Glorieta Pass: Gateway to the Past

Blasi, Brigida

Pecos National Historical Park {NHP) consists of a variety of richly historic lands on the eastern slope of Glorieta Pass in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. Just a short drive east of Santa Fe, Pecos NHP offers visitors the chance to explore the lasting legacies of the Southwest. There, visitors can see the remnants of ancient Pueblo, Spanish Colonial. Mexican, and American history: the archaeological remains of Pecos Pueblo and the partially ruined Spanish Colonial era church, Arrowhead Ruin, Apache Canyon (Canoncito), Kozlowski's Trading Post, and Pigeon's Ranch along the Santa Fe Trail. This story narrates, primarily, the history of sites in Glorieta Pass on the western side of Pecos NHP, including Arrowhead Ruin, Apache Canyon, and Pigeon's Ranch. Since prehistoric times, Glorieta Pass has served as a route of trade and travel from the eastern Rio Grande Valley through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the western plains. This natural pass provided a relatively easy footpath through the mountains for Pueblo and Plains tribes. When the Spanish arrived with horses, they, too, took advantage of the mountain pass and made it the standard route for Spanish explorers and for Mexican and American settlers and merchant s. The Santa Fe Trail, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, and the highway all followed that same path. Consequently, Glorieta Pass has been the conduit for many significant regional andnational historic events.Pecos· NHP was established in 1990 and has since worked to preserve the history of Glorieta Pass so that the American people may learn about and enjoy these sites. Within the boundaries of the park, several significant historic time periods are represented through the remaining buildings and sites, including prehistory, the Spanish period, the U.S.-Mexican War, the Santa Fe Trail, the Civil War, and twentieth-century tourism . The historic buildings and sites also sit among some of the most stunning natural landscapes in the Southwest. It is no wonder that so many generations ofPuebloans, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Americans have called it home.