Historic Structure Report: The Historic Pool

Greene, Jerome

This report concerns the water pool that sits below the massive cliff of El Morro. El Morro was an important watering place and the only one of consequence lying between Zuni Pueblo communities to the east and west, a factor that accounts in large measure for its selection as a village site by indigenous groups. The preeminence of El Morro as a watering spot for travelers in a semi-arid environment lasted until the late 1870s when emigrants began using a more feasible route located about 25 miles to the north. Thereafter El Morro was relegated from its position of prominence; the pool became a reliable water source for farmers and ranchers in its immediate vicinity. Under the management of the National Park Service the pool at El Morro underwent many modifications that changed its appearance from that known in history. Most of the alterations have affected the size and shape of the basin and the surrounding terrain. At the time of the report, the pool measures about fifty feet across, twelve feet deep, and has a concrete dam providing a capacity for about 200,000 gallons of water. The report concludes that the pool, in the present, barely resembles its historical appearance when it quenched the thirst of countless Native Americans, Spanish soldiers, and emigrants and their livestock. Today the pool is an ex-reservoir, too large to approximate its appearance in former centuries when, judged by the evidence, it was smaller, shallower, and ringed by a narrow embankment on which men could walk. If restoration of the pool to its original appearance is contemplated, these basic facts must be honestly considered.

Historic Structure Report: The Historic Pool

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