National Register Listing

Pecos National Monument

S of Pecos on NM 63, Pecos, NM

Pecos Pueblo, on the edge of the Plains and one of the largest pueblo structures in the Southwest, served as a frontier trading post for the Plains tribes who periodically brought in buffalo hides, "alibates flint", and other items in exchange for cloth, turquoise, and corn. In 1540, a Pecos chieftain and a few of his men journeyed to the Zuni Pueblos in answer to a call by Coronado through a Zuni messenger. One of Coronado f s lieutenants, Hernando de Alvarado, took a few men and went with this group of Indians when they returned to Peeos, where he obtained the services of a slave to guide him into the Plains. This slave's tales of wealth in a land called Quivira later drew Coronado and a number of his men far out into the Plains. When Coronado returned to Mexico, one of the friars remained at Pecos. In 1590 Pecos was visited by Gastano de Sosa who found it necessary to attack the pueblo to gain entry. However, Onate in 1598 was peacefully received. In the early 1600's, at which time the pueblo had about 2,000 inhabitants, a church was erected at the south end of the mesa, but this was partially destroyed in the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680. During the period of this rebellion Pecos joined forces with Taos and the Keres pueblos and warred against the Tewa and Tano people between them. After the Spanish returned in 1692, Pecos joined in the lesser rebellion of 1696. In the early 1700's, Comanches began moving south through eastern New Mexico. Pecos supposedly suffered from their raids as well as from disease that spread west across the Plains to the extent that the population dropped to 1000 by 1749. By 1792, after undergoing a small pox epidemic in 1788, only 152 inhabitants were left. The pueblo was reduced to the status of a visita as a resident priest no longer was maintained here. In the early 1800's, the population steadily declined until 1838, when 17 survivors abandoned Pecos and joined their linguistic kin at Jemez. Pecos Pueblo was described by the early chroniclers of the 1500's and later as a quadrangle surrounded by houses 4 stories high, the upper stories of which were surrounded by covered walkways. The south pueblo was not mentioned by any of the visitors, but is thought to have been used to some extent in the 1600's. The decrease in population in the 1700's negates new construction, though pillaging and burning by the Comanches may have destroyed much of the north pueblo and forced the inhabitants to build anew on the site of the south pueblo. Today the adobe mission walls stand as high as 50 feet in places. The church has been excavated and stabilized, but not its adjacent buildings. A good part of the north pueblo was excavated between 1915 and 1925, and also a few rooms on the north end of the south pueblo. Both structures exhibit stone and mud walls. One large kiva has been restored and the stone wall around the mesa has been rebuilt to a height of over three feet.

Local significance of the district:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1966.