SITE RECON ALONG THE GREAT PUEBLO TRAIL IN SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO - page 1 of 3
Note: No ancient remains were disturbed during the conduct of site reconnaissance...
Recon of sites is listed north to south along the trail I speak of. Footpaths between these pueblos became a main route of north to south travel through the mountainous country. The facts of geography determine the best route of travel, which is largely followed by modern highways. My thesis is that Coronado also followed these trails during his 1540 entrada.
Zuni Salt Lake – The holy Salt Lake of the southwestern peoples, a common ground although owned by the Zuni. The home of a major Indian deity named Holy Salt Mother, and various other translations. Surrounded by Indian shrines, where the people make continual offerings, and have for centuries. Tribal land.
Chavez Ranch sites, southeast of the Salt Lake demonstrate a continuance of the trail to the South. Private land.
Wayne Strang site, located near Quemado at an un-named spring. Large pueblo houses showing a lot of Tularosa pottery. Site is intact. Private land.
Largo Creek Pueblo, also a Tularosa Anasazi site, showing some late phase pottery. Jim Williams Ranch, private, owner lives nearby. Partially excavated.
Castle rocks south of Quemado, numerous hunting and prayer shrine sites, Tularosa and later pottery, including Show-Low Polychrome, has been found there. Public and private lands.
Jewett Gap Pueblo, actually several sites through that pass in the mountains, almost completely excavated by various early archaeologists. Only the tumbled rock walls are left of these mountain pueblos, at least one was large.
Queens Head, a major pre-historic shrine, numerous large Indian pueblos are located in the drainage below the site, and a great kiva has been reported there in Walter Hough's 1907 report.
Apache Creek Pueblos : there are many large pueblo ruins along the length of Apache Creek, some are only a mile apart from each other. Possible trail marker here on the bluffs above Apache Creek Store.
Tularosa River: there are many large pueblo ruins along the length of the Tularosa river. Some were centers of high culture, there is one noticeable platform mound, and polished agate has been found that may be Meso-American in origin. One ruin has displayed a fairly high proportion of Mimbres pottery and earlier pithouse pottery that looks like the pottery of the more southern areas. These are the Tularosa ruins, and this is the type site for fancy Tularosa pottery.
Reserve area ruins are numerous and also Tularosa Anasazi in general character. I bet they got their salt from the Zuni district. The ruins are continuous along the rivers here for several miles, and spaced a mile or two apart from each other in the more densely populated areas.
