500 years old. As the archeologists carefully removed layer after layer of the plaster on the walls, they learned that multiple murals existed. Apparently the Tiwas who occupied the pueblo back in the 1500’s would paint the walls for ceremonial purposes. When it was time that they needed the wall paintings to be different for a different ceremony, they would plaster over the wall and then paint it for the new ceremony.

These murals were carefully removed from the kiva and were preserved and shipped to the University of NM. To this day they are the only actual paintings from that time that have been discovered intact. While most of the actual paintings still reside at the U of NM, 9 of the panels are on display at the Coronado State Historic Site. To be able to see the only existing 500 year old native paintings is pretty cool.

The remains of the pueblo are indicated in the foundations at the site. You could see why this site was selected – high ground not likely to be flooded by the Rio Grande during even very wet springs. Crops would have been grown between the pueblo and the river. There were over 1,200 rooms in this pueblo based on the archeological findings. It is probable that more than that number of folk inhabited the pueblo at its height.

Our last gem was the Petroglyph National Monument. Many years ago we visited the Monument while In Albuquerque. However, the Monument has 3 distinct sections, and we only visited one of them, Boca Negra Canyon which is in the middle of a residential neighborhood and just has 3 short paved trails to some ancient rock art.

Today we visited the other two portions of the Monument. Rinconada Canyon is a two mile trail along a ridge of volcanic boulders. The locals who lived in the area used these black and dark brown boulders as a canvas for their art. The ranges at the visitor center suggested that you would easily see between 200 and 300 petroglyphs along the trail. I am not sure we could honestly say we saw 300, but we did see a bunch.

According to the rangers, the style of the figures and the types of objects depicted is characteristic of what has become known as the Rio Grande style. Images of people are common as well as many of the animals that the folk encountered. Also geometric shapes are very common in this style as well.

Piedras Marcadas Canyon has a 1 ½ mile long trail through very similar terrain as Rinconada Canyon. However, we could see that there were far more petroglyphs in this canyon even though the trail was not quite as long.

The variety of the shapes and images was astounding. Just when we thought we had maybe seen about every conceivable shape or size we would encounter something new. It really was a treat for the eyes and left you wanting more and more, especially as you approached the parking lot letting you know that you were about done.

My first impression of this Monument was not great many years ago. It seemed very urban and small, but little did I know that was because I had only seen a small part of it. Now having explored the other larger areas in the Monument I have a completely different perspective. This Monument is well worth visiting.

Talk to you soon!