Meandering In My RV: More New Mexico sites

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

More New Mexico sites

We left Albuquerque and headed north on I-25. We’ve driven this route many times and always wanted to stop at Pecos National Historical Park but with our big rig we were afraid of what we might get into but now that we are small (relatively) and nimble we made the stop.

Pueblo boundary wall

Looking across the mound with ruins
under it to the church on far end

What's left of the latest church

This site is more of a history lesson than actually seeing a lot of ruins. It is the site of a community that dates back hundreds of years. The Pecos Pueblo was a thriving, powerful community that traded goods with both the Plains Indians and those to the west in the Rio Grande Valley. Its location on the trade route through Glorieta Pass was strategic.

The Spaniards and Franciscan friars came along in the early 1600's and brought unwanted change which resulted in a rebellion. Years later the Spaniards came back, the Comanches started raiding, the Santa Fe Trail passed through, and if that’s not enough, there was a Civil War battle nearby. Lots of history here!

As far as what you can see, there has been archaeological digging going on for a hundred years but most of it has been back filled to protect what was found. That being said, the old Pueblos are pretty much underground but the relatively more recent Spanish church has a little bit of wall standing and covered with protective adobe. If you go it is important to see the film provided because it is very informative and gives the history lesson.

We continued on to Raton, NM where we stayed two nights so we would have a day in between to visit Capulin Volcano National Monument. This site was declared a National Monument in 1916 because it is such a perfect specimen of an extinct North American volcano. It also is a rare volcano in that it is covered with vegetation. After spending a couple hours walking on the top and over the flows at the bottom, we agree it is unique compared to the several other protected volcanic sites we’ve visited.