On Walkabout At: Quarai Pueblo, New Mexico

Next up on the trip that my wife and I took to explore the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument was to drive from the small city of Mountainair to the Quarai Pueblo ruins. Quarai is only about a 20 minute drive from Mountainair and unlike previously visited Gran Quivira Pueblo that was located in the rolling high desert hills, Quarai was tucked up against the impressive Manzano Peak, which is part of the mountain chain that runs south from Albuquerque and composes the Cibola National Forest:

Just like Gran Quivira, Quarai was once a vibrant trading city populated by Tiwa speaking Native-Americans.  It is believed that the first pueblos were constructed at Quarai around 1300.  These original builders lived in the settlement for about 100 years before abandoning their pueblos.  Then around 1500 it is believed they came back and once again reconstructed their great pueblo village.  The pueblo village continued to grow until the Spanish explorers in the early 1600’s first made contact with the Tiwa. Unlike Gran Quivira that peak at a population of roughly 2,000 inhabitants, Quarai was a much smaller pueblo community that peaked at about 600 residents who farmed around their village, hunted in the nearby mountains, and gathered salt from the salt flats to the east of pueblo.  They built their pueblos stacked on top of each others with entrances on the roof like what is pictured below:

Like in Gran Quivira eventually the Spanish clergy followed the first explorers into the area in order to spread Catholicism.  It was nearly two decades after first contact with Quarai that in 1627 the first Spanish friar, Juan Gutierrez de la Chica was assigned to the pueblo and began the construction of a church.  The church was completed five years later and was called the Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de Quarai mission.

Here is what remains of the church today:

The mission lasted until 1678 when the Tiwa from all the Salinas Pueblos were forced to flee the area with the Spanish colonists due to the combination of sickness, drought, and raids from the neighboring Apaches.

Here is how one Spanish friar described this horrible time:

…this kingdom is… nearly exhausted…. the whole land is at war with the… heathen Apaches, who kill all the Christian Indians they can find… no road is safe; everyone travels at risk of his life, for the heathen patrol them all.

… for three years no crops have been harvested.  Last year a great many Christian Indians starved, left dead along the roads, in the ravines, and in their huts.  There were towns like Las Humanas where more than 450 starved.  Now the same calamity still prevails, for in the whole kingdom there is not a bushel basket of corn, nor of wheat to be had at any price…..

Friar Juan Bernal, April 1, 1669

The inhabitants of Quarai eventually consolidated at the Abo pueblo before ultimately having to leave the Salinas altogether to seek refuge along the Rio Grande with the Spanish colonists in the El Paso and Las Cruces areas.

Today the beauty of the Quarai valley hides all traces of such a tragic past for the people who used to live here.  With the Tiwa long gone it is now the responsibility of the National Park Service to maintain this site, which they have done an excellent job doing.  At Quarai there is a small visitor center with a park ranger that can provide visitors with a walking guide of the ruins:

The trail circles around the valley to view the ruins however there really isn’t any ruins left of the the Tiwa’s adobe pueblos.  This is because the adobe structures have long since eroded away leaving nothing more than dirt mounds as evidence of their existence:

The only ruins left are of the mission and adjacent buildings due to their sturdy rock construction.

There is a large wood beam used for the entryway into the church, but I found no information available to tell me whether this an original wood beam or not:

Here is what the interior of the church looked like after walking through the entrance:

Here is the view looking back towards the entrance:

This church was absolutely huge for a community of just 600 people.  I couldn’t help, but be impressed by the construction of such an impressive building so long ago in such primitive conditions.  There is much more to the mission than just the church itself.  Adjacent to the church are various buildings that would of housed the clergy, served as cooking areas, storage, and office space:

Most of the rooms were quite small, but they were still bigger than the rooms that the local Tiwa Indians were living in within their pueblos:

When the Catholic missions were active in the Salinas during the 1600’s the Inquisition was occurring back in Spain.  The Inquisition eventually spread into the farthest reaches of the Spanish Empire to here in New Mexico.  The history of the Salinas has many stories of settlers, military officers, and even a Governor being bound and sent to Mexico for trial for heresy.  However, the native Tiwa people were not subject to the Inquisition purges though they could give testimony against accused offenders.  The various information signs posted at Quarai also described the conflict from these purges that developed between the clergy and the conquistadors.  The Soldiers felt that the clergy were showing more loyalty to God instead of to the royal monarchy.  This made me wonder how many of the claims of heresy against government officials and Soldiers were politically motivated by the Spanish clergy?

The trail continues passed the old Spanish mission in a loop around the green valley, where the many mounds that composed the old Tiwa pueblos can still be seen:

I then spotted the only wildlife I had seen all day, which was this little lizard:

Considering how lush this valley is I figured I would at least see some deer, but unfortunately I missed seeing any.  A

Along the way other buildings that were constructed long after both the Spanish and the Tiwa left this lush valley came into view.  After over 150 years of abandonment Mexican grazers returned in the 1830’s to resettle the Salinas area.  However, even then the valley was not safe from the Apaches.  The settlers had to build torreons like the one pictured below to help protect their settlements from Apache attacks:

Here is what remains of the torreon today:

These Mexican grazers also attempted to construct another church on this site, but were never able to complete it due to the continuous conflict with the Apaches.  Today just the foundation of the attempted construction of this church remains:

Today the ancestors of these early Mexican grazers remain in the Salinas where they continue to raise livestock and live in the small villages that dot the area.  The Mexican grazers were able to overcome the challenges of surviving in this harsh land, but unfortunately the Tiwa were not.  Today just the pueblo ruins and remains of the impressive churches they constructed are evidence of the great civilization that once flourished in this remote area of New Mexico.

Here is some administrative from NPS website about the park.  Quarai is open daily with summer hours (Memorial Day – Labor Day): 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.  The winter has hours (rest of the year) are 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.  There is also no entrance fee for visiting the park making this yet another affordable outing for anyone look for a cheap, but interesting day out with their family.