Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

Driving from Buffalo Lake NWR, TX to Manzano Mountains, New Mexico | Bosque Redondo Memorial | Visiting Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument | Camping in the Manzano Mountains | December 2024

We began today with taking US-60 West from our campground near Umbarger, TX into New Mexico. Thanks to having all of the counties in New Mexico, we were able to focus our attention today on visiting historic sites that interested us on a more straightforward route. Every time we’ve visited New Mexico since moving away from the Southwest, we have realized how much we overlooked it and all its beauty, and we’ve spent every Southwestern trip since then making up for that. Today was no exception, as we were able to stop at two different sites that were new to us — one of which being a national park site!

We stuck to US-60 all day, and ended up knocking out about 5 hours of driving. We made our first stop of the day in Fort Sumner, at the Bosque Redondo Memorial and gravesite for Billy the Kid. This is the location of a former Navajo and Apache internment camp used during the 1860’s. After the California Column secured the West from the Confederacy, the US Army began to exert force and control over the Arizona and New Mexican native tribes – the largest among them being the Navajo.

After a severe campaign (including the Battle of Canyon de Chelly), the Navajo began surrendering in 1863 and were forced across Northern New Mexico to a tract of land along the Pecos River near the newly constructed Fort Sumner. Here the Navajo (and Mescalero Apache who also got wrapped into the same reservation system) were supposed to learn farming and more sedentary lifestyles (among other more overt and sinister ethnic cleansing practices). But the reservation along the Pecos was small with very little water for the number of Navajo staying there, and soon disease was rampant and mortality high. This dark period of Navajo history is known as the Long Walk, and much of the museum chronicles the plight endured along the Pecos River.

Surprisingly, the US Army and Bureau of Indian Affairs both realized rather quickly their mistake and that the Bosque Redondo was untenable as a solution. By 1868 the Navajo had signed the treaty of Bosque Redondo which returned to them part of their original lands in Eastern Arizona. Unlike its contemporaneous Treaty of Fort Laramie for the Sioux, the Treaty of Bosque Redondo stood, and remains the foundation upon which the current Navajo Reservation system (one of the few Indian groups to retain their original homeland) stands.

Unfortunately, the museum itself was closed, so we stayed outside and had a picnic lunch then walked around some of the nearest history placards. It was cold though, so we didn’t particularly want to walk up along the Pecos River. Instead we stopped at the nearby Fort graveyard to see the grave of Billy the Kid – which somewhat ironically is in its own jail cell to prevent relic hunters from stealing it.

We got back on the road and continued on to our next stop, and main highlight of the day: Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. This national monument consists of three different missions South and East of Albuquerque that are pretty spread out, but definitely worth seeing if you have the chance. For today, we first made our way to the main visitor center for the park in Mountainair. Curtis went in for cancellation stamps and to talk to the ranger while Charlie and I waited outside. Then we made our way to the site we had planned to see today, located about 8 miles North of town.

This one is the Quarai Unit, and it consists of a small visitor center and museum, and a couple walking trails. We mostly stayed on the main trail that makes a loop through the trees and around the mission. You’re allowed to enter, so we wandered inside and marveled at how big and tall it was, and about how long ago it was built. After our walk, Curtis spent a little more time chatting with the ranger here while Charlotte and I checked out the parking lot.

These (Quarai, Abo, and Gran Quivira) missions were built by the Spanish Franciscans in the 1600’s to proselytize to the local pueblos. They built missions next to the older pueblos in the same architectural style and building methods. But the missions were short lived due to a combination of factors: drought, politics, and the Puebloan Revolt of 1680. All the missions and pueblos were abandoned, and the population relocated to the Rio Grande. It wasn’t until the 1820’s that Mexican land grants were given and more stable populations returned to the area.

It was late afternoon at this point, so it was time for us to find a place to camp. We continued driving a little further West from the mission into the Manzano Mountains where we knew of a National Forest campground that was still open. However, as we were driving into the forest, we noticed a sign that said the road closes in the winter. Today was December 22, the day after the ‘first day of winter,’ so we wondered if they were just a little late in closing it, or if they waited for actual snow to fall first. We decided to continue with our plans of camping here. But, knowing that there was a snowstorm predicted in a couple days, we knew that we shouldn’t stay long. It was a little unfortunate because Curtis could have hiked to a peak from the campground, but we knew there would be many more peaks to come.

As we were driving to the campground, we noticed several dispersed sites along the way. After arriving at the campground and assessing the situation, we decided to skip paying $10 to stay here and instead just stay in one of the dispersed sites — we had better cell reception back there anyway, the sites were flatter, and it was slightly lower elevation which meant slightly warmer. We found a nice spot and settled in for the evening. While it was colder than the last few campsites had been, being higher in elevation, it was a nice change of pace to camp among the pines.

The next morning, we seriously debated whether or not we wanted to stay another day and let Curtis hike, or keep moving on. We ultimately decided to press on because of the upcoming winter storm, and wanting to find a place to plant for several days to wait out the holidays. We returned to US-60 and continued heading West. Since we would be passing another one of the missions, we made that our first stop of the day. This unit – the Abó Unit – is located about 30 minutes West of the visitor center in Mountainair and is a short drive off the highway to reach. Although we arrived after its official opening at 9am, we were the only ones here, so we went about our walk around this mission enjoying the tranquility of the setting. We enjoyed walking the loop trail, which took us through the mission and around more ruins, before getting on the road. Both of the missions we saw were very impressive, and we hope to find our way to the third someday!

Once we were finished here, we continued on US-60, off to find a quiet place to celebrate the holidays on our own.