Appendix E 185

Mission Ysleta, Mission Trail

El Paso, Texas

NATIONAL REGISTER

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Mission Ysleta was first erected in 1692.

Through a series of flooding and fire, the mission has been rebuilt three times. Named for the

patron saint of the Tiguas, the mission was first

known as San Antonio de la Ysleta. The beautiful silver bell tower was added in the 1880s.

The missions of El Paso have a tremendous

history spanning three centuries. They are considered the longest, continuously occupied religious structures within the United States and as

far as we know, the churches have never missed

one day of services. 

Mission Socorro, Mission Trail

El Paso, Texas

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Built of adobe in 1692, Mission Socorro also

experienced natural disasters through her history leading her to be rebuilt several times. The

famous Statue of Saint Michael was brought to

the mission from Mexico by oxcart in the early

1800s. One will also find an excellent example of

Indian and Spanish architecture including

carved ceiling beams called “vigas” and bell

tower. 

San Elizario, Mission Trail

El Paso, Texas

NATIONAL REGISTER

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

San Elizario was built first as a military presidio to protect the citizens of the river settlements from Apache attacks in 1789. The structure as it stands today has interior pillars,

detailed in gilt, and an extraordinary painted tin

ceiling.

Oñate Crossing

El Paso, Texas

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

The Oñate Crossing of the Río Grande in 1598

is commemorated at this small park next to the

river. The original crossing was near here. Once

Oñate and his contingent of settlers crossed the

river he held a thanksgiving in what is now the

United States. One of the first bridges to be

erected in the area would have been in or very

near the location of the crossing. 

APPENDIX E

HIGH-POTENTIAL HISTORIC SITES

National Trails System Act, SEC. 12. [16USC1251] As used in this Act:

(1) The term “high-potential historic sites” means those historic sites related to the route, or sites

in close proximity thereto, which provide opportunity to interpret the historic significance of the trail

during the period of its major use. Criteria for consideration as high-potential sites include historic significance, presence of visible historic remnants, scenic quality, and relative freedom from intrusion..
186 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boundary Marker # 1

Sunland Park, New Mexico

NATIONAL REGISTER

Era: 19th Century

Boundary Marker # 1 is a four-sided pyramid

of white limestone on the West bank of the Río

Grande on the Mexico-New Mexico border. It

is the first boundary marker placed after the

setting of the international boundary in 1855.

There is a small park here on each side of the

border where people from each nation can

gather and mingle together.

Keystone Park

El Paso, Texas

ARMS (41 EP 494) (archeological site designation)

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Keystone Park is a wetlands site in additional

to an archeological site. It is slated for development. It is located along the edge of El Paso’s

Lower Valley in the path of what was to become

the Camino Real trail from Mexico to Santa Fe.

During the Archaic period, 4000 years before

the appearance of the Spanish, prehistoric

Native Americans established a village at the

edge of the Río Grande. The Indians built pit

houses with shallow, basin-shaped floors and

covered with an igloo-shaped or tipi-like

structure of timber and branches, plastered with

a thin layer of clay. The people settled close to

the river and marsh, gathering wild plants and

hunting animals such as rabbits.

Brazito, Bracito Battlefield, Paraje

Mesquite, New Mexico

North of Mesquite, NM and south of Brazito

Schoolhouse off NM 478.

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: Long-time paraje; mail

exchange point on the Camino Real; site of the

first land grant in southern New Mexico; site of

the Battle of Bracitos during the MexicanAmerican War.

Annotated History: This campsite, between

the east bank of the Río Grande and the Organ

Mountains, was used by Lafora on 7 August

1766. He located it some 20 leagues north of the

place where he crossed the river. From this

paraje, Lafora went to Robledillo (Alessio

Robles 1939:90-91).

Robert Julyan places the modern “Brazito”

five miles south of Las Cruces, New Mexico,

and noted that only a schoolhouse remains of

the settlement. He added that in 1776 it was

known as “Huerto de los Brazitos” and was part

of a the nineteenth-century “Brazito Land

Grant” to Juan Antonio García, which stretched

along the Río Grande for eight miles south of

Las Cruces (Julyan 1996:49). Rancho del Bracito

was the exchange point for mail runs between

Santa Fé and Chihuahua in the 1820s (Bloom

1913:16; Moorhead 1957:112).

On Christmas day, 1846, the Missouri

Volunteers under Colonel Alexander W.

Doniphan defeated a Mexican unit at the Battle

of Bracitos and then went on to occupy El Paso

del Norte and invade Chihuahua. George

Rutledge Gibson, a soldier in Doniphan’s army,

wrote that the name Bracito referred to a bend

in the river just above the battlefield. The U.S.

army had stopped to camp by the river just

north of the site where the engagement took

place. The Mexican army was at an elevation

and had the mountains to their backs as the

battle began (Bieber 1935:300,303-305,308-309).

A contemporary map reproduced in the 1997

edition of the Hughes journal gives little context

but appears to show the river at its closest

approach to the hills. It also shows the island

formed by the Bracito from which the name was

derived (Hughes 1997:133). In February 1847,

Susan Shelby Magoffin visited the site of the

battle and described it as a “perfect plain”

(Drumm 1926:202). According to Max

Moorhead, the “Paraje de Bracitos” was “on a

little arm of the Río Grande encircling a sandy

island” (Moorhead 1958:19).

A soldier, Marcellus Ball Edwards, recounted

being in a camp about a mile below Doña Ana

on 20 December 1846. His company was directed to go a few miles and set up an outpost, but

went 12 according to his estimate, before finding

a suitable place. There, the river ran close

enough to the hills on the east side of the valley
Appendix E 187

that the road ran over sand hills. On Christmas

Eve, this company went another mile, and on

Christmas, twelve miles to the site of the battle.

That adds up to an estimate of 26 miles from

Doña Ana and the site of the Battle of Bracitos

(Bieber 1936:224-228). John Taylor Hughes,

another soldier with Doniphan, confirms that

the camp described by Edwards was about 12

miles from Doña Ana, but placed the camp one

mile below as 15 from Doña Ana. He thought it

another 18 from there to Bracito (Hughes

1997:130-131). Gibson recalled marches of 12 and

14 miles, a total of 26, between a camp near

Doña Ana and the battlefield (Bieber 1935:298-

300). The consensus of these estimates is that it

was some 26 miles from the town of Doña Ana

to Bracitos by the road on which the army traveled. When he passed by in 1855, W.W.H. Davis

placed Fort Fillmore, built in 1851, a few miles

above the battlefield of Bracito (Davis 1938:212;

Frazer 1965:99).

There is some historiographical confusion

surrounding the relative locations of historical

sites in this section of the Río Grande valley.

Max Moorhead wrote that the paraje was a few

miles south of the site of the 1846 battle

(Moorhead 1958:19). William A. Keleher located

Fort Fillmore on the site of Bracito and estimated that it was about four miles south of Las

Cruces, about the same distance north of

Mesilla, New Mexico, and 36 miles from El

Paso, Texas (Keleher 1952:196,n.9). Robert W.

Frazer placed Fort Fillmore six miles south of

Mesilla (Frazer 1965:99). However, Robert

Julyan put Fort Fillmore, 1852-1863, six miles

south of Las Cruces and one mile east of Bracito

(Julyan 1996:134).

The precise location of the point on the Río

Grande known as el Bracito, by which the paraje was known, can best be identified from testimonies and evidence given in the Bracito (Hugh

Stephenson), Doña Ana, Mesilla, and Santo

Tomás de Iturbide land grant cases before the

Surveyor General and Court of Private Land

Claims. According to testimony, in 1864 floodwater caused the Río Grande to break away

from its old channel and change course substantially. The eventual disposition of the above

named grants hinged upon the definition of the

riverbed of the 1850s. Through witnesses and

surveys, the bed of the Río Grande before 1864

was determined. Therefore, the boundaries of

those grants can be taken as the riverbed of the

1850s. It is also clear that the course of the river

could have changed more than once since the

opening of the Camino Real. That cautionary

note should make researchers wary of unequivocal statements regarding the locations of the

road, paraje, or the river bed in the lower Río

Grande Valley of centuries ago.

Most importantly for locating El Paraje de los

Bracitos, descriptions of the Bracito Grant show

that at its inception its northwestern corner was

on the old river bed at the point that was known

as Bracito in 1805. In subsequent testimonies,

descriptions, and maps, that description is sustained. At its inception it was specified that the

grant began at a point known as “el Brasito” and

that name continued to be used to describe the

same location. In 1820, it was specified that the

acequia of the same name was taken from the

river at “el Paraje que nombran el Brasito”. In

the documents filed after the United States

occupation of New Mexico that particular acequia was used as the landmark (Hugh

Stephenson Grant:892,901,964,passim).

In his map, “Plano del Río del Norte desde

San Elceareo hasta el paraje de San Pasqual”

(1773),Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco shows

Bracitos at the southernmost eastward bend of

the river that defined the Ancón de Doña Ana

before the flood of 1864 (Adams and Chávez

1956:268). The point at which the northern

boundary of the Bracito or Stephenson Grant

leaves the old river bed, its western boundary,

and extends east is, then, the place given in 1805

as El Bracito. That also conforms to the Miera y

Pacheco map. The paraje, while not a precise

and enclosed point, was likely centered on that

location.

Fort Fillmore

New Mexico

Era: 19th Century

Along the Río Grande not far from the

Mexican border and a few miles southeast of

the town of Mesilla, this tiny adobe fort was
188 APPENDIXS/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

founded in 1851 to control local Apaches. by the

end of the 1850s it had declined and fallen into

disrepair. In 1861, however, spurred by rumors

of Confederate invasion of New Mexico, the

Army reinforced the fort. During July a force of

250 Texans took Mesilla. Failing in an attempt

to liberate the town, the garrison abandoned the

fort and marched toward Fort Stanton, but was

captured east of las Cruces. The next summer,

California Volunteers temporarily occupied the

post before moving into Mesilla.

Issue of El Palacio, Summer 1967, vol. 74, no. 2

(Fort Fillmore issue).

La Ranchería (Las Cruces)

Era: 18th Century

Significance: Though not an often-mentioned paraje, this was a frequent habitation of

local Indians and is now the site of Las Cruces,

the largest city in southern New Mexico.

Annotated History: On 22 May 1726 Rivera

followed the bank of the Río Grande eight

leagues and stayed at a paraje next to the river

called Ranchería, which used to be inhabited

frequently by the Mansos Indians before they

were converted to pueblo life (Alessio Robles

1946:49).

A comparison of the distances given by Rivera

and Lafora in the lower Río Grande valley

shows Ranchería Grande a little north of

Bracito. The referenced map (“Plano del Río del

Norte,” 1773) by Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco

shows Doña Ana and Bracito at what appear to

be eastward bends of the river that defined the

Ancón de Doña Ana before the flood of 1864.

The Ranchería Grande is depicted as in the

bend between those two points, which takes in

the area of Las Cruces (Adams and Chávez

1956:268).

Mesilla Plaza (La Mesilla)

Mesilla

NATIONAL REGISTER, 

NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK

Era: 18th and 19th Century

In 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

established the area west of the Río Grande

occupied by present-day Mesilla as part of

Mexico. (In local usage, it is more often called

Mesilla or Old Mesilla.) Las Cruces and Doña

Ana, on the east bank of the river, were in

American territory. Anglo-Americans arrived to

claim land in such force that many native

Mexicans moved away. Those who preferred to

remain in the area but on Mexican soil crossed

the river and settled on a small rise in the river

valley. The settlement, known as Mesilla (little

table), included about half the population of

Doña Ana.

In 1853 the Mexican government issued the

Mesilla Civil Colony Land Grant and the town

was formed. In 1854 the Gadsden Purchase was

negotiated, acquiring from Mexico a strip of

land south of New Mexico and Arizona which

stretched from Texas to California-29,142,400

acres for $10 million-a wedge of level land

which would eventually serve as the southern

railroad route to the Pacific coast. The erstwhile

Mexican residents of Mesilla found themselves

in the United States.

The new government honored land ownership under the Mexican land grant. On

November 16, 1854, the treaty was symbolically

formalized in the plaza at Mesilla. The flag of

Mexico was lowered, and the flag of the United

States was raised. Officials and soldiers from

both governments were on hand to see that it

was done right. Local Mexican officials swore

allegiance to the new government. Residents

who did not want to live under it were "notified

to leave and take refuge in Mexican dominions."

In 1858 Mesilla became a stop on the

Butterfield Overland Mail route which linked

St. Louis and San Francisco. Waterman L.

Ormsby, a reporter for the New York Herald,

rode the first westbound stage; he described the

community. There were more than three thousand inhabitants. He saw "irrigated fields

groaning with the weight of heavy crops." But

he was not impressed by the cluster of onestory adobe houses; they looked like "miserable

dog kennels."
Appendix E 189

On July 25, 1861, the Civil War came to Mesilla.

Lt. Col. John R. Baylor, commanding 258 Texan

troops in Confederate service, occupied the village without firing a shot and settled down to

await the arrival of Union forces from nearby

Fort Fillmore. 

Baylor forthwith issued a proclamation taking

possession of all of New Mexico south of the

thirty-fourth parallel of north latitude "on

behalf of the Confederate States of America."

He dubbed it the Territory of Arizona: "The city

of Mesilla is hereby designated as the seat of

government of this Territory." Baylor was

appointed governor.

Thirteen months later, in August, 1862, the

"California Column" under Gen. James H.

Carleton recaptured Mesilla and the surrounding area for the Union.

During its heyday, Mesilla was a bustling

community. George Griggs, a lifelong resident,

told of activities in his book History of the

Mesilla Valley or The Gadsden Purchase. Its

prime season began on December 12 with the

fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe and ended on

March 2 with the fiesta of St. Alvino, the patron

saint of the town. People came from as far away

as Santa Fe, Tucson, and Chihuahua. Ladies

came to buy velvet gowns and satin shoes; men

came to attend bullfights and street fairs.

Mesilla had cock pits, billiard halls, theaters,

and even bowling alleys for the entertainment of

visitors. There were flour mills and stores with

supplies for the farmers who tilled the rich irrigated farms in the Mesilla Valley.

Griggs cited one firm that sent eighty-three

wagons from Kansas City to Mesilla, each

loaded with 5,000 pounds of merchandise. That

firm paid $30,000 in freight bills on a wagon

train containing $126,000 worth of goods which

sold within three weeks at a profit of $51,000.

Mesilla's eminence faded in 1881 when the

Santa Fe Railroad was routed through Las

Cruces instead of Mesilla.

Doña Ana Paraje

Doña Ana, New Mexico

NATIONAL REGISTER

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: One of the noted parajes of the

late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the

name also attached to a section of the Río

Grande, to nearby mountains, and to a settlement that still exists. Pedro Tamarón y Romeral,

Bishop of Durango, author of Demostración del

vastísimo obispado de la Nueva Vizcaya (1765),

visited this site in his inspection of churches and

missions in Chihuahua and New Mexico in

1760.

Annotated History: On 11 May 1760 Bishop

Tamarón described Doña Ana as the sierra on

the east side of the river. He camped between

Doña Ana and the river (Adams 1953:199).

Lafora described a place between mountain

ranges, which he labeled Doña Ana, to the east,

and Roblerito, across the river to the west. The

name Doña Ana is given elsewhere as the name

of a ranchería (Alessio Robles 1939:91).

In August 1846, Wislizenus mentioned that

“Doñana” was the first town reached south of

the Jornada del Muerto. He said that it was 12

miles south of Robledo but did not describe it as

he passed through (Wislizenus 1848:39). On 23

December 1846, Gibson arrived in Doña Ana

after what he estimated was a ten-mile trip from

Robledo (Bieber 1935:298). In early November

1847, Philip Gooch Ferguson, with an army unit,

noted that he camped a mile below the town of

Doña Ana (Bieber 1936:337-338). In 1855, U.S.

Attorney W.W.H. Davis slept with his stock in

Doña Ana’s corral since there were no public

accommodations (Davis 1938:210-211).

According to Julyan, the original 1839 town site

was on a hill north of the present village (Julyan

1996:112-113).

The western boundary of the Doña Ana Grant

was determined to be the bed of the Río Grande

as it ran before the flood of 1864. The northeastern corner of the grant was the head of the

old Doña Ana Acequia, “about three miles

above the pueblo of Doña Ana at a point where

the Río Grande touches the hills on the East; the
190 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

R.R. track is near the point.” It is not entirely

clear what the bed of the river was above that

point but it evidently came from the west. In

testimony related to determining that boundary,

Ancón de Doña Ana was described in terms of

how the river ran in 1852. At the head of the

Doña Ana and Las Cruces Acequia, “the Río

Grande makes a bend leaving the foothills on

the Eastern bank of said river and bearing

Southwestwardly and nearing the foothills on

the western bank of said river and continues

near the western foot hills of said western bank

until it reaches the ‘barrancas del brazito’ before

mentioned, which place was formerly the head

of the acequia of Don Juan Antonio Garcia” (or

Bracito). The latter point was the boundary of

the Doña Ana and Bracito grants and the location of El Bracito (Doña Ana Grant:170;224;passim). In his “Plano del Río del Norte” (1773),

Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco depicted Doña

Ana at the northern bend of the two eastward

points on the river that defined the Ancón de

Doña Ana before the flood of 1864 (Adams and

Chávez 1956:268).

Given the descriptions of the old river, Miera

y Pacheco’s map, and the first locations of the

town, it appears that the point originally called

Doña Ana was the northern bend of the Ancón

de Doña Ana. Unfortunately, we have no distance estimates from the colonial period with

which to place Doña Ana relative to other parajes. However, the name is also mentioned in

reference to the proximity of mountains to the

river and at the suggested place the mountains

do approach the river and road. The sketchy

estimates given in the 1840s conform to the

relationship of that point to Robledo and

Bracito. It is reasonable to suggest that the area

was popular because travelers could reach the

river without descending into the sandy and

brambly flood plain as they would for many

miles to the south. The paraje of Doña Ana,

such as it was, probably took in a larger area.

Fort Selden State Monument

Radium Springs

NATIONAL REGISTER

Era: 19th Century

Situated on a slight rise overlooking the Río

Grande at the lower end of the Jornada del

Muerto, Fort Selden (1865-90) protected settlers in the Mesilla Valley and travelers on the

Camino Real. The garrison, frequently harassed

by Indians, took part in the campaigns against

the Apaches until the fort's inactivation in 1877.

In 1880, during the campaign against Geronimo,

troops reoccupied it as a base to patrol the

Mexican border. After Geronimo' s surrender,

it was abandoned for good in 1890.

Capt. Arthur MacArthur served at Fort Selden

in 1884. It was there that his son, Douglas A.

MacArthur, learned to ride and shoot before he

learned to read or write.

Eroding adobe walls of some 25 buildings

stand as high as 10 feet or more. A visitor center/

museum on site interprets the history of the

fort.

Robledillo, Robledo 

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: One of the enduring and popular parajes. Its importance stemmed from its

easy access to water, forage, and wood, and its

proximity to the Jornada del Muerto.

Annotated History: Between 14 May and 21

May 1598 the Juan de Oñate expedition traveled

about four leagues after passing the Organ

mountains. The road was very primitive, and the

train had to be divided. On the 21st they buried

Pedro Robledo but did not refer to the burial

site as Robledillo (Pacheco, Cárdenas y Torres

1871:XVI.246-247). According to Marshall and

Walt, the site was called “La Cruz de Robledo”

after the burial place of Robledo (Marshall and

Walt 1984:235).

In November 1681, while marching north,

Otermín mentioned that it was 32 leagues from

Robledo to the next permanent water. He made

stops at parajes which he called Robledo and

Robledo el Chico, one league apart, on the first
Appendix E 191

and second of February, 1682 (Hackett and

Shelby 1942:II.202; II.365). It is likely that others

referred to the area containing both sites as part

of the same paraje.

Vargas estimated the distance from Ancón de

Fray García to Robledo at 24 leagues, placing it

29 leagues from El Paso (Kessell and Hendricks

1992:369).

On 23 May 1726 Rivera left La Ranchería and

traveled seven leagues northwest through land

with some small hills, glades and mesquite

thickets, then stayed at a paraje called

Robledillo (Alessio Robles 1946:49).

On 11 May 17, 1760 Bishop Tamarón reached

the “dread site” of Robledo. The river flowed

between two sierras; the one on the west he

called Robledo, and the one on the east Doña

Ana. He camped between Doña Ana and the

river and described the place as frightening

because of attacks by “infidel” Indians, although

he didn’t personally experience any attacks

(Adams 1953:199).

On 8 August 1766, Lafora named “Ancón de

Roblerito” as a campsite on the bank of the Río

Grande. It was also called “Robles” and “Paraje

de Robledillo.” Lafora placed this point nine

leagues from Bracitos and 29 leagues upriver of

his crossing near “Presidio del Paso.” It was in a

hilly area with brush that was thicker than it had

previously been and between mountain ranges

which he labeled Doña Ana, to the east, and

Roblerito, across the river to the west (Alessio

Robles 1939:91).

Josiah Gregg gave little description of his 1833

crossing of the Jornada del Muerto but did note

that he was grateful to reach “Robledo” on the

river, with its abundance of water and wood

(Gregg 1933:260). The caravan carrying

Wislizenus “at last” arrived at the river after

their crossing of the Jornada del Muerto on 5

August 1846. Although Wislizenus wrote that

the country was mountainous and described the

mountains to the east, calling them the

“Organon,” or Organ Mountains, they were well

known as such, for Antonio Otermín had

named them “Los Organos” in 1680. Wislizenus

also noted that “Doñana,” which was the first

town south of the Jornada, was 12 miles to the

south (Wislizenus 1848:39). Gibson, having

stopped at San Diego, was less anxious to reach

“Robledo” on 22 December 1846, but he did

note that it was the end of the Jornada and next

to the river. He thought it fourteen miles from

San Diego and ten from Doña Ana. He

described a wide valley with plenty of wood and

grass (Bieber 1935:297).

Fort Selden was established in the same area,

in part to protect the entrance of the Camino

Real into the Jornada del Muerto, in 1865 and

operated intermittently until 1889 (Frazer

1965:103). The paraje of Robledillo or Robledo

was not an exact point on the Río Grande. It

was the wide valley, well supplied with forage

and wood, adjacent to the dry, barren, Jornada

del Muerto, and stretched along and away from

the river.

Turney states that the trail across the Jornada

north from Fort Selden is marked by a line of

mesquite bushes sewn by oxen who were fed on

mesquite beans that were often passed without

being well digested (Turney 1996:181). 

Paraje del Perrillo 

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: The water source and hills of

this name were noted by many travelers from

Oñate through the nineteenth century.

Annotated History: On 23 May 1598 the

Oñate expedition traveled about four leagues,

doing poorly because of the lack of water. They

were traveling five or six leagues east of the Río

Grande. After one of their dogs returned with

muddy paws, they searched for some water

holes. Captain Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá and

Cristóbal Sánchez each found one, not far away

in the direction of the river (Pacheco, Cárdenas

y Torres 1871:XVI, 247-248).

In 1680, Otermín mentioned stops at El

Perrillo but gave no descriptions or details of

distances traveled (Hackett and Shelby 1942:II,

202;II, 365). On the evening of 27 August 1692,
192 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Vargas stopped at El Perrillo, but gave no distance from San Diego or Las Peñuelas (Kessell

and Hendricks 1992:371). Rivera left San Diego

on 25 May 1726 and traveled north-northwest

through flat land, passing the Cerros de Perrillo

to the east after six leagues (Alessio Robles

1946:49).

On 9 August 1766, Lafora referred to a campsite and to a nearby mountain range as simply

“Perrillo.” After traveling ten leagues from

Robledillo, he camped near pools of rainwater

identifing the mountains to the east as the

Organ range and to the west as the Sierras del

Perrillo and del Muerto. He described the Río

Grande as running through a canyon beyond

the mountains to the west (Alessio Robles

1939:92).

Wislizenus called this spring “Barilla” (likely a

corruption of Perrillo which Gibson below calls

“Perrilla”) when his party stopped there on 3

August 1846. They had been at a spring to the

north, probably El Alemán, which they found

dry and then had pushed on 20 miles until they

found sufficient amounts of stagnant water to

provide for their stock there. Wislizenus

observed that spurs from the mountains to the

east approached the area and that the soil was

more solid than it had been to the north

(Wislizenus 1848:39).

Gibson gave the name “perilla” to “an isolated

mountain in the valley, which here expands,

giving the appearance of two valleys.” He also

observed that the road veered to the right at this

point and was not as flat as it had been. He

made it ten miles from El Alemán and ten from

San Diego (Bieber 1935:296-297). The Baptist

missionary Hiram Read wrote that the “Ponds

of Perillo,” which he translated as “Ponds of

Peril,” were three miles south of the Point of

Rocks and 22 miles from Robledo (Bloom

1942:136).

The spur, hills, or mountains mentioned by

the chronicles conform to the Point of Rocks

formation. Oñate reported that the pools (aguajes) found by Villagrá and Cristóbal Sánchez

were toward the river. Upside Down Tank and

Alivio are both to the west of, or toward the

river from, the Point of Rocks formation. The

road and rail line veer to the right, à la Gibson’s

description of the road, a little further north at

Upham; however, the places mentioned are

more likely matches for their nearness to the

Point of Rocks and distance from Alemán and

San Diego. Read seems to have been at Rincon

Arroyo, on which maps show a small pond at

about the right place. Point of Rocks Tank,

south of Point of Rocks, is also a possibility.

Paraje del Alemán 

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: The name Alemán (The

German) resulted, vicariously, from a seventeenth-century inquisition case involving the

German trader from Sonora, Bernardo Gruber,

and remained attached to a nineteenth century

stage stop and post office. A ranch maintains the

name “Aleman” into the twentieth century and

beyond.

Annotated History: The name is thought to

refer to Bernardo Gruber, a German trader

from Sonora who became a target of the Holy

Office of the Inquisition in New Mexico in 1668.

Gruber was a prisoner for nearly two years

before he made his escape, on June 22, 1670,

with the aid of his Apache servant, Atanasio.

Atanasio later reported that he and Gruber had

passed Senecú and Fray Cristóbal and made it

through the “hot wasteland” to Las Peñuelas,

which was dry. Atanasio went south to San

Diego in search of water and returned two days

later to find Gruber gone. Atanasio speculated

that Gruber had taken one horse and gone

south on the Camino Real, though Atanasio

himself had been on that stretch of road and

had not seen Gruber. Atanasio tried unsuccessfully to locate Gruber and then decided to surrender and report the incident at Senecú.

Search parties were sent out in vain. Soon,

however, remains that were thought to be

Gruber’s were found by accident at a point

which would later be called Alemán. The discoverers related that they had found Gruber’s

remains while traveling between Las Peñuelas

and El Perrillo, or south of Peñuelas. Later it

was said that Atanasio murdered Gruber.
Appendix E 193

Gruber’s ordeal is also thought to have inspired

the name Jornada del Muerto (Sánchez

1996:97-104). This is the only time that Las

Peñuelas and Alemán can be found in the same

account. A comparison of distance estimates

given for Alemán and Las Peñuelas suggests that

the former may have supplanted the latter in the

lore of the Jornada.

On 10 August 1766, Lafora passed by el paraje

del Alemán, six leagues north of El Perrillo and

eight south of Laguna del Muerto, in the

Jornada del Muerto of New Mexico. He found

the pools, which often gathered rainwater, dry

(Alessio Robles 1939:92-93).

“Alamos” was the name used by Wislizenus to

describe what was, on 3 August 1846, a dry pool,

some 20 miles north of Paraje del Perrillo and

sixteen miles south of Laguna del Muerto. He

camped four miles south on a grassy hill

(Wislizenus 1848:39). On 20 December 1846,

Gibson arrived at El Alemán, fourteen miles

from Laguna del Muerto and ten from El

Perrillo (Bieber 1935:296-297). In September

1851, Hiram Read arrived at “Alaman,” which he

thought to be 40 miles from Fray Cristóbal over

a road as good as if it were “McAdamized”, or

paved (Bloom 1942:136).

Later in the nineteenth century, the name

Aleman was continued in a stage stop, post

office, and ranch. The name Martin’s Well was

given to the same site after John Martin, who

dug a well and operated an inn at Paraje del

Alemán (Julyan 1996:12; Cohrs 1974

(Unpublished MS); Marshall and Walt

1984:242).

Las Peñuelas 

Era: 18th Century

Significance: A place name well known in the

seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, it

may have referred to a site later called by other

names.

Annotated History: On 24 May 1598, the

Oñate expedition traveled four leagues north of

the Paraje del Perrillo without any water. They

finally came to some small pools next to Piedras

de Afilar where they drank and rested. They

took their horses to the river, more than six

leagues off to their left, where it was extremely

hilly and very rough (Pacheco, Cárdenas y

Torres 1871:XVI, 248-249). Marshall and Walt

place Oñate at Las Peñuelas on this day

(Marshall and Walt 1984:237). The association of

Oñate’s camp with Peñuelas, or with Alemán, is

reasonable. Through the rest of the Jornada del

Muerto, Oñate’s journal becomes confused. It

appears that there is data missing from it, making any conclusions based upon that source

hazardous.

Vargas went from El Perrillo to Las Peñuelas

on 28 August 1692, but did not estimate the distance of his journey. He did note that it was six

leagues from Las Peñuelas to El Muerto (Kessell

and Hendricks 1992:371).

On 25 May 1726 Rivera left San Diego and

traveled eleven leagues north-northwest

through flat land, leaving the hills called “el

Perilloto” the east, and stopped at an uninhabited paraje, with no water or fire-wood, called

Las Peñuelas (Alessio Robles 1946:49).

Julyan identifies Las Peñuelas as Point of

Rocks (Julyan 1996:199). Such an association is

obvious on the basis of the name alone.

However, chroniclers who visited both the hills

and water source of Perrillo and Peñuelas noted

considerable, and variant, distances between the

two. A comparison of distance estimates suggests that Peñuelas and Alemán were the same,

or at least were very near one another. Perhaps

the rocks in the name and in Oñate’s description of his camp of 24 May refer to Prisor Hill. It

is by Aleman Draw and has a well marked on its

western flank; however, at about 2 leagues

southeast of the modern locale of Aleman it may

be too far off the track. Black Hill is further

north and a little west. In pinpointing any of

these parajes the relationships between them

must be considered. 

Laguna del Muerto 

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: This seasonal water source was

a consistent camp from at least 1692 and well
194 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

into the nineteenth century. Even when dry, this

was an important camp as a base for water runs

to Ojo del Muerto.

Annotated History: Vargas reported that he

went six leagues from Las Peñuelas to El

Muerto, or Paraje del Muerto, on 29 August

1692 (Kessell and Hendricks 1992:372-373).

On 26 May 1726 Rivera left Las Peñuelas and

traveled six leagues before stopping along the

road. Because there was no water or wood it

was decided to lead the horses to the Laguna

del Muerto with a large escort because of the

numbers of hostile Indians that inhabited the

area (Alessio Robles 1946:49-50). It seems clear

that Rivera’s party actually stopped in the area

known as Laguna del Muerto and then sent the

horses to Ojo del Muerto, a place known for the

danger of hostilities.

Lafora camped at the Laguna del Muerto on

10 August 1766 although it was dry. He reported

that it was 14 leagues north of Perrillo, eight

north of Alemán, and ten leagues to the southeast of the Paraje de Fray Cristóbal at the north

end of the Jornada del Muerto of New Mexico

(Alessio Robles 1939:93).

In 1833 Josiah Gregg found Laguna del Muerto

dry. He described it as “a sink in the plain of a

few rods in diameter, and only filled with water

during the rainy season.” He thought it five or

six miles to Ojo del Muerto (Gregg 1933:259).

On 2 August 1846, Wislizenus found this

lakebed dry, so his party went to water their

animals at the nearby Ojo del Muerto. He put

Laguna del Muerto 22 miles from Fray Cristóbal

and 16 from “Alamos” (Wislizenus 1848:38). In

the same year in December, Gibson’s party had

the same experience. He wrote that it was 14

miles from El Alemán and 26 miles from Fray

Cristóbal (Bieber 1935:296).

Cedar Lake, Engle Lake, and a small,

unnamed lake north of Engle Lake match the

various distance estimates given for Laguna del

Muerto. All that is certain is that it was a basin

that periodically held water and was east of Ojo

del Muerto and the later site of Fort McRae.

Fray Cristóbal

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: Named for a member of the

Oñate entrada, the Paraje de Fray Cristóbal

remained important throughout the period in

which the Camino Real was in use. Oñate’s men

facetiously remarked that the outline of the

ridge of the mountain near present Elephant

Butte Reservoir looked like the profile of Fray

Cristóbal, saying he was “feisimo” (politely, not

very good looking). It was described as a general

area rather than a particular point but can be

defined by its proximity to both the Río Grande

and the Jornada del Muerto. In the nineteenth

century, Fray Cristóbal became Fra Cristobal, as

a modern local spelling and pronunciation

without a “y” in Fray and without an accent in

Cristóbal.

Annotated History: Otermín placed Fray

Cristóbal 60 leagues from Santa Fé, 32 leagues

from Robledo, which he gave as the beginning

of the dry jornada, and seven from La Cruz de

Anaya (Hackett and Shelby 1942:II, 202;II,

365;II.397). Vargas reached Fray Cristóbal traveling north on 30 August 1692. He noted that it

was 32 leagues from San Diego and 65 from El

Paso (Kessell and Hendricks 1992:371-373).

El Paraje de Fray Cristóbal marked the northern terminus of the Jornada del Muerto of New

Mexico. On 27 May 1726 Rivera traveled northnorthwest eleven leagues, passing the Sierra de

San Cristóbal, and stayed at a paraje called Fray

Cristóbal, located on the bank of the Río

Grande (Alessio Robles 1946:50).

On 11 August 1766, Lafora recounted camping

there on the bank of the Río Grande five leagues

north of the northern end of the Sierra de San

Cristóbal (Alessio Robles 1939:93). On 22

November 1780 Anza left Valverde and traveled

five leagues south to “Fray Cristoval” (Thomas

1932:199).

In 1895, Coues characterized this as an area

more than a specific point (Coues 1895:II, 635-

636). Josiah Gregg gave a short description of

Fray Cristóbal in 1833 that defines the Spanish

paraje from the Anglo-American point of view.
Appendix E 195

He wrote that it, “like many others on the route,

is neither town nor village, but a simple isolated

point on the river-bank - a mere paraje, or

camping-ground” (Gregg 1933:258).

In August of 1846, Wislizenus understood this

title to refer to the last camping place before

entering the Jornada del Muerto heading south

rather than a particular site. His caravan

camped two miles from the Río Grande but he

noted that others stayed nearer or further and

that there were no buildings with which to

identify the name (Wislizenus 1848:38).

In 1851, Reverend Read described a grove of

timber where all travelers “halt to feed, rest and

obtain a supply of wood and water before

entering the Jornada” (Bloom 1942:135). When

Davis passed through Fray Cristóbal in 1855,

there was still no settlement of any kind (Davis

1938:208-209).

A town called Paraje, or Fra Cristobal, founded at about the same site in the late 1850s, survived into the first decades of the twentieth

century. A twin town, Canta Recio, was settled

directly across the river in the 1870s (Boyd

1986:86). Boyd places the town of Paraje eight

miles down river from Fort Craig. During the

Civil War, Colonel Edward Canby estimated it

at seven miles (Boyd 1986:60, 70-71). Marshall

and Walt note that the site of Paraje, designated

LA 1124, is south of Paraje Well (Marshall and

Walt 1984:293). The ruins of Paraje lie within

the flood basin of Elephant Butte Reservoir.

Although it has seldom been completely under

water the reservoir contributed to erosion of

the town. Boyd writes that during the twentieth

century the Río Grande meandered eastward to

erode the western portion of the town’s ruins

(Boyd 1986:110). According to John P. Wilson,

the location of the earliest signs of settlement

were found by a surveyor in 1857 at the line

between Sections 31 and 6 in Townships 8 and 9

South, Range 2 West (Wilson 1985:32). A 1908

Bureau of Reclamation map in Boyd confirms

that location (Boyd 1986:103).

The small area of the river occupied by Paraje

and Paraje Well would have been the point

where caravans left or reached the river before

or after the crossing of the Jornada del Muerto.

The “Lava Gate” between lava flows to the

northeast and the Fra Cristobal Range to the

southwest funneled traffic to the river in that

area (Marshall and Walt 1984:241).

A map from the Surveyor General’s files of the

Pedro Armendaris Grant shows the “old wattering place” (sic) where the “Wagon Road over

the Jornada” met the “old bed of the Río

Grande.” It also has range lines and the town

sites of Paraje and Canta Recio. It can be used

to pinpoint the location where the Camino Real

rejoined the river, the focal point of the paraje

of Fray Cristóbal. However, testimony in that

same file notes that there was evidence of several river beds, or meanders, at Fray Cristóbal,

“showing that at different times it has had its

channel all over the narrow valley which borders the present stream” (Pedro Armendaris

Grant #33:108-109,182-183). The paraje also

spread along and away from the river at that

point. 

Fort Craig

New Mexico

NATIONAL REGISTER

Era: 19th Century

This post's predecessor was Fort Conrad

(1851-54), a motley group of adobe and cottonwood huts about 9 miles to the north, also on

the west bank of the Río Grande. Troops occupied Fort Conrad while they built Fort Craig

(1854-84). The mission of the forts, near the

northern end of the Jornada del Muerto, was

protecting westbound miners from Navajos and

Apaches and guarding the Camino Real. The

garrison, almost continuously occupied with

defensive actions and patrols, took part in the

Navajo and Apache conflicts of the 1850s and in

the Apache wars (1861-86). Supported by troop

remnants from abandoned posts in Arizona and

New Mexico that had marshaled at the fort, it

also fought in the nearby Battle of Valverde

(February 1862), the first major battle of the

Civil War in the Southwest. Fort Craig was

deactivated in 1885.

The walls of 17 of Fort Craig's adobe buildings, in varying stages of disintegration, and the

stone guardhouse are visible, as are earth
196 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

mounds representing Civil War fortifications.

The military cemetery is still surrounded by a

stone wall but the burials, including those who

died at the Battle of Valverde, were moved to

Santa Fe in 1876.

El Contadero (Mesa del Contadero, 

Mesa de Senecú, Mesilla de Guinea,

Black Mesa) 

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: This landmark mesa boasted

parajes to both the north and the south, both

associated with the name Contadero. One,

south of the mesa, has been identified with a

Mexican and colonial period archeological site.

Annotated History: Between 26 and 27 May

1598, the Oñate expedition traveled nine leagues

from the “Arroyo de los Muertos” or “Arroyo

de las Parras” without their carts because it was

impossible to proceed with them. On the 27th,

they arrived at “Ciénega de Mesilla de Guinea,”

named this because the mesa was made of black

rock (Pacheco, Cárdenas y Torres

1871:XVI.249). It was the same formation that

shared the names El Contadero, Senecú, and

Black Mesa. Hammond and Rey place the

marsh on the east bank of the Río Grande, near

San Marcial (Hammond and Rey 1953:I.317).

That area was later called Valverde.

Otermín, in 1680, twice mentioned El

Contadero without giving details about it

(Hackett and Shelby 1942:II, 172,364). On another occasion, however, he described camping at

the “place...which they call El Contadero, along

the banks of the Río del Norte.” The next

morning they “crossed the Río del Norte, the

pueblo of Senecú being on the other side”

(Hackett and Shelby 1942:II, 203).

On 12 August 1766, one league north of Fray

Cristóbal, Lafora entered a perilous defile

through hills and ravines called “el Contadero.”

It extended north three leagues, as far as the

mesa of Senecú. From the mesa the ruins of the

pueblo of the same name could be seen across

the river (Alessio Robles 1939:94).

In Miera y Pacheco’s map (“Plano del Río

Grande, 1773), two sites are featured: Contadero

south of “Mesa de Senecú” and an unnamed

paraje north of the mesa, perhaps Valverde

(Adams and Chávez 1956:268;Marshall and Walt

1984:286).

The 1819 description of the Valverde Grant

gave as the southern boundary “a peak or knoll

located on the southern edge of the Mesilla del

Contadero which is the boundary or terminus

of the Valverde Valley and which is at the Fray

Cristobal Paraje” (Bowden 1969:II.163). El

Contadero was noted but not described by

Gregg (Gregg 1933:258). Ferguson referred to

the “high table-land on the east side of the river

called ‘Cantadero’(sic)” (Bieber 1936:334). 

Gibson camped at Valverde, which he

described as very close to a mesa. His description of the mesa as a volcanic table, flat except

for one little elevation, with very steep sides,

identifies it as Black Mesa. When his unit left

Valverde it went six miles around the east of the

mesa and to the camp of another unit on the

south side. That camp was one half mile from

water but had forage and wood. It was nine

miles from Fray Cristóbal (Bieber 1935:293-294).

An 1872 map of the Pedro Armendaris Grant

shows a place labeled Contadero south of the

mesa with the same name (Pedro Armendaris

Grant #34:28). Marshall and Walt place the

paraje south of the mesa. They also note a colonial and Mexican period archeological site,

Corrales de Contadero (LA 31735, Río Abajo Site

No. 72), that may be associated with the paraje

(Marshall and Walt 1984:270,294). 

Wilson uses the name Contadero for the pass,

the mesa, and the point where the road once

more reached the river. He also describes the

trail as “the very narrow trail along the western

and southern base, between the steep sides of

the mesa and the waters of the river” (Wilson

1976:6-7). The term Contadero was used over

the centuries to describe Black Mesa itself and

its southward extension toward Fray Cristóbal,

the defile leading through the southern extension to Black Mesa, and camps on both the

south and north sides of the mesa. The latter

was later known as Valverde.
Appendix E 197

Oñate named the “Mesilla de Guinea,” a reference to its black color, and the marshes along

the river beside it. Lafora referred to the mesa

itself as the “mesa de Senecú,” from which the

ruins of the pueblo of the same name could be

seen across the river. Miera y Pacheco used the

same name for the mesa itself. By referring to

“the southern edge of the Mesilla del

Contadero” at “Fray Cristobal Paraje,” the 1819

description of the Valverde Grant used that

name to describe the entire formation of which

Black Mesa is the northernmost part.

Lafora described Contadero as the narrow

defile leading north to the mesa. The 1773 map

of Miera y Pacheco depicted Contadero south

of “Mesa de Senecú”, as did the Armendaris

Grant map. That may have been Gibson’s 1846

campground on the south side of the mesa, six

miles south of Valverde and nine miles from

Fray Cristóbal. Marshall and Walt place the

paraje south of the mesa and also note an

archeological site called Corrales de Contadero

in that vicinity.

Finally, the only Otermín mention of El

Contadero in 1680 that can be located was

across from the pueblo of Senecú, at or very

near the place later known as Valverde. Miera y

Pacheco’s map showed an unnamed paraje

immediately north of the Mesa de Senecú.

These both conform to Gibson’s 1846 description of a campground near the ruins of

Valverde. It was in a grove of trees near the base

of Black Mesa and bore traces of earlier

campers.

For the purposes of this study, Marshall and

Walt’s Corrales de Contadero archeological site

(LA 31735, Río Abajo Site No. 72) should be

considered as the appropriate site for the paraje

of Contadero. The name Valverde later included the flat on the east bank north of Black Mesa.

Valverde 

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: This paraje was called

Contadero during the seventeenth century and

Valverde by the late eighteenth century.

Regardless of its name it was a natural paraje as

well as the site of a nineteenth-century town

and civil war battle.

Annotated History: Otermín described

camping at a point that he called El Contadero.

It was on the banks of the river across from the

ruins of the pueblo of Senecú (Hackett and

Shelby 1942:II.203). That description better fits

later descriptions of Valverde and the location

of the ruins of the hacienda and town of that

name, than do later depictions of El Contadero

showing it south of Black Mesa and away from

the river. The 1773 map by Bernardo de Miera y

Pacheco showed an unnamed paraje north of

“Mesa de Senecú” which would have been

Valverde (Adams and Chávez 1956:268; Marshall

and Walt 1984:286).

On 20 November 1780 Anza left the spring of

the Apaches, or the “Apache Wood,” and traveled four leagues to Valverde, where he noted

the tracks of many horses and people crossing

the river. His party rested there the next day

before going on five leagues to Fray Cristóbal

(Thomas 1932:198). During the nineteenth century Valverde was often noted as the site of a

good ford. The paraje of Valverde next

appeared in 1805 in a report on vaccinations

(Marshall and Walt 1984:286).

The 1819 description of the Valverde Grant

noted that it began at the “Ancon de Valverde”

on the east bank of the Río Grande, opposite

the mouth of the Arroyo de San Pasqual

(Bowden 1969:II, 163). There is now a bend in

the river adjacent to the Valverde town site and

across from the mouth of Tiffany Canyon.

Tiffany Arroyo, a name whose origin is in the

twentieth century, is across from and slightly

south of the ruin of San Pasqual. In 1832,

Valverde was described as the ruins of a hacienda on the outskirts of the settlements of New

Mexico at the edge of the desert of the Jornada

del Muerto (Carroll and Haggard 1942:78-80;

Julyan 1996:353).

In 1839, Gregg observed the ruins of Valverde

and wrote that it had been founded only 20

years earlier, in some of the richest land in New

Mexico, and was deserted due to Indian attacks
198 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

(Gregg 1933:258). On 30 July 1846, Wislizenus

wrote of passing the “ruins of Valverde,” which

he described as “the mud walls of a deserted

Mexican village,” in an area of sand hills and

cottonwood trees within twelve miles to the

south of Luis López’s hacienda (Wislizenus

1848:37).

In 1846, Abert identified the river crossing at

Valverde and recommended that southbound

wagons be taken to the west bank of the Río

Grande at Alburquerque and back to the east

side at this ford. Abert mentioned and sketched

the Mesa overlooking the ruins of Valverde and

placed it 15 miles from Fray Cristóbal (Abert

1962:120,125-133). Gibson described his camp

near the ruins of Valverde in 1846. It was in a

grove of trees near the base of Black Mesa and

bore traces of earlier campers. When his unit

left Valverde it went six miles around the east

side of the mesa to a camp on the south side

(Bieber 1935:293-294). Depictions of the Civil

War Battle of Valverde confirm that the entire

battle took place in the shadow of the Mesa del

Contadero (Alberts 1984:42;Hall 1960:84,97). 

The paraje north of Mesa de Contadero variously called Contadero or Valverde probably

spread along the riverbank and filled the space

between the river and the edge of the hills.

Accounts of the Battle of Valverde also include

an old riverbed on the east side of the valley but

still in its bottom (Alberts 1984:42,46; Hall

1960:84,97). Depending upon the age of that

bed, or the possibility that the river bed has

changed regularly over the last several centuries,

it could be that the segment of the paraje which

experienced the heaviest use is much closer to

the hills than to the existing river bed.

Luis Lopez 

Era: 19th Century

Significance: The seventeenth-century

estancia that belonged to Luis López

bequeathed its name to the region and it was

attached to this Mexican era community. It was

noted by nineteenth-century travelers who

used the road on the west bank of the river.

Annotated History: The Mexican period

community of Luis López first appears in a list

of New Mexico settlements compiled by

Manuel Armijo in 1840 (Carroll and Haggard

1942:93; Marshall and Walt 1984:278).

On 29 July 1846, Wislizenus mentioned a small

town named Lopez; on his map he marked it L.

Lopez. He commented that the mountains came

closer to the river there and that this area contained the last settlements before the Jornada

del Muerto (Wislizenus 1848:37).

In December 1846, George Rutledge Gibson

and Doniphan’s army camped at Luis López on

the west bank of the Río Grande. They forced

residents to sell them needed supplies (Bieber

1935:291).

Marshall and Walt place the Mexican era settlement of Luis Lopez (LA31748) just east of the

present village of the same name (Marshall and

Walt 1984:277-278).

Teypana, Teypama Piro Pueblo

New Mexico

NATIONAL REGISTER

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Teypana or Teypama Piro Pueblo is a prehistoric/ contact period pueblo. The Piro village

name “Teypama” appears only in the records of

the Oñate Expedition (Hammond and Rey

1953:318 and 346). We find in the June 1598 itinerary (No. 1) that the pueblo of “Teypana” was

also called “Socorro.” The name Socorro (aid,

assistance, or relief) was applied to the village

since the inhabitants had furnished the Oñate

Colony with a supply of corn and, as Vetancurt

described in 1698, “a la venida de los carros

antes de la fundacion de Guadalupe se les llevaba socorro de pan, y otras cosas a los caminantes” (Vetancurt 1961: 266). (See Marsahl and

Walt, p. 250). 

Town of Socorro Plaza

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Socorro has been steeped in New Mexico history since Don Juan de Oñate stopped off dur-
Appendix E 199

ing his entrada on June 14, 1598. The site was

then occupied by Pilabo, the northernmost Piro

Indian pueblo; the Oñate documents called it

"Piloque." Oñate was in advance of the main

body of colonists. The caravan, still struggling

through the desert behind him, was in desperate

need of provisions. Of the Piro Indians, Oñate

said, they "gave us much corn." The pueblo was

renamed Socorro (succor, help) to commemorate the gift.

While Oñate continued north, two priests

remained behind to do missionary work among

the Indians. Fray Alfonso was so successful that

he became known as "The Apostle of Socorro."

The two priests built a modest church, to be

replaced by a larger structure between 1615 and

1626. Here Fray Zuñiga and Fray Antonio de

Arteaga planted the first grapes to be raised in

New Mexico.

In late 1681, after the Pueblo Revolt, Governor

Don Antonio de Otermin returned to the north

in a half-hearted attempt at reconquest. He

reached Socorro in November and found the

community abandoned and the church profaned. He burned what supplies and provisions

were left to keep them from falling into the

hands of rebel Indians. He was unsuccessful in

negotiating peace. The Indians had "returned to

idolatry" and were unwilling to accept the

resumption of Spanish rule. On January 2, 1682,

Otermin gave up his attempt to reassert Spanish

rule and started back toward El Paso.

Ten years later, on August 21, 1692, Don Diego

de Vargas set out from El Paso for the reconquest of New Mexico. His force consisted of

sixty Spaniards and a hundred friendly Indians.

Within four months de Vargas restored twentythree pueblos to Spain's empire. By September,

1693, de Vargas was back in El Paso gathering an

expedition for resettlement. He was not as lucky

this time; his force met with resistance. The battle to occupy Santa Fe was short, but it took

most of 1694 to subdue the remainder of the

pueblos.

During the recolonization, the former residents of Socorro did not return. Except for

travelers and caravans on the Camino Real,

Socorro was deserted and dormant until 1816

when the Spanish Crown awarded land to

twenty-one families by the Socorro Grant.

The settlers depended upon agriculture and

raising cattle and sheep. They settled on the

hillside and valley floor, irrigating their crops

from mountain springs and the Río Grande.

There were fields of wheat and corn, vineyards

and orchards, and pastures. As protection from

the Apaches, they built adobe houses facing a

central courtyard.

During the second quarter of the nineteenth

century, life in Socorro settled into a leisurely if

not lazy agrarian pattern, punctuated by occasional Apache raids and the arrival of travelers

on the old Camino Real, now usually called the

Chihuahua Road by the Santa Fe traders.

Socorro was the last stop before or the first stop

after crossing the Jornada del Muerto, and the

residents learned to profit from their position.

The 1850s brought changes. Fort Craig was

built some twenty miles to the south, and

Socorro became an "army town," a trading center and rendezvous for officers and men from

the fort. After the Civil War erupted, freighting

and storing supplies created a bustle that completely transformed the village. 

Lemitar

Era: 19th Century

Significance: Lemitar was built on the west

bank variant of the Camino Real in the nineteenth century.

Annotated History: Although Lemitar does

not appear on any Mexican period lists of settlements it apparently came into existence in

1831. The present church, completed by 1835,

had its first burial in its camposanto shortly

afterwards. The plaza was located to the east of

the church and the road probably ran through

the plaza (Scurlock 1982:7; Marshall and Walt

1984:277).

In November 1846 James William Abert

observed Lemitar across the river from his camp

on the east bank. He included it on his map of

the region (Abert 1962:119,frontispiece). George

Rutledge Gibson, in Doniphan’s army traveling
200 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

down the west bank in December 1846, camped

at “Limitar” (Bieber 1935:290-291). The missionary Read dined with ex-governor Manuel

Armijo in “Limita” in 1851. Read described a

“thriving town of some 300 souls...in a most

beautiful portion of the valley” (Bloom

1942:134-135). W.W.H. Davis crossed the Río

Grande from east to west near “Limitar” in 1855.

His party continued into Lemitar and lunched

at the home of the late governor, Manuel

Armijo (Davis 1938:202).

Sabino 

Era: 19th century.

Significance: The name predates the building

of this nineteenth-century town, near the ruins

of the seventeenth-century pueblo of Alamillo.

Annotated History: In a 1782 description

attributed to Fray Juan Agustín de Morfi, there

is mention of a deserted rancho named “Savina”

in this area (Thomas 1932:102). “Sabinal,”

between Belén and Socorro, was listed in

reports of 1827, 1831, 1833, and 1840. It was variously recorded as a pueblo, alcaldía, and plaza

(Carroll and Haggard 1942:47-49,88,93; Bloom

1913:15) 

Wislizenus, heading south, reported passing

“through the town Sabino,” on the east side of

the river, on the morning of 26 July 1846 after

camping at La Joya. He noted that large yucca as

well as mesquite became more common there

than they had been further north (Wislizenus

1848:36). Abert noted that the citizens of Sabino

had been fighting with the Navajo in 1846 (Abert

1962:119).

The ruins of Sabino are shown on a 1906

USGS map, across the river from, and about 750

yards north of, Lemitar (Scurlock 1982:8). It has

been identified as LA 8870 (Marshall and Walt

1984:306).

Alamillo pueblo 

Era: 17th and 18th Century

Significance: The mission-pueblo ruins of

Alamillo marked a nearby paraje long after the

pueblo was deserted. The most significant event

that occurred at Alamillo took place when

Governor Bernardo Lopez de Mendizabal, during his inspection of New Mexico, investigated

the ninety-year-old Father Alonso de Peinado,

the resident missionary, in 1659 and humiliated

him before the Indian pueblo. Soon after, Lopez

ordered that the Alamillo mission Indians be

moved back to Sevilletta, their native land.

Annotated History: The Piro pueblos of El

Hosso (or El Oso) and La Pedrosa were mentioned together in Hernan Gallegos’s account of

the Sánchez Chamuscado entrada of 1581. Both

were located on the east bank of the Río

Grande, evidently in the area of Alamillo, New

Mexico (Mecham 1926:275; Hammond and Rey

1927:45). It is possible that they conform to

Alamillo and Acomilla.

In 1692, Vetancurt wrote of the church dedicated to Santa Ana three leagues from Socorro.

He mentioned that the people lived on fish

gathered from the Río Grande. The pueblo was

burned in 1680 (Vetancurt 1961:266).

In October 1681 it was reported that the Piro

pueblos of Alamillo, Sevilleta, and Socorro had

been deserted after the revolt (Hackett and

Shelby 1942:II.168). On 30 November 1681,

Otermín marched north from Socorro through

La Vuelta de Socorro to the Pueblo of Alamillo.

He described its setting as in a plain on the

banks of the Río Grande. Otermín’s company

camped beside the pueblo and then went on to

Sevilleta. Returning south in January 1682,

Otermín reported that he went from Sevilleta

through Las Vueltas de Acomilla, over the “hill

of Acomilla” and down into the pueblo of

Alamillo. They stayed there two days to wait out

inclement weather and then continued south

(Hackett and Shelby 1942:II,206,II, 363). 

Vargas stopped at the abandoned pueblo of

Alamillo on 3 September 1692 after a march of

five leagues from Socorro. The road was bad

enough that he had trouble with his wagons. It

was six or seven leagues to the abandoned

hacienda of Felipe Romero, north of Sevilleta,

the next day (Kessell and Hendricks 1992:374).
Appendix E 201

On 29 May 1726, Rivera traveled north twelve

leagues from San Pasqual, through the hills of

Acomilla, to Alamillo. He saw several ruins on

the east side of the river, where there had been

haciendas de labor before the revolt. He found

the pueblo of El Alamillo, located on the east

side of the river, and stayed in an uninhabited

place near it (Alessio Robles 1946:50). 

On 17 May 1760, after seeing the remains of

Socorro, Bishop Tamarón stopped at the site of

“Alamito” (Adams 1953:201). Lafora saw ruins

when he camped nearby on 13 August 1766. He

located it four leagues to the south of the ruins

of the pueblo of Sevilleta by a rough road

(Alessio Robles 1939:95). On 17 November 1780

Anza left the Vueltas de Romero and traveled

five leagues south to the region of Alamillo

(Thomas 1932:198). The Vueltas de Romero are

featured in Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco’s map

of 1779.

Despite the long-lived notoriety of Alamillo

its location is now a mystery. Marshall and

Walt write that they are certain that it was south

of Alamillo Arroyo and north of Pueblito and

speculate that it was probably very near the later

town of Sabino. They conclude that its proximity to the river may have caused traces of it to be

destroyed by floods (Marshall and Walt

1984:255).

La Joya de Sevilleta

New Mexico

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th century

Significance: The modern town of La Joya

was founded as a frontier outpost for protection

of the Camino Real adjacent to the site of a seventeenth-century Piro pueblo. The village of La

Joya de Sevilleta marks the lower end of Río

Abajo. For a time it was where caravans would

gather and await the rest of the caravan and/or

presidial troops who would escort them down

the trail. The church and possibly the plaza,

along with some ruins of structures, remain of

this important village.

Annotated History: In his account of the

Sánchez Chamuscado entrada, Gallegos named

the two northernmost Piro pueblos in New

Mexico Ponsitlan and Pueblo Nuevo. The latter

was still being built at that time. They were both

on the east side of the Río Grande and one may

have been Sevilleta, later the northern border of

the Piro nation (Mecham 1926:275;Hammond

and Rey 1927:46). 

On 15 June 1598 the Oñate expedition traveled

seven leagues from Socorro to the little pueblo

which they named Nueva Sevilla. They thought

it necessary to take refuge in the houses of the

pueblo in case the Indians of the area decided to

attack and made this the first pueblo in which

they camped. They stayed there until 21 June.

Between 15 June and 22 June 1598 the Maese de

Campo, Juan de Zaldivar, and Sargeanto Mayor,

Vicente de Zaldivar, visited "the pueblos of

Abo" (Pacheco, Cárdenas y Torres 1871:XVI,

251-252). Nueva Sevilla also came to be known

as Sevilleta, so named because of its resemblance to Seville, Spain. It was located on the

east bank of the Río Grande, about 20 miles

north of Socorro (Hammond and Rey:1953:I,

318). Vetancurt wrote that it received its name

due to its large Piro population. In 1692,

Vetancurt said that this pueblo was five leagues

from Alamillo. Sevilleta had been razed before

that time (Vetancurt 1961:266).

In 1634, Fray Benavides reported that the Piro

pueblo of Sevilleta boasted a convent and

Indians who lived Christian lives. He wrote that

when he arrived in New Mexico at the beginning of 1626, Sevilleta was burned and in ruins

due to warfare with other Indians, likely the

Apache. During the tenure of Benavides as

Custodian of New Mexico, the pueblo was

rebuilt and resettled and the convent erected

and dedicated to San Luis Obispo. Benavides

also used the name "Seelocú," evidently the Piro

name for Sevilleta (Hodge, Hammond, and Rey

1945:63-64,252-253). Governor Juan Manso de

Contreras moved the inhabitants of Sevilleta to

the pueblo of Alamillo during the 1650s. The

next governor, Bernardo López de Mendizábal,

returned them in 1659 despite protests by the

Franciscans in the area (Primera Audiencia de

don Bernardo López de Mendizábal, 1663;

Scholes 1942:29).
202 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

When Maestro de Campo Alonso García

retreated down the river in August 1680 the

natives of Sevilleta went south with him. It was

later reported that Sevilleta was left deserted

along with the other Piro pueblos of Alamillo

and Socorro (Hackett and Shelby 1942:I, 70,II,

168). Otermín passed Sevilleta in January 1682 as

he retreated to the south after his brief return to

New Mexico (Hackett and Shelby 1942:II, 363).

Vargas left the abandoned pueblo of Alamillo

on 3 September 1692 and went north to the

abandoned pueblo of Sevilleta. He continued on

to the estancia that had belonged to Felipe

Romero to find pasture for his mounts, a distance of six or seven leagues from Alamillo

(Kessell and Hendricks 1992:375).

On 30 May 1726, Rivera left El Alamillo and

traveled north-northeast through flat land dotted with hills, ravines and thickets and came to

the ruins of a pueblo called Sevilleta, located on

the east side of the river (Alessio Robles

1946:50-51). On 18 May 1760, after stopping at

"Alamito," Bishop Tamarón came to the site

where the pueblo of Sevilleta stood, and a little

beyond it the ruined estancia of Felipe Romero.

Tamarón wrote that both were "lost with the

kingdom" (Adams 1953:201). Lafora viewed the

ruins of Sevilleta when he passed through on 14

August 1766. He placed it across from the

mouth of the Río Puerco in an area of steep hills

(Alessio Robles 1939:95).

After the visit of Lafora, the area was resettled

as the town of La Joya. In the 1790s landless

families from Taos, Las Vegas, and Mora who

had experience fighting Indians were moved

there to provide protection for caravans to and

from Mexico. An 1819 land grant to 67 individuals confirmed their defensive responsibilities

(Taylor and Diaboli 1937:20).

On 10 March 1807, Zebulon Montgomary Pike

described "Sibilleta" as "the neatest most regular village I have yet seen." It was a square, with

a mud wall facing the outside and the windows

and doors pointing inward toward the plaza. He

thought the population to be 1000. This was the

last village Pike stayed in before entering "the

wilderness" on his trip to Mexico as a Spanish

prisoner and he noted that caravans gathered

there before heading south (Coues 1895:II, 628-

632). In 1812, Pedro Bautista Pino explained that

the hazards of the journey to Chihuahua made it

necessary for travelers to gather at "Joya de

Sevilleta" in sufficient numbers to ensure their

safety during the trip south. He also noted it as

"Sevilleta," a frontier post in which seven soldiers were stationed (Carroll and Haggard

1942:106,69).

Wislizenus simply called it "Joya, another

small town" when he went through on 25 July

1846. His map shows the road continuing

straight south as the river curved to the west

(Wislizenus 1848:36). In September 1851, Baptist

missionary Hiram Read arrived at "La Jolla, (La

Hoyah - The Hole)," and found that he had to

stay with "a Mexican, there being no American

in town" (Bloom 1942:134). In 1855, Davis

described "La Hoya" as a town of 400 a few

hundred yards from the east bank of the Río

Grande (Davis 1938:201).

The modern town of La Joya is apparently just

below the ruins of Sevilleta (Marshall and Walt

1984:247).

Las Nutrias

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th century

Significance: The name Las Nutrias appears

in the seventeenth century. It was later the center of an attempt to found a land grant community and remains attached to a modern community.

Annotated History: In 1680, Maestro de

Campo Alonso García, commander of the Río

Abajo, met Governor Antonio de Otermín and

the refugees from Santa Fé at Las Nutrias

(Hackett and Shelby 1942:I, 104,II, 168,172,174-

175). When Otermín led his party and many

Indian refugees south from Isleta toward El

Paso on the east side of the Río Grande early in

1682, he recorded his route past “La Vega de las

Nutrias” among other places (Hackett and

Shelby 1942:II, 362; Hackett 1915:391). 

On 30 May 1726 Rivera traveled north then

northeast from Sevilleta through flat land dot-
Appendix E 203

ted with hills, glades and thickets. He passed

some arroyos without water after the ruins of

Sevilleta and stayed at a paraje on the bank of

the Río Grande called Las Nutrias. He estimated that he went eight leagues from El Alamillo

to Las Nutrias (Alessio Robles 1946:50-51).

When Lafora was there on 14 August 1766, he

described it as a recently formed town of 30

families, four leagues from Sevilleta and eight

from Alamillo. He passed the ruins of “las casas

de Felipe Romero” about halfway from Sevilleta

to Las Nutrias (Alessio Robles 1939:95-96).

A petition for settling San Gabriel de las

Nutrias grant was filed in early 1764. After several attempts to settle the area and gain official

approval the grant was revoked in 1771, but the

settlement survived (Ebright 1996:203-208;

Bowden 1969:II, 207-208). It appears regularly

on maps from the late eighteenth century

(Wheat 1959:I, plates 176,185,195,272). On 15

November 1780 Anza left the area near Belen

and traveled five leagues south to Las Nutrias

(Thomas 1932:198).

Casa Colorado

Era: 18th, and 19th century

Significance: Casa Colorado may have been a

seventeenth-century landmark. It began its

existence as a community early in the nineteenth century.

Annotated History: On 19 May 1760, after

coming to Sevilleta, Bishop Tamarón passed the

ruins of “the house they called Colorada,” and

from that point on they began to see pens of

ewes, corrals, and small houses (Adams

1953:201). Given that this is the only colonial era

mention of this place and that at the time it was

already in ruins, perhaps a pre-revolt estancia

which was located there gave its name to the

area.

The modern settlement of Casa Colorado was

born of a petition for a community grant in 1823.

The grant may not have been confirmed at that

time but the town continued in existence

(Bowden 1969:II, 205). Testimony in the adjudication of the grant before the Surveyor General

confirmed that the town was built in 1822 or 1823

in the place already known by the name Casa

Colorado (Town of Casa Colorado Grant:12). It

was included in lists of New Mexico towns in

1833 and 1840 (Bloom 1913:14;Carroll and

Haggard 1942:93).

Wislizenus only referred to the nearby sand

hills and the location of “Casas Coloradas,” six

miles south of Tomé, when he camped there on

22 July 1846 (Wislizenus 1848:35). Later in the

same year Abert commented on some large

ponds north of town which were filled with

water birds. His party had reached the Río

Grande near there after descending from Abó

Pass (Abert 1962:117-118). 

In 1855, W.W.H. Davis observed that at Casa

Colorado his party “struck a young desert, an

excellent pocket edition of the great African

Zahara, over which we journeyed for about four

miles.” Through the area north of “La Hoya”

the sand made travel difficult and the land barren with the exception of “occasional small

patches in some of the valleys close to the river”

(Davis 1938:200).

In the 1920s the local Post Office was given the

name “Turn” because there was a turn in the

road at Casa Colorado and that name has since

appeared on many maps but the original name is

still in general use (Julyan 1996:67).

Las Barrancas 

Era: 17th Century

Significance: Las Barrancas was an estancia

before the revolt of 1680 whose name all but

disappeared by 1900.

Annotated History: This was an estancia

located between Sevilleta and Isleta on the east

side of the Río Grande where Otermín camped

the night of 5 December 1681 before attacking

Isleta on the sixth (Hackett 1915:383). It was

reported to be 23 leagues north of Senecú and 10

leagues south of Isleta (Hackett and Shelby

1942:II, 213).
204 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Vargas went slightly more than three leagues

north from the hacienda of Felipe Romero to

Las Barrancas, the hacienda of Francisco

Gómez, on 5 September 1692. It was about five

leagues south of the hacienda of Tomé

Domínguez (Kessell and Hendricks 1992:375).

The place name “la Barrancas” appears in the

1778 map drawn by Edward Ruggles, Jr., a

Connecticut map-maker, from information on

other existing maps (Wheat 1959:I, 149, plate

214).

The State of New Mexico placed a marker

commemorating Las Barrancas alongside New

Mexico Highway 47 just south of the A.T.&S.F.

railroad tracks.

Jarales

Era: 19th Century

Significance: Jarales and Sabinal were ranchos outside Belén in the eighteenth century

through which the west bank variant of the

Camino Real ran.

Annotated History: According to Adams and

Chávez, Domínguez was referring to Jarales

when he described ranchos of genízaros living

near Belén in 1776 (Adams and Chávez

1956:208). Chávez names Los Jarales as one of

the main genízaro settlements of New Mexico

in the late eighteenth century (Chávez 1979:199).

The name “Plaza de los Jarales” appears in an

1802 census, but not that of 1750 (Olmsted

1981:138-139). Among official listings of the early

nineteenth century it is only found in 1822

(Bloom 1913:15; Carroll and Haggard 1942:47-

48).

Zebulon Pike reported passing “Xaxales” on

10 March 1807, on the east side of the Río

Grande between Tomé and Sevilleta, south of

Sabinez or Sabinal. He recorded a population of

300. In 1895, Coues guessed that the name was

probably a poor rendering of Jarales, a town in

that area, but not in the same location (Coues

1895:II, 628-629).

Sabinal

Era: 19th Century

Significance: Sabinal, like Jarales, was founded outside Belén in the eighteenth century. The

west bank variant of the Camino Real ran

through the town.

Annotated History: In his reminiscences,

recorded in 1777, Juan Candelaria described the

founding of many towns after the Spanish

reconquest of New Mexico in the 1690s. He

thought that Sabinal was founded in 1741 and

associated it with Belén (Armijo 1929:280-281).

Sabinal is listed on official registers of towns

for 1820s (Bloom 1913:15; Carroll and Haggard

1942:47-48). It does not appear in some of the

early censuses of the nineteenth century, but a

complete census exists for 1827 (Olmsted

1981:250-260).

Zebulon Pike reported passing “Sabinez” on

10 March 1807, on the west side of the Río

Grande between Tomé and Sevilleta (Coues

1895:II, 628-629).

George Rutledge Gibson wrote in his journal

that he went through “San Sabinal” with

Doniphan’s army in December 1846.

Doniphan’s army passed was following the west

bank of the Río Grande from Alburquerque to

Valverde (Bieber 1935:290).

Belén (Bethlem)

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: Belén was constructed on the

west bank of the Río Grande. Colonial travelers

saw it from their camps across the river while

later users of the west bank road stopped within

the town.

Annotated History: In his 1777 reminiscences,

Juan Candelaria recalled that “Nuestra Señora

de Belen” was founded in 1741 with the help of

genízaro Indians (Armijo 1929:280-281).

On 19 May 1760 the houses of the settlement

of Belén on the other side of the Río Grande

came into Bishop Tamarón’s view, and from
Appendix E 205

there on the countryside was covered by great

poplar groves. Tamarón was received by the

alcalde of Tomé with the citizens of his town, of

Belén and of Isleta (Adams 1953:201). On 14

August 1766 Lafora commented that this settlement of 38 genízaro and Spanish families lay

across the Río Grande from Tomé in a wellcultivated and pastured area (Alessio Robles

1939:96). On 14 November 1780, Juan Bautista de

Anza left the pueblo near Valencia and traveled

six leagues south, stopping for the night opposite the pueblo of Belen. It was five leagues further south to Las Nutrias (Thomas 1932:198).

In December 1846, George Rutledge Gibson

and Doniphan’s army passed through Belen

while following the west bank of the Río

Grande from Alburquerque to Valverde (Bieber

1935:284-287).

Given that most colonial traffic passed along

the east bank of the Río Grande, the most used

caravan paraje would have been opposite the

town of Belén.

Los Cháves 

Era: 19th Century

Significance: Los Chávez was founded as a

farming community and was a stop for caravans

that used the west bank to travel along the Río

Grande.

Annotated History: The settlement of Los

Chávez, on the west bank of the Río Grande,

dates to a 1738 grant to Nicolás Durán y Chávez

from Atrisco. In 1790 it consisted of six plazas

(Julyan 1996:78;Espinosa and Chávez 1967:41-

43). It was included in the 1802 census (Olmsted

1981:139-140).

In the autumn of 1847 a unit of the U.S. Army

traveled south along the west bank of the Río

Grande. Philip Gooch Ferguson reported that

“the road most generally traveled” was on the

east bank but the west side of the river was better for water. Ferguson mentioned camping

near a small town named “Plaza Chavez”

(Bieber 1936:326-328).

Tomé Hill, Cerro Tomé

NATIONAL REGISTER

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: Tomé Hill, a natural landmark,

served all travelers from prehistoric times into

the historic period. A seventeenth-century road

ran to the east of the hill. After the river

changed its course in the early eighteenth century and the town was founded, the main road

shifted to go along the valley and by the plaza.

Annotated History: When Otermín led his

party and many Indian refugees south from

Isleta toward El Paso on the east side of the Río

Grande early in 1682, he noted passing “Serillo

de Tome” (Hackett 1915:391). On 6 September

1692 Vargas noted that the road in the neighborhood of the hacienda that had belonged to

Tomé Domínguez was so sandy that cargo had

to be transferred from wagons to pack animals

(Kessell and Hendricks 1992:375). Such a

description fits the area around Tomé Hill more

than it does the floor of the valley as it is at

present.

According to Scurlock, Gerow, and Kammer,

from the time of Oñate through that of Vargas

the course of the Río Grande was further east,

close to the western base of Tomé Hill. The

“Río Grande Pueblo Indian Trail,” which

became the Camino Real, ran along the along

the eastern bank of the river. It went on the east

side of the hill, “following the edge of the rincon

sandhills just to the east of present La Entrada

Road.” Later, that track would be the “upper

branch of the Camino Real.” The river shifted

west before 1739, when the Tomé grant was settled. An “inner valley branch” of the Camino

Real then ran through the plaza of Tomé, connecting it to other settlements in the Río Grande

valley (Scurlock, Gerow, and Kammer

1995:73,98-106). The river reportedly shifted

eastward a short distance in 1769, flooding some

of the houses and lands of Tomé (Adams and

Chávez 1956:8).

Juan Candelaria dated the village of Tomé to

October 1740 and added that the settlers immediately began construction of a church (Armijo

1929:278-279). In 1744, Fray Juan Miguel

Menchero identified the petitioners as
206 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

genízaros (Hackett 1937:401-402). Other sources

say that some genízaros joined Spanish families

from the Alburquerque area in a request for

lands in 1739 that included Tomé hill and the

site of the former estancia of Tomé Domínguez

de Mendoza, then on the east side of the river.

Soon a plaza and church were begun just over a

mile southeast of the hill, probably on the site of

a former pueblo (see Scurlock, Gerow, and

Kammer 1995:75).

On 19 May 1760 Bishop Tamarón was received

by the alcalde of Tomé with the citizens of this

town, of Belén and of Isleta. Tomé was a new

settlement of Spanish citizens that, according to

Tamarón, had the potential of becoming the

best in the kingdom because of its extensive

lands and the ease of running an irrigation ditch

from the river. He wrote that they were already

building a church, which was 33 varas long by 8

wide with a transept and three altars, that was

dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

Bishop Tamarón confirmed 402 persons that

afternoon. He did not record the population of

this settlement until later because it was included in the census of the town of Alburquerque,

to which it was subordinate (Adams 1953:201).

Lafora passed by Tomé on 14 August 1766 and

wrote that it was also called “pueblo de la

Limpia Concepción” and “Fuenclara.” He

located it six leagues north of Las Nutrias on

good, flat road and across the Río Grande from

Belén. It contained a population of 70 Spanish

vecinos and their families. The entire region was

well-cultivated and small livestock grazed on

ample pasture (Alessio Robles 1939:96).

Pike stayed near what he called “St. Thomas”

on 9 March 1807. He reported that the population was 500 and that the camp was constructed

to be able to withstand an attack (Coues

1895:II.628). Wislizenus noted the fine irrigated

fields of Tomé, which, he wrote, was stretched

along the road. He passed by on 21 July 1846 and

camped nearby (Wislizenus 1848:35). Tomé was

one of the main genízaro settlements of New

Mexico in the middle of the eighteenth century

(Chávez 1979:199). 

Because of the shift in the bed of the Río

Grande, there were two separate roads through

the Tomé area. The earlier road ran directly east

of Tomé Hill while the later went through the

present plaza.

Los Lunas

Era: 19th Century

Significance: Los Lunas/Los Lentes was the

site of a pueblo and of early land grants. It

became a political and economic center under

the tutelage of the powerful Luna family.

Annotated History: One of the first Tiwa

pueblos found by the Sánchez Chamuscado

party in 1581 as they traveled north along the Río

Grande through New Mexico was

Piquinaguatengo on the west bank of the river.

It has been identified with the pueblo of San

Clemente, or Los Lentes, now within the

boundaries of Los Lunas, New Mexico

(Mecham 1926:276; Hammond and Rey 1927:46;

Julyan 1996:209).

The roots of the town of Los Lunas are in the

San Clemente grant of 1716, which came to be

owned by the Luna family in the middle of the

eighteenth century. Los Lunas also came to

include Los Lentes, immediately to the north,

originally a Tiwa pueblo (Espinosa and Chávez

1967:53; Julyan 1996:209). Only Los Lentes was

included in the 1802 census (Olmsted 1981:140-

142). “Lentes y Lomas” was listed in 1833 (Bloom

1913:15). The names of both Los Lentes and Los

Lunas appear among the settlements listed by

Manuel Armijo in 1840 (Carroll and Haggard

1942:93).

George Rutledge Gibson, in Doniphan’s army

in December 1846, camped at Los Lunas while

following the west bank of the Río Grande from

Albuquerque to Valverde (Bieber 1935:284-287).

In the autumn of 1847 Philip Gooch Ferguson,

with a U.S. Army unit traveling south along the

west bank of the Río Grande rather than the

more usually traveled east bank, wrote of camping near the town of Los Lunas (Bieber

1936:326-327).
Appendix E 207

Valencia

Era: 17th, 18th, 19th Century

Significance: The site of Sangre de Cristo

Church in Valencia also boasted a pre-colonial

pueblo and a seventeenth-century estancia.

Before 1800, two plazas were established, one at

the old pueblo and estancia site and the other to

the south. 

Annotated History: Francisco de Valencia

received an encomienda at the later site of the

hacienda on the east side of the Río Grande

early in the seventeenth century. It included the

pueblo of Los Lentes on the west side of the

river. During the 1630s he built an estancia at or

very near the site of an already abandoned

Southern Tiwa pueblo. The estancia was burned

in the 1680 revolt. The pueblo at which Valencia

built his estancia was probably that called

Caxtole by the Sánchez Chamuscado party in

1581 (Brown and Vierra 1997:41-42; Vivian

1932:42; Mecham 1926:276; Hammond and Rey

1927:46).

On 7 September 1692 Vargas stopped at the

“outpost and ruined estancia of Juan de

Valencia” (Kessell and Hendricks 1992:376). On

31 May 1726 Rivera left Las Nutrias and traveled

eight leagues through flat land, seeing meadows

and poplars on both sides of the Río Grande.

He found many ruins of haciendas de labor and

livestock estancias. He stayed at an abandoned

estancia called Valencia (Alessio Robles 1946:51).

Candelaria gave the date of the resettlement of

Valencia as 1751 (Armijo 1929:278-279). Other

sources place it in the 1740s when a group of

genízaros settled the Valencia area and two

plazas were established by 1790. One was near

the site of the former pueblo and estancia, and

the present Valencia “Y”; the other was near the

modern intersection of New Mexico Highway

47 and North El Cerro Loop (Taylor 1989:11).

Valencia has been named as one of the main

genízaro settlements of New Mexico in the

middle of the eighteenth century (Chávez

1979:199). A church, called both Valencia and

Sangre de Cristo, was begun around 1800

(Taylor 1989:39). It has been described as being

35 yards west of the Camino Real (Brown and

Vierra 1997:45). The settlement was called “La

Sangre de Cristo, Puesto de Valencia” in the

census of 1802 (Olmsted 1981:135).

On 13 November 1780 Anza left the Ranch of

Juan Sanches and traveled five leagues south to

the pueblo of Valencia (Thomas 1932:198).

Wislizenus noted the rich soil when passing

through this area of New Mexico between

Peralta and Tomé on 21 July 1846 (Wislizenus

1848:35).

The site of the Tiwa pueblo and the Valencia

estancia, on the west side of N.M. Highway 47

at the present Sangre de Cristo church, was

given the designation LA 953. The southern

plaza, at N.M. Highway 47 and North Cerro

Loop is LA 67321 (Brown and Vierra 1997:2).

Peralta 

Era: 19th Century

Significance: Peralta was a thriving nineteenth-century community that grew up around

the estancias of the Otero family.

Annotated History: The Tiwa pueblo identified by the Sánchez Chamuscado party as

Mexicalcingo in 1581 was at or near Peralta

(Vivian 1932:43). The town of Peralta grew up

around the holdings of the Otero family, who

lived there at least as early as the late 1830s. The

original hacienda has been placed in the site

now occupied by the Church of Our Lady of

Guadalupe. Taylor wrote that the sacristia

(probably meaning chapel) of the Juan Antonio

Otero hacienda and early plaza of Peralta was at

the north end of the Otero hacienda, on the

south side of the plaza, and directly south of the

church (Chávez 1992:251-252; Taylor 1989:13-

14,17,40-41).

Wislizenus referred to this settlement as both

Peralta and as “Ontero’s hacienda” when he

passed it on 21 July 1846. He commented on the

adobe walls that surrounded its livestock and

irrigated (Wislizenus 1848:35). John M. Taylor

clarified the note by Wislizenus, adding that the

description was of the hacienda of Juan Antonio

Otero (Taylor 1989:13).
208 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bosque, or Alamos, de Pinos (Bosque Farms) 

Era: 19th century

Significance: One of the most luxurious

estancias in nineteenth century New Mexico

was the actual site of the Civil War Battle of

Peralta (1862).

Annotated History: Bosque de los Pinos was

created in 1769 when floods caused the Río

Grande to change course approximately two

miles to the west, cutting off pieces of the

Sedillo and Gutiérrez grants. The tract eventually came into the hands of Francisco Xavier

Chávez, who built a hacienda on the property

that was occupied by his son, José Mariano, in

the late 1830s. After the death of José Mariano

Chávez, his widow married trader Henry

Connelly, a territorial governor during the Civil

War (Taylor 1989:19-21). Taylor located the

hacienda on the east side of New Mexico

Highway 47 between Abo and Pine Streets in

modern Bosque Farms (Taylor 1989:19-21).

The caravan bringing Wislizenus stopped at

“Bosque, or Alamos, de Pinos,” five miles south

of Isleta pueblo, New Mexico, and a mile east of

the Río Grande after crossing some difficult

sand hills on 21 July 1846. Wislizenus also

described the hacienda of Mariano Chávez’s

widow, two miles south of Bosque de los Pinos

and one mile north of Peralta. He called it the

largest which he had seen in that region. Its

large fields and pastures were walled and irrigated and its quarters reminded him of plantations in the southern United States (Wislizenus

1848:35). For the distance estimates of

Wislizenus to make sense, even as somewhat

long, his Bosque de Pinos had to have been

northwest of North Bosque Loop. His route

from Isleta stayed away from the river in the

sand hills, perhaps going near Chical, and then

turning to the camp one mile from the river and

still two miles, more or less, from the Chávez

home.

In October 1846, Susan Shelby Magoffin

camped in a grove of cottonwoods belonging to

the Chávez family after leaving a pueblo that

could only have been Isleta. The next morning

she went on to visit the “widow of Don Mariano

Chaviz.” Magoffin described the luxurious

Chávez home in some detail (Drumm 1926:202).

In 1855, W.W.H. Davis wrote that “about a mile

below Doctor Connelly’s we passed what is

known as the bosque, a large tract of fine timber, mostly cottonwood, something very rare in

New Mexico” (Davis 1938:197). Given that Davis

placed the bosque south of Los Pinos while

Wislizenus and Magoffin had it to the north of

the hacienda it may be assumed that the entire

area was known for its forest.

The minor, but locally famous, Civil War

Battle of Peralta took place there on 15 April

1862 when Union forces besieged a Confederate

unit in the Chávez/Connelly hacienda. A small

skirmish also occurred away from the hacienda,

between West Bosque Loop and the river, when

a Confederate relief column was turned back as

they attempted to cross the river (Alberts

1983:369-374).

After the Battle of Peralta the United States

used Los Pinos as a supply depot and a military

post. Maps and photographs of Los Pinos show

the road between Albuquerque and Peralta running through the middle of the post of Los

Pinos (Miller 1987:2,18). Evidently, then, the

modern highway generally follows the colonial

road and the bulk of the estancia was located to

its east.

El Pueblo de Isleta 

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: Isleta still occupies the same site

as it did when the Spaniards first visited in 1540

though the river has changed its course since

that time. The open area against the hills directly across the river was a popular paraje.

Annotated History: Isleta may have been the

Tiwa pueblo that was called Taxumulco (or

Taxomulco) by Sánchez Chamuscado in 1581. It

was located directly across the Río Grande from

a pueblo called Tomatlan (Mecham 1926:276;

Hammond and Rey 1927:46; Vivian 1932:43). It

was at Isleta that Gaspar Castaño de Sosa, in

1592, was told of the arrival of the Juan de

Morlete party that came to arrest him for his
Appendix E 209

illegal entrada (Hull 1916:330; Schroeder and

Matson 1965:167-173; Pacheco, Cárdenas y

Torres 1871:IV, 352).

In his 1634 memorial, former Custodian of

New Mexico Fray Benavides reported that a

convent was located at “San Antonio de la

Isleta” of the “Tioas”(Tiwas) nation. This first

priest quarters was erected around 1613 and was

considered to be unusually fine (Hodge,

Hammond, and Rey 1945:64-65, 253-258). The

large church and convent were dedicated to San

Antonio de Padua (Vetancurt 1961:267). Isleta’s

native name was reported to be Shi-e-hwib’-

bak (Lummis 1894:4). The Spanish called it

“Isleta” because the Río Grande split north of it

and rejoined south of it surrounding the pueblo

during floodtime.

Isleta did not participate in the 1680 revolt.

During his attempt at reconquest, Otermín captured Isleta on 6 December, 1682. It was on the

west bank of the Río Grande and the first

pueblo found to be inhabited as Otermín

entered New Mexico from the south. Otermín

took at least 385 Isletans south to the region of

El Paso, where Isleta del Sur was established

(Hackett 1915:383-384; Hodge, Hammond, and

Rey 1945:64-65,253-258). Vetancurt put the

number of Isletans taken south by Otermín at

519. He also noted that the road to Acoma, Zuñi

and Moqui (Hopi) left the river at Isleta

(Vetancurt 1961:267). Scattered Tiwas were settled on the site of the old pueblo after the

reconquest and the church was rebuilt in 1709

(Hodge, Hammond, and Rey 1945:64-65,253-

258).

On 1 June 1726 Rivera left Valencia and traveled north-northeast following the river. After

five leagues he saw the pueblo of Isleta, inhabited by a small number of Tiwa families, on the

west side of the river (Alessio Robles 1946:51).

Fray Juan Miguel de Menchero reported that 80

families lived there in 1744. He also observed

that some Hopis had been brought to Isleta for

the purpose of converting them (Hackett

1937:405-406). On 19 May 1760 Bishop

Tamarón was received by the alcalde of Tomé

with the citizens of this town, of Belén and of

Isleta (Adams 1953:201). Lafora passed through

the neighborhood of this Tiwa pueblo, following north along the Río Grande, on 16 August

1766. It was ministered by a Franciscan priest.

He reported that it lay along the road on the

other (west) side of the river in a large alameda

(cottonwood grove) which covered both banks

of the river (Alessio Robles 1939:52).

Wislizenus camped below some sand hills

across the Río Grande from the pueblo of Isleta

on 19 July 1846. He commented on the church,

orchards, fields, and cottonwood trees. His

party ate apples from the pueblo that night. To

the south, the sand hills became more difficult

to cross (Wislizenus 1848:35). George Rutledge

Gibson, in Doniphan’s army in December 1846,

passed through Isleta while following the west

bank of the Río Grande from Alburquerque to

Valverde. Gibson wrote that they traveled along

the river bottom from Alburquerque to Isleta,

not mentioning any other locations in the interim (Bieber 1935:284-287). It must have been

Isleta that Philip Gooch Ferguson called “San

Durasnos” in 1848. His army unit crossed from

the east to the west bank of the Río Grande near

Isleta and continued south down the less used

road on the west side (Bieber 1936:326-327).

According to a sketch map by Ted Jojola of

Isleta Pueblo, when the Spanish arrived in New

Mexico, the riverbed in the Isleta area was different than it is today. It deviated to the west

about a mile above the pueblo, then crossed the

modern bed a little below the pueblo and ran to

the east until about Los Lunas. If both beds

shown in the map were running full it would

make of the pueblo site an island and explain

the name bestowed by the Spanish. Given that

early chroniclers consistently describe Isleta as

being on the west bank, the northern segment

must have changed to its modern alignment

early in the colonial period. The rest of the bed

changed course approximately two miles to the

west in 1769 and the area between the old and

new channels came to be known as Bosque de

los Pinos. In later floods the original bed filled

and the land between them also flooded up to

five feet deep (Taylor 1989:5,10,19).
210 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Los Padillas 

Era: 19th Century

Significance: The history of Spanish settlement at Los Padillas extends back to the seventeenth century. Its use as a paraje was increased

in the nineteenth century when more travelers

began using the road along the west bank of the

Río Grande.

Annotated History: Juan Candelaria recalled

Los Padillas being settled in 1710 (Armijo

1929:280-281). It appeared in the 1802 census

(Olmsted 1981:142-143).

Wislizenus mentioned this as a hacienda south

of Alburquerque on 19 July 1846. He was on the

east side of the Río Grande, and noted that the

more verdant west bank contained many ranchos and haciendas, among them one called

Padillas (Wislizenus 1848:35). On 22 November

1846 the army unit which included Marcellus

Ball Edwards came in from a campaign against

the Navajo and reached Los Padillas, where

they stayed at the house of José Chávez (Bieber

1936:211).

Given that the Chávez family resided at Los

Padillas, this was probably the “Chávez or

Padillas” listed in an 1822 register of New

Mexico settlements (Bloom 1913:14).

Pajarito 

Era: 19th Century

Significance: Pajarito appears in documents

from the seventeenth century. The earliest

known reference is 1643 when the resident

priest at Isleta acquired Pajarito as a small

ranch. The origins of Pajarito are, indeed, nebulous. The land, about a league north of Isleta,

was used for raising crops and herding. By the

eighteenth century, the area would bear the

name Puesto de San Isidro de Pajarito. In the

nineteenth century more travelers began using

the road along the west bank of the Río Grande

which brought more visitors to the Atrisco

Valley and Pajarito.

Annotated History: A violent dispute over

land between the Pueblo of Isleta and the nearby estancia of “Paxarito” was discussed during

the 1663 trial of Governor López Mendizábal of

New Mexico before the Inquisition in Mexico

City (Primera Audiencia de don Bernardo

López de Mendizábal, 1663). Juan Candelaria

thought that Pajarito was resettled by Juan

Fernandez in 1711 (Armijo 1929:279-280). It was

listed in the 1802 census (Olmsted 1981:143).

Although this area has also been known by

other names, in the 1894 hearings on the Atrisco

Land Grant before the United States Court of

Private Land Claims, the northern boundary of

Pajarito was given as the southern boundary of

the Atrisco grant (Sánchez 1998:81-82). In 1659

for example, a reference was made to a shortlived Spanish cattle ranch near Isleta Pueblo

called Pajarito, on the southern end of the Valle

de Atrisco.

Atrisco 

Era: 19th Century

Significance: Atrisco’s rich history began in

the seventeenth century. The nineteenth century brought more traffic to the west side of the

Río Grande and to Atrisco.

Annotated History: Richard Greenleaf and

Joseph Metzgar point to a 1662 attempt by

Governor Peñalosa “to found a villa in the midst

of the settled region, in a valley called Atrisco”

as the earliest evidence for the existence of this

settlement (Greenleaf 1967:5; Metzgar 1977:269).

This document went on to call Atrisco “the best

site in all New Mexico” (Hackett 1937:265).

Before the 1680 Pueblo revolt this area was well

populated, according to documents cited by

Charles Wilson Hackett (Hackett 1911:129).

Maestro de Campo Juan Domínguez de

Mendoza testified to going by his old hacienda

“in the jurisdiction that they call Atrisco” on 8

December during the 1681 attempt to reconquer

New Mexico (Hackett and Shelby 1942:II.258;

Hackett 1915:383-384).

In 1692, Fernando Durán y Chávez, a resident

of the area before the 1680 revolt, asked

Governor Vargas for a grant to the lands of

Atrisco and Vargas assented. In 1701, Durán y

Chávez officially petitioned for a grant. Atrisco
Appendix E 211

was resettled in March 1703 (Sánchez 1998:9-12;

Armijo 1929:278-279).

Menchero described Atrisco along with the

villa of Alburquerque in 1744. He wrote that the

two were on the banks of the Río Grande,

engaged in farming and weaving, and were

administered by a priest in the villa (Hackett

1937:400-401). In 1760, Bishop Tamarón noted

the danger faced by the priest in Alburquerque

when he crossed the Río Grande to minister to

citizens on the west bank. Such a crossing

would have taken him to Atrisco and shows that

Atrisco was an ecclesiastical dependency of

Alburquerque (Adams 1953:202; Sánchez,

1998:17; Simmons 1973:10). Fray Domínguez gave

a brief description of “Atlixco” in 1776. He

placed it directly across the river from

Alburquerque on a beautiful sandy plain and

cited a population of 52 families, 288 persons.

He also referred to it as Atlixco and Atrisco of

Alburquerque (Adams and Chávez

1956:154,207,243).

When Zebulon Pike traveled down the Río

Grande as a Spanish prisoner in 1807, he crossed

the Río Grande from east to west “a little below

Alburquerque” on 7 March. In 1895, Coues

identified the ford as Atrisco, a common crossing before the advent of roads and the railroad

(Coues 1895:II.621,625; III.946).

Los Ranchos de Alburquerque, 

Old Town Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: Alburquerque was founded as a

villa in 1706 in a rich agricultural region of New

Mexico. Its “Old Town” plaza was the original

town center.

Annotated History: Evidently, the decision to

settle the “Bosque Grande of Doña Luisa” was

made in 1698. A manuscript from February 1706

showed that Governor Cuervo y Valdéz

authorized the actual settlement, which took

place shortly thereafter. A church, dedicated to

Saint Francis Xavier, was quickly built and soldiers sent to guard against Indian raids

(Greenleaf 1964:6-7). The pre-revolt estancia of

“Doña Luisa de Trugillo” has been placed three

leagues south of Sandia Pueblo. The area of

Alburquerque contained 19 Spanish landholding

Spanish families before the 1680 revolt

(Twitchell 1911:I.364).

Among the reasons for Governor Cuervo’s

choice of site were that it was on the Camino

Real, near a good ford of the river to the west,

and directly west of a pass (Tijeras) to the plains

(Simmons 1980:191). In addition, estancias were

already scattered for a league up and down the

river, from Alameda to the swamps of Mejía,

before the 1680 revolt (Simmons 1980:197-202).

On 1 June 1726, after passing the pueblo of

Isleta, Rivera went four leagues to the Villa of

Alburquerque, a settlement of Spaniards, mestizos and mulattos who lived in various ranchos.

The name was changed to Albuquerque after

the United States militarily occupied New

Mexico (Alessio Robles 1946:51). In 1754, Father

Trigo referred to “the site of the Villa of

Alburquerque, for the settlers, who inhabit it on

Sunday, do not live there.” He added that they

spent most of their time on their farms in

Alameda (Hackett 1937:464), and likely Atrisco

and other villages as far down as Pajarito. 

On 20 May 1760 Bishop Tamarón described

Alburquerque as a villa composed of Spanish

citizens and Europeanized mixtures. He wrote

that their priest and missionary was a

Franciscan friar, and that it was located 10

leagues north of Tomé. He counted 270 families

totaling 1814 persons. Eleanor B. Adams added

some other population estimates from the same

era in a note (Adams 1953:202). Lafora camped

at this villa of 70 Spanish families on 16 August

1766 and commented on its militia of 80 wellarmed and mounted men, its civil officials, and

the Franciscan priest (Alessio Robles 1939:96).

In 1776 Fray Domínguez wrote that the “mission of the Villa of San Felipe Neri de

Alburquerque” was “four leagues down the

road to the south on the same plain as the mission of “Our Father Santo Domingo.” The

church and convent were about “two musket

shots” from the Río Grande. Until 1706 the general area of Alburquerque was variously called
212 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Bosque Grande,” “Bosque Grande de Doña

Luisa,” “Estancia de Doña Luisa de Trujillo,”

and “Bosque Grande de San Francisco Xavier”

(Adams and Chávez 1956:144).

When Zebulon Pike traveled down the Río

Grande as a Spanish prisoner in 1807, he

described the Alburquerque area as the best

cultivated and inhabited that he had yet seen.

He later referred to Alburquerque and El Paso

as the second cities of the province of New

Mexico. As he passed through on 7 March, he

observed the residents opening irrigation canals

from the river for the purpose of cultivating the

plains and fields on both sides of the river

(Coues 1895:II.619-621,739).

Wislizenus arrived in Alburquerque from the

east on 12 July 1846 after going away from the

Río Grande to explore some mines to the south

of Santa Fé. He commented that an abundance

of stock was grazing on the plain to the east of

town and wrote that the surrounding countryside was irrigated and cultivated. He also noted

that Alburquerque was spread along the river

for several miles and was comparable in size to

Santa Fé. His caravan was delayed north of

Alburquerque when rain damaged part of the

road that followed the river. Eventually they

made it to a higher road to the east that also

became impassable just south of Alburquerque.

Wislizenus wrote that although some caravans

crossed to the west bank of the river at

Alburquerque and recrossed at Socorro, his did

not, electing to remain on the east bank

throughout its journey (Wislizenus 1848:33-34).

Later in 1846 Abert advised travelers to cross

to the west at Alburquerque and back in the

area of Fray Cristóbal (Abert 1962:120). ccording

to George Rutledge Gibson, Doniphan’s army

followed Abert’s advice in December 1846. It

crossed the Río Grande east to west at

Alburquerque and followed the west bank to

Valverde (Bieber 1935:284). In the autumn of

1848 an army unit went south through

Alburquerque, mentioning a stop in “Las

Varelas,” now the Barelas neighborhood, and

then crossed to the west bank near Isleta

(Bieber 1936:325-326). 

The high road mentioned by Wislizenus was

known as La Ladera Road. It ran along the

foothills on the east side of the river valley to

avoid the valley bottom as needed because of

floods and swampy conditions. Though it

undoubtedly received much use through the

centuries there are no plazas from before 1800

along it to highlight as parajes. It is reasonable

to assume that travelers most often took their

rests at populated places, such as Indian pueblos, Alburquerque after 1706, and estancias,

whose locations are, in general, unknown

(Sargeant and Davis 1986:175-177).

Alameda

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: Alameda was the name given by

early Spanish settlers to a Tiwa pueblo on the

west side of the Río Grande. The Alameda land

grant, founded in 1710, was originally on the

west side of the river. Later, the name was

ascribed to its Spanish community on the east

bank that was founded in Alburquerque’s north

valley. Alameda, today, is unincorporated.

Annotated History: In his account of the

Sánchez Chamuscado entrada, Gallegos located

the Tiwa-speaking pueblo of Santa Catalina on

the west side of the Río Grande and upriver of

those pueblos generally agreed to be in the

vicinity of Isleta, New Mexico. This was probably the site of Alameda pueblo at the time

(Mecham 1926:277; Hammond and Rey 1927:46).

On 14 February 1583, Espejo’s party left El

Corvillo and continued north along the Río

Grande for four leagues before coming upon

two pueblos whose residents had fled to the

mountains at the approach of the Spaniards.

They called these Los Despoblados. On 16

February, they again headed north, and after

five leagues encountered another deserted

pueblo. This time they took provisions, including turkeys, after whom they named the pueblo

“Los Guajolotes.” This was probably the pueblo

later known as Alameda (Hammond and Rey

1929:79; Vivian 1932:50-52).

In 1681 and before, Alameda was located on

the west bank of the Río Grande 71/2-8 leagues
Appendix E 213

above Isleta. It was reached from Isleta and

Atrisco without a river crossing and then the

river was forded to reach Puaray and Sandia

(Hackett and Shelby 1942:I.227-230; Hackett

1915:381).

The claims of the Town of Alameda and Elena

Gallegos grants posit a different course for the

Río Grande through the Alameda area in the

early eighteenth century, one that ran close to

hills east of the present bed. José Urrutia’s map

of 1769 placed Alameda on the east side of the

Río Grande, showing that the river changed

course to its present bed sometime between 1710

and 1769 (Town of Alameda Grant:20-21,83;

Elena Gallegos Grant:3; Sargeant 1987:39-44).

The church there was dedicated to Santa Ana,

according to Vetancurt, and it was burned in the

1680 revolt (Vetancurt 1961:267). In his reminiscences, recorded in 1777, Juan Candelaria gave a

post-conquest history in which Alameda was

repopulated in 1702 by Tiwa Indians; they were

relocated to Isleta in 1708; the town was settled

by Spaniards in 1711; and construction of the

church began in 1712 (Armijo 1929:276-278). In

1754, Father Joséj Manuel San Juan

Nepomuceno y Trigo reported that the residents of Alburquerque actually lived at their

farms located in Alameda and only inhabited

Alburquerque on Sunday (Hackett 1937:464).

Actually, Alburquequenses lived up and down

the valley from Bernalillo to Pajarito.

The post-revolt Hispanic plaza of Alameda

was located immediately north of the intersection of Río Grande Boulevard and Alameda

Road until 1903. At that time, destruction by

floodwaters forced the church to move southeast to its present location (Sargeant 1987:45;

Steele 1995:165; Sargeant and Davis 1986:19).

Sandia Pueblo

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: Sandia pueblo was deserted

after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The earliest

known reference to that name is 1611. The

Spanish resettled the pueblo in the middle of

the eighteenth century.

Annotated History: In his 1634 memorial,

Benavides counted “San Francisco de Sandia” as

one of the two convents of the “Tioas” nation.

He noted that the body of Fray Francisco López

of the Sánchez Chamuscado expedition was

interred in that convent (Hodge, Hammond,

and Rey 1945:64-65). In 1692, Vetancurt

described a large church, dedicated to Saint

Francis, and a good convent at “Zandia.” It was

razed in the revolt of 1680, but not until the

padres had escaped (Vetancurt 1961:268).

In 1681, Sandia was one league above Puaray

on the east side of the Río Grande (Hackett

1915:381). Many of the inhabitants of Sandia fled

to the Hopi region after the revolt of 1680 and

Otermín destroyed the pueblo in 1681 (Hackett

1937:464). On 2 June 1726 Rivera found only the

remnants of the pueblo of Sandia, five leagues

north of Alburquerque (Alessio Robles 1946:51).

In 1777, Juan Candelaria recalled that Father

Juan Miguel de Menchero resettled Sandia with

Tiwas and some Moquis (Hopis) in 1746

(Armijo 1929:280). The resettlement date has

also been given as 1748 (Hodge, Hammond, and

Rey 1945:64-65,253-258). In 1754, Sandia was

reported to contain some fifty families (Hackett

1937:464).

In 1759 Bishop Tamarón wrote that this

pueblo of Moqui and Tiwa Indians was new and

located four leagues north of Alburquerque. He

found one Franciscan missionary parish priest

who administered 35 families of settlers, totaling

222 persons. He described the Indians as living

apart in their tenements, separated after the

“manner customary in this kingdom.” The Tiwa

section housed 51 families totaling 196 persons

while that of the converted Moqui Indians held

16 families, totaling 95 persons (Adams

1953:203). On 17 August 1766, Lafora estimated

that this pueblo was five leagues north-northeast of Alburquerque. The Tiwas and

“Moquiños” there were administered by a

Franciscan cleric (Alessio Robles 1939:97).

In 1776 Fray Domínguez wrote that from

Santo Domingo one traveled south some seven

leagues downstream along the meadow of the

Río Grande, which was on the east bank. He
214 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

described the pueblo and mission of “Nuestra

Señora de los Dolores de Sandia” as being

located 16 leagues from Santa Fé. In the Sandia

registers the title was also given as “Our Lady of

Sorrows and St. Anthony.” Domínguez wrote

that the convent resembled nothing more than

the old half-fallen houses usually found in

Indian pueblos near Mexico City. He wrote

that the pueblo lay to the east of the church and

convent, below their facade. It was arranged

and built in three small blocks, or buildings, to

the north and two small plazas to the south.

Everything was made of adobe and distributed

and arranged like the other missions. The

pueblo still housed Indians of two nations, the

majority being Tiwas and the others Moquis. In

his census the Indians number 92 families,

totaling 275 persons (Adams and Chávez

1956:138-139,141-144).

Pike referred to this as “St. Dies” when he

passed by it on 6 March 1807. He noted that it

was administered by the priest from San Felipe

and contained a population of 500 (Coues

1895:II, 618-619).

Bernalillo 

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: Bernalillo was a heavily populated district when visited by sixteenth-century

Spaniards. It continued that tradition as a

Spanish community, though it was not generally

visited by the bulk of travelers who were across

the river on the east bank. Alburquerque was

founded by settlers from Bernalillo.

Annotated History: Coronado headquartered his expedition in the Bernalillo area in

1540-1541 (Julyan 1996:36). According to the

Gallegos account of the 1581 Sánchez

Chamuscado journey into New Mexico, the

Tiwa pueblos of Analco, Culiacán, Villarrasa,

and La Palma were encountered, in that order,

going north along the west side of the Río

Grande. The Tiwa pueblos of Zenpoala,

Nompe, Malpais, and Caseres were found along

the east side of the Río Grande. Caseres seems

to have marked the northern end of the Tiwa

pueblos. All of these were probably located in

the area of modern Bernalillo (Mecham

1926:277-278; Hammond and Rey 1927:46-48).

Julyan writes that the name “Bernalillo” dates

back to the seventeenth century though he contradicts himself as to the specific date. Julyan

suggests that (Julyan 1996:16-17,36-37). Fray

Angelico Chávez also speculates that the name

“Bernalillo” may have come from a priest in

New Mexico named “Bernal” or from

“Bernardo”, the son of Fernando Duran y

Chávez, an early settler. In either case it was

bestowed before the 1680 Pueblo Indian revolt

(Chávez 1948:111).

The Bernalillo that was founded, or refounded, after the revolt, stretched for several miles

upstream of its present location and probably

on the west side of the Río Grande. Some

colonists built a plaza and a church, which was

dedicated to San Francisco, in 1695 (Kessell

1989:313). In his 1777 reminiscences, Juan

Candelaria noted that a convent was built in

Bernalillo sometime after 1698, but it was

destroyed by flood in 1735-36 (Armijo 1929:276).

In 1776 Fray Atanasio Domínguez wrote that

the mission in Sandia also had charge of the

administration of some citizens divided into two

small groups one of which, two leagues to the

north, was called Bernalillo. It had 27 families

with 81 persons (Adams and Chávez 1956:144).

Lafora gave this name to a collection of ranchitos scattered along both sides of the Río Grande

between the pueblos of Sandia and San Felipe in

New Mexico on 18 August 1766 (Alessio Robles

1939:97). On 11 November 1780, Anza placed

Bernalillo six leagues south of Santo Domingo

(Thomas 1932:197-198).

Santa Ana Pueblo

New Mexico

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: Santa Ana has remained an

important pueblo throughout the colonial,

Mexican, and U.S. periods.

The old village which the Spaniards knew as

Tamayo, was located on the north bank of the
Appendix E 215

Jémez River against the cliffs of Black Mesa.

There they built a mission church about 1600

and, like most of the Spanish missions, it was

destroyed during the Pueblo Revolt. The pueblo

was reoccupied after the revolt; however, the

re-occupation did not last. The U.S. Census for

1890 found the old pueblo deserted.

The Camino Real ran close by Santa Ana

Pueblo and the pueblo provided foodstuffs to

travellers.

Coronado State Monument, 

Kuaua Pueblo

Bernalillo, New Mexico

NATIONAL REGISTER

Era: 17th and 18th Century

Kuaua is a Tiwa word for “evergreen.” It was

first settled around AD 1300 by American

Indians who had long known about the fertile

land near the Río Grande. Successful at agriculture elsewhere, many moved into the area, allying themselves with the local population. The

resulting pubelo flourished and grew, as did the

many neighboring villages along the life-giving

Río Grande.

In 1540 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado -

with 300 soldiers and 800 Indian allies from

New Spain - entered this valley. Coronado’s

expedition was searching for the fabled cities of

gold but instead found villages inhabited by

properous native people. Coronado’s party

camped near the Tiwa pueblo of Kuaua, one of

the many villages contacted by the explorers.

Acording to the Handbook of North American

Indians, (Vol. 9, p. 146) Kuaua was found to be

occupied during the time of the Spanish

Entradas.

Kuaua is an earthen pueblo excavated in the

1930s by WPA workers, who also reconstructed

new ruin walls over the reburied original ruins.

A square kiva, excavated in the south plaza of

the community contained many layers of mural

paintings. These murals represent some of the

finest examples of Pre-Columbian mural art in

North America. Both the kiva and one of the

mural layers are reconstructed and open to visitors, while several of the preserved mural segments are open to viewing in the mural room of

the visitor center. The visitor center also contains prehistoric and historic Indian and

Spanish colonial artifiacts exhibits with weveral

hands-on components.

San Felipe Pueblo

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: Although it evidently moved at

some point, San Felipe has remained an important pueblo throughout the colonial, Mexican,

and U.S. periods.

Annotated History: The Sánchez

Chamuscado party of 1581 visited a Keres pueblo

that they named “Palomares.” It sat across (west

of) the Río Grande from “Campos,” or Santo

Domingo, near modern Cubero. It has also been

identified as “Kat-isht-ya, or the first San

Felipe,” (Mecham 1926:278-279; Hammond and

Rey 1927:47-48).

On 30 July 1598 the Oñate expedition passed

“Sant Phelipe” while heading to Santo Domingo

(Pacheco, Cárdenas y Torres 1871:XVI, 254).

Vetancurt reported in 1692 that the convent at

“San Phelipe” was a well-stocked infirmary. It

also had a music chapel (“Capilla de musicos”)

and, together with the smaller Santa Ana pueblo

nearby, accounted for many faithful. There

were 600 persons in the two pueblos (Vetancurt

1961:270). Otermín reported stopping by San

Felipe during his retreat from Santa Fé in 1681.

Hackett and Shelby note that the river was running very high at the time, making it unlikely

that the party would cross to visit the pueblo.

They conclude that the pueblo may have been

on the east side of the river during the seventeenth century (Hackett and Shelby 1942:I.22;

I.xlii).

On 2 June 1726 Rivera found the Keres pueblo

of San Felipe five leagues from Sandia and ten

from Alburquerque, on the west side of the river

(Alessio Robles 1946:51). In 1744, Fray Juan

Miguel de Menchero placed San Felipe three

leagues from Santo Domingo and 15 from Santa

Fé. Menchero added that the pueblo had earlier

been located atop the adjacent mesa but had

moved down to the river after the revolt of 1680

(Hackett 1937:404). In 1760 Bishop Tamarón
216 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

located this pueblo four leagues south of Santo

Domingo and on the opposite side of the Río

Grande (Adams 1953:203). A Franciscan priest

ministered to “Keres” Indians in this mission,

which Lafora thought was two and a half

leagues southwest of Santo Domingo pueblo on

the right bank of the Río Grande (Alessio

Robles 1939:97). In Morfi’s 1782 description of

New Mexico he described the locale of San

Felipe as a narrow place between the Río

Grande and a stony mesa 12 leagues from Santa

Fé. Morfi echoed Menchero’s description of the

pueblo moving off the mesa after 1680 (Thomas

1932:97). According to Joseph P. Sánchez, San

Felipe was atop the mesa at least as late as 1696

(Sánchez 1998:11).

Zebulon Pike traveled down the Río Grande

as a Spanish prisoner in 1807. On 6 March he

crossed the Río Grande to the west bank by a

wooden bridge of eight arches and entered the

pueblo which he called “St. Philip’s.” Upon

leaving, he recrossed the bridge and continued

down the east side of the Río Grande. He

marked San Felipe’s population as 1,000 (Coues

1895:II.616-618).

Regardless of whether or when San Felipe was

located on the east bank or atop a mesa on the

west bank the paraje would have been adjacent

to the east bank of the river alongside the

Camino Real. Trade with the pueblo would

have occurred on either side of the river.

Notwithstanding the location of the paraje,

lodging in the pueblo during the colonial period

was common.

Santo Domingo Pueblo

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: In the seventeenth century,

Santo Domingo boasted the best convent in

New Mexico and was the repository of the

Franciscans’ archives. It remains an important

pueblo in New Mexico.

Annotated History: Going north from Tiwa

country during their 1581 entrada, Sánchez

Chamuscado entered the land of the Keres

speakers at the pueblo which they called

“Campos.” It was found on the east side of the

Río Grande in the vicinity of the pueblo of

Santo Domingo (Mecham 1926:278-279;

Hammond and Rey 1927:47-48). On 8 and 9

March 1591, Castaño de Sosa moved his camp

from San Marcos in the Galisteo basin to a point

near Santo Domingo. Apparently Castaño gave

the pueblo its Spanish name. Later, it was at a

ruined pueblo near Santo Domingo and

“Gipuy” that he was arrested by Morlete (Hull

1916:328-330; Schroeder and Matson 1965:142;

157-160; Pacheco, Cárdenas y Torres 1871:IV,

347).

On the night of 27 June 1598 Oñate came six

leagues from Puaray to Ji-pi-y or Santo

Domingo in order to impress into service, as

translators and guides, two Indians named

Tomas and Xupal. They were arrested on the

28th and brought back to Puaray. On 30 June

1598, they were back in Santo Domingo, in

whose province the “Convent de Nuestra

Señora de la Asumpcion” was erected (Pacheco,

Cárdenas y Torres 1871:XVI, 253-254; Mecham

1926:278). On 7 July 1598 a general council of

seven Indian chieftains of different New

Mexico provinces was held at Santo Domingo.

Each pledged obedience to the Spanish king

(Pacheco, Cárdenas y Torres 1871:XVI, 256).

When the Oñate expedition returned to Santo

Domingo on 27 July 1598, Ginés de Herrera

Horta, chief auditor and legal counsel to Oñate,

reported seeing about 100 Indians dancing to

celebrate the coming of the Spaniards

(Hammond and Rey 1953:II.643,662). Captain

Alonso Gómez Montesinos, one of the settlers

of San Gabriel, stated that the Indians of Santo

Domingo came to recite their prayers at the

ringing of the bell and that the natives taught

each other the prayers willingly and devoutly

(Hammond and Rey 1953:II.711).

In 1662, Governor Don Bernardo López de

Mendizábal was briefly imprisoned by the

Franciscan Friars in the baptisterio of Santo

Domingo before he was transported to Mexico

City for his trial before the Inquisition (Primera

Audiencia de don Bernardo López de

Mendizábal, 1663). In his 1692 treatise, Friar

Vetancurt wrote that the convent at Santo

Domingo was the best of the custodio and
Appendix E 217

noted that it was the repositoy of the

Franciscans’ archives. The church and all of its

imágenes were burned in the 1680 rebellion and

three priests were killed. He went on to

describe the road to Santa Fé as “flat”

(Vetancurt 1961:270).

On 2 June 1726 Rivera found Santo Domingo,

two leagues from San Felipe, inhabited by the

Keres Indians. This same day he met with the

governor of this region, who was then Juan

Domingo de Bustamante, governor from 1722 to

1731 (Alessio Robles 1946:51). Menchero

described Santo Domingo as twelve leagues

from Santa Fé on the banks of the Río Grande

(Hackett 1937:404). In 1760 Bishop Tamarón

wrote that Santo Domingo was located six

leagues north of Sandia. He wrote that there

were no settlers and that the mission priest was

a Franciscan friar. He counted 67 families of

Indians, totaling 424 persons (Adams 1953:203).

In 1776 Fray Domínguez described the river

Las Bocas as joining the Río Grande from the

plain above the “Mission of Our Father Santo

Domingo” (Adams and Chávez 1956:41). He

wrote that Santo Domingo was reached by traveling about nine leagues from Santa Fé to the

southwest. It was established and located in full

view of the Río Grande. He stated that there

were two churches in this mission, one old and

the other new. Floods destroyed these buildings

in 1886; the present church at Santo Domingo

dates from about 1890 (Adams and Chávez

1956:137).

Fray Domínguez described the rancho of a

citizen and his family located one league north

on the same plain. This was the “Rancho de José

Miguel de la Peña” from 1777 to 1780, the

“Rancho de Peña” in 1791, and from 1792 on it

was “Rancho de la Peña Blanca.” He wrote that

the pueblo of Santo Domingo consisted of six

blocks, or buildings, of dwellings. The whole

pueblo was surrounded by a high adobe wall

with two gates. In order to reach the pueblo one

had to travel the highway going up or down. He

observed abundant cultivated lands above and

below the pueblo, as well as on the opposite

bank, and also small peach and apricot trees and

an abundance of melons and watermelons. He

wrote that the Keres of this pueblo were commonly called “Chachiscos” as well. In his census, Fray Domínguez counted 136 families,

totaling 528 persons (Adams and Chávez

1956:130-138). 

Ten leagues from Santa Fé, New Mexico by

the main road, this “Keres” pueblo and

Franciscan mission was visited by Lafora on 18

August 1766. There, the main road left the Río

Grande for the final stretch into the capital

(Alessio Robles 1939:97). When, on 10

November 1780, Anza left Las Golondrinas and

traveled six leagues south to the pueblo of Santo

Domingo, he met two Navajo Apaches who

wanted to exchange a young Spaniard from

“Presidio del Paso” for a little girl who was a

captive. The next day Anza turned her over to

“her owners” (Thomas 1932:197).

Zebulon Pike traveled down the Río Grande

as a Spanish prisoner in 1807. On 5 March he

arrived at the pueblo of Santo Domingo, which

he reckoned had a population of about 1,000

“Keres” Indians. Although he thought little of

the buildings in the pueblo he was quite

impressed by the elegant ornamentation of the

paintings and statues of the patron saint in the

church. He also noted the view of the river and

the “St. Dies” or Sandia mountains (Coues

1895:II.615).

Cochiti Pueblo

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: Cochiti has remained an important pueblo throughout the colonial, Mexican,

and U.S. periods.

This small Keresan pueblo has occupied the

same site on the west bank of the Río Grande

since 1250 A.D. The first European visitor was

Fray Agustín Rodriguez in 1581. The Mission of

San Buenaventura was built between 1625 and

1630 and was burned during the Pueblo Revolt.

When the reconquest began, the Cochiti people fled to a mountain stronghold named

Cieneguilla. After de Vargas conquered

Cieneguilla most of the Indians returned to
218 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cochiti to help construct a new mission; it is still

standing. The Camino Real ran close to Cochiti

Pueblo and passed through a prehistoric

Keresan pueblo.

San Marcos Pueblo

NATIONAL REGISTER, ARMS

Era: 17th and 18th Century

San Marcos Pueblo was mentioned by Oñate

on his way to San Juan Pueblo in 1598. It was a

1500 room pueblo although not all rooms were

occupied at one time. San Marcos is the pueblo

credited with mining in the Cerrillos hills, particularly the Turquoise. The Camino Real would

go up Galisteo Creek and head north approximately on State Route 14 and pass San Marcos

on its way to San Juan and/or Santa Fe.

La Bajada 

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

At what is traditionally the dividing point in

New Mexico between Río Arriba (Upper River

district) and Río Abajo (Lower River district)

travelers on the Camino Real could choose one

of three ways to reach Santa Fe. (1) La Bajada

Hill was the most difficult; (2) the Santa Fe

River Canon (la Boca) was the most used in the

colonial period; and (3) Galisteo Creek was used

in territorial times to travel over the escarpment

in the Juana Lopez Grant. Galisteo Creek was

also traveled to a point south of San Marcos

Pueblo where the road turned north past the

pueblo and headed to San Juan Pueblo or to

Santa Fe.

The community of La Badaja is a small settlement that was a freight depot, stage stop, and

trading center for freighters during the 19th

century, although Robert Julyan in Place Names

says that it was established prior to 1680.

Incoming freighters had to travel a winding

route down the face of the nearby black basalt

cliff, bracing their wagon wheels with boulders

when they stopped. Northbound caravans rested before ascending the santa Fe River canyon,

one of the more difficult passages of the entire

route. 

La Bajada Hill (Santa Fe; 11 mi SW of Santa

Fe). From 1598, when Spanish colonists trudged

beside lumbering oxcarts, to the early 20th century, when American tourists drove Model A

automobiles, the steep and abrupt escarpment

of La Bajada Hill was a notorious landmark on

the road between Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

The old route up La Bajada Hill was barely 1.5

miles long, but it traversed tough volcanic rock;

in the 20th century it included 23 hairpin turns

and was the scene of countless frustrations and

mishaps, from overturned wagons to boiling

radiators. Residents of the village of La Bajada

(see entry) at the hill's base named a spot on the

hill Florida because a truck carrying oranges

overturned there. In 1932, a new route up the

escarpment was laid out, followed today by I25, and the original route, 5 mi N and W, fell

into disuse, though a few drivers still attempt it

to test their vehicles' toughness. The name La

Bajada now is gradually being transferred to the

new route.

During colonial times, La Bajada Hill was the

dividing line between the two great economic

and governmental regions of Hispanic NM, the

Río Abajo, "lower river," and the Río Arriba,

"upper river." The large, sprawling mesa on

whose edge La Bajada Hill is located is called La

Majada, "sheepfold," or "place where shepherds keep their flocks," but because the road

from Santa Fe to the Río Abajo descended from

the mesa here, the escarpment took the name La

Bajada, "the descent." "Hill" was added to the

name much more recently, an addition that

often causes confusion to Spanish speakers, as

the name now seems to consist of two generics.

La Ciénega 

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: This area has often been called

the closest paraje to Santa Fé. It has been

inhabited nearly continuously since before the

arrival of the Spanish.

Annotated History: La Ciénega was a seventeenth-century pueblo that was resettled by

Spaniards in the early eighteenth century.

Schackel notes that it was also called El Guicú,
Appendix E 219

San José del Guicú, and La Cañada del Guicú in

the eighteenth century (Schackel 1979:5-8).

In 1777, Juan Candelaria’s 1777 reminiscences

included mention of the settlement of Cienega

in 1715. He added that it was four leagues from

Santa Fé and was watered by Los Ojos del

Alamo (Armijo 1929:282-284).

In 1776 Fray Domínguez identified Ciénega

Grande as the settlement below Cieneguilla and

five leagues from Santa Fé. He wrote that it lay

in a kind of nook between two cañadas, and

that the outlines of ancient ruins were visible at

the site of this settlement, which might have

been “pagan” pueblos (Adams and Chávez

1956:41). 

Morfi described Ciénega as a ranch on the Río

de Santa Fé directly west of Alamo. It was home

to four families (Thomas 1932:93).

Pike’s 1807 map contained a town marked

“Vitior” which Coues identified in 1895 as being

at or near La Bajada. However, it has also been

connected to the town of Cienega or Sienega,

on a creek of the same name and two miles

southeast of Cieneguilla (Coues 1895:II.613-614;

III.950).

El Rancho de Las Golondrinas

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: The Rancho de las Golondrinas,

near La Ciénega, is now an historic site, commemorating many themes of Spanish colonial

life, including the Camino Real.

Annotated History: According to Schackel,

the name Las Golondrinas first appeared in

documents in the 1770s. The rancho was also

known as the Baca y Terrus hacienda, El

Rancho de los Bacas, and the Sandoval ranch. It

was directly north of the ranch of El Guicú, a

name associated with La Ciénega. El Alamo lay

to the north and La Cieneguilla to the west

(Schackel 1979:8). El camino del Alamo appears

on Urrutia map of Santa Fe dated 1766.

On 9 November 1780 Anza left Santa Fé and

traveled four leagues south to the pueblo of Las

Golondrinas (Thomas 1932:197). Morfi’s

description, from 1782, placed Golondrinas next

to Alamo on its east. It belonged to the resident

Sandoval family (Thomas 1932:93).

William Carr Lane described Las Golondrinas

as a ranch twelve miles of good road from Santa

Fé (Schackel 1979:30).

El Alamo

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: El Alamo was one of several

ranchos in the La Ciénega area at which travelers could rest as they were entering or leaving

Santa Fé. The camino del Alamo shown on

Urrutia’s 1776 map of Santa Fe indicates it is a

variant of the Camino Real.

Annotated History: Sandra Kay Schackel

writes that El Alamo in the time of Vargas was

an abandoned estancia that was just north of La

Ciénega and Las Golondrinas (Schackel 1979:6).

Juan Candelaria described Alamo, settled in

1730, as near to and similar to, Ciénega and four

leagues from Santa Fé (Armijo 1929:283-284).

On 24 May 1760 Bishop Tamarón reached the

house of El Alamo, six leagues from Santo

Domingo. He described it as large, with an

upper story and many corridors (Adams

1953:203).

In 1782, Morfi described Alamo as a small

ranch of one Spanish family one quarter league

south of Cieneguilla (Thomas 1932:93).

Cieneguilla 

Era: 18th and 19th Century

Significance: Cieneguilla was a paraje near

Santa Fé for travelers who followed the Río de

Santa Fé to or from the capital.

Annotated History: In 1777, Juan Candelaria

recalled that the seventeenth-century settlement of Cieneguilla took place in 1698. It was

four leagues from Santa Fé and was watered by

the Río de Santa Fé (Armijo 1929:282-283).
220 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

In 1776 Fray Domínguez wrote that two roads

went down from Quemado like a V and led to

two settlements or ranchos, both of which were

to the southwest. They were two leagues apart

and about five leagues from Santa Fé. The higher settlement was called Cieneguilla; it was in a

canyon that came down from San Ildefonso

Springs where it met the channel of the Santa Fé

River. There were a number of springs a little

below this settlement, which he thought were a

resurgence of the Santa Fé River. These springs

ran west in little ravines (Adams and Chávez

1956:41).

Morfi’s 1782 description of New Mexico portrayed “La Ciénegilla” as a ranch four leagues

west of Santa Fé on the banks of the Santa Fé

River. Nine Spanish families resided at

Cieneguilla (Thomas 1932:93).

Pike’s 4 March 1807 description of his route

south out of the capital is rather vague but as

interpreted in 1895 by Elliot Coues it forked

near Agua Fria. The left fork met the Santa Fé

River at the town of Cieneguilla and then followed it to La Bajada (Coues 1895:II.613-614).

In December 1846, Abert nearly lost his life

and then his mule when he attempted a shortcut

across some marshy land at Cieneguilla. Only

the fact that much of the ground was frozen

allowed him to escape and to save the mule

(Abert 1962:139).

Agua Fria/Quemado 

Era: 19th Century

Significance: While perhaps too close to

Santa Fé to see much use as a paraje, Quemado

and Agua Fria were visited by many travelers

into and out of the capital throughout the colonial, Mexican, and U.S. periods.

Annotated History: The 1766 plano drawn by

José de Urrutia demonstrates the physical layout of the Villa de Santa Fe. Juan Candelaria

remembered that Cristóbal Baca settled

Quemado in 1730. Candelaria placed it one and

one quarter league from the capital and added

that it was irrigated from the Río de Santa Fé

(Armijo 1929:284-286). In 1776 Fray Domínguez

wrote that Quemado was one league west and at

the very outskirts of Santa Fé. It was an Indian

pueblo in the old days and had this name

because it was purposely burned. The settlement near this place was later called Agua Fría.

The burned pueblo was excavated after the

Santa Fé River laid part of it bare (Adams and

Chávez 1956:41).

When Pike left Santa Fé under Spanish escort

on 4 March 1807, he followed a road which took

the high ground between the Río de Santa Fé

and Arroyo Hondo. Just past Agua Fria it

forked, with both forks eventually reaching La

Bajada and the Río Grande (Coues 1895:II.613-

614). Years later, when Wislizenus prepared to

leave Santa Fé for Chihuahua on 8 July 1846, he

met the caravan that he was traveling with at

their camp in Agua Fria. From there, the caravan took “the usual road, by Algodones, for the

Río Grande” (Wislizenus 1848:29).

Palace of the Governors

Santa Fe, New Mexico

NATIONAL REGISTER,

NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: Originally constructed in the

early 17th century as Spain’s seat of government

for what is today the American Southwest, the

Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe chronicles

and documents the history of the city, as well as

New Mexico and the region. As a Presidio the

Palace served many times as an end destination

for travelers and supply caravans on the Camino

Real. New Governors of the Province of New

Mexico and outgoing Governors would travel

the Camino Real to and from Mexico. Soldiers

from this presidio would escort trains and campaign against Indian Nations along and in the

Camino Real corridor. The Palace of the

Governors since it was built c. 1610 up to the

present day was and remains a keystone landmark on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

Museum exhibits and collections, and library

and archives holdings reflect the Spanish colonial, Mexican, U.S. Territorial and Statehood

periods of history. The adobe building was des-
Appendix E 221

ignated a Registered National Historic

Landmark in 1960, and an American Treasure in

1999.

El Palacio-1610

New Mexico’s famed Palace of the

Governors, the anvil on which was shaped so

much of the history of Western America, has

been called “the oldest public building, continuously used, within the continental borders of

the United States.” This claim is too modest.

Almost certainly, the Palace is the oldest

European-built structure of any kind now

standing within the nation’s seaboard limits.

We say “almost certainly.” The old Palace has

no dated cornerstone, and no written account

of the laying of its first adobe brick has yet been

found. But the Archives of the Indies, in Seville,

Spain, still contain a copy of the orders given in

March, 1609, to Don Pedro de Peralta, New

Mexico’s third Spanish governor, directing him

to establish a new capital in the province and to

have its officials “designate . . . one block of the

streets for the erection of Royal Houses.” In the

spring of 1610, historians believe, the new Villa

de Santa Fe was founded. The “Royal Houses”

(Casas Reales )—residence of the governor,

stronghold and arsenal, civic and military nub of

the whole new little settlement—would have

received priority over any other construction

except, perhaps, that of a temporary church. We

can be reasonably sure that by the winter of

1610-11 Governor Peralta had a dirt roof over his

head and stout adobe walls around him.

Fourteen hundred miles to the east, other

Spaniards had founded St. Augustine, Florida, in

1565. After a first unsuccessful venture on

Roanoke Island in 1585 Englishmen came back

to Virginia in 1607 and built the little city of

Jamestown. All other settlements on the

nation’s east coast, beginning with the New

Amsterdam of the Dutch in 1614 and the English

Pilgrim s Plymouth in 1620, were later than

Santa Fe.

Today, of the sixteenth and early seventeenth

century structures of St. Augustine, which were

built of wood, nothing remains. All of Fort

Raleigh now visible above ground on Roanoke

Island is a reconstruction. Jamestown’s first

buildings, also wooden, have vanished. Even the

very first Dutch or English-built structures in

what are now New York and New England are

completely gone.

But Santa Fe’s adobe Palace—the first and

now the last of Governor Peralta’s “Royal

Houses”—still stands.

Not much is known of its earliest decades.

Archives in Europe and Mexico have yielded

tantalizing hints about new apartments built by

Peralta’s successors in office, a room where

Indians masked and robed themselves for

dances in the Plaza (much to the disapproval of

the churchmen, who were at odds with the governors, most of these years), drawing-rooms

and dressing-rooms of the governors’ wives,

even a shop in the Palace where one thrifty governor eked out his royal salary by selling chocolate, shoes and hats to the citizens.

By 1680, the walled and fortified “Royal

Houses” had grown large enough, we are told,

to accommodate “more than a thousand persons, five thousand head of sheep and goats,

four hundred horses and mules, and three hundred head of beef cattle, without crowding.” All

these settlers and their livestock, congregated

from upcountry and down, had urgent need of a

fort that year. The Pueblo Indians had revolted,

killing more than four hundred Spaniards in

outlying villages, farms and missions, and

descending in fury upon Santa Fe. Governor

Otermín battled them in the Villa for eight days

and flame-filled nights, until they diverted a

ditch which supplied the Casas Reales with

water—and by this ruse broke, temporarily,

Spain’s hold upon New Mexico. Out of the

main gate of the fort, across Santa Fe’s bloody

Plaza and through the smoking ruins of the

town, Otermín led his people south, to the safety of settlements below what is now El Paso,

Texas. There they stayed for twelve years, while

the Indians settled down in what their torches

had left of Santa Fe.

They made a bonfire of the official archives,

which is why we know so little about the pre

Revolt Palace. Copies of some documents had
222 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

been sent to Mexico and Spain, but the New

Mexican records there, too, have suffered from

looting and fire over the centuries. If floorplans of the early Casas Reales ever were drawn,

they either went up in smoke in 1680 or later, or

still await finding by some modern researcher

luckier than his fellows thus far.

Reconquest

When Governor and Captain-General Don

Diego de Vargas brought his reconquistadores

back to Santa Fe in 1692, he found the Casas

Reales transformed to a high-walled pueblo,

with a fortified main gateway opening on the

Plaza and a tower at each of its four corners. It

comprised, he said, “what was formerly the

major portion of the Palace and Royal Houses

of the governor,” and he found it such an

impregnable stronghold that to retake it on his

second trip, a year later, he had to use the

Indians’ earlier stratagem of cutting off its water

supply. And afterwards, bitterly, he accused his

successor in office of allowing all those lofty

walls and towers, which had given him so much

trouble, to fall into ruin.

They were never rebuilt as he wanted them to

be, for conditions had changed. Before 1680, the

entire Casas compound, covering many acres

north of Santa Fe’s main plaza, had been at once

a fortress, the seat of government, and the governor’s residence. New Mexico then had no

standing army; all the able-bodied male settlers

were at the same time soldiers, subject to military call. They lived on their farms and in their

own houses in the Villa. But Vargas brought

back with him a paid presidio troop, and its men

needed barracks.

These were not completed until many years

later, and then they stretched west from the

Palace and north in two long rows, along the

lines of present-day Grant and Washington

Avenues, to what is now Federal Place. There

they were joined by another row, east and west.

The exteriors formed a wall enclosing a roomy

parade-ground, corrals, storerooms and outbuildings—and in the southeast corner the

smaller compound of the remaining old Casas

Reales. This, a rectangle based on the long

building on the Plaza which Vargas was the first

to call El Palacio Real—the Royal Palace,

included stables and guardrooms extending

north from the ends of the Palace itself, two

inner patios, kitchens and other service quarters, a coach-house and the governor’s garden.

With the Palace now changed largely to a civil

and domestic establishment, it entered into long

years of complaints about leaky roofs, scanty

furniture and missing door-keys, posted indignantly down to Mexico by its succession of

royal governors. These changed to republican

governors in 1822, when Mexico won its independence from Spain, and for the first time a

large room in the Palace was fitted up as a

meeting-hall of elected New Mexico Deputies.

It was renamed a Council Hall in 1837, with a

change in the form of government, and ten

years later, with the United States flag flying

over the Palace, it was made ready to house the

first session of the Territorial House of

Representatives.

The Palace was then half again as long as it is

today, its west end being about where the

southwest corner of the Museum’s Fine Arts

Building now stands. There was a tower at this

end in which gunpowder had been stored, and

near it were the jail and the Legislative Hall.

These, in poor condition, were demolished in

1866, when Lincoln Avenue was opened from

the Plaza to run north through the then Fort

Marcy Military Reservation to the uncompleted

Federal Building.

This loss of the western third of the Palace

accounts for its former main hall, still running

through the building from the Plaza to its inner

patio, being off center. The hall undoubtedly

was once a covered zaguan, through which

horsemen and carriages could pass—the same

exit, probably, through which Otermín led his

despairing followers on that sad August day of

1680, starting their long flight to Mexico.
Appendix E 223

U.S. Occupation

The 1860’s and 70’s saw many other

“improvements” of the old Spanish building, by

its U.S. Government occupants. The east end,

which also had its tower, was largely rebuilt to

form two new halls for the Legislature and a

separate Territorial Library. Old outbuildings at

the rear were torn down and replaced by a new

set much closer to the Palace itself than the others had been, thus reducing the size of the inner

patio by more than half. As late as 1880, the

patio was completely bare of grass and bore

only a single cottonwood tree.

The portal along the front, probably first built

in the 1700’s (there is no mention of one in

Otermín 1680 reports), was a plain affair of

peeled logs and a dirt roof when General

Stephen Kearny entered Santa Fe and occupied

the Palace in August, 1846. It may have been

given some thought by the new caretakers soon

afterwards (a traveller in 1866 described it as an

“American portico”), but it underwent a radical

change in 1878. In that year it was replaced by a

porch in true mid-Western Victorian style, with

posts of milled lumber, painted white, neatly set

off by a full-length balustrade on the roof. This,

which in its proud designer’s words “elicited

many expressions of gratification and pleasure,”

survived until 1913, when the present portal in

New Mexican Spanish style was built.

The records reveal that from time to time,

during its long history, the Palace became so

dilapidated that the incumbent governors—or

their wives—refused to live in it, and found

quarters elsewhere in Santa Fe. Except for its

thirteen years as an Indian pueblo, however,

and also for a brief two months in 1862 when

Sibley’s Confederates were in Santa Fe, it never

ceased to be the official residence and office of

the Spanish, Mexican and United States civil

and military governors from 1610 to 1900, when

New Mexico’s second “new” capitol building

was erected. All in all—actual, acting and interim, with several serving more than one term—

these governors numbered:

Under Spanish rule, 1610 to 1822 59

Under Mexican rule, 1822 to 1846 14

Under United States rule, 1846 to 1900 24

Brief Chronology of the Palace

1610.........Built (probably) as the main structure of the “Royal Houses” in New Mexico’s new capital.

1680.........Occupied by the Pueblo Indians, after they had driven the Spaniards from Santa Fe.

1693..........Reoccupied by the Spaniards.

1807..........Lt. Zebulon Pike, U.S. Army, imprisoned in Palace jail.

1822..........Mexican independence. The Palace no longer “Royal.”

1837..........José Gonzales, a Taos Indian, installed as governor during short-lived insurrection; soon

afterwards executed.

1846..........Occupied by General Stephen Watts Kearny, U.S. Army, on August 18th.

1862..........Occupied for two months by invading Confederate army from Texas.

1866..........West third of building, and old outbuildings at rear, demolished. Extensive remodelling

during next few years.

1869.........James L. Collins, U.S. Depository, found dead in office in west end of Palace, and safe

robbed.

1870..........Spanish and Mexican archives, in Palace since 1693, sold by Governor Pile as scrap paper.

1878-81....Governor Lew Wallace wrote large part of Ben Hur in Palace.

1900.........Palace given up as Capitol, upon completion of new Capitol Building in Santa Fe. Used as

private offices, Post Office.

1909.........Palace became first unit of the newly formed Museum of New Mexico.
224 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Santa Fe Plaza

Santa Fe, New Mexico

NATIONAL REGISTER,

NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK

Significance: The Santa Fe Plaza was for a

number of years the end of the Camino Real.

Annotated History: Castaño de Sosa’s party

may have passed near the future site of the capital on 7 January 1591 while going from Pecos

pueblo to the Tewa pueblos to the north. He

noted passing a river after crossing the mountains; this was probably the Santa Fé River just

northwest of the present city (Hull 1916:324;

Schroeder and Matson 1965:112).

In his 1634 memorial, Fray Benavides reported

that Santa Fé contained some 250 Spaniards and

their wives, families, and servants, a total of

about 1000 people. The original church had

collapsed but Benavides oversaw the building of

a fine replacement (Hodge, Hammond, and Rey

1945:68). In Vetancurt’s 1692 description of prerevolt New Mexico, the area between Santa

Domingo and Santa Fé was depicted as flat and

no settlements were noted between the two.

This seems to indicate that he was thinking of a

route through the Galisteo basin from the Río

Grande to the capital. Vetancurt described an

attractive plaza with some small artillery pieces

and noted that the governor, some soldiers, and

four priests had lived there before the 1680

revolt (Vetancurt 1961:270-271).

On 4 June 1726 Rivera traveled east from El

Pino along the west bank of the Santa Fé river

four leagues until he reached the villa of same

name. He wrote that it was the capital of the

“reino and provincia de la Nueva Mexico,” and

that its population was made up of Spaniards,

mestizos and mulattoes. He stated that it served

as the quarters for the presidio’s 80 soldiers,

whose salaries were paid for by the king (Alessio

Robles 1946:52)

On 24 May 1760 Bishop Tamarón came four

leagues east from the house of El Alamo to

Santa Fé. On 25 May 1760 he visited the principal church, which he described as large, with a

spacious nave and a transept adorned by altars

and altarscreens, all of which he inspected. He

wrote that two Franciscan friars served this

villa. The census showed 379 families of citizens

of Spanish and mixed blood, which totaled 1285

persons. But, since Bishop Tamarón confirmed

1532 persons, he was convinced that the census

was wrong. He also visited a church dedicated

to the Archangel St. Michael. In the plaza,

another church, dedicated to the Most Holy

Mother of Light, was then being built. The chief

founder of this church was the Governor,

Francisco Marín del Valle. Tamarón noted that

all the buildings of Santa Fé were adobe and

that there was no fortress or any formal presidio

building. The garrison consisted of 80 mounted

soldiers.

In his general description, Tamarón wrote

that the villa lay at the foot of a sierra, which

was east of it and ran to the north. He explained

that water was scarce because the Santa Fé

River dried up in the months before harvest.

From Santa Fé Bishop Tamarón visited Pecos,

Galisteo, Tesuque, Nambe, Pojoaque, Picurís,

and Taos (Adams 1953:204-215). 

In 1776 Fray Domínguez described Santa Fé as

the capital of the kingdom and seat of political

and military government and of a royal presidio.

He located it about 700 leagues to the north of

the “great city of Mexico” and wrote that it was

established on a very beautiful site at the foot of

the Sierra Madre, which was not far to the east

of the villa. The church was almost in the center

of the villa, its titular patron “Our Seraphic

Father St. Francis” (Adams and Chávez 1956:12).

Domínguez stated that the location and site of

Santa Fé was as good as he had pictured it, but

that its appearance, design, arrangement and

plan did not correspond to its state as a villa. He

described it as “a rough stone set in fine metal.”

He also compared Santa Fé to quarter of

Tlatelolco in Mexico City and described its

appearance as mournful. His opinion of the

adobe houses was that they were made of earth,

unadorned by “any artifice of brush or construction.” Santa Fé consisted, at the time, of

many small ranchos at various distances from

one another, with no plan as to their location.

There was a semblance of a street, which

extended 400 or 500 varas from the west gate of
Appendix E 225

the cemetery of the parish church. According to

Domínguez, this “street” lacked orderly rows of

houses. He wrote that the harvest of Santa Fé

consisted of wheat, maize, legumes and green

vegetables, and fruits such as melon, watermelon and apricots (Adams and Chávez 1956:39-41).

Lafora arrived in the capital of the kingdom of

New Mexico, on a good road, on 19 August

1766. He reported that a company of 80 men

guarded a population of 2,324, divided among

the families of the 80 soldiers, of 274 Spanish

vecinos, and of 89 Indians of various nations.

He judged the existing fortifications unusable

for defense (Alessio Robles 1939:98). On 15

August 1779, Anza described marching north

from Santa Fé along the Camino Real to the

pueblo of “Pujuaque,” where he and his troop

stayed the night (Thomas 1932:123). By 10

September 1779, Anza and his army had

returned to Santa Fé by way of Taos Pueblo

where they picked up the Camino Real leading

to the capital (Thomas 1932:139).

Zebulon Pike entered the city of Santa Fé as a

prisoner of the Spanish government on 3 March

1807, coming from the north past old Fort

Marcy. He described it as being only three

streets wide and extending for a mile along the

banks of the Río de Santa Fé, which he called a

small creek. In 1895, Elliot Coues also referred

to the Río de Santa Fé as the “Río Chacito.”

Pike contrasted the two magnificent churches

with the modest appearance of the typical

houses. The soldiers were quartered to the

north of the central plaza, which was surrounded by the government palace on the north and,

across from it, the clergy and public officers. He

reported the population of Santa Fé to be 4,500

souls. On the next day, Pike left the capital

heading south down the Santa Fé River to the

Río Grande (Coues 1895:II.604-613).

The German born Wislizenus found Santa Fé

disappointing for a capital when he arrived from

Missouri on 30 June 1846. He reported a population of 3,000 in the city itself and 6,000

including nearby settlements. He said that, aside

from two churches and the Palace of the

Governors, all of the houses were one-story

adobes scattered along “irregular, narrow, and

dusty” streets. He did admire the mountainous

surroundings (Wislizenus 1848:19,28-29).

The Casas Reales, or the Palace of the

Governors, was built in 1610 when Santa Fé was

established. People took refuge in it during the

Indian siege of August 1680. In 1731 it was

recorded that Governor Bustamante had “built

at his own expense the Casas Reales where the

governors reside today” (Adams and Chávez

1956:22). Much of Santa Fé was built between

1610 and 1612. There were later additions,

including a large military compound containing

arsenals, offices, a jail, a chapel, and the governor’s residence and office. The outer walls of

adjoining structures served as the defensive

walls of the compound and enclosed two interior plazas. The dwellings in these two plazas

were three and four stories high (Sánchez

1989:28). The barrio of Analco, across the Río de

Santa Fé from the plaza, was one of the main

genízaro settlements of New Mexico from its

founding at least until the late eighteenth century (Thomas 1932:91-92; Chávez 1979:199).

San Ildefonso Pueblo

New Mexico

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: San Ildefonso has remained an

important pueblo throughout the colonial,

Mexican, and U.S. periods.

Ancestors of the residents of San

Ildefonso came from the ancient community of

Mesa Verde by way of the communities at

Frijoles Canyon (Bandelier National

Monument). The present village began about

the turn of the seventeenth century. As was the

case with most of New Mexico's pueblos, the

San Ildefonso Indians participated in the Pueblo

Revolt.

From 1598 until Santa Fe was established, the Camino Real ran through San

Ildefonso headed for San Juan Pueblo.
226 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Santa Clara Pueblo

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

Significance: Santa Clara has remained an

important pueblo throughout the colonial,

Mexican, and U.S. periods.

Santa Clara Pueblo was constructed early in

the fourteenth century. The Tewa name was

K’hapoo (“where roses grow near the water”).

The people are living descendants of the Puyé

cliff dwellers. The cliff dwellers settled in the

cliffs of the Pajarito Plateau late in the 12th century. The area was abandoned in the 1500s

because of severe drought. The cliff dwellings

are more than a mile long and one to three stories high. The house remains on the mesa top

are believed to have contained more than 1,200

rooms.

San Gabriel

New Mexico

NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

San Gabriel was the site of the first or second

Capitol of Spanish New Mexico. It was established when Juan de Oñate and his colonists

moved out of neighboring San Juan Pueblo

across the Río Grande and moved here, called

by the Indians Yungue. The colonists renamed

it San Gabriel as most of the Indians previously

living there, moved into San Juan Pueblo.What

the Spaniards did was remodel San Gabriel to

their own taste and uses. Like other multistoried

pueblos, Yungue had no doors or windows on

the first floor. That was for protection during

attacks. They climbed ladders to the upper levels and entered the ground floor by descending

through holes in the roof.

In their remodeling, the colonists opened

doors and windows in the lower level. Evidence

of these changes was discovered in 1962 by Ellis

and her students.

Digging also revealed the plan of the old plaza.

In one of its corners were found tracks of two

dogs that had run across the square after a rain. 

Their deep footprints in the mud had dried

and remained preserved for more than 350

years. 

From the historical record, we know next to

nothing of daily life in San Gabriel. It did have a

cabildo, or Spanish-style town council. And it

was also the capital of New Mexico, as mentioned in several documents of the period.

One thing not in doubt is that San Gabriel

survived only a few years. Probably, Oñate soon

realized that there was not enough farmland in

the area to support both the Indians and the

settlers.

Looking around, he chose a new spot, a dozen

leagues to the south, as the location for a new

capital. On a small river, the land was not occupied by any pueblo Indians.

San Juan Pueblo, Yunge-Yunge

New Mexico

NATIONAL REGISTER

Era: 17th, 18th, and 19th Century

San Juan pueblo was existing in 1598 when

Oñate came here and established the first capitol of Spanish New Mexico. First named San

Juan Bautista, it became later known as San Juan

de los Caballeros. In the last quarter of 1598, the

Hispanic colonists temporarily moved into San

Juan , alongside the Indians. Oñate was planning to build a Spanish Town, to be called San

Francisco just south of the pueblo but difficulties caused him to abandon the idea. Instead,

the colonists moved across the Río Grande to a

smaller pueblo named Yungue, which he

renamed San Gabriel. Most of the Indians

vacated the village and took up new homes

inside San Juan.
Appendix F 227

ROUTE SEGMENTS

A DESCRIPTION OF THE CAMINO REAL

IN THE JORNADA DEL MUERTO 

ROBLEDO STUDY AREA

Robledo Road LA 80068, Segment No. 1

This one kilometer long section of the Camino

Real is located in the Radium Springs Arroyo. It

is directly southwest of the Interstate Highway

25. The Camino Real, in this area, follows along

the northern side of Radium Springs Arroyo.

The trail is defined by a broad sandy swale,

eight to ten meters wide and up to two meters in

depth. The road is devoid of vegetation while

mesquite appears in the surrounding area. This

section of the trail is captured by a small arroyo

approximately 200 meters southwest of

Interstate Highway 25 (I-25). 

Robledo Road LA 80068, Segment No. 2

This 500 meters segment of the road crosses

the upper drainage of Radium Springs Arroyo).

A modern two track road joins the old Camino

Real swale in this area. The road is defined by

an obvious swale, eight meters wide and about

one meter in depth. The edges of the roadbed

are cut into the caliche substrate.

Robledo Road LA 80068, Segment No. 3

This 900 meter section of the Camino Real

extends from the crossing of the Radium

Springs Arroyo, across and down a low sandy

ridge. A modern two-track road follows along a

very wide swale in this area. The swale is 12 to 15

meters in width and up to 1.5 meters in depth. 

SAN DIEGO STUDY AREA

The North-South Avenue (LA 80064).

A two kilometer section of the north-south

avenue of the Camino Real was surveyed in the

San Diego area. This section of the Camino Real

is designated as site LA 80064, Segment proveniences Nos. 1 thru 4. The Camino Real runs

parallel to I-25 in the area directly north of the

present U.S. immigration checkpoint and east of

a small rest stop. The survey area extends from

APPENDIX F

HIGH-POTENTIAL ROUTE SEGMENTS

National Trails System Act, SEC. 12. [16USC1251] As used in this Act:

(2) The term “high-potential route segments” means those segments of a trail which would afford

high quality recreation experience in a portion of the route having greater than average scenic values

or affording an opportunity to vicariously share the experience of the original users of a historic route.

Route Segments were identified by Mike Marshall in 1991. His text is used in these descriptions. 

Michael P. Marshall, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, An Archeological Investigation. Santa Fe:

The 1990 New Mexico Historic Preservation Division Survey, 1991.
228 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

the T19S-T20S fence line near “South Tank,”

north two kilometers to the area of an empheral

playa. The Camino Real, in this area, is well

preserved and easily defined in the aerial

imagery.

San Diego North-South, Road Segment No. 1

This segment of the Camino Real extends

across the desert grassland plain, in the area of

South Tank, for a distance of 600 meters north

of the T19S-T20S fence line. The trail is defined

by a swale that is 6 to 8 meters in width. This

swale has a sandy base which is devoid of vegetation, but is fringed by dense growths of

mesquite and yucca. The trail is best defined in

this area by the absence of vegetation. In some

areas, the trail has captured runoff and is a shallow sand-filled arroyo. 

San Diego North-South, Road Segment No. 2

This section of the Camino Real extends 500

meters south from the South Fork or south

river-side avenue. The South Fork avenue

branches northwest from the North-South road

and leads by way of the Paraje San Diego

encampment (San Diego Site No. 1, LA 6346) to

the escarpment edge (north of Detroit Tank),

and down to the river. 

The road extending 500 meters south from

the South Fork junction is a shallow welldefined swale 10 meters in width. Here the road

passes between a mesquite grassland and a creosote community. In some areas, the trail is

defined by a band of mesquite, while in others it

is devoid of vegetation, but fringed by creosote. 

San Diego North-south, Road Segment No. 3

Here, the Camino Real passes along the east

side of an ephemeral pond or playa. This pond

area supports large mesquites, which were no

doubt a firewood source. The road in the area

of this playa is defined by a wide and shallow

swale as well as a low and somewhat scattered

band of mesquite. 

San Diego North-South, Road Segment No. 4

A section of the Camino Real , 200 meters in

length, was examined in the area north of the

playa. The trail is a well- defined swale 10

meters wide with a narrow sandy base. In some

areas, it supports growths of tall grass. In other

areas, exposed carbonate soils form a firm road

base compared to adjacent dunes. 

THE SAN DIEGO SOUTH FORK ROAD 

(LA 80065)

South Fork Road Segment No. 1

This section of the South Fork road extends

from the actual South Fork intersection of the

north-south roadway, 600 meters to the northwest. In this area, the road is defined by a swale,

10 to 15 meters wide, which supports growths of

dense grass and mesquite in a plain which is

populated by scattered mesquite and creosote.

The trail, in some areas, has the appearance of a

wide and shallow drainage. There is also a thin

patina of organic material in the road depression which has accumulated by runoff catchment. This patina of grey organic matter constrasts to the bare reddish clay on the adjacent

plain.

South Fork, Road Segment No. 2

This section of the South Fork road extends

from an angle change at the north end of road

segment No. 1, northwest 300 meters to the I-25

crossing. This section of the trail, which crosses

a creosote flat, is defined by a deep swale (up to

1.0 m below surrounding terrain), 6 to 8 meters

in width. A road cut drainage outlet has been

made into the swale from the dirt road which

parallels I-25 to the east. 

South Fork, Road Segment No. 3

This section of the San Diego South Fork road

extends from I-25 on the south, 800 meters
Appendix F 229

northwest to the Río Grande valley escarpment

edge (Selden Canyon Quadrangle). The road in

this area is a well-defined swale, 10 to 15 meters

wide.The road is defined as a wide shallow

swale and linear void of vegetation in a flat creosote plain. This road segment parallels a modern gravel road that is 100 meters to the east and

the Río Grande valley escarpment, 50 meters to

the west. Both the South Fork and the modern

gravel road join at an arroyo crossing on the

escarpment edge which is the north end of road

segment No. 3.

South Fork, Road Segment No. 4

This section 750 meter section of the San

Diego South Fork road extends from the arroyo

crossing on the Río Grande escarpment edge

(ie. north end of segment No. 3) northwest to

Detroit Tank. The trail, over most of this section, is defined by a 10 meter wide path or shallow swale. It is best defined in this area by vegetative differentiation. The native creosote of the

area has failed to re-vegetate the trail which,

instead, is a linear corridor of snakeweed. The

trailway as it approaches the escarpment arroyo

has been captured by a lateral drainage and is a

deep narrow swale with a sandy floor.

South Fork, Road Segment No. 5

This segment of the South Fork Camino Real

extends from the area of Detroit Tank, one

kilometer west-northwest to the escarpment

edge and road descent into the Río Grande valley (Thorn Well Quadrangle). This section of

the road is not so obvious as road segments 1

through 4. The trail in this area is defined by a

narrow 5 to 6 meter wide swale which crosses a

area of low stablized dunes. The trail is best

defined as a linear void in the creosote. In some

areas, the trail is a narrow and deep track (50 cm

in depth), while in others it is almost obscured

by drifting sands. The narrow and poor definition of trail segment No. 5 is probably due to its

primary use as a stock trail rather than a wagon

road. This section of the South Fork road

approaches and descends the escarpment. It is

known historically that stock were unhitched

from the carts and wagons and were taken

down this road to water at the river.

The actual escarpment edge at the northwest

end of road segment No. 5 is a two meter high

bluff of Carbonate strata, below which is a steep

slope. There is a cut in the bluff edge where the

trail descends. This cut is 4 meters wide and

does not appear to have been developed or

constructed. This is one of the few areas where

descent off the escarpment is possible. The trail

descent is of such an incline as to prevent normal passage by wagons. This is consistent with

the historic use of this section of the trail as a

stock avenue.

THE RINCON ARROYO STUDY AREA

“PARAJE EL PERRILLO”

Rincon Arroyo Road Segment No. 1

This 400 meter section of the trail extends

across the benchland, 600 meters to 1.0 kilometers north of the Rincon Arroyo windmill

(Alivio Map). The north end of the segment is

an eastern lateral arroyo to Barbee Wash. Here,

the Camino Real is defined by a shallow, 4 to 6

meter wide, swale. The trail is best recognized

by the relative absence of creosote brush, scattered artifacts and battered limestone cobbles in

the roadbed. The road swale is captured and

incised by occasional small arroyos which cross

the benchland. On the north end of the segment, the road enters a rather large lateral

arroyo. There is no evidence of developed rampway construction at this crossing, but the

swales, as they enter the wash, are well-defined

and cut by erosion.

Rincon Arroyo Road Segment No. 2

This 350 meter section of the Camino Real

extends across the east benchland of Barbee

Draw north from the Rincon Arroyo windmill.

The trail in this area is difficult to discern from

ground observation, but it is defined by occasional shallow swales and the absence of creosote brush. 
230 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rincon Arroyo Road Segment No. 3

This section of the Camino Real extends 200

meters south from the windmill to the Rincon

Arroyo. There is a swale, 6 to 8 meters in width,

visible where the road enters the north side of

the arroyo. The lower slope and floor of the

arroyo is quite sandy. 

THE POINT OF ROCKS STUDY AREA

THE POINT OF ROCKS ROAD SEGMENTS-LA:

80059

Point of Rocks Road Segment No. 1

A 500 meter long section of the Camino Real

was inspected in the Cerro Bolon area. It

stretches from 300 to 800 meters north of the

Slerra-Dona Ana county line. The road in this

area crosses along the eastern margin of the

Barbee Wash floodplain and the western edge

of the creosote covered alluvial slopes. The

condition of the trail in this area is poor.

Sections of the trail have been inundated by the

floodplain. In other areas, it has been covered

by alluvium from the west slope erosion. The

area is now overgrown with grass and scattered

mesquite and the trail is difficult to discern.

Braided cattle paths also obscure the trail. 

Point of Rocks Road Segment No. 2.

This section of the Camino Real is a 600 meter

long section which extends along the base of the

Point of Rocks ridge escarpment. The road

passes directly below the rocky outcrops of the

ridge and alternately along the edge of the

Barbee Wash floodplain and the west alluvial

slopes. Most of the trail in this area is obscured

by alluviation. Much of the road segment in the

floodplain is an erosional channel, 6 to 8 meters

wide and one to two meters in depth, which

supports dense growths of grass and mesquite.

A double roadbed swale, each four meters wide,

was seen on a shallow arroyo crossing 50 meters

north of the southernmost rock outcrop. A faint

roadway swale was also seen in two areas where

the trail crosses alluvial slopes. 

Point of Rocks Road Segment No. 3

A section of the Camino Real, 300 meters in

length, was examined directly north of the Point

of Rocks escarpment in the area of the Upside

Down Tank. The trail in this area is entirely

within the Barbee Wash floodplain and is

defined by a re-vegetated arroyo.

JORNADA DEL MUERTO 

YOST DRAW STUDY AREA

Yost Road LA 80070, Road Segment No. 1

This southernmost segment of the Camino

Real in the Yost Draw study area is located on

an elevated plain above and south of the Yost

Draw escarpment. The trail in this area is well

defined on the aerial imagery by a sharp lineation. The level gravel-paved surface of the

plain is very stable and the road is well preserved. The 200 meter section of the trail as it

approaches the escarpment from the south, is

defined by a shallow swale, 10 meters in width,

which is mostly devoid of vegetation. This contrasts to the vigorous growths of creosote and

tar brush adjacent to the trail. The trail in this

area is best characterized by the absence of vegetation. Further south on the elevated plain, the

road swale is narrower and deeper (5 meters

wide and up to 50cm in depth). In this section,

due to the capture of runoff water, vegetation is

dense and consists of grasses and mesquite, in

contrast to the adjacent creosote.

Yost Road LA 80070, Road Segment No. 2

In this area, approximately 400 meters north

of the Yost escarpment, the trail passes over a

saddle between two low hills. The trail in this

area is defined by a conspicuous swale, five to

seven meters in width, on an exposed pebble-
Appendix F 231

paved surface. This provenience area is also the

location of an artifact concentration. 

Yost Road LA 80070, Road Segment No. 3

The Provenience No. 3 segment is located in

the wide bottomlands south of the Yost Arroyo.

This area is somewhat alluviated and definition

of the trailway is discontinuous. The trail, in

some areas, is defined by a shallow swale and in

others by the absence of vegetation. In some

areas, there is an open path throuqh the sparse

vegetation of mesquite, tar brush, grasses and

crucifixion thorn.

Yost Road LA 80070, Road Segment No. 4

In this area, the trail enters the alluviated lowlands immediately south of Yost Draw Arroyo.

Here, the roadway veers 200 meters to the west

to pass around the eroded headlands of

entrenched tributary arroyos to Yost Draw.

Most of these entrenched arroyos have

advanced to the east and bisected the trail. The

trail is poorly defined In the alluviated red clay

bottomlands of Yost Draw. A discontinuous

alignment of mesquite can be seen in the aerial

imagery, but the trailway path on the ground is

not visible. No artifacts were observed.

The Yost Draw Crossing LA: 800544 

The Camino Real crossing of Yost Draw

Arroyo was developed by the construction of

earth ramps down the upper embankments.

These ramps were excavated into the walls of

the upper clay embankments on both the north

and south sides of the arroyo. Both ramps are

four meters in width and provide a road grade

to the cobble-strewn arroyo floor. The ramps

are 20 and 30 meters in length and provide an

even grade to the arroyo floor. Some cobble

stones were imported to the south ramp to provide a solid base for the clay roadbed. An exposure of bedrock appears at the base of the north

ramp which provides a solid base for the ascent.

This bedrock exposure is worn in the area of

the roadbed. A low mound of soil and gravel on

the north embankment summit, in the roadbed,

appears to be backfill removed during the north

ramp construction. This suggests that the ramp

was constructed by use of a “Fresno” (a stock

drawn scoop). 

Yost Road LA 80070, Road Segment No. 5

This is a 500 meter section of the Camino Real

which extends north of the Yost Draw lowlands

up slope to an east-west fence line. The trailway

on the slope is defined by a linear arroyo, 5 to 7

meters in width. It is eroded to one meter in

depth. Where the trail approaches the alluviated

lowlands it is obscured. As the trail approaches

the summit of the slope, it is defined by a conspicuous depression and a line of large

mesquites. The trail crosses the east-west fence

line just west of an old gate.

Yost Road LA 80070, Road Segment No. 6

This 600 meter section of the Camino Real

extends across an open upland plain between

the slopes north of Yost Draw and south of a

west tributary of Aleman Wash. This section of

the trail is defined by a conspicuous depression,

6 meters across and 50 cms in depth. This swale

acts as a runoff catchment which has been

enhanced by the construction of small earth

dams across the swale. The water catchment in

the swale has resulted in the growth of tall

mesquite and dense grasses in an area of low

growing mesquite and scattered grass.

Occasional saltbush growths appear along the

trail margin, but not within the swale. Sections

of the road, as it crosses the gravel-paved plain,

have low earth and gravel berms. A few limestone cobbles in this area exhibit battering

marks from the passage of stock and vehicles. 

Yost Road LA 80070, Road Segment No. 7

This 300 meter section of the Camino Real

passes down a series of low hills which form the

south slopes of an eastern tributary of Aleman

Wash. This section of road is defined in the aerial imagery as a very clean hard line. This is
232 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

because the road is devoid of vegetation and

consists of a well defined swale in the gravel

benchland. Here, the road is characterized by a

shallow swale, four to five meters in width, with

occasional roadside berms. The road forms an

open path in an area of otherwise densely covered creosote. Much of the area is gravel and

cobble-strewn and many of the small arroyo

crossings are rather rough. Many of the limestone cobbles in the roadbed exhibit battering

caused by the passage of livestock and vehicles.

Yost Road LA 80070, Road Segment No. 8

In this 200 meters section of the Camino Real,

the trail crosses the grass covered lowlands of a

western tributary of Aleman Draw. Here, the

trail veers to the west to pass around the

entrenched headlands of small arroyos.

Definition of the trail in these lowlands is

obscured but may be discontinuously traced by

a linear growth of mesquite.

Yost Road LA 80070, Road Segment No. 9

This segment of the Camino Real is an

approximate 600 meter section which crosses

the plain between the Aleman Draw and an

eastern tributary to Aleman Draw. On the north

slope of the tributary, the trail is well defined by

an eroded linear swale which is 10 meters in

width and 50cm to 1.0m in depth. In one area, a

100 meter long double or parallel road segment

is present. The road is also closed by small

earthen dams that were constructed to control

erosion and hold runoff water. The trail in the

area above the cross dams is defined by a tall

linear growth of mesquite.

Yost Road LA 80070, Road Segment No. 10

This section of the Camino Real is the 900

meter south approach to Aleman Wash. The

trail, as it passes over the south plain to Aleman

Ranch, is defined by a subtle and discontinuous

swale and a linear scatter of artifacts. There is a

definite increase in the density of trail associated artifacts as the road approaches the Aleman

Wash.

JORNADA LAKE STUDY AREA

DESCRIPTION OF THE JORNADA LAKE

ROAD

Jornada Lake LA 71819, Road Segment No. 1

Road segment No. 1 is a 400 meter section of

the Camino Real which crosses an open grassland that divides the south playa of Engle Lake

and an eastern tributary of Jornada Draw. The

trail in this area is defined by a wide shallow

swale, 12 to 20 meters in width and 50cm in

maximum depth. The swale area supports

growths of mesquite which form a linear path

across the otherwise grassland plain. In some

areas the trail swale is difficult to trace, but the

path of the trail is well defined by a linear

growth of mesquite. In some areas the road is

bare, in contrast to the adjacent grassland.

Runoff catchment in the road swale is evident

by moisture cracks and a patina of organic matter.

Jornada Lake LA 71919, Road Segment No. 2

Provenience No. 2 is an approximate 200

meter section of the trail which extends down

the north slope of an eastern tributary drainage

to Jornada Draw. In this area, shallow arroyos

have formed along the path of the road. In one

area, where the trail crosses a section of hard

caliche soil, there are two distinct and parallel

swales, each about six meters wide and separated by a berm five meters in width. The eroded

swales vary from 50cm to 1.0 m in depth. The

presence of a double road track here is probably

due to the erosion and abandonment of the

older road and to the passage of vehicles on the

bypass avenue. The path of the Camino Real as

it enters the lowlands of the eastern tributary

drainage is obscured by alluviation. It is in this

area that the trail crosses the railroad tracks and

the county road.

Jornada Lake LA 71818, Road Segment No. 3

Provenience No. 3 is a one kilometer segment

of the trail which extends southeast from the
Appendix F 233

A013 county road crossing. The trail is not especially visible on the aerial imagery, since only

occasional mesquites grow along the path. A

rather obvious road swale, however, was

observed in the survey. This swale is six to eight

meters in width and 25cm to 50cm. in depth.

The compact sandy sediments along this section

of the trail appear to be rather stable, hence the

good preservation of the road.

Jornada Lake LA 71818, Road Segment No. 4

This segment of the trail extends across an

open plain directly south of an east-west two

track road. This open plain has a sand and carbonate pebbled substrate. Definition of the trail

in this area is very faint and was traced by the

projection of the alignments visible on the aerial

photograph north and south of the area. 

Jornada Lake LA 71818, Road Segment No. 5

This 600 meter segment of the Camino Real is

defined by a vegetative lineation in the aerial

imagery. This segment crosses an open grassland plain with low stabilized dune hummocks.

A well defined swale is present which is six

meters in width and 25cm in depth. This swale

acts as a catchment area and fosters a vigorous

growth of mesquite and grasses. It is the linear

growth of mesquite that defines the aerial alignment. In one bottomland crossing, the trail is

defined by a linear path of tall grass. In another

short segment, the trail has been captured by an

arroyo. 

Jornada Lake LA 71818, Road Segment No. 6

In this 100 meter section, along the north side

of a dune field, the Camino Real road has a positive topographic expression. A linear mound

about 6-8 meters wide and up to one meter in

elevation is stabilized by mesquite and grasses.

The area adjacent to the mound is deflated by

wind action. Apparently the trail area was once

a swale stabilized by vegetation. As such, it

resisted subsequent aeolian deflation.

Jornada Lake LA 71818, Road Segment No. 7

This 600 meter section of the Camino Real

enters a wind swept dune field. The area consists of a series of tall stabilized dune hummocks

interconnected by deflated blow-outs. The

road alignment is not visible on the aerial

imagery nor could roadway definition be made

on the ground. The projected alignment of the

trail was inspected. The road apparently crossed

the dune field through a maze of interconnected

blow-outs. 

Jornada Lake LA 71818, Road Segment No. 8

This one kilometer segment of the Camino

Real extends north of Jornada Draw arroyo.

Definition of the road in this area is generally

poor. Here the road crosses an open plain and

extends north into a dune field. More mesquite

is present in the road than in the surrounding

terrain, but this is difficult to discern from

ground observation. A slight road swale, occasional battered limestone cobbles define the

trail corridor.

Jornada Lake LA 71818, Road Segment No. 9

This 500 meter section of the Camino Real

extends from Jornada Draw arroyo on the north

to a modern east-west road on the south. This

section of the Camino Real is defined in the

aerial imagery as a vegetative lineation. The trail

is difficult to trace on the ground and in some

areas, is defined by a wide grassy area framed by

mesquite. No road swale was observed along

this section.

Jornada Lake LA 71818, 

Road Segment No. 10

This 400 meter section of the Camino Real

extends from an east-west road on the north to

Hackberry Draw arroyo on the south. The road

is defined in the aerial photography as a lineation of mesquite. Ground survey revealed

only a subtle and shallow swale crossing an area

of low dunes.
234 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRPAHY

Jornada Lake LA 71818, Road 

Segment No. 11

This 300 meter segment of the Camino Real

extends from Hackberry Draw arroyo on the

north, south into a dune field. This section of

the trail is defined in the aerial imagery as a distinct line of vegetation. Ground survey revealed

a shallow swale 10 to 15 meters in width. There is

a line of mesquite in the road with yuccas lining

the trail edge. The Hackberry Draw bottomlands and arroyo would have proved difficult

for wagon traffic during the rainy season. It is

today a wide grassy floodplain with an incised

arroyo channel. 

THE ENGLE LAKE NORTH AND SOUTH

STUDY AREAS

JORNADA DEL MUERTO

THE ENGLE LAKE NORTH STUDY AREA

Engle Lake North Road LA 80067, 

Segment No. 1

This one kilometer segment of the Camino

Real extends north from the north Engle Lake

playa to the area of Road Segment No. 2. This

section of the trail is defined in the aerial

imagery as a linear concentration of mesquite.

Here, the road crosses a sandy grassland with

occasional mesquite hummocks. The road is

visible as a shallow and discontinuous swale 4 to

6 meters wide. Much of the roadbed is filled

with sand and is re-vegetated. The linear pattern of mesquite, conspicuous in the aerial

imagery, is difficult to discern on the ground. A

light scatter of artifacts was found along the

trail. The road is entrenched on the slope as it

approaches the north Engle Lake playa for a

distance of about 200 meters. The margin of the

playa is very alluviated and the road around the

playa is buried in silt.

Engle Lake North Road LA 80067, 

Segment No. 2 (The Cross Roads)

The Engle Lake North No. 2 road segment is

located 2.5 km northwest of Engle, New Mexico

and 1.3 km. north of the north Engle playa.

Here, the Camino Real trail crosses an old road

leading northwest from Engle Station to an

unknown (possible Fort McRae) destination.

Both of the roads at this crossing are very

eroded and are defined by linear entrenchments

which are very conspicuous in the aerial

imagery. Both roadbed arroyos are 10 to 12

meters in width and one to two meters in depth.

A series of large earthen check dams have been

constructed, at interval, across both roads. A

check dam has been constructed at the actual

cross roads. This eroded area extends along a 1.5

kilometer section of the Camino Real north of

the Cross Roads. This area is an open grassland

with a white clay-caliche soil. 

Engle Lake Road North LA 80067, 

Segment No. 3

This 700 meter section of the Camino Real

trail is deeply entrenched and is, today, a linear

arroyo across which have been constructed

arroyo control check dams. The trail has been

eroded to a depth of one to two meters. It is 8 to

10 meters in width, with lateral eroded slopes on

either side up to 10 meters wide. The trail is furthermore defined by a linear growth of

mesquite and yucca in an otherwise grassland

plain. Occasional plated clay sediments on the

road surface are exposed along the upper edge

of the entrenchment.

Engle Lake North Road LA 80067, 

Segment No. 4

This 300 meter section of the Camino Real

appears directly south of a vineyard which is

located four kilometers north of State Highway

52. The road in this area is a shallow swale, 12 to

15 meters in width, which forms a shallow

course leading south toward the entrenched

section of road segment No. 3. Occasional large
Appendix F 235

mesquite and yuccas, which are not present on

the adjacent grassland plain, grow in the road. 

Engle Lake North Road LA 80067, 

Segment No. 5

This section of the Camino Real is located

approximately four kilometers north of the

north Laguna Del Muerto playa. The segment

extends from the north boundary of a vineyard,

550 meters northwest, to the vineyard road. The

Camino Real in this area is defined by a distinct

swale which fosters a linear growth of mesquite

and yucca. The trail is 6 meters in width and has

wide lateral s1opes 8 to 10 meters in width. 

Engle Lake North Road LA 80067, 

Segment No. 6

This 500 meter segment of the Camino Real

trail is located in the area of a vineyard warehouse, approximately 5.5 kilometers northwest

of Engle, New Mexico. The segment extends

from the north-south road to the vineyard

warehouse, east of the warehouse to an eastwest two track road. The Camino Real in this

area is defined by a single swale, 10 meters in

width and 50cm in depth. The trail is well

defined by a dense linear growth of tall yucca

and mesquite in an open grassland plain. Water

catchment in the trail promotes the growth of

desert holy which is otherwise absent from the

adjacent grassland.

Enqle Lake North Road LA 80067, 

Segment No. 7

This 700 meter section of the Camino Real is

located in the area approximately 1.5 kilometers

west of Cedar Lake. The segment extends from

an east-west track north of a green vineyard

warehouse to a low hill top and Engle Lake

locality No. 2. Part of the trail crosses the east

slope of a low hill and is defined by a shallow

swale, 9 to 10 meters in width, which is cut into

the slope. Carbonate gravels are exposed in this

road cut and in a narrow 1.0 m wide berm on

the opposite road bank. The road is devoid of

the mesquite and yucca vegetation which is

scattered in the adjacent plain. The relative

absence of vegetation on the trail in this area is

apparently due to the exposed carbonate substrate.

Engle Lake North Road LA 80067, 

Segment No. 8

This 500 meter section of the Camino Real

trail is located in an open grassland plain where

the road begins to trend east toward the railroad

grade. The road in this area is defined by a shallow swale, 8 to 10 meters in width. In some

areas, carbonate gravels are exposed on the

upper west road slope and in a narrow berm on

the west. Occasional battered limestone cobbles

were observed in the road. These cobbles were

battered as a result of impact by stock and

wagon traffic. There is some differentiation of

the trail avenue by mesquite growths.

Engle Lake North Road LA 80067, 

Segment No. 9

This 600 meter section of the Camino Real is

located in an open grassland plain where the

road parallels (200 meters to the west) the railroad. The road in this area is difficult to follow.

Where it is visible, it is defined by a shallow

swale. The soil is sandy. 

ENGLE LAKE SOUTH SURVEY AREA

ENGLE LAKE SOUTH ROAD SEGMENTS,

LA 80066

Engle Lake South Playa, Road Sequent No. 1

This 700 meter long road segment is located

west of “Engle Lake”, which is the south playa

of the Laguna Del Muerto. This segment is 1.6

kilometers southwest of Engle, New Mexico.

The area north of this segment has been

destroyed by a vineyard for a distance of one
236 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

kilometer north to State Highway 52.

The Camino Real in this provenience crosses

an exposed and eroded plain and is poorly

defined. This area is a wide zone of exposed

soils, 50 to 100 meters in width. In some areas,

there is a wide grassy swale, 20 to 40 meters,

which is the probable road area. 

Engle Lake South Playa, Road Segment No. 2

This 650 meter section of the Camino Real

represents the southern approach to the south

playa of the Laguna del Muerto. The trail proceeds down the north slope of a low hill to the

Engle Lake arroyo drainage. The trail in this

area is vegetatively differentiated by a dense

band of mesquite growing in the trail in an otherwise open grassland plain. This linear band of

mesquite can be seen crossing the hill from

State Highway 52 to the south. The trail in this

area is defined by a swale, 12 to 15 meters in

width and 50cm in depth. A few battered limestone cobbles were observed in the road. Near

the summit of the hill, exposed Carbonate soils

appear along the edge of the road.

Engle Lake South Playa, Road Segment No. 3

This one kilometer section of the Camino

Real crosses the hill crest and open grassland

plain south of the Engle Lake Playa. This road

segment on the south joins with the

Provenience No. 1 segment of the Jornada Lake

study area. The south end of the segment is the

south boundary of the Armendaris Land Grant.

There is a scattered band of mesquite visible

along the trail in the aerial imagery, however the

trail is best defined, from ground observation, as

a wide shallow swale. The road is 10 to 12 meters

in width and 25 to 50cm in depth. Carbonate

gravels are exposed in road, while the adjacent

plain is covered by grasses. 

JORNADA DEL MUERTO

DOCKER POND STUDY AREA

Crocker Pond Road LA 80069, Segment No. 1

This southernmost road segment of the

Crocker Pond study area is a 100 meter section

which ascends a low ridge southwest of the

south Crocker playa. Here, the road is cut into

the eastern slope of the ridge, exposing a path of

carbonate gravels.The trail is 8 meters in width

and 50cm to 1.0 m in depth. 

Crocker Pond Road LA 80069, Segment No. 2

A 200 meter segment of the Camino Real

which passes west of the south Crocker playa is

designated as Road Segment No. 2. This road

section is crossed by numerous small arroyos

leading down to the playa and is eroded. The

trail is poorly defined and is recognized only on

the basis of concentrated vegetation (mostly

grass). 

Crocker Pond Road LA 80069, Segment No. 3

This section of the Camino Real extends from

the crossing of the powerline at power pole No.

654, approximately 300 meters to the southwest.

The trail in this area is defined by a welldefined swale six meters wide and 50cm in

depth. Carbonate pebbles are exposed along the

edges of the road bed. 

Crocker Pond Road LA 80069, Segment No. 4

This 400 meter segment of the Camino Real is

located west of the north Crocker playa and

extends from the power line north to an eastwest road crossing. The trail is defined by a

swale, eight meters wide and 25cm to 50cm in

depth, which crosses an open sandy area. There

is no conspicuous vegetative differentiation of

the trail in this area. 
Appendix F 237

Crocker Pond Road LA 80069, Segment No. 5

This 300 meter long segment of the Camino

Real crosses an open grassland plain. It is poorly

defined and consists of a very shallow swale

eight to ten meters wide. This section of the trail

is somewhat difficult to follow from ground

observation. A battered limestone cobble, from

stock traffic, was observed in the trail. A possible southwest branch road may join the Camino

Real in this area. Aerial imagery of this section

should be consulted.

Crocker Pond Road LA 80069, Segment No. 6

This 400 meter segment of the Camino Real

extends north across the summit of a low hill in

an open grassland and ends on the upper edge

slope of the hill. From this hill the first sight

north to Black Hill and the Red Lake drainage

system can be made. This is also the first view

north along the Camino of San Pascualito and

San Mateo mountains. It was from this location

that travelers coming up from the south first

caught sight of New Mexico and the Piro

Province. The trees of Tucson Springs (Ojo de

Anaya) can also been seen on the distant plains

to the northeast.

The trail in this area is defined by a wide (15 to

17m) shallow swale. Scattered mesquite appears

along either side of the trail while grasses and

snakeweed grow in the road. 

Crocker Pond Road LA 80069, Segment No. 7

This segment of the Camino Real extends for

a distance of 300 meters down the north slope

of a hill and into a dune area. It ends on the

north at the railroad tracks. The road is defined

by an eroded path ten meters in width. The road

on the upper hill slope is defined by an eroded

swale which is cut into the Carbonate gravels.

On the lower hill slope, the road enters an area

of low dunes and is defined as a wide sandy

arrroyo.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE CAMINO REAL IN

THE BOSQUE DEL APACHE

THE BOSQUE DEL APACHE

Description of The Bosque Del Apache Road

Road survey in the Bosque Del Apache study

area was restricted to those alignments visible in

the USFWS infrared imagery. A total of 13 road

segments were investigated and are described in

the following the notes. All of the road segments

that were identified in the Bosque Del Apache

study area are designated as components of the

LA 80057 road complex.

The North Boundary Provenience, 

Bosque Road Segment No. 1

An old road alignment is visible on the aerial

imagery approximately 600 meters south of the

north Bosque boundary and 50 to 100 meters

east of the present east road. This alignment

extends for a distance of 300 meters and joins

the present east road on the north and an the

south. The alignment is defined in the aerial

imagery as a sharp, narrow and sinuous lineation. The road path on the ground is

extremely subtle, despite the excellent definition in the aerial imagery. The alignment is

located in a dune environment with large

mesquite hummocks and blow-outs. The dunes

have, in many areas, reclaimed the road. In

some locations, there is an absence of large

brush in the track while large mesquite and saltbrush appear marginal to the alignment. It is

apparently this bare vegetative cover which

gives the alignment such excellent definition in

the aerial imagery. No artifacts were observed.

The New Hacksaw Well Alignments 

Two old road alignments are located in the

New Hacksaw Well area, approximately 1.6

kilometers south of the north Bosque Del

Apache boundary. Both alignments are obviously older paths for the present east side road.
238 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

One alignment is located north of the well

(Bosque Road Segment No. 2) and east of the

present road. It is four meters in width and

extends for a north-south distance of 500

meters. This road segment is located on the

upper bench slope and edge, about 50 meters

east of the existing road.

Another alignment (Bosque Road Segment

No. 3) is located south of Hacksaw Well and

west of the present road. This segment extends

for a distance of 200 meters. This road is a four

meter wide depression which is characterized

mostly by the absence of vegetation. Saltbrush

lines path, but is not present in the road. No

artifacts were found along either of the New

Hacksaw Well road segments.

The Army Well Alignments 

Two well-defined parallel and linear alignments cut across a bench point for approximately one kilometer in the area of Army Well

(San Antonio SE 7.5 Minute Quadrangle). The

present east bank road follows the bench point

along the edge of the river valley. The older

alignment cuts across the point through an area

of low dunes. The alignments are parallel and 75

meters apart. The west alignment is defined by a

conspicuous swale which is, in many areas,

devoid of vegetation. This path appears to be of

recent 20th century vintage. The east path,

although very well defined in the aerial imagery,

has been re-stabilized and is defined by a subtle

vegetative alignment. The east path probably

has some antiquity and was apparently last used

during the 19th century.

The east parallel road (Bosque Road Segment

No. 4) may be a section of the Camino Real

Trail. The segment crosses a stabilized dune

field and is filled with sand. It is substantially

re-vegetated. Where a road depression is discernable, it is eight meters in width. The alignment visible on the infra-red imagery is primarily the result of vegetative differentiation. This

differentiation is subtle and is defined by dense

growths of Dalea scoparia in the roadbed. Also,

the saltbrush and the tall vegetation that is along

the roadside is not present in the road. No artifacts were found along this sandy section of

road, except for a single hole-in-top can near

the north end.

The west parallel road (Bosque Road Segment

No. 5) appears to be a 20th century automobile

road. This road is defined by a conspicuous

swale which is four to five meters wide and

50cm to l.0m in depth. The road is defined in

many areas by the total absence of vegetation .

Artifacts observed along the alignment include;

narrow mouth oil cans, beer bottle glass, white

glass and beer or soda cans opened with a can

opener. This alignment is an automobile road

which was apparently used up to the 1940’s and

1950’s.

The Bosque Crossing Alignments 

A group of old roadbed alignments were

inspected along and adjacent to the present

Bosque west road in the area west of Antelope

Well. These alignments appear at the seasonal

river crossing to the west bank of the Bosque

Del Apache, hence the name Bosque Crossing.

Four road provenience alignments were examined in this area, two of which are along the

present roadbed.

The Bosque Road Segment No. 6 location is

defined by three parallel roadbeds. The eastern

alignment is also the present road. There are

two older road swales in this area parallel and

west of the present road. Each of the roads are

defined swales four meters in width and 50cm

in depth. Three meter wide berms separate the

roadbeds. Large Tornillo-Screw Bean trees, 3 to

6 meters in height, are present in both of the

western alignments, suggesting that they were

abandoned some time ago. There is a separate

linear growth of tamarisk along the swales in the

south alignment area. The parallel road alignments in this area are preserved in the compact

clay-loam of the valley edge floor. No artifacts

were found. These parallel alignments indicate

that the old east side road was in the area of the

present road. It is probable that these alignments are of least Territorial affinity and that

they represents sections of the Camino Real

Trail.
Appendix F 239

The provenience No. 7 alignment is located in

the south Bosque Crossing area and extends for

a distance of approximately one kilometer. The

alignment is defined by a fine clean lineation in

the aerial imagery. It crosses the existing roadway and enters and crosses a section of the

floodplain-tamarisk bosque. The alignment is

defined on the ground surface by the relative

absence of sage vegetation and by a linear path

of snakeweed. A subtle swale is visible, especially adjacent to the floodplain crossing, which is

four meters in width. The alignment crosses a

small peninsula of the floodplain for a distance

of 200 meters. It is visible in aerial imagery and

on the ground in the tamarisk and cottonwood

bosque. The only artifact found along the alignment is a yellow crock fragment which was seen

near the north end of the alignment.

The provenience No. 8 alignment in the

Bosque Crossing area is located within the

existing east-side road. The segment is directly

south of the eastern junction track to Antelope

Well. For approximately 300 meters, the existing road is very entrenched and appears to have

considerable antiquity. Here, the road is a

trough two meters in depth and four meters in

width. The depth of this road indicates that this

pathway has been used for a considerable period of time.

The provenience No. 9 Bosque road segment

exists parallel to and east of the present road. It

extends for a distance of approximately one

kilometer. The alignment is well defined in

some areas by the absence of sage, while other

areas the alignment is re-vegetated. In some

areas, a shallow swale four meters in width is

visible. No artifacts were found along this segment.

The Low Mountain 

This 200 meters long lineation (Bosque Road

Segment No. 10) is located parallel and east of

the existing roadbed. It represents a braided

segment of the existing road which is located in

an area of dunes. The road is a well defined,

swale four meters in width, which is filled with

sand. No artifacts were found. This is an older

avenue for the present road. The Camino Real

in this area appears to have been located along

the avenue of the present road.

The San Pascual Pueblo Alignments

A discontinuous alignment of three old

roadbed proveniences, visible in the area of San

Pascual Pueblo (LA 487), was surveyed. In this

area, an old roadbed exists to the east of and

incorporates sections of the existing road. This

road also enters the area of San Pascual Pueblo

and passes its eastern roomblocks.

The Bosque Road Segment No. 11 alignment is

located in an area of stabilized dunes and blowouts north of the San Pascual Pueblo. This

alignment, visible in the aerial imagery, extends

for a distance of 300 meters. The alignment is

disturbed on the north by a canal construction.

The roadbed is defined by a shallow four meter

wide swale which is bordered in some areas by

two narrow roadside berms. In other areas, it is

a six meter wide swale which passes between

large mesquite hummocks. No artifacts were

found.

The Bosque Road Segment No. 12 alignment is

a well defined linear swale which is located in

the area of San Pascual Pueblo. Here, the road

passes on a north-south orientation in the plaza

area between roomblocks one and two. The

road is defined by a swale, 8 meters in width and

50cm to 1.0m in depth. This alignment is visible

for a distance of 300 meters. On the south, it

joins the present roadbed. On the north, it is

captured by an arroyo extending directly below

the pueblo.

The Bosque Road Segment No. 13 is a 350

meter alignment located south of San Pascual

Pueblo. Near the north end of the alignment the

road is cut by a deep arroyo, which suggests that

the road has some antiquity. The road south of

alignment is also invaded by a linear arroyo

drainage. A late 19th-early 20th century homestead is present on the bench edge west of the

alignment. South of the arroyo, the alignment is

defined by subtle swale passing between a series

of mesquite hummocks. The present road exists
240 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

to the east of the alignment and passes around

and east of the arroyo head.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE CAMINO REAL IN

SANTA FE-LA BAJADA

THE JUANA LOPEZ-SAN FELIPE ROAD

Juana Lopez-San Felipe Alternate of the

Camino Real

The Juana Lopez-San Felipe Road is a major

alternate of the Camino Real which extended

from the area of La Cienega south to San Felipe

Pueblo. This avenue was the major bypass of the

Los Bocas Canyon and La Bajada escarpment

roads. The road left La Cienega and passed

south, across the western plains of the Los

Cerrillos range, to the edge of the La Bajada

escarpment. It then descended the La Bajada

escarpment, crossed the Galisteo drainage, and

proceeded southwest over the plains to San

Felipe.

This alternate avenue of the Camino Real was

probably developed sometime during the late

Colonial or Mexican period. It may have been

opened by Santa Fe traders in order to bypass

the rough wagon road through Las Bocas

canyon. The road was well established by the

time of the American invasion in 1846 and it was

the route used by General Kearny and the

American Army (1886 testimony of Miguel

Naravis and Nazario Gonzales, Mesita de Juana

Lopez Land Grant Papers). The road is indicated on the Abert and Peck 1846 map and on the

H. Kern 1850 map. It is also marked on the

Wheeler 1877 map which illustrates a telegraph

line following the avenue. Sections of the road

along the La Bajada descent and the Galisteo

crossing were improved by the U.S. Corps of

Topographical Engineers in 1857 and 1858.

The Juana Lopez-San Felipe road was probably abandoned when tne La Bajada escarpment

road, north of Santa Fe Canyon, was improved

around 1903 or before. Survey along approximately 12 kilometers of the Juana Lopez road

has failed to reveal any signs that it was ever

used by automobile traffic.

There is ample evidence of Territorial use

along the Juana Lopez-San Felipe road, but

there is no indication of Colonial period use. It

should be noted, however, that evidence of

Colonial utilization along other sections of the

Camino Real is often very limited. The earliest

use of the Juana Lopez-San Felipe road is as yet

undetermined, but it was clearly a well established road by 1846. The road may have been

first used for interstate wagon traffic during the

Mexican Period by the Santa Fe traders.

The Cerro de la Cruz Study Area of the Juana

Lopez Road

The Cerro de la Cruz road is a northern

extension of the Juana Lopez study area. This

section is the south approach and entrance to

the La Cienega valley. Only a short section of

this road, in the Cerro de La Cruz area, has been

subject to survey. If additional surveys of alternate roads in the La Cienega area are completed

they should be appended to this study area. In

this study, a one kilometer section of the road

on the plain west of Cerro de La Cruz was completed. There are three road segments identified

in the study area from State Highway 22 north

to its crossing with Interstate 25 at the La

Cienega overpass-ex it.

This section of the Camino Real is welldefined in the aerial imagery. Entrenchment and

re-vegetation of the road alignments in the 1935

imagery indicates that the road has considerable

antiquity.

An eastern branch joins the road at the arroyo

crossing northwest of Cerro de la Cruz. This

east road probably led to the Galisteo Road and

may have continued east to the Pecos Road and

the Santa Fe Trail.
Appendix F 241

Cerro de la Cruz Road LA 80016, 

Segment No. 1

This section of the road extends for a distance

of 500 meters across the grassland plain below

and west of Cerro de la Cruz. The road, for a

distance of 200 meters north of State Highway

22, consists of a well-defined swale, 10 meters in

width and 50 cm in depth. It is vegetatively differentiated by growths of junipers in the road,

two to three meters high. There is also a higher

density of cholla in the roadbed. In the area 200

to 500 meters north of Highway 22, the road

diverges into three parallel swales. These tracks

are four to five meters wide and are separated

by distinct berms two to three meters in width. 

Cerro de la Cruz Road LA 80016, 

Segment No. 2

This section of Juana Lopez road is located at

an arroyo crossing northwest of the Cerro de la

Cruz. Three parallel roads cross the plain below

Cerro de la Cruz and diverge into an eastern

branch road and two alternate arroyo crossings.

The branch road probably joins the old Santa Fe

to Galisteo Road (identified as the Camino de

Galisteo in the 1766 Urrutia Map), or it leads

further east to the Pecos Road and the Santa Fe

Trail. This eastern branch road has not been

subject to survey. However, the entrenched and

re-vegetated signature of the road on the SCS

1935 imagery suggests that it has considerable

antiquity.

The arroyo crossing northwest of Cerro de la

Cruz is deeply entrenched and steep banks now

exist at the former road crossings. It is evident

that this entrenchment began during the use of

the road, as there is a bypass alternate. Erosion

of the arroyo has, however, continued east and

the alternate bypass is also now cut by deep

embankments. 

Cerro de La Cruz Road LA 80016, 

Segment No. 3

This 300 meter section of the Juana Lopez

road leads northwest from the Cerro de la Cruz

arroyo up, a ridge slope to the present area of

the La Cienega I-25 Overpass. The lower section of the road is eroded and consists of a long

linear arroyo. The road follows a narrow valley

floor. Near the upper ridge crest, it is defined by

a shallow swale with two narrow erosional

channels. These channels were apparently cut

into the tracks of the wagon road.

THE JUANA LOPEZ STUDY AREA

A four kilometer section of the Juana LopezSan Felipe road was surveyed in the area parallel

and east of Interstate Highway 25. The Camino

Real, within the Juana Lopez study area, is a

well defined avenue. 

A total of 10 well defined road segments were

identified in the archeological survey. This site

appears to have been established in the late 19th

century and was occupied only during the last

stage of the Juana Lopez road use. The artifact

assemblage from the site indicates a post railroad period occupation while the Juana Lopez

road assemblage indicates an earlier Territorial

Period use. The LA 80001 casa-corral is probably part of the La Bonanza community rather

than the famous Pino’s Ranch (ie. Pino’s Ranch

was a common rest stop along this section of the

Camino Real).

The Juana Lopez road, as it crosses the plains

west of the Cerrillos range and above the La

Bajada escarpment, is a well-defined avenue

that obviously saw considerable wagon road

use. In many areas, it is defined by two, three

and even four parallel swales, each 4 to 6 meters

wide. As the road approaches drainage areas, it

is usually a single wide path 15 to 23 meters in

width. There is a road by-pass at the Juana

Lopez arroyo crossing to avoid an entrenched

section of the drainage. At the Arroyo Yupa

crossing there is a cut and fill roadbed construction on the south approach. 

Juana Lopez Road LA 80012, Segment No. 1

This section of the Camino Real is located on

the north slope of Alamo Creek Arroyo. The

segment is parallel to and 200 meters east of
242 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Interstate Highway 25. It extends from State

Highway 22, southwest 700 meters, to the

Alamo Creek. This road crosses an open grassland plain and is defined, over most of the section, by three parallel tracks. The road depressions vary in width from 4 to 6 meters and are

25 cm to 75 cm in depth. There is no obvious

vegetative differentiation in this area. The road

crosses the floor of Alamo Creek directly east of

the Alamo Creek casa-corral site (LA:80001).

The Alamo Creek casa-corral is a late 19th century settlement.

Juana Lopez Road LA 80012, Segment No. 2

This 300 meter section of the Camino Real

extends up the south slope of Alamo Creek and

across the grassland ridge between Arroyo

Alamo and Arroyo Juana Lopez. The road on

the ridge top between the arroyos is defined by

a wide (12-15m) shallow swale. On the south

slope leading into Alamo Arroyo, there are multiple swales over a path 20 meters in width. 

Juana Lopez Road LA 80012, Segment No. 3

This section of the Camino Real is the 100

meter crossing of the Juana Lopez Arroyo.

Crossing the Juana Lopez required an angle

change in the Camino Real to avoid an

entrenched section of the arroyo. Here, the

road crosses the arroyo immediately east of a

deep bedrock trough. The actual arroyo crossing is in a shallow sandy area and did not

require roadway development. As the road

approaches the Juana Lopez Arroyo it becomes

a joined double swale. The main road is 6

meters across and eroded to 1.0 meter in depth.

A parallel and contiguous upper road, apparently used after the erosion of the lower road, is

4 meters wide and 50 cm in depth. 

Juana Lopez Road LA 80012, Segment No. 4

This segment of the Camino Real is a 350

meter section which extends across the grassland plain between the Juana Lopez and the

Yupa Arroyo drainages. The road is defined by

a wide (15 to 20 m) and shallow (25 cm) swale.

The trail, in this area, is without vegetative differentiation. 

Juana Lopez Road LA 80012, Segment No. 5

Provenience No. 5 of the Mesita Juana Lopez

road is a 150 meter segment which is located on

the north slope of the Yupa Arroyo. In this area,

the road makes a sharp western curve to provide a gentle grade to the Yupa Arroyo crossing.

The road flanks an east-west trending ridge,

cuts across the west end of the ridge slope and

enters Yupa Arroyo. The road is defined by a

single swale, 6 to 8 meters in width. A few cobble stones appear in the roadbed directly above

and north of the arroyo. These cobble stones

were apparently placed in the roadbed to provide a firm base for traffic ascending the north

arroyo grade. 

Juana Lopez Road LA 80012, Segment No. 6

This section of the Camino Real is a 100 meter

segment of the road as it approaches and enters

the south slope of Yupa Arroyo. As the road

descends into Yupa Arroyo, it appears to have a

cut bank and an earth filled roadbed. A deepcut arroyo, directly east of the road, may have

been the former eroded roadbed. Examination

of the exposed roadbed section in the adjacent

arroyo revealed a clay-plated soil structure in

the upper strata. This plated soil is the result of

compaction caused by the passage of wagons

and livestock on the road. Examination of the

exposed banks nearby, but outside of the road,

failed to reveal this plated soil structure.

Juana Lopez Road LA 80012, Segment No. 7

This section of the Camino Real trail extends

for a distance of about 500 meters across a

grassland plain south of Yupa Wash and north

of an unnamed arroyo. The trail in this provenience crosses south into the Mesita Juana

Lopez Land Grant. The Camino Real, south of

this boundary, is defined by a wide (15 to 20 m)

shallow swale. The trail to the north of the

boundary crosses a gentle western slope.
Appendix F 243

Juana Lopez Road LA 80012, Segment No. 8

(The White Arroyo).

This 300 meter section of the Camino Real is

defined by a group of three parallel and substantially eroded roadbeds. These roads lead

down the north slope of a grassland plain into

an unnamed arroyo. The roadbeds are 4 to 5

meters in width and are entrenched to a depth

of 1.5 meters. The white soils exposed in the

eroded roadbed are defined as three conspicuous white scars in the aerial imagery. Rock erosion control alignments have been placed across

the upper south ends of these roads. 

Juana Lopez Road LA 80012, Segment No. 9

This 500 meter section of the Camino Real

extends across the open grassland plain of the

Mesita Juana Lopez. The trail in this area is represented by four parallel road swales.

Occasional juniper trees, two to three meters

high, grow in the roads. The trail avenues range

from 6 to 6 meters wide and are 50 cm to 1.0m

in depth. These four parallel roads form a wide

corrugated path, 100 meters in width

Juana Lopez Road LA 80012, Segment No. 10

This 500 meter section of the Camino Real

extends across the plain northwest from the

powerline crossing. The trail is defined by three

parallel avenues which diverge into four

avenues as they joins the Provenience No. 9

segment. The roads are 6 to 8 meters wide and

50 cm in depth. A branch road to the northeast

diverges from the Camino Real in this area. This

branch road joins the southeast alternate from

the Yupa Wash Provenience No. 5-6 crossing.

This road may represent an alternate Camino

Real avenue which avoids the eroded

Provenience No. 8 area and which also joins the

Bonanza Canyon mining-logging road.

THE GALISTEO NORTH STUDY AREA

Description of the Road in the Galisteo 

North Study Area

The Galisteo North Road (LA 80011) 

Segment No. 1, The La Bajada descent.

The Juana Lopez-San Felipe branch of the

Camino Real separated from the the Las Bocas

road at La Cienega and Los Pinos Ranch. It then

crossed over the plains west of the Los Cerrillos

range and descended into the Galisteo drainage.

The road began at the eastern edge of the La

Bajada cliff in the present location of the modern Waldo road. The trail followed the crest of a

gravel ridge and then an arroyo to the plains

below. Unfortunately, this area has been

destroyed by the modern Waldo road and by

gravel pit operations. The original roadway

alignments can be seen in the SCS 1935 aerial

imagery. 

It is unfortunate this important descent along

the Camino Real has been destroyed by modern

development. It was this section of the road

which appears to have been improved by the

U.S. Military in 1858. Reference to this improvement is made by Colonel J. J. Abert,

Commander of the U.S. Corps of Topographical

Engineers, in the annual report of 1858 (Senate

Executive Document No. 1, 35th Congress 2nd

Session, Vol. 3 No. 1, Appendix F). In reference

to this improvement, Colonel Abert states; 

“The sum of $12,000 originally appropriated for this long road of some 300 miles (ie.

road from Santa Fe to Doña Ana), was

entirely too small. The small balance that

came into the hands of the engineer in

charge has been applied to that section of

the road between Santa Fe and

Albuquerque, and a party has been at work

upon the descent into the valley of the

Galisteo”

“a party has been set at work upon the

somewhat difficult descent into the valley

of the Galisteo, as being the point where

most good can be done with the means

available.”
244 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Inspection of the gravel benchlands in the

area of La Bajada descent failed to reveal any

evidence of the original Camino Real road bed.

It is most probable that the precise route is now

followed by the Waldo road which is a wide and

graded avenue.

The Galisteo North Road (LA 80011),

Segment No. 2

This 500 meter long section of the Camino

Real trail is defined by a subtle swale four to six

meters wide. The trail, in this area, passes along

the west side of a small wash about 150 meters

west of a stock water well. The road then enters

a wash to the north and is obscured by alluvium.

The Galisteo North Road (LA 80011),

Segment No. 3

This one kilometer section of the Camino

Real extends across an open grassland plain on

the north slope of the Galisteo valley. This portion of the road extends one kilometer northwest from the present railroad grade. The main

road in this area is substantially eroded and

forms a long linear arroyo four meters wide and

up to two meters in depth. There is a parallel

avenue to the west of this road which appears to

have been used following the initial erosion of

the main avenue. However, this road was also

abandoned and an alternate route (road segments Nos. 5 thru 9) down the adjacent valley to

the east was developed.

Entrenchment of the main roadbed in the

Segment No. 3 area is extensive on the lower

south end near the railroad grade. Erosion in

this area has cut two meters in depth to the

bedrock. Erosion of the roadbed decreases to

one meter in depth at 200 to 300 meters north

of the railroad bed. Juniper trees, two to three

meters in elevation, grow in the roadbed along

this section. Near the north end of this road

segment, erosion control dams have been constructed to prevent further entrenchment.

Above these dams, the road swale reduces to 50

cm in depth and six meters in width.

The Galisteo North Road (LA 80011),

Segment No. 4

This two kilometer section of the Camino

Real is the north approach to Galisteo Wash. It

has been substantially destroyed by erosion.

The roadbed, as it crosses the present railroad,

is a deeply entrenched arroyo. From here, the

road proceeded south down a lateral valley to

the Río Galisteo. The floor of this valley has

been substantially eroded and contains a deeply

entrenched and dendritic arroyo system. No

evidence of the Camino Real remains. 

The Galisteo North Road (LA 80011),

Segments Nos. 5 thru 8, 

The East Alternate Roadway

Another alternate eastern descent in the lower

northern plain of the Río Galisteo valley was

apparently used after the erosion of the original

west roadway. This roadway branches off the

main avenue below the La Bajada escarpment

and proceeds south through a narrow gap in a

dike ridge. It then follows the open plain joining

the Río Galisteo in about the same area as the

west branch. This roadway was an incised and

abandoned avenue in the 1935 SCS aerial

imagery, but is now partially used by a modern

two track road.

The Galisteo North Road (LA 80011),

Segment No. 5

The roadway north of the dike is partly followed by a new two track. The old road is

defined as a shallow swale four to six meters in

width. 

The Galisteo North Road (LA 80011),

Segment No. 6

There is a narrow pass in an dike ridge

through which this road passes. A section of the

ridge slope appears to have been leveled and a

few stones moved to form a curb in the pass

area. This narrow pass is the only location along

the dike formation where a road may pass. Even
Appendix F 245

so, this passage required the development of a

short section of cut and fill construction. Large

basalt blocks (50 cm to 1.5 m in size) were

removed from a south slope of the pass and

were used as a fill and a border on the lower

side. This provided a level roadbed around a

twenty meter section of the pass slope. This

road section was first seen in November of 1989.

It was revisited in September of 1990 to obtain

photographs and was found to have been bulldozed as part of a ranch road improvement.

The Galisteo North Road (LA 80011),

Segment No. 7

This 500 meter section of the eastern alternate

Galisteo north road extends from the dike pass,

south to the present railroad grade. Here, the

road crosses an open grassland slope toward the

Galisteo. The road, in this area, is defined by

two contiguous tracks which consists of a corrugated swale 10 meters in width. The modern

two track road is three meters wide and follows

along the eastern track of the old road.

The Galisteo North Road (LA 80011),

Segment No. 8

This section of the Galisteo eastern alternate

road extends for a distance of 600 meters from

the present railroad grade, south to the disturbed area above Galisteo Dam. A modern

two-track road follows along the older roadbed

in this area. This two track is well defined in the

1973 aerial imagery, but it has been abandoned

recently. Road segment No. 8 is defined by a 10

meter wide shallow swale which crosses a gravel

paved grassland slope.

A number of shallow depressions, five to six

meters in diameter, are located along the side of

the road, but these may post-date the road use.

These depressions appear to have been excavated but their function, if any, is unknown. 

Based on the projected alignment of the

Segment No. 8 roadway, it appears to have

joined the earlier western branch of the Camino

in approxiately the same area north of Galisteo

Wash. The Camino Real appears to have

crossed the Galisteo Wash in the area of the

present dam site. Sections of the trail are preserved on the south bank below and west of the

dam and are described in the Los Alamito study

area.

THE GALISTEO REGION LOS ALAMITOS

STUDY AREA

The Los Alamitos study area includes a two

kilometer section of the Camino Real Trail and

associated sites which appear on a general eastwest course along the south embankment of the

Río Galisteo. The western limit of the study area

is the boundary of the Santo Domingo Grant

and the Mesita De Juana Lopez Grant. The

eastern limit of the study area is Galisteo Dam.

This section of the Camino Real is designated as

LA 80010.

Los Alamitos Road (LA 80010)

Los Alamitos Road Segment No. 1

This 400 meter section of the Camino Real

trail follows a south valley, toward the Galisteo

Wash, on a northeast-southwest orientation.

The trail, which is well defined in the aerial

imagery, crosses an open grassland flat and

passes east of a prominent sandstone knoll.

Inspection of this butte failed to reveal graffiti

or any other trail associated features. The south

end of this trail segment ends at a steep arroyo

bank. The trail is defined by a shallow swale 8 to

10 meters wide. On the open grassland east of

the sandstone knoll, there are two parallel

swales each 4 to 6 meters wide and separated by

10 meters. These parallel avenues are also visible

in the aerial imagery. The north end of this road

segment, near the point where the trail turns to

the east, is captured by an arroyo and is deeply

eroded. 

Los Alamitos Road Segment No. 2

This 200 meter long segment of the Camino

Real has an east- west orientation along the
246 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

south bank of the Río Galisteo. The road crosses an alluviated grassland plain of the south

floor of the Galisteo valley. The road is defined

by a wide (10-12 m) and shallow swale. 

Los Alamitos Road Segment No. 3

This 100 meter segment of the Camino Real

Trail is near the confluence of a south lateral

arroyo and the bank of Galisteo wash. This road

segment (illustrated as part of bridge site (LA

80003) was the old crossing of the south lateral

arroyo. Here, the roadbed cut across an arroyo

draining north into the Río Galisteo. This

arroyo crossing was made down an earth-cut

rampway. The road is 10 meters in width. The

west approach to the arroyo bank has been captured by a side arroyo and is deeply entrenched.

Entrenchment of the arroyo destroyed the

roadbed and caused its abandonment.There is

also evidence of an alternate road-ramp down

the south bank of the Galisteo Wash, adjacent

to the arroyo crossing. 

Los Alamitos Road Segment No. 4

This alternate 200 meter long section of the

Camino Real was developed in conjunction

with the south lateral arroyo bridge construction project. This bridge, designated as LA

80003, was apparently built in 1859 by the U.S.

Army Topographic engineers as part of the

Galisteo Wash Crossing improvement project. A

road swale, 10 meters in width, approaches the

bridge construction which spans a narrow 15

meter wide section of the arroyo. The west

approach to the bridge passes between a low

sandstone knoll and the gravel bench formation

and onto the west foundation of the bridge.

Only the south foundation or platform of the

bridge structure remains intact. The remainder

of the bridge is eroded. Large log beams, about

10 to 15 meters in length, apparently formed the

bridge bed.

Los Alamitos Road Segment No. 5

This 200 meter segment of the Camino Real

trail is located in the area of the Los Alamitos

encampment site, LA 80002. This north-south

section of the Camino Real was a former crossing of the Galisteo Wash and was the continuation of Road Segment No. 3. The trail proceeded to the south embankment of the Galisteo

Wash where it entered the arroyo floor. Today

this entrance to the Galisteo Wash is a steep

bank, three meters high. The road, as it

approaches the arroyo bank, is 15 to 17 meters

wide and is defined by a shallow swale which

fosters growths of cholla and grass. A forge area

is present adjacent to the road near the arroyo

bank. This south entrance- crossing of the

Galisteo Wash was probably destroyed by erosion sometime in the middle 19th century, as it

appears to have been replaced by the eastern

alternate roadway (Road Segments No. 6 and

No. 7).

Los Alamitos Road Segments Nos. 6 and 7

This 250 meter section of the Camino Real has

an east-west orientation across the south floor

of the Galisteo valley. Here, the road (segment

No. 6) is defined by a conspicuous swale 10

meters wide and 50 cm in maximum depth.

There is a narrow earth berm along a portion of

the north roadside. Exposed soils and vigorous

growths of grass and saltbrush also serve to

define the road. This section of the Camino

Real was apparently used after the abandonment of the Segment No. 5 crossing.

On the eastern edge of the Los Alamitos site,

the Camino Real descends into a lateral south

arroyo. This section of the road, designated as

Segment No. 7, is six meters in width and passes

between a rock outcrop and a steep bench

slope. Passage down this slope required some

rampway construction. Cobble stones and earth

were removed from the roadbed and thrown up

as a curbing on the north side. A few large

sandstone boulders were also moved from the

roadbed. A two meter high juniper tree has is

growing in the roadbed area.

Below and east of the Segment No. 7 rampway, the Camino Real crossed a low arroyo and

ascended onto the gravel benchlands to the east.

Here, the road entered the area of Galisteo Dam

where it has been destroyed by construction.
Appendix F 247

VEGA DE LOS TANOS STUDY AREA

Vega de Los Tanos LA 80015, 

Road Segment No. 1

Road Segment No. 1 is a one kilometer section

of the trail that crosses an open grassland plain

directly east of I-25 and extends to a powerline.

Two parallel roads were observed in this area.

Both tracks are 6 meters wide. The south parallel track continues to be used as a two track

automobile road. The north parallel road has

been long abandoned and is stabilized and revegetated. 

Vega de Los Tanos LA 80015, 

Road Segments Nos. 2-5

A reconnaissance of a 1.4 kilometer section of

the Camino Real directly east of State Highway

22 was completed. The trail corridor in this area

is well defined and consists of two parallel

tracks over the entire section. The road sections

at arroyo crossings are extensively eroded.

Erosion of the west track is the most substantial,

suggesting that this avenue has the most antiquity. The use, however, of two parallel roads on

the open plain between the arroyos indicates

that the two lanes were in simultaneous use.

The road segments observed in this area appear

to have been long abandoned. The roads are

deeply eroded at arroyo crossings and have two

to four meter high juniper trees growing in the

tracks. There is no evidence to suggest that this

road section was ever used by automobiles.

Vega de Los Tanos LA 80015, 

Road Segment No. 2

This road segment stretches 300 meters east

from State Highway 22 to an arroyo crossing. A

single 12 meter wide swale with low 50 cm banks

is visible at the highway crossing. These diverge

into two eroded parallel tracks, 4 to 6 meters

wide, as the road proceeds down the slope of an

arroyo. Juniper trees, two to four meters high

grow, in the road. Erosion of both parallel

tracks is considerable as they approach the

deeply cut arroyo. There is no evidence of a

ramp-way construction at the arroyo crossing.

The major entrenchment of this arroyo appears

to postdate the road use.

Vega de Los Tanos LA 80015, 

Road Segment No. 3

This 150 meter section of the road extends

down the north slope of an arroyo crossing. As

the trail approaches the arroyo, it is defined by

two closely parallel tracks. These diverge into

three parallel tracks on the lower slope. The

western track is eroded and entrenched and was

probably abandoned during the use of the road.

Both of the eastern tracks are defined swales

and all are entrenched at the arroyo crossing.

There is no evidence of a ramp-way on the

arroyo floor.

Vega de Los Tanos LA 80015, 

Road Segment No. 4

This 700 meter segment of the road goes

across a grassland plain between two south to

north drainage areas. The area is open and level.

There are two well-defined parallel swales in

this area. Both are shallow paths, 8 meters in

width, and are spaced ten meters apart. The

roads are vegetatively differentiated by growths

of snakeweed. The presence of two widely

spaced parallel roads in this open plain suggest

that this section of the road had two lanes, perhaps for north and south traffic, that were in

simultaneous use.

Vega de Los Tanos LA 80015, 

Road Segment No. 5

This 300 meter section of double track road

extends along the upper south slope of an

arroyo drainage. Here, the west road track is

captured and entrenched by an arroyo. The east

track remains stable and is defined by a shallow

swale eight meters in width. A line of juniper

trees, 3 to 4 meters high, grow in the eroded

west track.
248 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE LA BAJADA-LAS BOCAS ROADS

THE MAJADA MESA STUDY AREA

There are two alternate avenues of the

Camino Real Trail across the Majada Mesa.

These roads extend from the area of La Bajada

Village and proceed southwest across the grassland plains toward Santo Domingo Pueblo. The

La Majada North alternate road leads to the

Pre-Revolt Period Pueblo of La Bajada (LA:7)

and appears to be the earlier Colonial Period

roadway. The South alternate goes directly west

from the mouth of Santa Fe canyon to Santo

Domingo. It is the probable Post-Revolt

avenue. Both roads were, however, used into

the Territorial Period.

The Majada North and South alternate roads

converge at the north escarpment edge of

Galisteo Wash (approximate locus NE 1/4 of

Section 16, TI5N, R6E), and proceed down the

escarpment slope southwest to Santo Domingo

Pueblo. Both the North and South Majada

roads were apparently abandoned when a new

graded automobile highway was built (ca. 1903-

1909) from La Bajada to the railroad village of

Wallace (Post Office established 1882, Pearce

1965:177).

The La Majada north and south alternate

roads are among the best preserved sections of

the Camino Real in New Mexico. Both avenues

are defined by wide and often deep swales

which cross the grassland plains and have

prominent definition in the aerial imagery.

Neither of the roads appear to have been in use

since at least the 1930’s. 

The La Majada North road, which links the

La Bajada Pueblo (LA:7) to the Camino Real,

appears to have been an early Colonial avenue.

However, it was also was used in the Territorial

Period. The La Majada South road, which leads

directly from Santa Fe Canyon to Santo

Domingo, appears to have been used primarily

in the Territorial Period. A photograph taken in

1915 from the summit of La Bajada hill shows

that the road in use was a graded highway

between the La Majada North and South alternates (N.C. Nelson 1915 The excavation of La

Bajada Pueblo, American Museum of Natural

History, Field Notes on File Laboratory of

Anthropology.) This photograph also shows

some continued two- track use of the North

aternate road. The South alternate is not visible

in the photograph.

The Las Majada North Road (LA 80007)

The La Majada North road is an alternate

avenue of the Camino Real which extends

southwest from the area of La Bajada Pueblo

(LA:7), southwest 6.1 kilometers, to its junction

with the La Majada South road on the Galisteo

Wash escarpment. The La Majada North road is

one of the best defined sections of the Camino

Real Trail in New Mexico. The formation and

preservation of the road in this area was

enhanced by the conditions of this open grassland plain. Vegetative differentiation of the trail,

in this area, is limited, but topographic relief is

substantial.

Wherever the road crosses ridge slopes it is

deeply cut. In the Road Segment No. 2 area, for

example, the trail is 12 meters in width and up to

two meters in depth. Over most of the La

Majada North road, there are two parallel road

beds, 5 to 8 meters in width and 25 cm to 1.0 m

in depth. These roads may represent north and

south lanes for two-way traffic. A narrow

pedestrian or horse trail, 2.0m wide and 25 cm

to 50 cm in depth, is located along a 800 meter

section of the trail in the Provenience Nos. 2 to

4 areas. This is one of few locations where a

defined stock trail runs along side of the wagon

road. Recognition of this stock trail in the La

Majada area is probably due to excellent definition of the trail on the Majada Mesa grassland .

La Majada North Road (LA 80007) 

Segment No. 1

This 100 meter section of the Camino Real

extends from the Pueblo of La Bajada (LA:7)

toward the Santa Fe river valley. This section of

the road proceeds in a northeast direction from

the east block of La Bajada Pueblo, down a cobble-strewn bench slope to the Santa Fe valley
Appendix F 249

floodplain. The trail in this area has been partially destroyed by the construction of a modern, but now abandoned, bladed roadway. The

old road runs diagonal to the bench and is preserved on the lower bench slope. It is defined by

a disturbed path, 8 to 9 meters wide, in which

are two narrow erosional channels. The road is

cut slightly into the bench slope on the upper

south side and has a narrow cobble berm on the

lower north side.

La Majada North Road LA 80007, 

Segment No. 2

The Camino Real, as it proceeds for a distance

of 200 meters west-southwest of La Bajada

Pueblo, is defined by a very prominent cut in a

hill slope above the pueblo. This road cut is

emphasized in the aerial imagery by the white

caliche substrata into which the roadbed

intrudes. This extensive cut is 12 meters in

width and up to two meters in depth. A narrow

swale, 2 meters wide and 50cm in depth, parallels the road cut on the north. This narrow track

is probably a path for pedestrian and mounted

riders. This path is visible for approximately one

kilometer along the side of the La Majada North

roadway.

La Majada North Road LA 80007, 

Segment No. 3

This section of the Camino Real is on an open

plain, It extends approximately 300 to 500

meters west-southwest of La Bajada Pueblo. In

this section, the road is defined by two parallel

swales. The eastern swale is six meters wide and

50 cm in depth. The adjacent west swale is a

shallow two meter wide path. It is probable that

this narrow path was used by horsemen and

pedestrians, while the wider and deeper path

was used by wagons. 

La Majada North Road LA 80007, 

Segment No. 4

This section of the Camino Real extends

northeast from the area of the La Tetilla Peak

Highway for a distance of approximately 400

meters. Over much of this section, the Camino

Real is defined by three parallel tracks. The

south track is a wide shallow swale, 6 to 8

meters in width and 25 to 50 cm in depth.

Another narrow and deep track to the north is 4

to 5 meters wide and 50 cm to 1.0 m in depth.

Vet another narrow path, 2 meters wide and 25

cm in depth, parallels the road on the north.

This narrow path-like feature may be a pedestrian or horse trail adjacent to the wagon roads.

La Majada North Road LA 80007, 

Segment No. 5

The Provenience No. 5 section of the La

Majada North road extends for a distance of

300 meters southwest of the La Tetilla Highway.

The Camino, in this section, is defined by a

double swale. The north swale is 8 meters wide

and up to 1.0m in depth. The parallel south

swale is 5 meters in width and 25 cm. to 50 cm in

depth. 

La Majada North Road LA 80007, 

Segment No. 6

This 600 meter section of the Camino Real

extends across the open grassland plain of Mesa

Majada, approximately 1.25 kilometers northeast

of State Highway 22. The trail, in this area, consists of a shallow swale, 15 meters in width.

Narrow earth berms are present on the road

edges. In the summer of 1990, a linear path of

green grass defined the road swale. 

La Majada North Road LA 80007, 

Segment No. 7

This 800 meter section of the Camino Real

stretches across the open grassland plain of

Mesa Majada. It is approximately 400 meters

northeast of State Highway 22. The road is

defined by a wide shallow swale, approximately

20 meters in width and 25 cm in depth. In some

areas, two parallel swales are visible, but these

blend into a wider zone of disturbed soils.
250 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

La Majada North Road LA 80007, 

Segment No. 8

This section of the Camino Real extends for a

distance of 400 meters northeast of the State

Highway 22. It crosses the open grassland plain

of La Majada and is defined by two conspicuous

parallel swales. The road swales are 5 and 6

meters wide and are separated by a berm which

is five meters in width. The only vegetative differentiation noted in this area is the low density

of snakeweed in the road. There is a slight angle

change in the road between the Provenience

No. 7 and 8 segments.

The La Majada South Road

The La Majada South road alternate extends

west from the mouth of Santa Fe Canyon across

the plains of La Majada Mesa towards Santo

Domingo Pueblo. This road is the direct route

from Santa Fe Canyon to Santo Domingo

Pueblo. It joins the La Majada North alternate

on the edge of the Galisteo Wash escarpment.

The La Majada South road was clearly used by

traffic which passed up the floor of Santa Fe

Canyon.

The South alternate road is defined by a

prominent scar on the grassland plains of La

Majada Mesa. The road is a well defined and

re-vegetated swale. Both single (6 to 8 meter

wide) and double road tracks are present in the

study area. There are very prominent cuts in

two areas (Segments No. 1 and 3) where the

road crosses low sandy ridges. In these areas,

the road-cut is up to 20 meters wide and two to

three meters in depth. These cuts were formed

primarily by aeolian action which removed the

disturbed sandy sediments from the road bed.

La Majada South Road LA 80008, 

Segment No. 1

The easternmost section of the La Majada

South road, for a distance of 300 meters as it

approached the mouth of Cañada De Santa Fe,

is designated as road provenience No. 1. This

section of the road is located on the south

benchland of the Santa Fe drainage and is disected by a series of arroyos. Three arroyos cross

the La Majada South road. Two of these have

cut into the road following its abandonment.

One arroyo crossing, however, has a bypass

avenue around and 20 meters east of the original road. This indicates that entrenchment

coincided to the road use. The arroyos which

cross the road have captured the roadbed

runoff. This has resulted in a partial entrenchment of the road 6 meters in width and up to 2.0

meters in depth.

One section of the road near the entrance to

Santa Fe Canyon is defined by an impressive 20

meter wide road-cut two to three meters in

depth. This cut was made in a sandy hill slope

and was apparently entrenched by aeolian

action during the roadway use. 

La Majada South Road LA 80008, 

Segment No. 2

This segment of the La Majada South road

extends for a distance of approximately one

kilometer across the open grassland plain of La

Majada Mesa. The road in this area consists of

single swale, 8 meters in width and from 50cm

to 75cm in depth. The road is vegetatively differentiated by vigorous growths of grasses,

snakeweed and rabbit brush; all of which have

significantly lesser densities outside the roadway. Occasional small junipers also appear in

the road swale which are not present on the

surrounding plain. 

La Majada South Road LA 80008, 

Segment No. 3

This section of the La Majada South road

begins at the road crossing of the Fiber Optics

Communication line and extends 200 meters to

the east. The road crosses over a low sandy hill

on an open grassland plain. The road has cut an

impressive two meter deep and 20 meter wide

path through the hill. This segment is one of the

most pronounced road cuts known along the

Camino Real. This road cut was apparently

formed by aeolian action along the road during

and following its use. The road, in this area, is a
Appendix F 251

flat based swale which fosters growths of rabbit

brush.

La Majada South Road LA 80009, 

Segment No. 4

This section of the La Majada South road

extends west from the crossing of the Fiber

Optics line for a distance of approximately 500

meters. Here, the road is defined by two parallel

swales crossing the open grassland plain. Swales

vary from five to twelve meters in width and are

50 cm in depth. On the west end of this segment, the road crosses a shallow alluviatec bottomland and blends into a 20 meter wide path.

La MaJada South Road LA 80009, 

Segment No . 5

This 200 meter trail segment consists of a single well-defined road swale. Here, the road

crosses a low sandy rise. The road is 9 to 10

meters wide and is cut deeply (1.0m) into the

sandy rise. The definition is largely topographic,

although there is more grass and rabbit brush in

the swale than in the surrounding plain.

La Majada South Road LA 80008, 

Segment No. 6

This road segment continues across the open

grassland plain of La Majada Mesa for a distance of 600 meters. The road is defined by a

single narrow swale that is 6 meters in width.

The depth varies from shallow to 50 cm. A line

of rabbit brush is present along the edges of the

road and in other areas, the road is defined by a

linear path of grass.

La Majada South Road Segment No. 7

This section of the La Madaja South Road

extends for a distance of 300 meters directly

east of the State Highway 22. The road is again

represented by two parallel paths. The road

swales vary from 4 to 8 meters in width and 25

cm to 75 cm in depth.

The Las Bocas Road

The Las Bocas study area includes that section

of the Camino Real which passes through

Cañada De Santa Fe (formerly called Cañon de

las Bocas), from the mouth of the canyon near

La Bajada village, to the village of La Cienega.

During the early Colonial period, the Las Bocas

road and the Galisteo road (via San Marcos

Pueblo) were the principal avenues from Río

Abajo north to Santa Fe. Most of the wagon

traffic from Santo Domingo to Santa Fe, however, used the Las Bocas Canyon road. There

are numerous Colonial period references which

indicate use of the Las Bocas road (De Vargas in

1692, Rivera in 1726, Tamaron in 1760, Lafora in

1776 and Dominguez in 1776). Use of the Las

Bocas road by wagon traffic was, however, considerably reduced with the opening of the Juana

Lopez road in the Mexican Period. The construction of a wagon down the La Bajada

escarpment around 1860 also diverted additional traffic from the Las Bocas road. Difficulties in

the canyon floor road maintenance, no doubt,

encouraged the development of the alternate

wagon roads. Despite the development of alternate wagon roads, the Las Bocas canyon road

continued to have some traffic in the Territorial

Period as indicated in the accounts of Simpson

(1849), Whipple (1853), Mölhausen (1853) Davis

(1854) and others.

This rather picturesque section of the Camino

Real followed the Santa Fe canyon floor and

wound its way across the stream in many locations. Whenever possible, the road crossed

open benches which were elevated above the

stream bed. Frequent fords across the rocky and

boulder-strewn stream bed were, however,

required which made wagon travel along this

section of the Camino Real difficult. Floods

often washed out the river crossings and cut or

buried the road at side canyons, which required

frequent road repair. The presence of large

boulders in the canyon floor was a principal

obstacle. Indeed, the poor condition of the road

after 12 years of disuse was lamented by Diego

De Vargas in 1692 (Espinosa 1940:77-79) .

The Las Bocas road has been abandoned for

about one hundred years. Consequently, the

preservation of the road is poor. Most of the
252 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

road in the Las Bocas canyon floor and lower

bench slopes has been destroyed. There are,

however, a number of road segments which

have been located on level bench flats above the

flood zone. These road segments were first recognized in an inspection of the aerial imagery

(SCS 1935 Plate No.17972). 

Description Of The Las Bocas Road

Las Bocas Road LA 80013, Segment No. 1

The Provenience No. 1 segment of the Camino

Real-Las Bocas road is located on a north

bench, approximately one kilometer from the

lower western mouth of Santa Fe Canyon.

Provenience No. 1 is a developed roadbed

which ascends a cobble strewn bench slope.

Access up the steep, but low, western bench

required the construction of a path in the rocky

slope. A road corridor which was 20 meters

long, three meters wide and 1.5 meters in depth

was cleared. Many of the cobbles which form

the wall-like berms lateral to the road are large

(30cm to l.0 m) basalt blocks. This road development is one of the more impressive construction works along the Las Bocas road. The age of

this constructed feature cannot be ascertained.

The road, however, appears to have been abandoned for some time. The modern bladed road

to La Bajada mine has cut the lower section of

the old road, and has pushed a number of large

rocks into the old roadbed. No artifacts were

found in direct proximity to this road provenience.

Las Bocas Road LA 80013, Segment No. 2

This 300 meter road segment stretches across

a bench flat on the north side Santa Fe Canyon.

This road segment is defined by two parallel

swales each, 4 to 5 meters in width and from 85

cm to 50 cm in depth. On the eastern end of the

bench, the road parallels the modern dirt track

to the La Bajada mine. There is no vegetative

differentiation along this section of the road. 

Las Bocas Road LA 80013, Segment No. 3

The Provenience No. 3 segment of the Las

Bocas road descends a bench slope and crosses

an arroyo to a level open terrace. This road is on

the north canyon floor, approximately 350

meters west of the La Bajada mine. The modern

road and ramp turn-out are constructed along

the base of the steep talus slope. The old Las

Bocas road descends a nearby bench slope

without development. The road scar in this area

is four meters wide and has two narrow ruts.

This is one of the few Camino Real road segments where two track wheel ruts are visible.

The old Las Bocas road descends the bench,

crosses a broad and shallow arroyo and continues east onto a open grassland flat. A platform

like structure of basalt blocks is present in the

roadbed on the eastern edge of the arroyo. This

construction appears to be either a ramp or low

bridge footing for the arroyo crossing. As the

road crosses of open flat east of the arroyo it is

first entrenched and then defined as a shallow

swale that is 6 meters in width. 

Las Bocas Road LA 80013, Segment No. 4

This 150 meter road segment is located on a

lower bench on the north side of Santa Fe

Canyon. It is directly west of a narrows in the

canyon and approximately 200 meters east of

the La Bajada mine. The area surrounding the

La Bajada mine has been substantially disturbed

by the dumping of tailings in the canyon floor.

These tailings have buried the road over a section of approximately 600 meters. The road

section which remains is defined by a six meter

wide swale that is 50 cm in depth. The upper

and eastern end of this section descends into

the canyon floor stream bed and is eroded. This

is one of the many places in Santa Fe Canyon

where the Las Bocas road follows along the

canyon floor and crosses the stream bed. 

Las Bocas Road LA 80013, Segment No. 5

This 400 meter section of the Las Bocas road

crosses an open grassland flat in the area below
Appendix F 253

Tsinat Ruins. The trail is defined by a shallow

swale, 8 to 12 meters in width. In one area, two,

nearly contiguous, parallel swales are visible,

They are both four meters in width, but one is

of lesser depth. The road in this area is without

vegetative differentiation. 

Las Bocas Road LA 80013, Segment No. 6

The Las Bocas road crossed to the south side

of the canyon at the eastern end of Road

Segment No. 5. This is near the confluence of

Tsinat Canyon arroyo. The road then followed

the stream bed and ascended onto a bench flat

on the south side of the canyon. Provenience

No. 6 is a road swale which crosses one of the

south bench flats. The road is 6 meters in width

and 50 cm to 1.0 m in depth. 

Las Bocas Road LA 80013, Segment No. 7

This road segment is located on a north bench

in Santa Fe Canyon, approximately one kilometer west of the Santa Fe Creek-Cienega Creek

confluence. This road segment is defined by two

parallel lines of boulders which were cleared

across a bench point. A single stacked rock

masonry room is also present on the bench

point. This road segment was not found until

the mesa south of the confluence was climbed

and the road seen from above. 

LA BAJADA MESA STUDY AREA

The La Bajada Mesa road is an alternate section of the Camino Real which led directly from

Santa Fe across the open elevated plain of La

Bajada mesa to the steep escarpment at La

Bajada village. This road was the most direct

route between Santa Fe and Santo Domingo.

The road, however, traversed the steep and formidable slope of La Bajada. The La Bajada Mesa

avenue is an old road. It was in use as early as

1776 (Adams and Chavez 1975;127), and was followed by Zebulon Pike in 1807. It was probably

first developed as a stock trail because the steep

escarpment, basalt ledges, benches and boulders

prohibited wagon traffic. We do not know when

the first wagon road construction was made on

the escarpment. However, the route was open

to wagon traffic during the early 1860’s, following road construction by the U.S. Army.

The old wagon road descended the mesa edge

in the precise location of the succeeding automobile highway. The route of the wagon road

on the mesa above the escarpment, however,

crossed the plains to the east of subsequent

highway. The old road across La Bajada Mesa is

well defined as an abandoned and re-vegetated

avenue in the 1935 SCS aerial photography. A

reconnaissance of the escarpment below the

mesa top revealed that large sections of the old

wagon road remain intact. Only a few sections

were destroyed by the later highway construction. The wagon road descent of La Bajada

Mesa was not surveyed for the lack of time, but

sections of this developed road were seen in a

brief reconnaissance.

The wagon road which descends the La

Bajada Mesa is defined by numerous areas of

construction. Construction along the road

includes numerous areas of cleared boulders, a

number of stone ramps and one very extensive

cut through a basaltic ridge called “the notch”.

The escarpment wagon road constructions are

the most extensive road works that are known

along the Camino Real Trail. Most are probably

U.S. Army 1860’s construction, but some earlier

Mexican and Colonial Period development may

also be present. Investigation of the La Bajada

escarpment road should have top priority if

survey of the Camino Real is continued.

Description of La Bajada Mesa Road

La Bajada Mesa Road LA 80014, 

Segment No. 1

This 200 meter section of the La Bajada Mesa

road is located on the escarpment edge of La

Bajada Mesa. The old wagon road descends the

La Bajada escarpment in the precise location of
254 APPENDIXES/GLOSSARY/A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

the succeeding south branch automobile highway. This location is a broken area in the upper

cliff of the escarpment which allowed for the

construction of the road onto lower benches of

the mesa slopes. Here the grade is one of the

steepest and most formidable ones along the

Camino Real. The construction of a cut rampway for the automobile road on the escarpment

rim cliff destroyed the former wagon road.

Sections of the wagon road descending the

mesa do, however, appear to be intact and the

automobile road and the former wagon road

seem to have followed divergent routes.

The provenience No. 1 section of the La

Bajada Mesa road extends from the escarpment

rim northeast 200 meters to its crossing of the

old automobile highway. The road, in this area,

is defined by a cleared path (five meters in

width) across the rocky surface of the mesa

edge. Large basalt boulders, 50 cm to 1.0 m in

size, have been cleared from the roadbed and

stacked alongside the road. This section of the

road is located on the mesa edge west of the old

auto road.

La Bajada Mesa Road LA 80014, 

Segment No. 2

This section of the La Bajada Mesa road

extends for a distance of 600 meters across an

open grassland plain of the mesa The road in

this area is defined by two wide and parallel

tracks. The roads are seven and ten meters in

width and eight meters apart. They are defined

by shallow (25 cm) swales and are vegetatively

similar to the surrounding landscape. 

La Bajada Mesa Road LA 80014, 

Segment No. 3

The La Bajada Mesa road, along this 100 meter

section, crosses a low ridge on the open mesa

top. This ridge is an exposure of basalt and

gravels approximately three meters high. There

is an eroded road cut on the ridge edge which is

a well-defined white line in the aerial imagery

(SCA plate 17972). This eroded section is 20

meters in length and consists of three parallel

roads. These roads are four to five meters in

width. The west avenue has an eroded base and

was probably abandoned while the road was in

use. 

La Bajada Mesa Road LA 80014, 

Segment No. 4

This 200 meter section of the La Bajada Mesa

road is defined by a single wide swale 15 meters

in width and 50 cm in depth. This road diverges

into three parallel roads at the north end of the

segment. These parallel roads are clearly visible

in the aerial imagery.