NPS Unit Count: 83/433
Hey there Adventurers! Thanks for joining me on my trip through Mesa Verde, Colorado, and the New Mexico National Park Units! After departing Aztec Ruins National Monument, my next stop was Pecos National Historic Site. This site was out of my way, but it once had a Bark Ranger Program and I wanted to stop in to introduce myself and pass out some #USBarkRangers cards in case they decide to restart again. On that note, the site is very dog friendly, minus the usual visitor center restrictions and the R of respect the wildlife (snakes…I saw none!)
Pecos is a small site but has significant historical and cultural importance. The main part of the site actually protects two distinctly different people tied together by history. There is also a Civil War Battlefield (I learned that day that New Mexico was indeed involved in the civil war) and a protected farm. I did not visit those, only focusing on the main part of the site.
The original people in this area arrived around 1,000 years ago. They were called the P’aékish which became Pecos. As the years progressed the pueblo here grew to become a regional power, and by the time the good ole Spanish arrived in the 1500s, there were 2000 Pecos people living here. The Spanish did Spanish things: built a mission, did the whole conversions and colonialism thing, did that all over the area, and soon after came the Pueblo Revolt in 1680. In that revolt the Puebloans kicked out the Spanish and destroyed the large mission, but this was a short lived respite. The Spanish returned about a dozen years later. Interestingly, the pueblo people in the region seemed to embrace this return, and maintained friendly relations with the Spanish. By 1720 there was a new, but smaller, church built atop the old church’s foundations. This newer mission is the one that remains in a ruined state at the Pecos site, with its walls standing on top of the older church’s foundation.
It was nice to see a different take on the history around here as this was the first site on the trip that had more “modern” elements highlighting history that moves into the the beginnings of the US era, both in the Spanish influence, and also the civil war info. If you are in the area, stop by, it’s a neat historical spot!
The Parks Adventurer 