Pecos National Historic Park

Just twenty-five miles southeast of Santa Fe lies a lost civilization. Pecos Pueblo was once the largest town in what would later become the American Southwest. In fact, in its sixteenth-century heyday, it was the largest town in the entire area that is now the United States! A thriving trade center with a population of over 2,000, Pecos Pueblo’s location near the Glorieta Pass made it a natural crossroads between the Eastern Plains, home to the nomadic Apache and Navajo tribes, and the territory’s numerous pueblos to the west, north and south.

From Santa Fe, take I-25 North (which, due to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, actually goes southeast for a bit) to the Glorieta-Pecos Interchange (exit 299), drive east on Highway 50 then south on Highway 63 (don’t worry: there are plenty of signs). Stop in at the Visitors’ Center, which has a museum and gift shop with a great selection of books about Pecos, Southwestern history, and other area attractions. The $3 entrance fee is good for seven days. Tours are available—call ahead (505-757-6032) if you’d like one—or wander around the ruins of the pueblo and its circa 1717 church on your own. There are paved pathways (wheelchair accessible) and plenty of signage.

Pecos Pueblo History

Pecos Pueblo’s original name was Cicuye, which meant “Village of the Five Hundred Warriors.” The Spanish called it Pecos, which was probably an approximation of the name for Pecos in another pueblo’s language. The village was settled in the early 1300s, though the Pecos people had been living in small settlements in the area for hundreds of years before that, attracted by the running streams, game-filled mountains and fertile farmlands. Even Pecos, the mightiest of pueblos, was vulnerable to raids from the nomadic Plains Indians. Their town was a fortress built high on a hillside with a retaining wall from which sentries could keep an eye out for invaders. Its multi-storied adobe houses had entrances in the rooftops that were reached by ladders that could be pulled inside for safety, and were arranged around a central plaza. At other times, tribes from the entire territory, both friend and foe, gathered at Pecos to trade.

Pecos Pueblo’s first contact with Europeans occurred in 1540. When the first Spanish exploration party, led by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, failed to find the fabled Cities of Cibola at Zuni (in west central New Mexico near Gallup), Coronado sent his men across the territory in a further (fruitless) search for gold. Rumors of treasure brought Coronado himself to Pecos. Even before the Spanish appeared at Pecos, its people had heard of the conquistadors’ brutality at other pueblos and knew what they were after. They regaled Coronado with tales of riches to be found to the east, and even volunteered to send a guide to show them the way. Their real plan was to lure the Spaniards out to the desolate prairies of Kansas where, with any luck, they’d all die. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, that didn’t happen. Coronado eventually realized he’d been duped and killed the guide. He did, however, give up his search for gold and headed back to Mexico, never to return.

Except for the occasional scouting party or wandering Franciscan missionary, the territory remained free of Spanish influence until 1598, when Don Juan Oñate led the first settlement party into New Mexico. Shortly thereafter, a Franciscan missionary arrived at Pecos to begin converting the natives. The people of Pecos seemed willing enough, and even helped build a small adobe church soon after the Franciscan arrived. Another, much larger church, built of red stones covered with mud plaster, was begun in 1618. When it was completed in 1625, it was the largest structure north of Mexico City, with six bell towers and walls as thick as twenty-two feet. Convincing the Pecos people to abandon their own beliefs was another matter. The natives hid their ceremonial items and the ceremonies themselves in the underground kivas so plentiful at Pecos Pueblo.

Despite certain advantages to the Spanish occupation—livestock, new farming methods, crops and tools, and the additional protection from raids provided by the Spaniards’ firearms—the Pecos people grew weary and resentful of the increasing demands of the missionaries and civilian soldiers. In 1680, they lent the strength of their warriors to the Pueblo Revolt. The Spanish were driven from New Mexico and the great church was destroyed.

When Don Diego de Vargas reconquered New Mexico twelve years later, he met with little opposition. Many of the pueblos had come to rely on Spanish protection; their own once-fierce fighting forces had been depleted. In addition, strife had broken out among New Mexico’s pueblos, which had always seen themselves as separate nations. Many disagreed with the demands of Po’Pay, the leader of the revolt and self-proclaimed governor of New Mexico, who demanded that the pueblos turn back the clock and destroy everything the Spanish had brought with them, including their crops and livestock. Most pueblos were in no position to resist another Spanish invasion (though some tried anyway, without success). Luckily De Vargas was a great and compassionate leader (unlike his predecessors) who promised the natives that the days of forced labor and demands for tribute were at an end. He even promised that the new Franciscan missionaries would be more tolerant of the natives’ beliefs. While these promises were not entirely kept, at Pecos Pueblo, the kiva—the center of traditional spirituality, is right next to the ruins of the Catholic church that was rebuilt in 1717.

In New Mexico, there has always been an even greater enemy than invaders, whether Spanish conquistadors or hostile Indian tribes. Drought showed no respect for the might of what was once the greatest of New Mexico pueblos. Crops died, food became scarce. Raids by the Plains Indians, who were also suffering from the drought, grew more frequent and more violent. In addition, Pecos’s position as the trade center of the territory had been usurped by the growing capital at nearby Santa Fe. By the early 1880s, Pecos Pueblo’s population had all but disappeared, victims of famine, disease, and warfare. In 1838, the last remaining residents abandoned Pecos for Jemez Pueblo to the northwest.

There is a story about a great snake who lived deep in the largest kiva at Pecos Pueblo, who was fed with human sacrifices. A fire was kept burning in the kiva to insure the great snake’s protection. For generations this fire was tended in secret, but as times grew harder and the people grew weaker, it was allowed to die out. The great snake withdrew its protection and the pueblo of Pecos was no more.