Pecos National Historical Park

We planned to drive to Glorieta on Friday, with the hopes of possibly seeing the camp there (previously was a Baptist encampment where young people, and maybe older ones too, would come for some times of teaching and recreation) and maybe visit a couple of friends who are working there this summer. We got to the conference center, but understandably were not allowed in and weren't able to reach our friends, so did not get to visit with them.

When we got off of I-25, though, we saw signs pointing to Pecos National Historical Park, so we decided to drive there.

We got to this pull-out alongside the road and thought, is this it?

We saw some other information that indicated that there was a Visitor Center a little ways down the road. Inside the Visitor's Center, there was a nice history of the area and the people who had been here.

As I was looking at the displays, I noticed on the two dioramas that the plaque indicated that they had been donated by Mrs. Fogelson - it had her first name too, but I hadn't noticed that. One of the couples that we were hoping to see have the last name of Fogle, and I was thinking of them and the similarity of their names.

When I got to the more recent history information, I noticed that her name was Mrs. Greer Garson Fogelson and thought, "Wasn't Greer Garson the name of someone in Hollywood?" Sure enough!

When their ranch (Forked Lightning Ranch) was eventually donated to the National Park Service, the status changed from Pecos National Monument to Pecos National Historical Park. This information plaque also mentions the sites of a Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass - we had stopped at a historical marker on the side of the road that had information about a Civil War Battle along the route we were driving - I never knew that battles during the War Between the States occurred this far west.

One of the dioramas donated by Mrs Fogleson

Another diorama

It clearly says "Mrs. Greer Garson Fogelson", but I didn't notice the first names until I read in the other area of the displays.

This was interesting too - they surmise that the aerial view pictures were taken by Charles Lindbergh.

Charles Lindbergh's plane at Santa Fe in 1927 and the information that he pioneered the use of aerial photography in archaeology.

After viewing the displays in the Visitor's Center, we decided to take the Ruins Trail. I wish we had asked for a map because there were numbered markers along the trail and it would have been nice to be able to read the information they had prepared for each location. We remembered to get our walking sticks, though!

I had overheard the ranger telling other visitors that no one had reported any snakes in the last two days... Thankfully we had no cause to report snakes!

There was probably information about this in the Visitor's Center, but I didn't notice it particularly (I was too wrapped up in Greer Garson and Charles Lindbergh)... it seems that this archaeological excavation may have been one of the first times that they particularly noticed layers of artifacts and used that to establish a timeline of the history of the place.

Dwayne took a picture of some blooms on one of the cacti...

I was walking on ahead. They were doing work on the trail - when we got to the area near the church, we had to wait until they would let us pass. I think that the paths may have previously been asphalt but were now gravel/dirt, but maybe they have always been gravel/dirt and they have just been smoothing and packing them more solidly.

This showed the region we were in and the water sources and land topography that contributed to the location of the people here.  "Pecos Pueblo was a gateway between the Plains Indians and the upper Rio Grande pueblos."

This picture shows the Glorieta Mesa (the medium-high flat part on the left, Glorieta Pass (the low part) and the beginning of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the right.

Near the end of the hike we came to an area where there were a lot more foundations exposed. This information plaque told that we were seeing two different incarnations of mission churches on this site - a 1717 one for which we can see almost complete walls, and the 1625 church foundation.

Our view of the church walls and foundation...

The view from the end of the church

Foundations of the village

Even though we weren't planning to visit the site, we enjoyed our visit quite a lot! If you go on the Ruins Trail, ask at the information desk if they have a trail map with information that you can use during your hike!