Pecos National Historic Park is an hour’s drive from Tetilla
Peak Campground, but well worth the trip. The scenery on the drive alone is
worth it and the restaurant where we had lunch, Frankie’s at the Casanova, was
an unexpected gem. We had green chili stew and it was
fabulous!
 |
| Rich climbing down into a Kiva |
 |
| Inside the Kiva |
The park, nestled in the
Sangre de Cristo
Mountains, preserves 12,000 years of history including the ancient
pueblo of Pecos, two Spanish Colonial Missions, Santa Fe Trail sites, 20th
century ranch history of Forked Lightning Ranch, and the site of the Civil War
Battle of Glorieta Pass. The ruins of Pecos Pueblo, the first of which was
built around AD 1100 is an impressive site, with stone
 |
| Foundation along the south wall |
walls built around paths
which wind up to the crest of the hill and the remains of a large adobe mission,
which the Spanish expedition of Coronado forced the Native Americans to build.
To visit the other sites, one must be a part of a ranger
guided tour, which we’ll plan on doing the next time we’re near.
.jpg)
If you’re interested in more, I found the information below
about the Pecos Pueblo, Glorieta Pass, and Forked Lightning Ranch interesting
and took it from the nps.gov site.
“On the historic Santa Fe Trail, where the Pecos Indians
once commanded the trade path between Pueblo farmers of the Rio Grande and
hunting tribes of the buffalo plains, lie the ruins of the Pecos pueblo and
Spanish missions. This old frontier brought war and trade, and witnessed the
rise and decline of the powerful Pecos, the development of Spanish churches,
the creation of the Santa Fe Trail, and the Civil War.
“The Pecos Indians were an advanced tribe with a heritage
deeply rooted in the Puebloan culture of the American Southwest. Like
their Pueblo ancestors, the Pecos practiced ancient customs in agriculture,
religion, and architecture. Farming was essential to their livelihood. By
applying an ancient agricultural technique that had originated in Mexico, the
people of Pecos were able to supply most of their diet of corn, beans, and
squash. Farming also influenced the architectural design of the Pecos village,
and like many Pueblo tribes of the American Southwest, the Pecos built
storerooms to set aside food for the winter and check dams to regulate the
water that flowed to their crops. Their impressive architecture also included
large multi-story houses built above the storerooms using adobe - a mud and
straw-based material they mixed and molded together to look like bricks. To
protect the village, the Pecos erected a large wall, which according to one
Spanish conquistador, was visible from a far distance.
“The most impressive structures were
the kivas, subterranean pit-houses used for religious and ceremonial
purposes. Although they varied in shape and size, they were traditionally
circular with a hole in the floor. The hole in the ground represented the
connection to the underworld, which the Pecos and other Pueblo tribes believed
was their people’s place of origin. Kivas connected the world above to the
spirits of the underworld, and the floor opening allowed the people to have a
closer communion with the spirits below. The Pecos routinely prayed to the
underworld through ceremonies and brought offerings to the spirits to receive
good fortune. They feared that failing to perform these rituals would upset the
spirits, which in turn would cause their crops to die and their overall world
to become unbalanced. The Pecos continued to hold onto these beliefs after the
Spanish came.”
“ The Battle of Glorieta Pass
examines a Civil War battle known as the “Gettysburg of the West”. Texans invaded this mountain valley, intent
on conquering New Mexico. Victory here would be a necessary prelude to
detaching the western states from the Union and expanding the Confederacy to
the Pacific Ocean. They were met by volunteers from
Colorado along the canyon and ridge on 03/26, 1862. A three-day battle ensued,
culminating in the Confederates retreating to Texas and the Confederate hopes
of expanding west shattered.”
“Forked Lightning Ranch - Tex Austin; the Fogelsons
And Then There Was Tex
“When 20-year-old Clarence Van Nostrand left home in
1908, he reinvented himself for a life of adventure. He changed his name to
John Van Austin, but everyone knew him as "Tex." Although born into
a strict St. Louis household, he claimed to have been born and raised on a
cattle ranch in Victoria, Texas.
After working on New Mexico and Texas ranches and
briefly joining the Mexican Revolution, Tex Austin started producing rodeos.
From his first in El Paso in 1917 to his last in London, England in 1934, Tex
was known for his generosity and showmanship. When he produced the first Madison
square Garden Rodeo in 1922, the prize money was a record $25,000. Tex had
other "firsts":
·
The first recorded indoor rodeo in Wichita,
Kansas (1918)
·
First rodeo ever held in Chicago Stadium (1926)
·
First contest rodeo to go overseas--some
114,000 people attended his 1924 rodeo in London's Wembley Stadium.
“Everyone agreed that Tex possessed "tremendous
charm and bluff" and "spent his last dollar like it was a leaf and he
owned the forest." Tall and lanky, he was not considered a decent working
cowhand by his cowboys, but "he did learn to wear a big hat and to sit
his saddle as if born to the leather."
In 1925, Tex bought up parcels of land on the old Pecos
Pueblo Grant and called his 5,500 acre holdings the "Forked Lightning
Ranch." The remains of Kozlowski's Stage Stop and Tavern on the Santa Fe
Trail (1858-1880) became part of his new holdings, which Tex converted into
ranch headquarters and a trading post.
He hired architect John Gaw Meem to design and build the
main ranch house on a bluff above the Pecos River. (The assignment was one of
Meem's first.
He later became famous throughout the Southwest for his
"Pueblo Revival" buildings.) All rooms in the rectangular house
faced a grassy patio. Its defining touch was a huge, specially sculpted steer
head mounted outside on the chimney.
When Tex decided to run a dude ranch at the property, he
advertised it as "the most complete, modern and comfortable ranch house
in the West. The life of the romantic West is at its doors."
"Way out west an' a Little Bit
South"
Tex hoped for a share of the growing East Coast tourist market to
New Mexico. The ranch, after all, was less than two days by train from Chicago:
"Thirty-four hours, and you're out where the West is--and will be for
some time." Train travelers disembarked at Rowe, just a few miles down the
road.
For $125 a week, 18 guests sharing nine bedrooms received
"all proper service...to insure the comfort and friendly atmosphere of a
country home...Feed--and how!...served ranch style...in big heaping dishes.
Pitch till you win and no one keeps track of the helpings!" A highlight?
"Pack and chuck wagon trips to the high peaks."
The Forked Lightning was a working cattle ranch, too, reputed to
run several thousand head of cattle on 100,000 acres of leased grazing land in
the valley. One story had Tex taking the train to Chicago, finding a bar, and
then complaining to patrons that he had all this cattle to go to Las Vegas,
New Mexico, for loading on the train and no one to do the work. He found
"dudes" who volunteered to take the trip to Forked Lightning at
their own expense just for the chance to be on a cattle drive. After the animals
were at Las Vegas, Tex took the train back to Chicago and complained about all
the animals he had at Las Vegas that he needed to get to his ranch!
“The dude ranch only operated for seven years; the last guests
left in May 1933. Tex had heavily mortgaged the ranch and couldn't pay the
debt. A year later, his attempt to produce another London rodeo fell on hard
times--British animal rights groups tried to stop the show on the grounds that
steer-wrestling was cruel. Tex lost more than $20,000.
After losing the ranch, Tex moved to Santa Fe and opened the Los
Rancheros Restaurant near the Plaza. In October 1938, Tex committed
suicide. Rumor at the time was he had been told he was going blind. Tex Austin,
the "Daddy of Rodeo," was named to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame
in 1976.
“A New Breed
In 1936, W. C. Currier bought the Forked Lightning Ranch, and five
years later sold it to E. E. "Buddy" Fogelson, a Dallas oil man and
rancher. Over the next 25 years, Mr. Fogelson purchased land to the south,
expanding the ranch to 13,000 acres. The Forked Lightning became a small
cattle ranch and Tex's ranch house the Fogelson summer home.
“After Mr. Fogelson married the actress Greer Garson in 1949,
the ranch house became a center for gracious entertaining. Active in ranch
life, Mrs. Fogelson unsuccessfully tried to raise white Shorthorns imported
from her native Scotland. While attending a cattle auction in 1958, Mr.
Fogelson impetuously purchased a purebred Santa Gertrudis bull named
"Gee Gee" which, with three heifers purchased at the same auction,
became the foundation for the Forked Lightning Santa Gertrudis herd.
“Santa Gertrudis, the first officially recognized American breed
of cattle, was developed on the famous King Ranch in Texas. A cross between a
Brahma and Shorthorn, the breed resulted from an effort to produce good beef
animals better suited to the heat, humidity, and range conditions of South
Texas. When Mr. Fogelson brought Santa Gertrudis to the Forked Lightning it
was the first time the breed was wintered at high altitude. A tireless promoter
of the breed, Mr. Fogelson was the first to exhibit Santa Gertrudis at the
New Mexico State Fair in 1961.
“When Mr. Fogelson died in 1987, the Forked Lightning was
divided along the old southern boundary line of Tex's original Forked Lightning.
Greer Garson Fogelson received the "old" Forked Lightning Ranch and
Mr. Fogelson's son inherited the southern portion. In January 1991, Mrs. Fogelson
sold the Forked Lightning to The Conservation Fund, which donated it to the
National Park Service to become part of Pecos National Historical Park.
“The ranch house has remained relatively unchanged. Tex's
Forked Lightning brand still marks the original fixtures in the living and
dining rooms and the steer head still stares down the Pecos. It is not
difficult to imagine the famous and not so famous gathered around the huge
fireplace, sipping drinks on the wide front porch, or enjoying the sun on the
patio, all basking in the warm atmosphere that welcomed so many guests for
more than 60 years.”
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)